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

 

[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...

 

[Serene123]

"Ouch!"

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

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



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

 

[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!

 

[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 ...

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[Glitterfairy]

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

 

[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...

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[staycutee]

thanks ladies.

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[lozenge]

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

 

[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.)

 

[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

 

[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

 

[Helen]

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. I wish someone would've told me that beforehand. Contractions don't contract they just hurt.

 

[JennieyL]

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!