Contractions

[pandabub]

I'm just wondering if anyone who has done it all before could please give a description as to what contractions feel like? I've heard before that it is sort of like really bad period cramps, others have compared it to severe indigestion...are any of these accurate, or close to it?

Thanks! xx

 

[scuffer]

All your stomach muscles go really tight, it is a bit like severe period cramping, but the pain is really intense across your stomach and lower back. It's so hard to describe, especially as I'm pretty sure a woman's brain protects itself by making you forget the feeling!

It is intense and strong, but short lived and so so worth it x

 

[nikkip]

yeah its like scuffer said it like period pains that get stronger. i had pain in my back and belly and thighs an not sure why but an urge to sit down on the hospital corridor floor lol but then thats me!!

 

[pandabub]

Thank you! Is it true that it hurts less when you are actually pushing? xx

 

[theresarhuebb]

very bad period pains and yeh so back. its hard to push but it hurts like hell when baby comes out but its over and done with before you know it x

 

[sammiesmile]

when you have contractions you will know for sure what they are. xx

 

[miss cakes]

bad period pains that build over time i had alot of pain in my back its like a band tightening across your stomach x

 

[KatienSam]

Yes very bad period pains and cramp combined! And yes pushing hurts less if your brave enough to push through the pain then it just stings like bugger lol x

 

[mumoffive]

For me, bad period pains and as if you are going to need a poo. As for the pushing, it hurts when baby's head comes out and its 'crowning' but as the poster said, if you listen to the mw, it will be over with before you know it. The pain quite frankly for me was unbearable and i was physically unable to move during a contraction.

 

[pandabub]

My mother told me she felt as if she were being torn in two! Is she exaggerating (she's had seven kids and four epidurals) or does that sound right?xx

 

[mumoffive]

Its seriously difficult to remember how it feels. I remember thinking to myself that i would remember it when i was in labour with my ds and it felt like having a really bad period cramp..tightening your bump and like you need to poo..badly. That is the way i remember it. I dont remember feeling being torn in two. I do remember lying stapped up to a monitor and thinking that no way was i staying in that position to give birth. For me, when the head crowned, i struggled pushing the head out. last time, i was sitting kneeling up with my hands on the headboard and gave birth that way and he just popped out. No way am i lying down this time round.

 

[kezc4rc]

How do you know the difference between needing a poo and contractions or did you just try to go to the toilet as often as possible? I know it sounds silly but this is what bothers me more than anything, being scared of pooing myself.

 

[mumoffive]

Its just a really bad pressure in the bottom. Its just so sore that there is really no mistaking it, trust me. I had a few contractions on waking up as i was overdue. On the actual day i went into labour in the morning, i had a few..but they were really spaced out..like 2hrs apart. By the time 6pm came, they were getting stronger...by the time 8pm came..there was absolutely NO mistaking i was in labour. The pains were so sore, they took my breath away and they were timing perfectly. I think thats the difference...the time between each is perfect and everytime it went
down a few minutes...the contractions were spaced the same..until they went down a few minutes again, until i was having one every 5 minutes and i was told to go in to hospital. I really wouldnt worry. I know its a cliche but you will know when you are in labour. I have never pooed in labour...or not that i know of but believe me, it takes everything out of you and you will not care. Your body just takes over.

 

[MyFavSurprise]

Between the contractions does it feel like a break or is the pain just constant even when you are not having a contraction?

 

[mumoffive]

No, its a break..and you feel fine!!! Then it starts again...slowly, reaches the worst and strongest part then fades again. When your contractions so close, it feels like no time between one and the next, so it kind of feels more constant then. If you use gas and air properly you breathe through until the contraction has reached its peak and it takes the edge of it. I didnt have any other pain relief.

 

[kazb25]

this post is helpful to thoses who has not done it before (me) sounds painful though but no turning back now lol

 

[jakemybaby]

Between the contractions does it feel like a break or is the pain just constant even when you are not having a contraction?

Towards the end of my labour, I was so knackered, I actually drifted off a few times between contractions!

The way I remember the contractions, it was like having something rigid in side you expanding out and getting more and more intense until the contraction peaked and then faded away again.

Am not going to lie, the pain is really bad, the worst pain I have ever been in in my life.... But... Please don't let this scare you, as it's bearable to most women, and the thing that got me through it was I knew what it was! I also knew each one would bring me closer to baby and that (one way or another) it would all end eventually.

 

[mumoffive]

It is painful esp when the contractions are so close...but the gas and air helps if you breathe it in before the contraction reaches its peak, thats the key. After that, the pushing comes and the painful part is the head crowning and then it comes out and its just a huge relief it is over!

 

[Blah11]

Mine were all in my back. They felt like the muscle was going really tight lol which I suppose it was as the muscle was 'contracting' (imagine when you get cramp in your leg but its in your lower back).

At the start of labour you do get breaks inbetween and the contractions come like 'waves'. It just gets worse and worse until it peaks then the pain lessens and lessens and its the end of the contraction. When you're 10cm, they come with no breaks really.. maybe a min or so but the contractions also last a lot longer (like a minute or 2).

 

[Blah11]

Also, contractions don't feel like you need a poo? Atleast mine didn't. The urge to push kinda did.