# what did YOUR early contractions feel like?



## staycutee

sorry i know it isnt baby related but in 3rd tri no one knows i guess. 

i have read some ppl saying they feel like period cramps, but then others say they dont hurt, but to me period cramps do hurt so im confused. some say they feel a tightening accross lower belly, otehrs say pain is all in their back?

i know its probs diff for all of us but what did YOUR first contractions feel like
x


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## Mum2b_Claire

For me it felt like bad period pains, and it was all in my back, but that was because my LO was in a posterior position...


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## Serene123

"Ouch!" :rofl:

Depends which stage you mean. I didn't feel mine untill my waters went, but I was 4cm dilated by then. Then they got 2 minutes apart, very intense, and felt like my whole stomach was crunching up. The pain was unbearable but nothing compared to the head crowning :rofl:

At one point near the end I did say "oh my God, it actually feels like there's a truck driving over my stomach!" :lol:



I didn't have any pain relief though, so I felt it all!


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## dreams

Mine felt like bad period pains and i had pain in my lower back. When they first start they're not that bad. I didn't think i was in labour when they started because i thought they would be more painful but granted they did very quickly!


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## Chaos

Period pains? HAH. I wish lol!

I never actually had labour in my belly or back, it was all in the tops of my legs. It just felt like electricity shocks. It's a pain like no other so its really hard to describe ...


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## bloodbinds

Period pains seem about right for the early contrations, then they steadily got worse and worse as they got longer and closer together x


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## CatStorey

Mine felt like period cramps. All my braxton hicks where in the top of my tummy but my early contractions were in my lower tummy and the tops of my legs. The didn't hurt but where uncomftable and were 8 mins appart so I had a feeling that they were deffinate contractions. They lasted for 5 hours like that until they suddenly went to 3 mins appart and they pain was immense and I couldn't talk through them. Thats when I went to the hospital and was 5 cm dilated.


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## Glitterfairy

Dull lower back ache was what i remember of the first wave of contractions.


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## premmiemum123

Worse than period pains I would say as they take your breath away, well they did mine. I thought I was having Braxton Hicks then realised I was in labour at 6 months. 
I can remember the pain however what I vividly remembered is when they stopped I was eurphoric (might have been the gas and air) and then the real work of pushing began...


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## elly75

It felt like period pains in the lower part of my stomach and a sore back. I thought it was BH and paid it little mind (as I was due to go to the hospital the next day for induction). Lo and behold when we went to the hospital, they confirmed I was having contractions and I already 4 cm dialated. :rofl:


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## Kimboowee

Mine kinda took my breathe away as soon as they started. They were in my back though because he was back to back.

It was in the middle of the bottom of my back, it felt like there was something rubbing against my spine


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## staycutee

thanks ladies.


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## Lois

My first contractions felt like an uncomfortable tightening in my abdomen. They weren't painful at first but they were obvious enough that I knew straight away they were contractions. It isn't unusual for women to go straight into strong, painful contractions though.

Lx


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## AP

To start with I was on here asking the girls what the pain I was having! It felt like wind at first but it kept coming back every few mins. Then it seemed to get worse to the point I was gritting my teeth.

By the time I got to hospital 3hrs later, I could only walk a few steps, stop, and wait to the pain to subside.

It wasnt until I wanted to climb out my skin and up the walls did ANYONE realise I was going into labour.


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## sarah0108

mine started as just a pain/tightening right in the middle of my stomach (well , in line with where period pains are? if that makes sense haha)
when they got worse, like someone said they started to crunch my whole belly, not till later on though, i had the tightenings for hours and hours and they gradually made their way up my stomach as they got worse x


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## lozenge

missmurder said:


> sorry i know it isnt baby related but in 3rd tri no one knows i guess.
> 
> i have read some ppl saying they feel like period cramps, but then others say they dont hurt, but to me period cramps do hurt so im confused. some say they feel a tightening accross lower belly, otehrs say pain is all in their back?
> 
> i know its probs diff for all of us but what did YOUR first contractions feel like
> x

Period pains for me, for the 4 days leading up to the labour. On the actual day I got back pain with it too. x


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## Elysian1c0

Well, the early contractions before my water broke just felt like braxton hicks that I could feel in my back also, but they didn't hurt and they weren't regularly timed. I might not even be able to classify those as real contractions, but they weren't just BH's either.

