Braxton hicks: question for 2nd time moms

BabySeals1

Just wanting to hear from you mommies out there who have already been through this once:)  How close are Braxton Hicks to what a contraction feels like?  I know that during labor they are much closer together, but for those of us going natural...does a braxton hick feel identical to the contractions during labor?  If so, once we start getting braxton hicks, I suppose we could start trying methods of 'relaxation??' 

Any advice welcomed!  Thanks 2nd timers for putting up with all us newbies and our questions that are 2nd nature to you:)

Azrayla

BH to me are a lot less painful..I didnt have BH with DD so just going off what I'm feeling this time.

Labor with DD might have been skewed because I had pitocin so my contractions were really intense.. 

Feeling wise they are the same you feel the pressure in your uterus similar to period cramps and a tightening but in active labor its just waaaaay worse.. 

BH just take me by surprise like "Okay, that was weird" labor is like OMG where is my epi??  

Like I said I didnt have natural contraction with DD so I cant really give you a natural experience. Hopefully someone else can!

BarefootAndSinging

I've never felt any discomfort from Braxton Hicks. It just kind of gets tight/hard and feels weird for a bit. "Real" contractions, by comparison, I'd say are just much more intense - not necessarily painful. But BH are kind of the practice/warm-up ones, and real labor contractions are actually opening and pushing. So yea, I guess the best way I can think to describe the difference is just much more "intense."

SockMonkeySam

BH should not hurt, just a weird feeling of your stomach tightening and than releasing. Been having them constant since 12 weeks.

You'll know when you have contractions.. It will hurt..

Lissa832

IMO, BH aren't even in the same ballpark as a real contraction.

eortman

For me, Braxton hicks were exactly like early labor contractions.  In fact, at 29 weeks, I had BH that were evenly spaced at 3 minutes apart. Of course, we went to the hospital and were monitored but were not progressing. They went on that way for several days before spacing out again, but I continued to have them throughout the day until I went into real labor.  Real labor started the same way. I went for the first 30 hours or so of labor with the same intensity of contractions before they started to intensify a little bit, but that was also probably due to the cervadil the hospital gave me to move things along.

Mereou12

I've been feeling BH daily for a couple weeks now -- my uterus will randomly tighten for anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute or so, and then relax. They're irregular and don't hurt at all (at least for me).

Real contractions HURT. Bad.