Do contractions always hurt??

steenbean18 · August 2012

I've been having lots of braxton hicks the past few days. Last night I woke up about half a dozen times with period-like cramps. Everyone seems to describe contractions as being crampy, but these didn't hurt...they were just more "icky" feeling than anything. Are they still counted as contractions if they don't hurt and my belly doesn't get hard? TIA!

mrs+harlow · August 2012

Labor contractions hurt. There's no mistaking them when they rear their head.

verybusymomto4 · August 2012

Trust me, there is NO mistake when you are real contractions, you will know the minute you have one. Maybe that icky feeling feeling was hunger pains? I know when i sleep in a bit, i get this crampy feeling and i just go eat and feel better.

steenbean18 · August 2012

It was definitely period-like cramps, nothing like hunger pains....guess I'll just wait it out...

LadyMadrid08 · August 2012

FWIW I really think every woman is different. My mom said her labors (aside from her first with my brother) she felt more crampy than anything almost up until transition. Everyone says you'll know for sure, but there are certainly women who've had contractions that were not that painful then ended up in transition before they knew it.

Not saying it's the norm, but it does happen and contractions aren't always painful (according to my mother--mine were painful, but only after a couple hours and the starting ones were for sure real because my water had already broken). In any event, not much you can do but wait it out. I hope it happens for you soon!

TrudyCampbell · August 2012

You will know when you're having real labor contractions. I thought I was many times before I was in labor, but once labor actually came I realized I was a fool for thinking what I felt previously was "real". You will KNOW! Good luck.

AndBabyWouldMake5 · August 2012

steenbean18:
It was definitely period-like cramps, nothing like hunger pains....guess I'll just wait it out...

I get these an night and they almost seem to establish a pattern and then go away enough that I can fall asleep. My doctor said they are false labor, but that my labor will probably start out that way BUT then they'll establish a pattern and I'll know it is real labor.

ssennett18 · August 2012

Lurking here but I thought my contractions were 5 minutes apart and when I got to the hospital they said they were 2 minutes apart I just wasn't feeling everyone. My contractions didn't start to really hurt until after water broke. Hth

nicolerae32 · August 2012

Your tummy will get hard. And every person is different with pain and contractions..I just had my son on Saturday and my contractions did not hurt at all I was just crampy and my tummy got hard. Also with my DD my contractions never hurt.

misspunky · August 2012

You'll definitely know when they're real contractions. My BH have been getting stronger and more frequent and have felt like period cramps. If they don't progressively get stronger and closer in timing, they're just BH.

lindsay.lou · August 2012

My water broke and I ended up going to L&D 9 hours later thinking I hadn't had a single contraction (besides BH). When they checked me and hooked me up to the monitor they said I was 2.5 cm and contracting regularly every 5-7 minutes. These were 100% painless for me. Of course, once the pit started and the contractions picked up to every 3-4 minutes, there was NO mistaking them.

wannabigfam · August 2012

My labor contractions did not hurt. I was 9.5 cm dilated when I arrived at the hospital; on a pain scale of 1-10 mine never were above a 5. When I called the hospital they told me to not come in b/c I wasn't in enough pain yet for it to be "real" - glad I ignored them b/c we went ahead and went in right away and I was ready to push. I don't know if it was my use of the Bradley method for relaxation or what, but I honestly thought period cramps were WAY worse. Also, I could sometimes feel my belly tighten during labor, but not with every contraction and it wasn't easy to tell by touching my belly that I was in labor. I've had my midwife tell me I'm having Braxton hicks before and I can't even tell at all.

gilbrech · August 2012

I was told that I would absolutely know when I was having labor contractions. I went into preterm labor at 32 weeks without my contractions hurting. I called the on-call doctor the night before and told him that I thought I was having contractions but they didn't hurt at all. He said that I would know when I was in labor because they would cause me to stop everything. So, I went to sleep and slept through the night perfectly fine. The next morning when I woke up and was still having them I went to the hospital. Turns out they were two minutes apart by that time. Trust your intuition. If you think something is going on, it is better to be safe than sorry.

RockyMtnMama · August 2012

Yes and no...active labor contractions have strong feelings, pre-labor contractions can be anything from BH every few minutes (with no pain, just tightness) to period like cramps and back aches (also often - <10-min apart).

I would just drink lots of water, relax on your left and see if they go away. If they don't I'd bet you're in early, early labor and that your body is starting to work for you. Good luck, hope they don't last long before you get to active labor.

riah3377 · August 2012

gilbrech:
I was told that I would absolutely know when I was having labor contractions. I went into preterm labor at 32 weeks without my contractions hurting. I called the on-call doctor the night before and told him that I thought I was having contractions but they didn't hurt at all. He said that I would know when I was in labor because they would cause me to stop everything. So, I went to sleep and slept through the night perfectly fine. The next morning when I woke up and was still having them I went to the hospital. Turns out they were two minutes apart by that time. Trust your intuition. If you think something is going on, it is better to be safe than sorry.

This is almost identical to what I went through. I went into labor at 32 weeks and I was relatively fine and convinced it was just BH b/c I could still walk around and talk. In fact when I arrived at the hospital (& we only went b/c I wanted to make sure baby was fine, not b/c I thought I was in labor) and told them they were 2 mins apart the nurses didn't take me seriously b/c I was talking fine, not out of breath and I didn't describe the pain as that strong. When I was finally checked I was 5 cm and it was too late to stop anything. And I never thought I was someone with a strong threshold for pain either. So I definitely think its different for everyone, and it NEVER hurts to check in with your doc/go to the hospital if you think it might be labor.

seraphiclust · August 2012

I think it depends on the woman, the pregnancy and how early on in labor you -may- be.

With DD I started losing my mp the night of 37w0d and there on out I began contracting all night and day anywhere from 5-10 minutes apart. They weren't anything more than crampy, uncomfortable period pain the first day/day and a half (but enough where I had a hard time sleeping). The pain of the contractions got worse every day but timing was all over the place so I didn't go to the hospital.

37w3d in the morning I called my OB exhausted and was informed I was having prodromal labor and I could go into active labor anytime..in a half hour or a couple weeks. Technically I was in early labor but it was really slow and more uncomfortable than anything. I knew the night of 37w3d when the pain became much harder to ignore that I wanted to just go to LD and get checked. I was 4cm when I arrived and had DD the next day, 37w4d.

The contractions for me weren't painful enough to need to use relaxation/breathing techniques until I was between 4-6 cm and they just got worse from there. I guess long story short what I'm trying to say is they could be very early labor..or they could be BH. Like PP said you will more than likely know for sure when you need to go to the hospital - so just wait it out! You'll know soon enough

lindsay.lou · August 2012

wannabigfam:
My labor contractions did not hurt. I was 9.5 cm dilated when I arrived at the hospital; on a pain scale of 1-10 mine never were above a 5. When I called the hospital they told me to not come in b/c I wasn't in enough pain yet for it to be "real" - glad I ignored them b/c we went ahead and went in right away and I was ready to push. I don't know if it was my use of the Bradley method for relaxation or what, but I honestly thought period cramps were WAY worse. Also, I could sometimes feel my belly tighten during labor, but not with every contraction and it wasn't easy to tell by touching my belly that I was in labor. I've had my midwife tell me I'm having Braxton hicks before and I can't even tell at all.

So. Jealous.

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