Irritable uterus vs Braxton Hicks contractions

awheeler4311

hey everyone....!

So I have been having contractions which I assumed are Braxton hicks (I'm 20w1d), but I'm noticing they happen after I pee, when I roll over, when I stand up, or if the baby is adjusting in there... Not really as sporadic as Braxton hicks seem to be (from dr Google of course). Talked to my ob about it on Tuesday at my appointment and she said cervix length is good, just drink more water... Okay, done. STILL happening. Called the OB nurse this morning and she said not to be concerned, as long as it's not 5 or more an hour. And that I need to drink 8 oz of water for every hour I'm awake. She wasn't very helpful other than that.

So my question is this, anyone experience an irritable uterus? How do you REALLY tell the difference between that and Braxton hicks? I keep freaking out thinking I'll go into preterm labor if I don't get this under control.

I know I shouldn't be concerned bc my doctor isn't and the OB nurse isn't, but I'm curious as to what the heck is going on. I do think I'm going to make an extra appointment to be tested for UTI or BV just to be safe.

Any thoughts or suggestions or help or anything would be mucho appreciated!!

lovemywildgirls

If your doctors not concerned then I would try not to worry. I think it's pretty common to start to experience Braxton hicks in the second trimester. With DD2 I started having frequent BH at 20-something weeks. I also had random spotting throughout that pregnancy and was diagnosed with an irritable uterus. Even with the irritable uterus I didn't go into labor until a week past my EDD. This pregnancy I started having frequent BH at 13 weeks and was told that I have an irritable uterus again. I need to drink lots of water and lay down if I have more than 5 BH in an hr. If they continue for 3 hrs straight then I will need to get check at ER. I'm 18 wks now and the BH are actually becoming more infrequent which is nice. I usually only get them now after sex, lots of walking, or heavy cleaning around the house.

cnoelle92

With my last two pregnancies, I had a uti like every other week and it did the same thing to me. So try drinking some crangrape and go see your doctor to get tested for a uti. Hope you start feeling better hun!

awheeler4311

Thank you ladies. @lovemywildgirls‌ Makes me feel better to hear you carried past your due date. As a FTM its a sensation that is hard to not worry about when they first start happening.

@cnoelle92‌ I appreciate that! I've been chugging water. Hope it helps!

Tulips114

I have braxton hicks contractions all the time too.  I thought that an irritable uterus WAS many braxton hicks, LOL, so I really don't know the difference.

I had them all throughout both of my previous pregnancies, they landed my in L&D at 26w with my 1st, but I never went with my 2nd (even though I had more than 6 an hour plenty of times) because I knew the difference between them and real contractions.  

Mine also don't respond to drinking water, walking, etc.  But they do for many people, so definitely follow what your doctor said about drinking plenty of water.

cnoelle92

awheeler4311 said:

Thank you ladies. @lovemywildgirls‌ Makes me feel better to hear you carried past your due date. As a FTM its a sensation that is hard to not worry about when they first start happening.

@cnoelle92‌ I appreciate that! I've been chugging water. Hope it helps!

You're welcome, I hope it gives you some relief!

awheeler4311

Oh this makes me feel so much better @Ajm11‌ and @Tulips114‌ -- water doesn't seem to be making a difference, but will definitely help if it happens to be uti related (I hope). Can I ask, did either of you have cramping sensations with them? Not that it's necessarily really painful, but I can feel a sense of relief when they're over like ohhh that feels sooo much better. I think they're the worst when I'm sitting or laying down for a period of time and k go to get up, it will contract and cramp up like its stiff. When it happens when I'm sitting, I swear it feels like he is in there stretching out (I'm assuming what this will feel like when he's bigger).

I can handle annoyance! As long as baby is fine and they don't send me into real labor really early.

I really appreciate you guys. Thank you. :x

cnoelle92

awheeler4311 said:

Oh this makes me feel so much better @Ajm11‌ and @Tulips114‌ -- water doesn't seem to be making a difference, but will definitely help if it happens to be uti related (I hope). Can I ask, did either of you have cramping sensations with them? Not that it's necessarily really painful, but I can feel a sense of relief when they're over like ohhh that feels sooo much better. I think they're the worst when I'm sitting or laying down for a period of time and k go to get up, it will contract and cramp up like its stiff. When it happens when I'm sitting, I swear it feels like he is in there stretching out (I'm assuming what this will feel like when he's bigger).

I can handle annoyance! As long as baby is fine and they don't send me into real labor really early.

I really appreciate you guys. Thank you. :x

It is completely normal. As long as they are not accompanied with agonizing pain, you should be fine. It's just your body prepping for the real thing. Theres times where I lose my breath because of the pressure from the Braxton Hicks, but I have noticed the more I do keep hydrated, the less pressure.

awheeler4311

@Ajm11‌ yep that's exactly how it feels. I heard FTM confuse it for labor until the real thing and then they're like oh shit, THATS how labor feels lol

cnoelle92

Labor is no fun. You know it was so weird because I didn't even know I was in labor with my DS. I was cramping and in pain, but didn't know I was in labor. Went to the hospital and I was dilated to a 5.

wegrowsheep

I can only relate to the pain post-potty break, like everything has to shift again.
As far as the BH vs labor contractions, I agree with @Ajm11‌ . I could tell immediately when they changed, and was like, whoa, it's go time.

