I'm a first time mommy and am close to 38 weeks right now. I feel as though I may be having contractions that are pretty consistent, but then again I don't even know if they ARE contractions! Anytime I ask someone what I should be looking/feeling for I get the annoying, generic answer- "Oh you'll know!" Could someone PLEASE give me a hint as to what I should or should not be feeling when I'm "contracting"? Right now I'm feeling pressure/tightening in my lower pelvic region, but a lot of times I have a lot of lower back pain. Help please!
Some other threads are discussing this today too... I've always heard it will feel like tightening and period cramps, and that the pain wraps around from your back to your abdomen. But, I think everyone probably experiences this type of thing a little bit differently. It definitely is confusing as a FTM!
Baby being low in your pelvis can cause both a crampy feeling and lower back pain. When you have a crampish feeling that wraps around to the front, comes consistently, lasts around a minute and doesn't go away with a change in activity then they might be contractions. No one can give you a straight answer because they feel different for different people. It's not cut and dry enough. My contractions with my first were extremely mild and never "painful" until they broke my waters right before I had to push. I only guessed I was in labor because of the consistensy and that I had never felt the same wrapping sensation with menstrual cramps. My contractions with my second were fast and furious and I then understood why people said labor hurt!
Take this with a grain of salt and please call your doctor if you are concerned.
Call your doctor please! I call my midwife everytime I'm not sure. They are paid to give you answers. I just posted a thread called 'period cramps'. Check out the responses. They helped me tons. Good luck!
ETA: I don't have time for this today. It's football Sunday for God's sake. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to watching Lion's piss their game away.
Not yet.... It's looking much better now megatron for the TD!!! My husband is a HUGE Lions fan
ETA: I don't have time for this today. It's football Sunday for God's sake. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to watching Lion's piss their game away.
Not yet.... It's looking much better now megatron for the TD!!! My husband is a HUGE Lions fan
I appreciate the ones that have me an honest response, sorry to the others that I apparently "wasted" your time. Don't believe I specifically asked for each one of your snotty sarcastic comments. Thought this forum was supposed to help ppl rather than bully each other?? Again, thank you to those of you who posted an honest response! I really appreciate it!
Don't believe I asked for medical advice. Asked for "hints" in what I should feel/look for in contractions. As there are other moms on here that have been through this, I thought this would be a great place to turn for advice.
Don't believe I asked for medical advice. Asked for "hints" in what I should feel/look for in contractions. As there are other moms on here that have been through this, I thought this would be a great place to turn for advice.
Pick up a damn book or Google. We're not here to spoon feed you information.
Six years of infertility and loss, four IUIs, one IVF and one very awesome little boy born via med-free birth 10.24.13.
I always end up regretting trying to help the newbies. Why don't I ever learn my lesson? I'm waiting for the one that doesn't turn out to be a meany head. Somebody please restore my faith in humanity.
The problem is that "you'll know" is about all the information we have to work with, too! If I can't tell whether I am having contractions myself, how on earth can I tell you?
Your doctor, on the other hand, has worked with hundreds of pregnant women, has seen you and your body in person, and is an expert, and has access to machines that can tell whether you're contracting or not. If they don't have an answer more satisfying, either (a) you need a new doctor, or (b) you are going to just have to accept that this process is pretty damn mysterious, and none of us knows the answers.
I mean, I could tell you that I think you're having contractions, but I'm also the person who didn't know when I was contracting myself, and the person who thought I was contracting when I really just had indigestion.
WE DON'T KNOW. That's the point. Getting huffy at us for not being able to give you certainty isn't helpful, or nice.
Iris born Halloween 2013! 6 lbs, 1 oz, 18 inches long
Don't believe I asked for medical advice. Asked for "hints" in what I should feel/look for in contractions. As there are other moms on here that have been through this, I thought this would be a great place to turn for advice.
Uhh pregnancy is NOT a video game there are no hints. There is education and stupidity.
Also? You totally don't want me to answer. I'm the pregnant lady who got to 7cm/active labor without really feeling contractions even when I was watching them at 1-2 minutes apart on the monitors and could see my belly contracting. You're welcome for that. Hope it's super helpful.
Six years of infertility and loss, four IUIs, one IVF and one very awesome little boy born via med-free birth 10.24.13.
I am about to have my 4th and non of my contractions ever felt the same. If u can time them and they are lasting a min with 5 or more in a hour call ur dr. This is what mine told me last week.
OP: If you lurk this board AT ALL, you would have known what type of responses you would get to this before you even decided to post it. If you don't like the snark on N'13, I suggest finding a new home. Though I'm not sure if your question would get much better of a response on the 3rd Tri board, you could definitely try there next time...maybe they have more patience for drive-by repeats.
As for why you got the type of response you did: ALWAYS check the first page of posts before creating your own, you are likely not the only person looking for answers to your question. Also, use the search function on TB and with issues as common as this, it would probably be beneficial to search 3rd Tri because you KNOW it's been asked a million times there before. Also, talk to your doctor about what symptoms you should be looking for, make a list throughout the week and make sure to have an open dialog with him/her at every appointment.
After all of that, if you are still looking for information to fill in the blanks THEN feel free to post a discussion asking for personal experiences. Work on educating yourself first, that's not our job.
Didn't you guys know that @meryan12 was a white knight? She's all about coddling and blowing smoke up women's asses. She thinks TB is only for that and jumps on board to coddle OPs.
Re: Contractions????
When in doubt though, I'd contact the on-call OB.
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You kill me with these!! Dammit they are so cute and hilarious!!!
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Again, thank you to those of you who posted an honest response! I really appreciate it!
Your doctor, on the other hand, has worked with hundreds of pregnant women, has seen you and your body in person, and is an expert, and has access to machines that can tell whether you're contracting or not. If they don't have an answer more satisfying, either (a) you need a new doctor, or (b) you are going to just have to accept that this process is pretty damn mysterious, and none of us knows the answers.
I mean, I could tell you that I think you're having contractions, but I'm also the person who didn't know when I was contracting myself, and the person who thought I was contracting when I really just had indigestion.
WE DON'T KNOW. That's the point. Getting huffy at us for not being able to give you certainty isn't helpful, or nice.
Iris born Halloween 2013! 6 lbs, 1 oz, 18 inches long
This is awesome!!!! I think you win the internet today!
Married 2012
DD: 3 yo
TTC #2 August 2017
M/C 9/21/09 | M/C 12/24/09 | BFP 1/23/10
Madeline Rey DOB 9/30/10
TTC # 2 Jan 2013
BFP 3/12/13 | EDD 11/18/13
It's a GIRL! Lydia Marie!