I'm 22 weeks and have had 3 or 4 episodes of painful Braxton hicks, they usually last a few hours and are very inconsistent, lasting 40 seconds each time. Last night they started and were every couple minutes, and then became regular at 30 minutes apart. They stayed at 30 minutes apart for 2 hours, and then completely stopped. Then I had bad diarrhea. I know if I call my doctor they will tell me to go to the hospital and get checked, but I haven't had any contractions in 12 hours. I know people say diarrhea=dilation but if it was preterm labor it wouldn't have stopped right?