If you are experiencing Braxton Hicks please take a look at my questions :-)

[seashellgreen81]

Hi. I'm 36+3 weeks and curious to know whether i've been experiencing braxton hicks contractions. I heard that not everyone does but I experience so many strange new sensations in the last few weeks i'm trying to identify if any of them are BH!

The most frequent description i've heard is a tightening of the tummy but my bump is pretty tight already. So i'm looking for descriptions other than the tightening thing.

Here are my questions:-

Ok TMI coming up! Does BH feel like you suddenly need a big poo (bit painful like when contipated) but then goes away after about a minute? I get this sometimes but have been putting it down to baby moving.

How often a day do you get them?

What is baby doing when you have them? (Is baby moving round at the same time? Do they wake baby up? Is baby usually asleep when you experience BH?)

Thanks for your time :-)

[ChicaMomma]

I'm 33 weeks and pretty sure i'm getting them for 2 weeks now.. but as a first timer i'm not sure so intersted in the replies!

mine feels like a gentle contracting of the entire abdomen area- hardening of the stomach, and like a pulsating effect inside?

not unpleasant, just a bit weird? not painful?

doesnt really feel at all like a poo to me though. Maybe you are just constipated? lol.. i know i am..!!

[PenguinsLoveFishFingers]

Nope, hasn't felt like the need to poo, sorry!

I've had loads through all three pregnancies. Bump goes incredibly hard. I couldn't tell you what the baby is doing at the time because the bump is so solid you couldn't tell if it was turning backflips in there (not that it has space later on!).

Get them most when I have been very active - or if I've overdone it. So something like running up the stairs can set it off.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

Yes! I get pressure in my bottom. I'm 26 weeks and getting lots of BH, probably from running around after a toddler. My bump goes very hard.

[slightlyinsane]

I get loads, all day long anything can trigger them. Even though this is pregnancy no4 for me it did take a while to figure out if it was one of the babies or a bh. The best thing I did was spending some time feeling my bump. Mine tends to feel hard all the time aswel, after a while I noticed some softer bits. When you think you're getting a bh feel the squishy bits. Not sure how big your bump is but if I'm sat on a table type chair and I get one I can feel the bump move as it's contracting, hard to explain, try it and see if you feel anything change. I also get the pressure you described and mine are painful. Because mine happen all the time the babies can be moving or asleep when they happen, they do sometimes wake one of them up.

[Boogles91]

Its basicaly like when you get cramp in your legs, only in the whole of you bump. And as another person said you can kidna feel your bump move with the tightening. Its not painful just really uncomfortable, and ive been getting a feeling with them like when you blow up too many balloons and your cheeks hurt x

[HeavenK76]

I personally find them quite uncomfortable and usually have to breathe in and out a bit deeper to get my bump to relax again.
Teeny bit painful.