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What does a 'real' contraction feel like?
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Anonymous
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Does the belly get hard, like you can feel the silohuette of the baby ? I know I have had B-H before but think i am starting to get the 'real' ones...just about 2 an hour for a few hours, then went away.
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Anonymous
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Feels the same as BH in the beginning. They are just regular and spaced much closer together. You may not feel any pain until many hours into it when they're just 1-2 minutes apart. Your doc probably gave you directions on when to call, but usually not until they're just a few minutes apart. Some docs want you to call them and make you talk through a contraction. If you have trouble talking, that's when they want you in the hospital!
If they went away, then they're not real! |
Anonymous
| What you are describing are Braxton-Hicks I think. At least that's what I thought they were when I got them, and I remember getting them several weeks before I went into labor. They were not painful - my belly just got real hard for a few seconds. For me, the real contractions were painful and I knew I was in labor. Sort of like period cramps, but worse. I think it can be different for everyone though! |
Anonymous
Mine felt exactly like menstrual cramps--like regular menstrual cramps in the beginning and then they got progressively worse. I honestly don't feel like I remember the really bad ones, but I just remember that they kind of felt like menstrual cramps on crack.  I think they are very personal though; others say they don't feel like cramps at all.
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Anonymous
| sharp pains, but so consuming, I didn't know where it originated and where it ended. |
Anonymous
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Mine didn't feel like cramps at all. It was more like a pressure wave plus it felt like the baby was moving her head hard against my pelvic bone. The pain wasn't sharp at first but got progressively worse (plus I was on pitocin which I understand magnifies the severity of contractions). I had had the hardening of the belly a few times but for me those turned out to be B-H.
Good luck. |
Anonymous
| OP, thank you so much for your description of BH. I have been experiencing those feelings and have not been able to describe them to anyone. I just assumed my BH were the baby moving. Sounds like they have been BH, all along. I also get shortness of breath when I get BH. |
Anonymous
| Mine felt like diarrhea. Low in my belly. It was very different from BH. |
Anonymous
Mine felt like PMS cramps - which I forgot what they felt like after not having them for 9 months  It was sorta a "wave" of cramping - nothing too intense, just enough for me to notice.
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Anonymous
| I had pre-term labor contractions that felt like BH - just tightening of the belly, no pain - only my belly stayed "tight" for long periods of time (apparently my low-grade contractions were two-minutes apart so they were on top of each other. When my REAL contractions came, after my water broke, it was ALL in my back. No cramp-like feelings in the belly, just like freight train running up and down my lower back. Thinking back, perhaps some of my lower back pain during the last month of pregnancy was due to the contractions. So even if you have BH, your actual labor may feel not just stronger but very different. |
Anonymous
| Do hips hurt due to contractions or is this more of a symptom of pressure on the cervix....my hips have been hurting for days at 35 wks. i have wondered if i am in mild labor |
Anonymous
| I too get the super tightening of my lower abdomen and my stomach gets really hard. I've wondered what that is...I get it several times a day in intervals. I am now almost 38 weeks. Are those BH? It doesn't hurt at all, just feels uncomfortable! I have no idea what labor pains feel like...this is my first child. |
Anonymous
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I got a huge cramping feeling that was (seemed) long a consistent in going up and down in pain.. it was a huge pain difference from b-h- when my water broke, i started getting some contractions and thought- ah no biggie- but then the real ones came and it was harder., my Ob told me later that if your water breaks and you lose a lot of water, the "cushion" effect is less so you feel it a lot more.. I was pouring out amniotic fluid so it may have contributed..
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