Then, a few hours after those ^ started, my water broke, and the first contraction after that felt like a big, light period cramp. I say big because the feeling took up my whole belly, instead of the deep, small cramp you get when your uterus is the size of a plum.
10 minutes later I had another contraction, and there was no dispute about what was going on. This one was intense and stopped me in my tracks. I had to hold onto something. It felt like a strong, big cramp, mixed with the sensation of my pelvis widening. An hour later my contractions were less than 2 minutes apart and I was a very unhappy camper.
Whole labor took about 7 hours. I got to the birthing center about an hour and a half after my water broke, at 3 cms. 2 or 3 hours later, 6 cms, and 2 or 3 hours after that, fully dilated. Moving that fast made it very painful and exhausting, because there was hardly any break between the contractions. The closest they got together was about a minute.

And pushing through contractions at that point FELT SO MUCH BETTER. They almost felt good compared to the pain of just contracting. (But, my pushing never amounted to much as the baby's heart rate was dropping too much. I ended up with a C section.)


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## Armywife

My contractions were like bad period pains in the very beginning but then went on to become a pain i just couldn't describe xxx


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## Scally

Mine felt like trapped wind pains and back pain to start off with, coming every so often!!! Told my friend who said i should be timing them didnt even occur to me i was in labour!!! lol


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## Helen

Scally said:


> Told my friend who said i should be timing them didnt even occur to me i was in labour!!! lol

Yup ditto! I was getting pains on and off every 2 or 3 minutes and DH was saying "don't you think we should phone your Mum to look after the kids?". 

I was like "noooo". I didn't think it was labour because they weren't lasting longer than 30-40 seconds and because I actually thought I would feel something *contract*. :dohh:I wish someone would've told me that beforehand. Contractions don't contract they just hurt.


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## JennieyL

Scally said:


> Mine felt like trapped wind pains and back pain to start off with, coming every so often!!! Told my friend who said i should be timing them didnt even occur to me i was in labour!!! lol

it was the same for me! I thought i had to use the washroom so there i sat on the toilet for a long while .. My oh was an hour away from me at the time and i layed in my bed for about 5 hours just moaning.. Still it didnt occur to me that it was labour at all! until I stood up.. peed on the floor and thought my water broke.. went to the hospital and was 8 cms.. oh made it in time though lol!


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## Mary Jo

mine definitely started like period cramps, all in the bottom of my belly, not at all in my back. they got worse and worse till I felt I was being disembowelled.


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## sammii0711

Im 38 weeks and 5 days and ive had lower back pain and lower abdominal pain that doesnt really hurt to much, plus a few tightenings in my belly ? Can someone please tell me if these are early contractions ??


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## bellaloo

Period or trapped wind sort of pain every 3 minutes or so with both my pregnancies x


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## babyhopes2010

bad back ache at first. i dlated 2-10cm in one hour!!

i didnt feel the major contractions until pushing these were like a wave of intense pain and overwhelming desire to push. this was when they were 1-2 mins apart


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## Reno

I just had regular tightenings about 5 minutes apart from the beginning, about 6 hours after I started recording them, I could feel them in my back too! They didn't really get painful until I had my waters broken about 10 hours after my first contraction, and 5 hours later he was born!

You'll know them when they start! good luck x


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## Shineystar

very very strong period cramps, for the first 30 mins i guess then it got stronger and closer together very quickly. I also felt like something was coming away from me when I tried to breathe through them! got to 6cm on only paracetamol and a bath within 2 hrs! Then I felt my body was pushing from an early stage..

however - baby was back to back and I was also induced (only the prostin tablet) so not typical!


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## Angelbaby_01

Period pains and my back hurt quite a lot.


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## Kaede351

For me it was like REAL intense period cramps that spread down my legs to my knees :/ they didn't hurt as such, they stopped me from walking though because they made my knees weak to begin with.

XxX


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## xdxxtx

Mine felt like extreme period pains... It was a pain I'd never felt before... They were 10 minutes apart, then 5 minutes apart, then 2 minutes apart, and then I got to the hospital and they went back to 10 minutes apart. I swore I was gonna have that baby in the car, but then it died down as soon as I got there. I was 2 cms and got sent home... lol... I had that baby a week later. I'd had those contractions the entire time. They did HURT once I went into early labor, but I was at that stage for a week like I said. When I did have my baby, I was laying in bed watching TV and my water broke out of nowhere. I hadn't felt any more contractions than what I was already feeling until after my water broke.


