Contractions...do you feel a distinct start and stop?

LovingStepMom · February 2011

I have been contracting for over a week and half (I know because of the change in my cervix, the pain and confirmation from my doctors)

The other day I had pain that was really bad...knew it was contractions, because I have NEVER felt anything like them before in my life, and yes I've been having BH too. I know what those feel like.

However, I am having trouble identifying the beginning and end of one. I swear it felt like I had one right after another. Then, when they stop, my whole lower part and back stay sore for some time.

Do you feel a distinct start and stop when you contract? I heard you should be able to talk and breathe through them early on. The ones I had the other day were very hard to talk through.

TIA!

wifeofadam · February 2011

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. If I'm sitting quietly and really focusing or if the contractions are really intense, I can feel a distinct stop and start. But if I am busy and on my feet doing stuff sometimes I will just notice that my belly is really hard and hurting, and it feels like it stays that way for a long time without "breaks" like it is when I am off my feet.

I had some at the beginning of the week that were pretty bad. I actually made my husband rub my back through them. I'm just hoping they are actually doing something and I'm not going through this pain for nothing!

thatsmary · February 2011

I did not. I started counting time when they got to intensity and I knew it was a contraction and I stopped when I could breathe again.

JerkStore213 · February 2011

For me, in the very beginning, it felt like just a cramp - and it definitely started and stopped. By the time they got bad though, there was no mistaking it. It was like going over a hill or something. It's not a constant pain, it builds and then goes down. I had the back pain too with mine. I don't know if I had back labor because I didn't have the back pain in between contractions.

luvdv8 · February 2011

Get your SO to sit with you when you're having them- they can feel the top of your uterus muscle tightening and releasing better than you can because there's residual pain that can obscure it. Or sit with your hand at the top of your bump- when it clenched like a bicep being flexed that's the start and when it softens that's the stop- regardless of any extra issues outside of it. When you're at the hospital that's how the contraction monitors detect them. Though when you're in full labor there will be little to no releasing of that muscle.

MrsTotty · February 2011

With my first, it was really hard for me to identify the begging/end of each contraction too. I had no idea how to time them at home. It was easier once I was hooked up to the monitor at the hospital and could visually see them start/stop.

hot_mom_nyc · February 2011

I know these contractions. I had them Monday for hours and timing seemed impossible. They were all over the place and then the baby would kick in response. They didn't feel like 'cramps' but like sharp pains. Walking made mine worse. The doctor confirmed that these were "real contractions" not BH as they dilated and effaced me some more. She said it is not uncommon for contractions to start and stop in the days/weeks preceding labor. I have not had anything that intense since Monday. Next time I will try holding the fundus to feel the contraction. When the contractions are progressive and we are about to go into labor it will be easier to time. Good luck! It sounds like you are close

sbuxsweetie · February 2011

MrsTotty:
With my first, it was really hard for me to identify the begging/end of each contraction too. I had no idea how to time them at home. It was easier once I was hooked up to the monitor at the hospital and could visually see them start/stop.

This exactly. I had no idea when one started and stopped, but the monitors at the hospital allowed me to recognize what was going on. Still, though, I would describe my "real" contractions as feeling like one big, neverending cramp that increased in intensity every few minutes.

caymarks · February 2011

I have had these exact contractions for well over a week now. At least 3/4 of everyday. I was admitted to the hospital with them at 35 weeks because I was starting to dilate. Once I made it to 36 weeks they said that they would just let me contract. While at the hospital they asked me how I knew I was contracting. I told them I really didn't know, but just knew my stomach was hard as a rock all the time and I couldn't time any contractions. They said the reason was that I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes and closer sometimes and that would make it really hard to tell when one would stop and start because I would still feel residual pain after one stopped which then led right back into the next one. Within the week they have dilated me to 3cm, but not enough to get me admitted for good.

They are only painful when I start feeling them in my ribs. But they are for the most part tolerable. Other than that the only pain I feel is the bruising the contractions are causing at the very top of my stomach.

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