J.H.
I am pregnant with #5 and I experiences a lot of Contraction with my babies. I also had a lot of leg cramps so my midwife suggested I take liquid calcium because a lack of calcium and magnesium shows up in the muscles. Your contractions are a type of cramping. I was taking a calcium pill and I am big on dairy but for some reason I was not absorbing it. Literally within a couple days my leg cramps were gone and so were the contractions. From the sounds of your births before I would highly recommend the movie, "The Business of being Born" It is an excellent documentary about the astonishing maternity crisis in America. For all the "wonderful" interventions our infant and maternal mortality rates are worst than all but one other developed country. Educate yourself about interventions, you and your baby will be glad you did!