What do contractions feel like?

[Mon2468]

Just curious how people would explain what contractions feel like? FTM at 38 weeks, think it's finally sinking in I need to give birth 🙈

I was induced so they were more intense. Started off fairly light then to be honest it was so fucking sore lol. Used gas and air but just made me sick.

It's like period cramps times a million

Exactly what @wifeyxx says re period pains. I too was induced and mine came on so so fast (I went from 1-10cm in an hour). They're your worst ever period pain and I couldn't speak through them.

Good luck when the time comes :) x

Like period cramps x1000.
Extreme tightness for a few seconds, then it passes.

It starts off manageable, you might be able to talk while it's happening, then the closer to pushing you get the more painful it becomes until you can't even think about anything else till the contraction is over.

Different both times for me. First time felt like period cramps and I was quite hot and sweaty inititially. I felt like I just needed to go to the toilet a lot.

Second time it was very clear. The best way I can describe it is if you make a fist, and then clench it super super tightly and the slowly release. That is what it feels like is happening inside. And then it stops for a bit. And then starts again.

Counting the contractions through really really helped me and made me feel very in control.

They come in waves and sort of build up. Breathing exercises definitely help. Once you get the urge to push it’s like nothing you have ever experienced and nothing is going to stop you . I am fascinated by how your body just knows what to do. It’s quite animal.

At the pushing stage it's like you need a massive poo
With my first I genuinely thought I did, I couldn't get my head around the fact it was actually the baby 😂

It feels like the hand of the devil himself is squeezing your womb.

And I've done it three times so although it is the worst pain I've ever experienced, I went back for more...

@sandgrown

They come in waves and sort of build up. Breathing exercises definitely help. Once you get the urge to push it’s like nothing you have ever experienced and nothing is going to stop you . I am fascinated by how your body just knows what to do. It’s quite animal.

This exactly. I was impressed by the way my body took over.

It also felt like the moment where you start off on a really hairy rollercoaster ride and know that you're irrevocably committed to all the ups downs and hairpin bends.

There are 2 types of contractions. I always thought it'd be pain in the belly but that was far from the truth with my first.
The first pregnancy I had full on back contractions, a severe lower back ache that just got worse and I all I wanted to do to ease the pain was bounce on an exercise ball. When it got worse I could not lay down on the bed at all or sit down as the pain was going through my entire backside and I couldn't apply any pressure as it'd be excruciating. Ended up sitting on a toilet as obviously it wouldn't apply pressure on my bottom but I could also sit.
The second pregnancy I had was full on front contractions. They felt a lot more bearable like period cramps in my lower belly. I had no back pain at all. Atleast I could lay on the bed this time and get some rest. I slept in between contractions even if it meant 2 minutes/30 seconds of sleep that's how tired I felt!
Pushing is a different sensation though your whole body literally feels tense and its like all the energy in your body fires up down to your lower back and you have the greatest urge to push and it keeps coming and going in waves so you get little breaks just like you do with contractions.
All the best and when you get to that stage don't worry your body will take over.

I was induced with my first and they were like really strong period pain, all over my front. Now, for my second, I'd just had back pain for a couple of days and was told baby was sitting on nerves in my back. Turns out I had contractions entirely in my back and by the time I got to hospital I was fully dilated. So you can have contractions just in your back, which caught me out!

A crushing sensation inside - as PPs have said, like incredibly strong period cramps.

@chiiipsandsalad

At the pushing stage it's like you need a massive poo With my first I genuinely thought I did, I couldn't get my head around the fact it was actually the baby 😂

I had zero urge to push which was odd. As in, zero! Just the pain of contractions.

Period cramps or diarrhoea cramps that get more intense

Absolutely nothing like period cramps for me. It was like burning hot knives being stabbed repeatedly into my stomach (I had no breaks in contractions from waters breaking to birth was 2 hours induced. Also I'm 10 weeks pregnant again so I must be mad.

Hard to explain what they felt like. For what it's worth, I was SO nervous and anxious about giving birth. I did so 4 weeks ago now and I can actually say, I enjoyed it! Never imagined I would say that prior! I was lucky in that labour was only 4 hours long for me, but there was never a point where I felt it was too painful, and I always thought 'it is surely going to get worse that this'.. it never did. We turned up to the hospital when I was already fully dilated, so the only pain relief I got was 20 minutes of gas and air whilst I pushed baby out. The pushing was a relief and I didn't even find it uncomfortable when he was coming out.. just felt as though I couldn't possibly push any more to get something so big out.. but wasn't really painful!
I know they say you forget the pain, but these were my thoughts during and straight after. I immediately said to DH, 'wow, I'd do that again!' as I was cuddling our newborn. I had second degree tears also. You really don't feel it happening.

