Braxton Hicks? I have no idea what that was... (xp Feb 2012)

mintea

Saturday night I woke up at 1am with the worst back pain. It felt like really bad menstrual cramps or maybe intestinal cramps. I felt like I really needed to poop but I had already pooped earlier that day so I wasn't constipated or anything. I don't think I noticed any abdominal tightening but LO was really active and I read that some people can not notice abdominal tightening because they think it's LO pushing the uterine wall. I threw up and paced around the house and tried to see if there was any timing to the pain but it didn't seem rhythmic. I was able to fall asleep after about an hour and I woke up totally fine feeling and haven't felt anything amiss since. Is this was BH feels like? Or maybe just random strange back pain? Everything I read makes it sound a lot like genuine labor, but it just entirely went away. Should I be making a special call to my OB just for this or can I just report it at my next appointment in two weeks? I was going to call her that morning if I was still hurting, but it all went away so I didn't.

GalwayGirl80

Real labor contractions hurt and feel like menstrual cramps/intestinal cramps. Braxton Hicks are just uncomfortable but should not hurt... Next time I would call your OB if this happens again.

AliW220

No that doesn't sound like BH at all.  My BH are a tightening of my uterus, like as if I was doing an ab crunch, except it's completely out of my control.  Alot of people say BH shouldn't hurt... I disagree... I have tons of BH, my Dr says I have an irritable uterus. I wouldn't say they are painful, but more like uncomfortable and seriously annoying.  If I'm dehydrated, they are more on the painful side. 

I've had similar experiences lately, the bad back pain like you're really constipated, but you're not at all.  It was probably just something you ate that didn't sit very well. I'm having an increasingly hard time eating foods that are just slightly fatty, and fried foods are terrible on my stomach and intestines.  Since you're not having diarrhea or vomiting frequently for hours on end, I wouldn't worry about it, but make sure to mention it to your dr at the next appt. GL!

Babycakes29

AliW220:

No that doesn't sound like BH at all.  My BH are a tightening of my uterus, like as if I was doing an ab crunch, except it's completely out of my control.  Alot of people say BH shouldn't hurt... I disagree... I have tons of BH, my Dr says I have an irritable uterus. I wouldn't say they are painful, but more like uncomfortable and seriously annoying.  If I'm dehydrated, they are more on the painful side. 

This is true for me too. And at my last appointment I asked my OB about BH and when I told him that I thought they weren't supposed to hurt he kinda chuckled and said, "Just because you're not actually going into labor doesn't mean the BH won't hurt. It could definitely be mildly painful." HTH

Kmalissa08

I had the same cramping & back pain. I went to L&D after it went on all day. I wasn't in labor because the contractions eventually stopped, but I did dilate to 2cm.