Correlation between period pains and labour?

[Snoopy]

A quick (perhaps stupid) question for those of you who've been through it before.

Did you notice any correlation between how bad your period pains normally are and how bad contractions are?

I've always had atrocious period pains....worse when I was a teenager, but still very bad as an adult. I've also not experienced painless BH and they always feel like period pains at the onset of AF. Even LO's movements hurt me and have done so since they stopped just being flutters at around 18 weeks. So I'm wondering....if my uterus normally causes me this much pain, should I expect particularly painful contractions too?

Just to add....I'm not actually that much of a wimp and can normally deal with pain quite well, but this pregnancy malarky is making me feel like a complete wuss!

 

[Baby2ontheway]

my contractions with my first were much worse than period pains..... I couldnt walk when I was having one and I def did not want to talk lol.
My back did hurt like I was cramping on my period tho! The difference in Contractions and Period Cramping was noticable to me, but everyone takes pain in a different way

 

[xerinx]

A quick (perhaps stupid) question for those of you who've been through it before.

Did you notice any correlation between how bad your period pains normally are and how bad contractions are?

I've always had atrocious period pains....worse when I was a teenager, but still very bad as an adult. I've also not experienced painless BH and they always feel like period pains at the onset of AF. Even LO's movements hurt me and have done so since they stopped just being flutters at around 18 weeks. So I'm wondering....if my uterus normally causes me this much pain, should I expect particularly painful contractions too?

Just to add....I'm not actually that much of a wimp and can normally deal with pain quite well, but this pregnancy malarky is making me feel like a complete wuss!

Ummmmm i have awful period pains and when in labour with my first i will be honest i had never felt pain like it!! But i had been induced so that might of played a part tbh. But as ive always had bad periods ive nothing to compare it too.

 

[Snoopy]

Thanks guys! Hehe, I'm not sure if I'm more or less concerned now!

Any other opinions?

 

[lottie_2007]

I always suffered with bad period pains until i went on the pill, i would say my laboour pains were very similar to period pains but worse, not unbearable with the help of g&a! I coped ok last time and told everyone it wasn't that bad even though i had an induction but now i am crapping myself with the prospect of it and i don't know why, i know what to expect! xx

 

[MummaBump]

I use o suffer really bad AF pains and i have to say... contractions were A LOT worse!... but on the up side after having a baby your AF pains will never be as bad again!

 

[Snoopy]

Oh dear....I wish I'd not asked now

(thank you everyone, I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I guess I'm just petrified)

 

[xerinx]

Oh dear....I wish I'd not asked now

(thank you everyone, I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I guess I'm just petrified)

Best way to think of it is that the pains only for a few hours once its over and you have your beautiful baby in your arms you forget about the pain. Holding your baby makes it all worth it in the end i promise

 

[Seity]

I'm glad you asked this question, but now I'm not sure what to think as I've never had period pains. This is my first pregnancy, but I can pretty much guarantee that my labor pains will have to hurt more than no pain!

 

[kelly2903]

i never had period pains but i would say contractions are a lot worse than that..xxx

 

[Snoopy]

Thanks for the input everyone...

I can really see me starting to panic now it can happen any time. I'm quite surprised because I've been so positive about everything until now....clearly I was kidding myself.

 

[Celesse]

Someone I used to know (a midwife) suffered badly from period pains. Her husband noted when she was in labour that she seemed in less pain than when her period pains where bad. She said they hurt, but she coped much better with them, contractions are productive whereas period pains just hurt.

 

[JayDee]

Too late to change your mind now

People keep telling me 2 things....

1. It's not as bad as you think (not sure if I believe that one)
2. The minute they give you your baby you forget it all

Let's hope the second one at least is true.

 

[lottie_2007]

Its true you forget it all once you've had your baby and its also true that once a contraction has passed you forget what it was like, you dn't sit there dreading the next one because the pain goes and then comes again so its not that bad and g&a is amazing! I'm scared this time round but i can't wait to have baby here! x

 

[DaisyBee]

