stiff bump, does anyone know what it means?

[jabuti]

hi ladies,

im 25 weeks right now and on and off i get a stiff bump. or rigid. i dont know how to well describe it! i noticed i get it sometimes right after i eat lots, so i concluded it must be the food pushing out the belly and therefore, the muscles of the belly are all strethed at its limits. but then i get this 'stiff bump' sometimes when i have not eaten.

does anyone know what it could be?

braxton hicks!

I always thought it made my bump look very neat, until the BH subsided and it went back to looking like a lump of melting lard

Braxton Hicks - practise contraction. If you get it a lot, it can help to drink some water as being dehydrated or overtired can increase them, but they are just part of the territory really!

Its deffo BH's.

wow, so basically i know nothing about bh! i thought that kind of contraction was 'down there'??? so the contraction happens with the actual uterus, and is it the whole uterus?

i drink loads of water. but the tiredness, that could be a possibility, because i dont get this when i just woke up, for example.

thanx for the quick answers.

Yup, basically your uterus is one big muscle and it contracts to open the cervix -hence the name contractions. A BH contraction is just a practise one so not opening up the cervix. I hope this doesn't sound sarky, it's not meant to, but you might find it helpful at this stage of the game to read a couple of pregnancy/birth books so you're prepared for the "real thing". I liked the Pregnancy Book by Dr. Sears.

and i did a research online about bh before, but i dont think it was clear enough looking back... got it now! thanx!

so...how may times a day have you beeen getting them and how many a week?

am 25 weeks but seem to get painless contractions/hardening of bump several times a day every day

is that normal?

it is normal.....

and varies from woman to woman....

i had very intense ones in my second pregnancy from 20 weeks or so, as long as no blood or fluid loss, and they are not regular, then they are BH ! being dehydrated can bring them on

Holy Smoke - THATS BH? are you sure? then what is the eyes-watering-can't-breath-have-to-stop contractions that I get every couple of days at 33 weeks? I thought I was going into labour yesterday!

i had those too!! couple of times i was out in the park or town, and would have to stop dead, someone offered to call me an ambulance !!

hi bumbly, i think im getting them at least once per day almost everyday, but im not totally sure because on busy days its hard to tell.

so there is more and painful ones to come after 30 weeks huh? [schock]

heheeh i meant