Braxton Hicks Extravaganza

cauliflowereyes · January 2014

Yeesh! I'm sitting here at 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant and my body's decided to have a Braxton Hicks party out of nowhere. I'll often get at least a handful of them every day - especially in the evening - but these squeezy fellas are happening every few minutes or so and feel really *tight*! They don't hurt, but are weird enough that I feel like I have to "breathe through them".

Anyone else having a Braxton Hicks extravaganza tonight? Settle down, ute - this is getting old really fast!

halfthetree · January 2014

Ya mine are getting pretty strong lately. The past two nights have been really annoying, complete with cramping. If only this correlated with shorter labours... We can dream:)

PeachLove25 · January 2014

Right there with ya! Stopped my procardia yesterday and they're definitely more frequent and more painful now! Drink lots of water and relish in the thought that our babies will be here soon!

spicysurro · January 2014

Yeap 37 weeks and 4 days and these things are coming all the time.

vanillalatte89 · January 2014

I am almost 36wks and i have yet to have any. Wierd!

mythaldo · January 2014

I'm right there with ya! My irritable uterus was being kind to me most of this week so I only had a couple of BH that required a little extra concentration to breathe through, but last night and today I've had some awful ones. I try timing them out, but they're not that frequent. They last on average 4-5 minutes so I know they're not the real deal, but I've had some lightening crotch, cramping and back pain along with them occasionally so I've had to double over a couple times today to keep my shit together at work. I hit the water hard and they've definitely lightened up at least.

jrosa1 · January 2014

SWalkerRN said:
I am almost 36wks and i have yet to have any. Wierd!

Me too!

tiggernorton04 · January 2014

DreamingBabies said:
I'm convinced with as many Braxton Hicks that I'm not going to know when it's the real deal unless my water breaks.
STM's and moms with outside babies, can you reassure me that real contractions are different? What's different about them?

Trust me, you will know. Real contractions are like 1,000 times more painful than cramps!

magentawarped · January 2014

DreamingBabies said:
I'm convinced with as many Braxton Hicks that I'm not going to know when it's the real deal unless my water breaks.
STM's and moms with outside babies, can you reassure me that real contractions are different? What's different about them?

Yep, you'll know. They hit you like a brick.

snowwhite1979 · January 2014

I didn't have BH with my first but I had back labour, which felt a lot like the "big girl" version of what I'm having now (not sure how yours feel, this was just me). Biggest difference last time was that they came in waves regularly and there was nothing that would stop them, they just got more extreme and came faster. And then when I felt like pushing everyone needed to GTF away from me or die trying.

Codypup · January 2014

Thank you, STMs for the reassurance that I'll KNOW when real contractions hit. I'm in pain, but I can't tell if its just achey muscles, BH, or what.

MoxyByProxy · January 2014

Had a round of these the other night. My nurse says.. the real deal don't go away and get more intense.

I have 2ds so I've been thru labor before but these that i get feel real but go away when i get up and move around.

churst23 · January 2014

Same here

drinking tons of water but mine have also become crampy BH which is so annoying. I just want to get some laundry done but no way with these cramps!

cauliflowereyes · January 2014

Yeah, I've heard that real actual-factual labor contractions feel like deadly menstrual cramps. I know ALL about how those feel, so I won't be too confused when that part goes down, ha.

I haven't looked it up in any reputable sources, but this thing I hear all the time about BHs gearing your ute up for a possible "shorter" labor and I'm intrigued... Wonder if there's some sciencey truth to that!

MoxyByProxy · January 2014

cauliflowereyes said:
Yeah, I've heard that real actual-factual labor contractions feel like deadly menstrual cramps. I know ALL about how those feel, so I won't be too confused when that part goes down, ha.

I haven't looked it up in any reputable sources, but this thing I hear all the time about BHs gearing your ute up for a possible "shorter" labor and I'm intrigued... Wonder if there's some sciencey truth to that!

sorry to disappoint but if that were the case we'd have many many more express birth stories!

cauliflowereyes · January 2014

Good point! I guess if everyone's labor was predicted by their BH experiences we'd all have 20-minute jiffy babies!

MoxyByProxy · January 2014

If i didn't live 40 minutes from the hosp. I'd be on board with that lol

karich · January 2014

Braxton hicks are like butterflies landing on your stomach compared to real contractions.
You'll know.

cauliflowereyes · January 2014

At least four or five times I've thought that the cramps accompanying a bout of BHs could possibly be the start of real contractions, but each time it's always proved to be the start of a marathon tooting session.

A relief in more ways than one!

cmsdouglas · January 2014

Yep. We actually went into L&D on Saturday because they felt like they were getting stronger and they were consistently 2.5 minutes apart. The nurse said I'd be able to tell the difference when they were real...

My water broke with DD and I find myself really hoping it just goes ahead and breaks again. I don't want to play the guessing game!

cjmFeb2014 · January 2014

mythaldo said:
I'm right there with ya! My irritable uterus was being kind to me most of this week so I only had a couple of BH that required a little extra concentration to breathe through, but last night and today I've had some awful ones. I try timing them out, but they're not that frequent. They last on average 4-5 minutes so I know they're not the real deal, but I've had some lightening crotch, cramping and back pain along with them occasionally so I've had to double over a couple times today to keep my shit together at work. I hit the water hard and they've definitely lightened up at least.

I'm now going to refer to BH as IUS - irritable uterus syndrome. Like IBS, only... Yeah. You know. (; Funny that I'm reading and responding to this thread as my own BH have started their nightly party. Evenings are when my ute prefers to hit the gym, I guess!

jennerbee23 · January 2014

Question: im 35 weeks and to my knowledge have not had braxtion hicks yet. Is this normal? I have read that some women esp with their first pregnancy often dont know they have them at all.

cauliflowereyes · January 2014

@jennerbee23 some women never get Braxton Hicks! Like not even one! It's not weird at all. Also, my friend just thought that her BHs were the baby deciding to push out really hard - she didn't know that they were actually contractions until she was having an ultrasound at 38 weeks (babbers was breech) and the tech said that they were happening! She was like "huh". Sometimes people have them and they're really really mild.

Reddvl · January 2014

SWalkerRN said:

I am almost 36wks and i have yet to have any. Wierd!

Same. 36 weeks tomorrow and I don't think I've ever felt one.

eg214 · January 2014

38.2 and at midnight, I had some serious pain and contractions that came on like a freight train. I decided to try to get some rest in case it was a figment of my imagination and at 2:30am, had to call my midwife bc it wasn't getting better, though I was able to eventually get bits of rest. My BP surged, I was shaking, and had diarrhea...so I really thought it was go time..or would be soon. I'm convinced because we have this snowstorm, that the weather messed me up! :-P My MW suggested I take Tylenol, head back to bed, and try to rest. They went away, back pain subsided and now I just have BH every now and again. Drinking lots of water, staying in bed, and trying to rest. I need her to stay put at least until tomorrow when this snow stops!

Tashalynn1986 · January 2014

I ended up leaving work and going to L&D triage because mine were so intense. I definitely feel your pain. Plus I'm a FTM and I was having difficulty determining BH vs contractions.

jennerbee23 · January 2014

Thank you! This makes me feel much better!!!

jdubh · January 2014

This is baby #2 for us and I didn't have BH with DD.

My water broke with her but I never felt the contractions (c-section). Now I'm supposed to go to L&D if I start having contractions for my RCS...I don't know how to tell the real one's from these bastards.

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