Tulips114

@awheeler4311  yes, some of mine definitely come with a menstrual cramp like feeling, and with my other 2 when I was further along and bigger, some of them were painful.  Not like stop you in your tracks, breathe through it pain, but definitely like an, ouch that hurts, pain.

And to be honest when I was a FTM I didn't know when labor had started.  I had a lot of cramping and a lot of (what I thought were BH) contractions that day.  If I had been tracking them I may have noticed that they were regular, but I wasn't tracking them.  And then my water broke, so that's how I knew to go in.  With my 2nd though, I did know when it changed.

It's definitely unsettling, especially as a FTM.  I was always worried.  

lfaithlove

The other day I literally googled "can wearing tight pants give you Braxton Hicks?" because my maternity leggings got paint on them (so tragic) so I'd switched to regular leggings that were squeezing my bump a bit and I started having BH contractions. The question had been asked online about a thousand times, which made me feel better and not so stupid, lol. So maybe different things trigger BH for different women. Idk, I'm not a professional but I do agree with PP's not to borrow trouble worrying about something that doesn't concern your doc. Hope you feel at peace and feel better!!


Edited to fix my whole post because it only posted half of it. Grr.

ombradellarosa

I've never heard of an irritable uterus. I am resisting Googling it because I am afraid I will suddenly develop it (something of a hypochondriac).

When people talk about their uterus sometimes feeling hard and tight with pressure, I was like "Sometimes?" My uterus feels hard A LOT. It's calmed down since about a week ago but I was very aware of my uterus, just, all the time. Pressure or whatever. Not quite pain, but I was just feeling it all. the. time.

Some of you may remember that just the week before Christmas I was in the ER with persistent cramps. They lasted about 10 hours. The ER doc thought it might be an early UTI and did some tests but I have not received results. I had an OB appointment yesterday and asked to be re-tested, because now it hurts every time I have to pee. I wasn't sold on the idea at first, but it really seems like a UTI now. My doctor told me that it looks like dehydration and I need to drink more water, but we're still waiting on the culture. She says that for everything though.

I also have an incredibly active baby. She is kicking all the time and the U/S tech kept telling her "Hold still!" so she could get the shots she needed. So Idk if that's related.

I wish I had thought to ask about why I feel so much pressure in my uterus during the appointment. I forgot to ask the doctor basically everything that I intended to. I feel like we spent three or four times the time waiting for her that we did actually seeing her. It was an incredibly short appointment and if it hadn't been for getting my #1 priority, finding out that the A/S came back fine, it would have felt like a total waste. Then again, I'm sure I would have got "Drink more water!" to everything. Itchy arms and legs? Drink more water! Pressure in the uterus? Drink more water! If drinking a gallon of water a day will really make all my symptoms go away, someone tell me because I will do it.The other doctor in the office has the constant refrain of "It's normal." Apparently cramping is normal, even if it is severe and lasts for ten hours. Idk what to do with these people.

ETA: Sorry I post a wall of text on everything

awheeler4311

I'm sorry @ombradellarosa‌ you're going through that. I'm so with you on all of it! My baby is super active all of the time too (the tech was like, "oh you'll feel this baby!") great, he's 12oz right now I'm scared to think what I'll be feeling at 6-7lbs. #FTMproblems

Anyway, water hasn't been helping much, but can't hurt. I have a lot of pressure and cramping too. But it does come and go. I'll have a contraction with a little bit stronger of a cramp followed by a constant dull cramp for sometimes a few hours. Sometimes my whole body will ache. I feel like such a whiny brat! Being pregnant is no joke. Especially for hypochondriacs.

Maybe call back and speak to the OB nurse like I did. Although, yeah she told me it's normal, but I felt better just talking to her. Also, hearing other ladies on here has made me feel 1 million times better to know it's fairly normal. Such a weird sensation when it first starts happening!

OnWayto3

First thought: GO TO YOUR DOCTOR.

That said, I have an 'irritable uterus' per doc's diagnosis. First pregnancy, put on bed rest; second pregnancy, managed to carry on as normal till the end. Both resulted in full-term babies.

Having a pissy uterus, at least for me, means labor-like contractions. I also have BH, but mid-way through second trimester the intense contrax begin. Doubled-over, no denying contractions. I would get hooked up with the non-stress test over and over, which showed full-on contractions happening. However, I wasn't dilating. This was the key. No dilation = no labor. The difference? Labor doesn't stop...keeps on keepin' even beyond the hour that the others would continue. Timed to near-perfection.