How do contractions start?

[Jezzielin]

You'd think I would remember! But I had two me trial like cramps today, crossing I to the painful threshold. Is this how it starts then just gets more consistent and spreading upwards?

I can't remember but having plenty of BH. And that's another thing, why do BH not hurt but contractions do? Just curious lol, does it involve different muscles?

 

[sg0720]

Yes that is how bh can start but don't let them fool u because they can get pretty intense I thought 2x I was for sure Gona go in and nope it all just stopped.

 

[jlw617]

Not sure why they feel different but I know I've had tons of bh with this one starting from around 20 weeks! For me the difference is when they feel like menstrual cramps that won't go away...with both of my previous labours, they started out with menstrual like cramps that continued on and eventually got worse although with my second, they stayed pretty mild until after the doctor broke my waters, so I'd say consistency is key.

 

[icegurl470]

With my first I was sitting on the couch playing with my breast pump and I got this cramp/squeezing type pain in my lower back that kinda wrapped around my sides and I immediately had to go #2. Then like 30 minutes later it happened again then like 20 minutes then I started getting nausea and vomiting.. I thought I had food poisoning or something, but then when the pains starting coming every 10-12 minutes I knew it was "real" contractions.

 

[2have4kids]

With my first I was sitting on the couch playing with my breast pump and I got this cramp/squeezing type pain in my lower back that kinda wrapped around my sides and I immediately had to go #2. Then like 30 minutes later it happened again then like 20 minutes then I started getting nausea and vomiting.. I thought I had food poisoning or something, but then when the pains starting coming every 10-12 minutes I knew it was "real" contractions.

Playing with your breast pump hey? I was told that self expressing can help bring contractions/start the oxytocin flowing as well as a few other things but this is as close to a great description as I've ever heard. Thank you!

 

[Eleanor ace]

With my 1st it started like ad period pains which only lasted about 30-45 seconds, so I'd move around to try to ease them and they would go which would make me think it was down to just being uncomfortable. I had that for about 30 minutes and then they ramped up to where they were unmistakably contractions and I was breathing/rocking/moaning through them.
With my 2nd I had mild cramps through the nigh, enough to half wake me an make me think that maybe labour was on its way. They increased but I still wasn't sure, as I'd been having some strong contractions for a few weeks and had got to expecting them, but then transition hit and I got the urge to push so I knew it was labour

 

[icegurl470]

With my first I was sitting on the couch playing with my breast pump and I got this cramp/squeezing type pain in my lower back that kinda wrapped around my sides and I immediately had to go #2. Then like 30 minutes later it happened again then like 20 minutes then I started getting nausea and vomiting.. I thought I had food poisoning or something, but then when the pains starting coming every 10-12 minutes I knew it was "real" contractions.

Playing with your breast pump hey? I was told that self expressing can help bring contractions/start the oxytocin flowing as well as a few other things but this is as close to a great description as I've ever heard. Thank you!

Yes, I think in my case using the breast pump did trigger labor, It happened probably within 5 minutes of using it. I had been doing stuff all day to bring on labor and I had finally gave up and was sitting on the couch relaxing when I decided to try nipple stimulation with my breast pump as a last stitch effort and it worked lol. I had also had a stretch/sweep about 36hrs before.

 

[susan_1981]

With my first, I was actually at the hospital when it happened as my waters had broke (but I hadn't experienced any contractions at that point) and I remember sitting on the bed and thinking that I felt a short cramping - like period pain - but then I thought I was imagining it and that it was nerves because having your first baby is pretty nerve wracking stuff. But then they kept coming and kept getting stronger.

With my second, for the first hour, I literally felt like I needed a poo and had a bad stomach ache. I didn't have any contractions at that point, just felt like I needed the loo. I literally spent an hour on the toilet then I started to notice that the pain was coming and going every 3 minutes. I think about 2.5 hours after the actual contractions started (not the stomach ache), I gave birth to my second son x