what do regular contractions feel like

babygirlm181

i am pregnant with my first baby and dont know anything about what contractions really feel like i know everyone is different but i would like to know how it felt for you
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kris_kelsey

BH felt like tightening of my belly that sometimes made my ribs hurt (from the hard uterus) or made me feel like I had to pee (from the head), but usually just made my pulse slightly faster while it was happening.  sometimes i wouldn't even feel the ctx coming but i would feel that feeling in my chest as my heart rate quickened and then i would notice it start a few seconds later.

My strong labor contractions felt like hard tightening of the whole belly but for me the most intense pain was in the lower abdominal area where it felt like intense burning energy, and my back (had back labor) felt like the bones were all being pushed out of place and the nerves were on fire.  That sounds dramatic, but I had a very fast and intense labor.  on a 1-10 pain scale, i would never have rated my worst pain a 10...more like 8ish.

iarhyme

Im in the same boat as you...I asked my obgyn last week at my appt and she said "oh trust me you will know that ure having contractions" another friend of mine told me its like period pains but a million times worse 

they start out a "lighter" pain and then get gradually more painful.  I want to know what they are like too, but soon enough I guess we will  

babygirlm181

i know they feel like really bad period cramps i have had period cramps to the point i am crying my eyes out but that was when my period was late i just hope when i am in labor that its fast because i dont want an eparduler because i hate needels and no one will tell me how that really feels ether
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JulesFo

babygirlm181:

i know they feel like really bad period cramps i have had period cramps to the point i am crying my eyes out but that was when my period was late i just hope when i am in labor that its fast because i dont want an eparduler because i hate needels and no one will tell me how that really feels ether

 

I also have terrible cramps during my period -- like, lay in the fetal position for a day and a half. But contractions are harder than that once they start getting intense. They do feel like the most intense menstrual cramps, but they tighten and take up your entire stomach/ Makes sense -- since before you're pregnant, your uterus is small and by the time you give birth, your uterus takes up a LOT more space! 

They start out manageable and gradually get stronger and more painful. What made me most grateful for an epidural is that I could almost handle the contractions when they were shorter and farther apart. But they were exhausting me when they were coming back-to-back.

Re: what the epidural is like...really piddly compared to contractions, IMO. You have to hunch over the table and you don't see the needle. It pinches going in and the medicine itself feel like a burning sensation as it starts to enter. But like I said, I vastly preferred it to contractions!  

JulesFo

I should add that once I got my epidural, I had a wonderful labor and delivery experience. Sounds crazy, but I enjoyed it!

Damiensmommy45

On the note of the epi, I never even seen the needle or felt it. Ive had people tell me it hurt but I was already dialated to 8cm by the time I got it. I was more than willing to have the epidural because anything was better than the back labor. To each their own on that subject. As a side note, I have known several women who do not want the epi and still end up asking for it once it gets time