FTM here! 😊 and I’ve got a few questions lol

I get that you can dilate a little from BH contractions sometimes but when will the real contractions kick in? How far can you go before you HAVE to have real contractions? Also, I thought the contractions were what caused you to dilate and this push baby out... no?

I’m 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced as of yesterday at my OB appointment when she checked my cervix. She thinks I’ll go into labor before March but we all know that you can never really know for sure. I’m wondering what happens if I just keep dilating without knowing or feeling any contractions... Also, everything I read says that 0-3 cm is early labor phase, 3-7 cm is active and then 7-10 is transitional phase. You’re supposed to go into the hospital during active phase. How would I know?