So, this morning I had what I thought was a contraction -- it seemed pretty clear cut, started as an ache low down, got progressively more painful and my uterus clearly tightened as it peaked, made me slightly breathless, then after a minute or so it eased off. Definitely different from the braxton-hicks I'd had earlier or what I've been calling "tightenings" which were just tight sensations low down that lasted a minute or so.
But since then I've had similar pains, but lasting much longer -- the next one was half an hour later and lasted 10 minutes, and since then I've had a few more scattered throughout the day, also like 10-20 min long. During one, my uterus sometimes seems hard and sometimes soft, and the baby also moves around when it's soft, but the sensation doesn't seem to change. Having one now, been on for about 20 minutes. Getting up and moving doesn't seem to make any difference.
Are these contractions? A different sort of braxton-hicks? My b-h had been lasting a good 30-45 minutes, which I hadn't seen anything online about but the doctor said was within normal range. I can't find anything about this long-drawn out sensation -- not sure if this is a contraction or not. Although I guess whatever it is it can't possibly be happening at an interval of 5-10 minutes, which is when they said to call, if it lasts longer than that!