Early contractions - what do they actually feel like?!

[TwinkleStars15]

Can anyone tell me what early contractions feel like? I've got to be really aware so that I can stop my blood thinning injections but being a first time mum it's hard to know.

Some people say it's like really bad period pain but I've had that for days now I think I've also got a bit of PGP/SPD as certain positions or movements cause agonising pain so that doesn't help with trying to work out what a contraction is!

I know that I'm 2-3cm dilated and 60% effaced and cervix is soft, so hopefully it won't be much longer but I really don't know what to look out for! Will I just know?!

Like that tummy tightening aching feeling that is so uncomfortable then you do a massive fart and it alleviates. Except it lasts for +/- 40 seconds then wanes away x

For me it was like someone putting their fist inside my lower tummy, squeezing really hard for 60 seconds then letting go to do it again 4 minutes later. Get a contraction timer on your phone and time them.
Mind you I went from putting dinner in at 8pm with no contractions to racing down the motorway at 9.30 with them every 4 minutes.
Have you given your labour line /midwife a call?

For me it was a cross between pins and needles and tightening in my back muscles. My bump didn't change with contractions until after my waters went.

For me it was like the cramps you get when you've got a tummy bug, just before you have an episode of the runs (sorry!) They start off mild, build up, get really intense, then ease off again.
My period pains aren't crampy so I never understood when people described them like that. I remember being 26 weeks in my second pregnancy, being really constipated and having awful cramps that reminded me of labour with my first, I actually thought I might be in labour. Then I managed to go to the bathroom and I realised what it actually was and was surprised how simlar it felt to labour!

Thank you ladies! I appreciate it a lot. Do the first contractions really hurt...like stop you in your tracks, or are the early ones just uncomfortable??

Thank you mylittlestsunshine

I really can't remember much of my 2 hour labour and delivery even though it was only 7 weeks ago but I do remember like period pains at first that was manageable for about half an hour and I could still walk around and get things sorted and then after that half hour or so it became intense, like a bad 5 days period all crammed into one. That was after my waters broke though so maybe it's different than to before waters breaking x