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## wifey29

My waters went, then I started having mild period cramps every 8 minutes. They got continuously worse until I couldn't stand or talk through them, all I could do was moan.


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## aliss

Pitocin= a knife being stabbed!

Natural = a bad period pain (and then it got worse)


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## Sproglet

My back hurt, thought I had been sitting funny so shifted to get comfy, and my waters broke. My contractions were all in my back and were that long and close together right from the start, I didn't realise that's what they were till they monitored me at hospital.


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## kippenhok

Kind of like period pains but duller and "larger" (as in, I felt it over a larger area) in the lower abdomen and they came rolling in waves of every 10/11 mins. Bleh!!!!!!! I started from absolute 0 too, hardly any effacement and dilation - so I got to enjoy the WHOLE ride :growlmad: Jealous of the other ladies that start already cm's dilated!

Edit: Didn't feel anything in my back! LO wasn't back to back so maybe that had something to do with that.


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## Sussy

Tightenings that I didn't find painful at all, just thought were braxton hicks until my waters broke in the post office! The sensation built up until it was like period pains in tummy and back


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## kecie

At first it felt like really horrible back pains that came and left as i didn't feel them in my tummy until at least 3 hrs later


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## dizzygirluk

Hiya,

For me, early contractions felt like bad period pains. I had NO back pain whatsoever. They where all low down at the front.

I suppose everyone is different! People told me it wasn't labour because I felt nothing at the back...this was complelty untrue.. I got to the hosp at 7cm when I was waiting for the back pains lol....in the end I needed some gas and air!! 

Good luck!


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## SillyMoo1983

Mine felt like I needed a huuuuge poo as the contractions were all in my bum! I thought I was just constipated and kept trying to go to the loo but nothing happened! But then noticed the pains were regular. I always thought they would be in my tummy. My baby turned out to be breech with her back to mine. I'm not sure if baby's position has any effect on where the contractions are.


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## Torz

The first time they were like period pains that were regular & got worse gradually. I knew I was in labour from the start as they felt different to braxton hicks.

The second time I was getting back ache in regular patterns but wasn't sure if they were contractions because they went too painful & I didn't have to breath & rock through them like the first time. That day I went to pick my breast pump up & went & did some shopping at Costco with my mum. As I was driving home at about 5pm they started getting closer together but not any more painful, I knew that they were contractions but they felt different from the first time, all in my back & hips.

That's how it staid right up to half an hour before I delivered when they suddenly became extremely painful & intense. I even phoned midwifes at one point & spoke to them & they didn't believe I was in Labour so wouldn't send anyone out (planned home birth). My son was delivered at home by my sister who also thought I had hours to go yet untill I was screaming that the head was out, she still didn't believe me untill she looked lol. Midwifes turned up half an hour after delivery after my oh phoned while I was delivering


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## Bunnikins

like a constant (not intermittent) heavy crampy, pulled muscle feeling in my front and back (i think it was in my back cos she was a back to back baby), gradually getting so that it got worse in peaks. After pitocin it was so painful i think my mind has blocked out the feeling to protect me from going insane!! :)


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## Linzi_x

for me early contractions were the same pain as period cramps but not as bad. they did get worse as the day progressed though.


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## Bevziibubble

Mine felt like really strong cramps. They were totally unlike what I had expected contractions to be like, I even thought there was something wrong. I only realised I was actually in labour when my waters broke!


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## lindseymw

Just like period cramps for me. Felt like that up until the pushing stage. They never got really painful for me, more uncomfortable I'd say with Joshua.


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## Emma&Freya

Mine were like period pains! It then got that bad when I got a pain the top of my heg/bikini line just froze!


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## likeaustralia

Mine didn't hurt at all. They just made me feel like I had to pee every five minutes. I didn't even know I was having contractions.


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## Unexpected212

They felt like stomach cramps. They started coming every 10 minutes pretty regularly. Thats how I really knew. The regularity. Also the intensity. Contractions in my opinion can't be exactly matched to any other kind of sensation or feeling. At first they were like bad stomach cramps. As they got faster and harder ....indescribable!lol


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## glitterfly

I was induced on 11/10/12 at 7.30am. However the whole night before I had what I can only describe as trapped wind and needing a no2 ( the pains you get when you have the runs sorry tmi) thought nothing of it but didn't sleep well, went to be induced only to see on the monitor that I was already contracting in time with these pains - midwife said they were contractions so I guess that what mine felt like. They quickly progressed to mild / medium period pains.

Xxx


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