You ever woke in the night with a cramp in your leg? Like it's so painful you wake up screaming and you think you are dying for a second?
Towards the end it's like that. But it's more in your back/bottom/pelvis. And the contractions last longer than a leg cramp and they are coming every couple of minutes.
I found once you are allowed to push the pain is less intense because you are focused on the pushing and it serves a bit of relief.

Pressure! Nothing like period cramps in my opinion. It's not pain. You can breath and withstand it. It just feels like something is putting intense pressure on your insides. Like a really tight pressure that releases after a few seconds.

Cramps to me are sharper and cause pain not pressure.

I was also induced which meant they came on quick. When not induced, they build gradually, u can regulate your breathing better and breath through better.

Not Impossible when induced but just a little trickier because they hit so fast!

Also I would say a lot of people don't like to talk about the pain because they don't want to "scare pregnant women " or because "everyone experiences pain differently ".
But I wish I had been better prepared for the first time around. Just knowing what kind of pain I was in for made it easier the second time around.
So try to just imagine the worst pain you've ever been in and get ready mentally. Then if it isn't so bad you will be relieved.
Or - just ask for an epidural early on. Doctor arrived too late during my second birth so I just had to go to the end without.
I've also heard that the moment you really need the epidural is the point close to when you can start pushing. One thing I just kept telling myself is the worse it gets, the sooner it will be over.

For me I had contractions every 2-3 mins from the start (for all 3 labours). They naturally started for all 3 (DS2 waters went 8hrs before they began, other 2 pain was first sign). They do feel like a strong period pain to begin with. You’ll know it’s contractions as they will come regularly. I believe you can get apps now, with my youngest (14 next month) I had my laptop on and was writing times in a word doc! Ds 1 & DS2 they started strong immediately but DD I had like twinges in my back for a few hours first. They then build up and feels like the pains across your whole stomach. Very intense feeling. My mum always says she never had any pain worse than labour pains but she did say she had pethidine so guessing she’s forgotten! With my DD I used a tens machine and it was amazing. That and 2 paracetamol was all I had but with my first 2 I had more than that!! You’ll be great. Must say although it’s incredibly tough I felt on top of the world after the births that I’d managed to deliver a baby. It was the best feeling I’ve ever had. It’s so worth it. All the best

I agree with the pressure feeling. For me that came a bit later on during the labour, maybe 7cm onwards

Nothing like period cramps for me.

My analogy is this: imagine you open an empty washing machine, and place three half bricks in it. Turn on the washing machine, and it slowly starts rotating in one direction, then the other, with the bricks knocking into each other, and the metal interior. Then the rotation speeds up as the contraction intensifies, then finally slows down again and stops. It was most like that kind of "rumbling" for me.

Gas and air, if you time it exactly right down to the millisecond, can entirely block the pain of a contraction, but the timing has to be so dead on, I only achieved that for about one or two contractions during my labour.

It’s a very productive feeling, quite similar to period pain for me but it builds up to a peak and then reduces.

I would really recommend learning more about how contractions work and picking up some breathing techniques. Your uterus is a giant muscle and so breathing properly makes sure it gets enough oxygen

4dc, labour pains totally different with each. No1 I can only describe as someone intermittently tightening a belt to tight around my middle. No2 was all in stomach. No3 was horrendous back ache. No4 didn't feel any contractions, was on a monitor so I was shown how intense they were but truly felt nothing unless I put my hand on stomach and felt stomach go hard.

It felt like I was being squeezed from the inside, only way to describe it. Started off as regular period pains which got worse and worse. The pushing stage I don't remember hurting apart from when baby was crowning, that stings like a bitch.
The urge to push was just crazy, my whole body was pushing downwards out of my control, I remember actually crossing my legs thinking all my insides were going to fall out 🤣

An escalating cramp that then subsides. The cramps get stronger and closer together. With my second, I managed to get my head to view each one as an opportunity to push baby out. This helped. With the first my natural instinct was to fight the pain.