Contractions?

[Daisychainz01]

I have no idea if what I am experiencing is contractions or not. I'm 38+1 with my first baby. Early this morning I had roughly 4 what I would expect to be contractions. They were around 30 mins apart. They didn't come just as one contraction however, it was more like a few minutes of pain with a peak of pain in the middle. They stopped at around 6.

I think I had a few more random contractions around 12 today, but again I then went a good hour and a half with nothing, feeling completely normal.

Now, I keep getting quite intense period pains low in my bump, they are coming and going but not with any rhyme or reason. They don't seem to have a regular period of time in between. Is this normal? Could I be in the early stages of labour? I feel really stupid but I have no idea what to expect. Any advice of what others have experienced would be really appreciated. I could contact my maternity triage but was thinking of waiting a bit longer to see if anything settles into a pattern or if it all just disappears again.

It sounds like your body is gearing up but if they are that irregular then it could be days or even weeks before anything actually happens (sorry!)

That said, everyone is different and you could find things pick up quite quickly and you go into labour. Keep an eye on things, look out for other signs (bloody show, vomiting, needing the toilet a lot) and contact your midwife or maternity ward if you have concerns.

Congratulations and good luck!

Thank you for your reply. That makes sense that it could be my body just gearing up for labour. It's went quiet again at the moment, but like you say, I'll keep an eye on it x x

Hi daisy chain. I am the same as you, 39wks and get on off contractions (mild) but it's my second baby so I know what they are. They are exactly how my first labour started BUT it took ages...basically I get period pain low down and it radiates into my back. Painful but not really painful just kind of stops me walking briefly. I am not trying to encourage them because I'm booked in for ELCS next week but if you're keen then get out walking, bounce on your ball and if you dare have sex then do!! I felt the same last time for approx 3 days and then the day before labour started I had them more intensely/frequently with a pattern but they still weren't that strong. I slept until 6am and then woke up and try were stronger and couldn't sleep. It then took all day to get going but from what you're saying your body is gearing up. I never had any water breaking or much of a show (just heavy sort of discharge) so I was never convinced it was actually happening but I was 10 days overdue so I knew it had to be! This time I know I'm getting near but hoping to hang on for ELCS and am sure if I rest and don't do anything to encourage them I'll have a few more days anyway!

Any more twinges?

Thank you for replying. No more twinges so far GuyBrush. Might get on my birthing ball and see if I can get anything going. Will be more than happy for her to make an appearance x x