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Original poster

What do contractions ACTUALLY feel like?

51 replies

winterbabyrose · 12/01/2022 14:19

I have been getting what I would say mild period cramps on and off for most of the morning. I have a backache too, but that is more round the middle of my back so not even sure if that is related or just because of posture etc.

I am 37+3 today and my bump has felt 'tight' for most of the morning, I also had an upset stomach this morning (sorry TMI). I haven't lost my plug as far as I know, and my waters haven't gone, but I have had an increase in discharge (sorry more TMI) over the past couple days. I was absolutely bloody exhausted yesterday but all I have wanted to do today is organise our wardrobe and sort through clothes, and had an energy boost.

I am quite lucky to have quite a high pain threshold, and as this is my first baby, I have NO idea what to expect contractions to feel like... I know it is different for everyone but what did they feel like for you?

I don't know if all of what I am experiencing is any sort of sign of impending labour, or if it is just what to expect at 37 weeks... any advise would be greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
Lockdownbear · 12/01/2022 15:32

@winterbabyrose

Thank you everybody - being my first time it is so hard to tell! Is there anything I should be doing other than sort of 'waiting it out' if it is actual labour? (Bags are all packed etc, so nothing left to organise)
Nothing you need to do now other than relax & enjoy the excitement. Take you mind off it, watch your favourite telly program or film all the way through.

Your life will change forever in a good way but enjoy putting yourself first for a wee while..

Good luck. & relax.

greenbean99 · 12/01/2022 18:05

For me proper contractions in established labour feel like waves of pain that took over my body whilst they were happening. I felt them in every part of my body and I remember feeling like when I was having one it was even in my lips!

In between these contractions I felt completely normal.

Panda368 · 12/01/2022 18:16

@winterbabyrose wait it out - put a film on Netflix, look up the “miles circuit” if you want a way of try to kick things off. Try to ignore it.

I never noticed losing my mucous plug either time and only got bloody show when I was in transition and basically pushing the second time - same with waters going. Everyone and everyone’s labour is different.

The Freya app is well worth the money for timing contractions though

Original poster
winterbabyrose · 13/01/2022 08:35

I got really bad lower backache (like around my coccyx area) yesterday evening but then it died down and the period cramps stopped too. Completely fine overnight and nothing yet this morning in terms of cramps or anything. I have had an upset stomach again this morning though. Is it normal in the latent phase for you to have periods of time with plenty of cramps and then others without?? Or does it sort of stay relatively constant and then ramp up?

OP posts:
PinkestMoon · 13/01/2022 08:37

They feel like that rising urge feeling you get when you're having to do a big poo. The secret, I found, is to lean into it and relax and don't tense up.

DropYourSword · 13/01/2022 08:38

From my first to my last contraction it was just insane painful pressure that felt like my baby was trying to escape out of my arse!!

onewednesdayindecember · 13/01/2022 08:56

Same here @DropYourSword ! It felt like the whole of my insides were trying to come out of the bottom half of my body.
Currently at 38 weeks and waiting for it all to happen again. I’ve been getting the period pain like cramps through the evening and night, but I think it can be quite a long time between this stage and labour.

SunnySideUp2020 · 13/01/2022 09:03

@winterbabyrose in early labour it is normal that it starts and stops. It can last a while like this apparently.
Just monitor your baby's movements get plenty of rest but also try to go for small walks. Movement helps!

ToddlingForwards · 13/01/2022 09:05

@Comedycook

Nothing like period pain imo. Sorry if tmi, but for me it was like that awful stomach cramp you get just before you have diarrhoea.
This is what both period pains and contractions felt like for me! (Though I only did the first bit of labour before going in for c section).

OP for me, I had what you’re describing on the Saturday night, nothing Sunday, went in to labour Monday afternoon (which felt basically the same, but quickly became very regular).