I usually have horrible cramping with afs. With labor I was induced so don't know if it made my labor different because of it? When I had the suppository in for 12 hours I got very crampy - very similar to period pains - but they would come & go & they were bad in my back & with my af usually isnt as bad in my back. When they started pitocin 12 hours later I could feel my bump getting really hard on the top & the bottom would be cramping up (& also feeling it in my back). Each contraction would have a starting point & building feeling - which is very unlike my period pains. My dh was watching the monitor & was deciding to be only mildly supportive if the numbers for the contraction werent building very high - until he found out that the #'s meant nothing for the amount of pain with each contraction. I could have a very mild contraction feeling wise that the # would keep climbing - and then I would be in huge pain with little #'s. So after he understood that - his support was there for me... not based on looking at the #s & that helped me cope. Later on when I was feeling much worse I actually asked the nurse if these feelings really were contractions - cause they felt so different than the ones early on. I didnt notice any hardening of my bump - just lots of pain mostly down low - sharper than period pains that I couldnt talk during. After they broke my water & changed my pitocin (they had been upping it all day - but then they added even more or something) my contractions were way worse.... needed dh to be 1 inch from my face helping me breathe & they were right on top of each other so didnt have time to recover.

I did end up with an epidural - but had walked into there with an open mind to one - so I knew that I might get one but wasnt set on it. So I was in much less pain for the end of labor & delievery.

But what JayDee said is right - as soon as my LO was there in my arms - I would have done the whole thing all over again for that ending moment. I was like a giddy kid on xmas - not tired anymore - didnt think about labor at all - the only thoughts in your mind are happiness with your baby. Its like the pain didnt matter- the moment your child is born its like nothing else matters - it was the most amazing moment of my entire life & can't be put into words. Just don't be scared of the pain - realize that its all for getting your baby here into the world (where period pains are just a pain for no reason - makes it different)

 

[Snoopy]

Thanks for taking the time to post on here guys. I really do appreciate it

DaisyBee, thank you so much for such a detailed insight into what it was like for you. Can I ask if you were active during labour?

 

[MrsPhillips]

I used to suffer badly with period pains. Yesterday I had period pains 10 times worse than what i have ever felt before. couldn't even stand up or dress myself so MW said to go in to get checked out. I thought BH weren't painful but turns out that was what it was. I'm also thinking if that is BH what the hell are contractions going to be like!!! At least with contractions you can get some pain relief. With BH all you can take is paracetamol which doesnt seem to do much!
When I went to antenatal, the MW said labour is the bodies only natural pain and becuase of that, the body deals with it well and forgets about it. Those words are keeping me positive. Good luck xx

 

[DaisyBee]

I wasnt allowed to walk around cause being on the pitocin they wanted the baby monitored all the time. So I was hooked up to the IV - which I could walk with but they had the 2 monitors attatched to my bump - one for the baby's heartrate & one for monitoring the length of contraction (the #'s that dh kept looking at). So if I had to go pee they would unhook the bump monitors & I could bring my IV with me. They also had me hooked up with my other arm to a blood pressure cuff most of the time - they just would leave it on since they were checking it so often (why I was induced - bp & baby measuring small because of bp) Well during labor bp went way down - but they still kept checking it which was very annoying.

SO - I was able to be on the birthing ball & also did standing with swaying back and forth & semi squatting ( they raised the bed way up high) & during a contraction I would lean over the bed and dh would put pressure on my lower back. After they broke my water (but before the epidural) I got really shaky - my legs wouldnt stop shaking - so I ended up being in bed for a while - which possibly wasnt helping anything - but I was afraid I'd fall to the floor with how shaky I was. I wasnt cold - just shakes. Being up and out of bed didnt really help me feel less pain - but somehow was making me feel more in control & made me feel somehow productive - dont know ... maybe it was helping cause I felt like that it was good to be out of bed.

 

[Snoopy]

Thanks DaisyBee - I guess, as you say, it's difficult to know as you were induced. I do think if I end up getting induced all my plans for an unmedicated birth will go out the window immediately and I'll go straight for the epidural. Megan's beautiful btw - was she as small as they'd feared?

MrsPhillips - sounds like your BH are even more painful than mine! I do sometimes have to stop and take a breath, often half-doubled over, but I wouldn't call them more painful than my period pains....sometimes it's just that it's a different type of af-like cramp. The bad ones that make me pause have a sort of sharp, almost colicky pain too.

 

[DaisyBee]

Snoopy - thats a good way to describe the contractions -(sharper)

Thank you - btw! I had a scan at 32+6 & they said she was weighing 4 1/2 lbs & 49%ile. 4 weeks later at 36+6 they said she was going to weigh between 4 1/2 & 5 lbs! So that she had barely grown all month! Well she was 5'14 so was a whole pound above what they thought. She is perfect but Im glad they were off on their scan!