Abnormal braxton hicks ??

babymackey · March 2016

hello all!! I'm 34 w 1 d pregnant and have had very light and random Braxton hicks for weeks and weeks now but recently I've been having them all night long / for hours during the night and they're keeping me awake. They're very uncomfortable and even a little painful and make laying on my side uncomfortable because my stomach hurts to touch during a contraction!! The other night I had them from 8 pm until 5:45 am and slept minimally. They're starting up again now and I'm dreading the night! But I know that they are Braxton hicks and not labor because eventually they stop.

I know that the common recommendation for Braxton hicks is to drink a bunch of water and/or lay down for a bit/change positions however I have tried both of these and neither stop, slow or affect my contractions at all! Does anyone have any suggestions to help me through these sleepless nights?

TIA!

doozer1345 · March 2016

Talk to your doctor if the common remedies aren't working. I would anyways just bc it's best they know.

lalala2004 · March 2016

My doctor said to tell her if I get the that frequently, so that's what I would do.

tripledaggerWed95976 · March 2016

Like the other ladies said, I would call your doctor. I think Braxton hicks are supposed to be pretty infrequent, so if you are having them several times a night it could be a problem. Definitely call ur doc and keep us posted!

saladflambe · March 2016

Talk to your doctor.
If everything checks out with your doctor, this may just be status quo for a while.
I get BH regularly - at times, I've had them for hours on end. My doctor has said all is well and now I am just to call in if they become progressive.

Jenly17 · March 2016

If I have 4 or more in an hour, I'm supposed to call my doc. I would definitely call and see what's going on.

JessicaB0627 · March 2016

saladflambe said:

Talk to your doctor.
If everything checks out with your doctor, this may just be status quo for a while.
I get BH regularly - at times, I've had them for hours on end. My doctor has said all is well and now I am just to call in if they become progressive.

I agree with this. Call your doctor, definitely, but if everything else looks okay then you may just be dealing with this for awhile. Some women have an 'irritable uterus' which can cause regular, non-progressive contractions.

JennyS86 · March 2016

I have a ton of BHs/irritable uterus, but they don't keep me up at night. Pain and ctx that keep me up at night would be enough for me to call OB! take care!

kbrands7 · March 2016

JennyS86 said:

I have a ton of BHs/irritable uterus, but they don't keep me up at night. Pain and ctx that keep me up at night would be enough for me to call OB! take care!

Exactly this. Hopefully the pain is something that is an easy fix like LO being in an odd position. I've had lots of BH both this and last pregnancy, and sometimes BH with some pain, but not so uncomfortable to keep me up or wake me up. I hope your doctor can help!

cortney626 · March 2016

If I'm having 4 or more an hour, I'm supposed to call my dr as well.

MsIan · March 2016

Are BH something that you'll know when you have them? I thought I was having them on and off last week, and my doctor put me on an NST for other reasons and said I wasn't having any contractions at all. Sometimes I think they're BH and other times I think my belly is just hard because of whatever LO is going at the time.

LadySamLady · March 2016

I overdid it this weekend and had painful BH throughout the night on Saturday, I think only one per hour but they were strong enough to wake me up. I drank a lot of water every time I woke up and they subsided by morning. I didn't reach out to my OB because I'm pretty sure it was less than 4 per hour and I'd had a very busy day and definitely hadn't had enough water. Things have calmed down and I'm not worried but now thinking maybe I should have called my OB just to be safe, I'll definitely mention it when I see her next week.

mommar13 · March 2016

I've been having them pretty regularly this time around too, and now they're getting pretty strong at points. Not painful, but enough pressure to make me stop for a minute. I keep getting stuck trying to go upstairs

I brought it up to my midwife yesterday and she said it's pretty typical for them to start increasing at this point, so long as they aren't able to be timed or painful then it's fine. She suggested taking a calcium supplement and maybe magnesium to help if they get too annoying and as always, hydrate hydrate hydrate.

Pranks · March 2016

Hey call your doc. While mine aren't that severe but am suffering from more than normal BH. Doc gave me medicine for 15 days till my next visit and it is surely helping...

ablevins1987 · March 2016

southerngirlgetsfit · March 2016

I definitely agree to call your doctor. This happened to me last week for several hours. I ended up going in to Labor & Delivery because I also had decreased fetal movement. They said the contractions were due to me being dehydrated. Something about the same hormones in your brain that are affected by dehydration cause BH sometimes. Not saying it's definitely that in your case, but try drinking a ton of water in combination with calling your doc. Good luck!

lalala2004 · March 2016

If I could piggyback on this topic, I'm wondering if anyone else is having BHs so strongly they are difficult to talk through?

Although, I should clarify, I've been able to talk normally through them, but I'm a teacher, so if I'm trying to talk to my class (so louder and more deliberately than normal) it feels really difficult to get things out, I feel out of breath, and just find it challenging to talk to them as I normally do! Maybe this is just a teacher problem....

LadySamLady · March 2016

@lalala2004 I get BH often on my walk from work to the subway at the end of the day and keeping up the conversation with the coworker I walk with has gotten much more challenging, I get out of breath fast and just can't keep up. I'm not sure if it is the same thing but it seems to be the combination of BH and the minor exertion of walking (I have to waddle really fast to keep up with her pace) that just makes talking harder for me.

kbrands7 · March 2016

lalala2004 said:

If I could piggyback on this topic, I'm wondering if anyone else is having BHs so strongly they are difficult to talk through?

Although, I should clarify, I've been able to talk normally through them, but I'm a teacher, so if I'm trying to talk to my class (so louder and more deliberately than normal) it feels really difficult to get things out, I feel out of breath, and just find it challenging to talk to them as I normally do! Maybe this is just a teacher problem....

I get this sometimes-- and sometimes me using/overusing my ab muscles to be loud triggers them or some very hard kicks from LO. Basically, it would be nice if my students would just halt all 13yr old nonsense for the next month so I could just talk at a comfortable volume all of the time.

lalala2004 · March 2016

kbrands7 said:

lalala2004 said:

If I could piggyback on this topic, I'm wondering if anyone else is having BHs so strongly they are difficult to talk through?

Although, I should clarify, I've been able to talk normally through them, but I'm a teacher, so if I'm trying to talk to my class (so louder and more deliberately than normal) it feels really difficult to get things out, I feel out of breath, and just find it challenging to talk to them as I normally do! Maybe this is just a teacher problem....

I get this sometimes-- and sometimes me using/overusing my ab muscles to be loud triggers them or some very hard kicks from LO. Basically, it would be nice if my students would just halt all 13yr old nonsense for the next month so I could just talk at a comfortable volume all of the time.

Yes, hollering at them when they need it is getting more and more difficult. I'm having to pull out my whistle more often :P

sillyfox · March 2016

My OB said to call if I had more than 4 in an hour. I would say to call.

Mine definitely make it hard to breathe, glad I don't have to yell (except at my toddler, who doesn't listen anyway lol)

scbonnell04 · March 2016

I had a bit of a hectic day on Sunday and overdid it. I started having a few contractions with back pain and menstrual like cramping. I just grabbed and glass of water and laid down and they did settle down within an hour. That being said, I mentioned this to my nurse at my appt yesterday and she said I can always take tylenol when I get that cramping feeling as it won't hurt anything and can help to break up the cycle. If it's real labor it won't subside and will continue to get more intense even with the tylenol. Good luck OP.

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