Fridafever · 13/01/2022 09:11

Mine were period pain like in my midsection but the most painful thing was weird shooting pains down the front of my thighs. Like a PP mine never got to a stage where I couldn’t speak or I “definitely know”. I had a conversation with my midwife on the phone and said I thought he was coming and she was perfectly nice but said I wasn’t close yet as I sounded too calm. Turns out that was transition and I was pushing (on my own at home!) minutes after that.

sanityisamyth · 13/01/2022 09:19

My DS was back to back so I had a grinding sensation along my spine, but the contractions felt like someone had got hold of both of my kidneys and were wringing them out. Very odd, and very painful. I had 80 hours of it.

itspartytime · 13/01/2022 09:30

Ooooouch, fuck, fuck, shiiiiit, ouch and bloody hell mostly !

But it passes - and then there's another !

Good luck ! 🍀

onewednesdayindecember · 13/01/2022 09:33

@Fridafever

Mine were period pain like in my midsection but the most painful thing was weird shooting pains down the front of my thighs. Like a PP mine never got to a stage where I couldn’t speak or I “definitely know”. I had a conversation with my midwife on the phone and said I thought he was coming and she was perfectly nice but said I wasn’t close yet as I sounded too calm. Turns out that was transition and I was pushing (on my own at home!) minutes after that.
Shock what happened then? Did you manage to get to hospital?
NutCheeseBag · 13/01/2022 09:47

@TheChip

I also have a high pain threshold. I was handling my labour so well that they wouldn't give me pain relief, telling me that I had ages to go. That "you will know when you're in labour" ignoring the fact that this was my 4th! I did know I was in labour!

I had to keep buzzing them back to actually listen to me and eventually check. I was 8cm dilated and they couldn't be any more apologetic.

This was the same labour that had the back pain where I paid attention to the timing of the pain.

Same here, but for my first. Midwife said she’d send us back home if we lived closer to the hospital and went on her coffee break (this was some time ago!)

Baby was born 30 minutes later.

Fridafever · 13/01/2022 10:00

what happened then? Did you manage to get to hospital?

No, DS was born on my living room floor - the community midwife just made it in time but she didn’t have any birth stuff with her. DS and I went to hospital a bit later in an ambulance but we were both fine.

onewednesdayindecember · 13/01/2022 10:03

@Fridafever Shock so glad you and the baby were ok! How stressful

Lockdownbear · 13/01/2022 10:07

Op how are you doing?

Original poster
winterbabyrose · 13/01/2022 10:56

@Lockdownbear All okay thank you, I've had a couple of tightenings over the past hour or so, but other than that nothing! Movements etc are all normal as they should be, so not worried there. Now I don't know if it is early labour or not, as its pretty much subsided, so will just keep an eye on it. Its so hard to tell, especially being my first time!

OP posts:
Holskey · 13/01/2022 11:08

That's normal for a first child. It can stop altogether. I had the same.

goingonahairbunt · 13/01/2022 11:14

Sorry to say I had the same for around a week, it would start, feel like it was going somewhere and then just stop. The midwife told me it was just my body preparing. I was around 39 weeks though so a little later. In the end they gave me a sweep to get things shifting. We just walked a lot to pass the time and try to hurry things up. With my second I had no advance warning other than one big contraction and she was born after a 20 minute labour!

CoalCraft · 13/01/2022 12:14

They were completely painless for me at first, just tight and made me feel ill-at-ease, then I started to have pressure / discomfort / pain radiating in my lower legs and thighs. I felt very little in my tummy at any point.

DD was tiny though (4 lbs 2) and a 33-weeker so maybe it would have been different later on.

Lockdownbear · 13/01/2022 13:14

Fairly normal for first baby, for me my first contractons were hard to tell apart from Baxton hicks sort of tightings.

It might still take days so plenty chilling. You could go though your files of photos and sort them out - everyone has massive files of photos that could do with sorting these days.

Flibbyjibby · 13/01/2022 18:29

Mine were like a sharp tightening muscle pain that ran down the tops of my thighs. Like when your body is so cold the muscles tense up.

cherrypie66 · 13/01/2022 18:34

Mine were very bad period pains

waterlego · 13/01/2022 19:09

Mine started as Braxton Hicks but I barely noticed those because I had been having a few episodes of BHs most days from about week 20 onwards in both of my two pregnancies. When labour started, the BHs became frequent and regular and then started to feel like period pains which gradually increased in intensity. My waters didn’t break until transition, both times.