Contraction Question

DDearinger

I don't know if I've had contractions yet... I've read different explanations of them and I don't think I've felt them.  I feel LO move around and kick and punch and give me hell, but that's about it (that i'm aware of).  Do some people not feel contractions?? Or is this a sign that LO is going to be horrendously late?

savannahtus

i have heard from a few people (and it is just what i have heard) because im in the same boat as you!  anyways i have heard that some people dont even know they are having braxton hicks (they think its a kick or something else), they only know it when they go into labor. 

bannedmonkey

Um, you're only 37 weeks. Are you talking about BHs?

DDearinger

M.Monkey.:

Um, you're only 37 weeks. Are you talking about BHs?

Both BHs and regular contractions... my doctor always asks if I have felt any, and I don't think I have, but maybe I have and I just don't know it.

Jennys1stBaby

You would only feel regular contractions if you were going into labor, and if this is your first, you probably don't have to worry about it for another 3 weeks.  They say when you have one, you'll know it.

SethandSara

I would get this question at 37 weeks, too and I never knew an answer b/c this is my first child.  I got an NST for the first time last week b/c I'm overdue and apparently I had two contractions that I didn't even feel.  The first one felt like baby was stretching out and stomping on my bladder. I've felt it a million times before, but my DH looked at the machine and said it was actually a contraction.  I wonder if baby just moved at the same time I was having a contraction--that makes more sense to me.  I've heard it feels like your abdomen is balling up and gets really tight. If you press on the top of your uterus during a contraction it's supposed to feel hard, like your forehead.  I just spoke to a nurse who said that sometimes it feels like your baby is moving around or balling up, but it's really a contraction. I'm worried about not feeling them either and I was reassured that I'd know it. They start out as menstral cramps then they wrap around your abdomen. They get stronger and stronger as they get closer together.  Sometimes you have back labor and my understanding is that it feels like regular contractions in your back, not like constant back pain.