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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

What do contractions feel like?

82 replies

Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 00:05

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 🙈

OP posts:
siaa · 20/02/2022 19:57

As my midwife said at the time as well, there's no prizes for doing it without pain relief so take whatever you feel you need!!!

crimblecrumbles · 20/02/2022 20:11

Like a stitch all over your tummy!

Original poster
Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 20:13

Thanks all ❤️

OP posts:
feb2022 · 20/02/2022 20:24

@Mon2468 Thankyou 😊
Try not to worry though, womens bodies are made of incredibly strong stuff and it's worth every bit of pain when your holding your baby
Some people say you forget the pain afterwards, I didn't 😂 but I was amazed at what my body could do

ThisIsMyNumberFive · 20/02/2022 20:44

Period pains x 3 ( I had the worst period pains). You just need to keep your head through the pain and get the job done. Think about what pain relief you might like.
I had one with an epidural - marvellous - but 2nd was no time for pain relief. Remember it's just a few hours- and it's for a baby, so it's worth it.

Really18 · 20/02/2022 20:51

I didn't really have pain. It was more like the discomfort with the urge to go to the toilet. Like you need to do a massive 💩. Saying that I delivered feet not a head and then was rushed for an emergency csestion so maybe a head would have felt worse. My second was also breech and arrived bey csestion

Original poster
Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 20:54

I'm quite scared of an epidural, not sure I'll be saying that though if the pain is really bad. A few of my friends say the diamorphine is good, the most i take pregnant or not is paracetamol so not sure if that'll be too strong for me 🙈

OP posts:
ExactlyThis · 20/02/2022 21:47

@Mon2468 I was scared of an epidural too but I was begging for it at 5cm Blush I was given diamorphine during my c section as I had a patchy epidural and I hated it. Couldn’t keep my eyes open and then felt too out of it to hold and feed my baby x

Original poster
Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 21:50

I just have in my head I'll sit in house until I can't cope with contractions anymore, head to hospital be 10cm dilated use gas & air to get baby out then that's it 😂 oh how I know that won't be the case but wishful thinking lol x

OP posts:
ExactlyThis · 20/02/2022 21:51

Plenty of people have done exactly that, no reason why you wouldn’t be one of them!

ViceLikeBlip · 20/02/2022 21:58

Like someone has dipped your spine in boiling oil, and now they're wringing it out like a wet tea towel (you did ask 🤷‍♀️)

Agree with pp that if you can get the timing of the gas and air spot on, then it makes a huge difference. As soon as you feel the slightest tightening, start really big, calm breaths of the gas, let yourself float on the gas (even if it feels like you've over done it!) but then stop as soon as you feel the contraction starting to ease. Basically, start the gas much sooner than you think, and go bigger than you think, but also lay off a bit sooner than you might think.

snowone · 20/02/2022 22:00

It feels like heaven because you know you are finally going to get the little darling out and get your normal bodily functions back! 🤣

I had 2 very different labours, both started naturally, both over due. Initially it's like waves of tightening that gradually get more and more intense. With DD1 she was back to back so as she moved down the pain shooting up my backside became very intense and I ended up with diamorphine. With DD2 the pains were much less intense, managed with just paracetamol and a bit of gas towards the end when they pulled her out with the ventouse cup.

ViceLikeBlip · 20/02/2022 22:04

@Mon2468

I just have in my head I'll sit in house until I can't cope with contractions anymore, head to hospital be 10cm dilated use gas & air to get baby out then that's it 😂 oh how I know that won't be the case but wishful thinking lol x
Tbf I went into the hospital thinking "christ alive, I can't even cope with this beginning bit, how on earth am I going to cope with the awful bit?!" but it turned out I was 8cm, and actually it never got any worse (in fact, it got a lot easier once I got my hands on some drugs 🤣🤣) My early contractions were perfectly bearable. In fact, it was only at about 10pm, once I'd accepted that I was in proper labour, that I realised I'd probably been in labour for most of the day.
Pru19 · 20/02/2022 22:11

Like the worst but most worth it pain I’ve ever felt in my life. Like others hand said period type pains which get worse and worse (until you think you’re going to die), and then a baby arrives Smile and it’s all worth it! Breathing is key

Susurrar · 20/02/2022 22:18

Mine started off fairly lightly, I stupidly thought that was it Grin
I remember it felt like a wave going through my body, nothing like period cramps for me. I was upright through the whole (just under 7 hour long) labour and it honestly felt like my body just knew what it was doing. When it was time to push, there was no way not push Grin

Original poster
Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 22:24

@ViceLikeBlip I thank you for your honesty 😂 this is partly why I started this thread coz I know most stories you see are positive ones when I know there are lots more different stories that are worse. As a pp said it's all worth the pain knowing you get to meet your baby after it 👶🏻

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TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 20/02/2022 22:24

For me with DD1 I was induced so not relevant at all.

DD2 I started with lower back pain in the morning, you know that dragging pain you get in your coccyx when you are 5 mins away from your period starting? Then about 8pm I started getting tightenings from my back right round to my stomach. It was like a muscle cramp but not as painful?

Gave birth 4 hours later. The tightenings increased and started to become painful about 11pm, up until then it was more of a discomfort. I wasn't even sure I was in labour until the midwife told me I was 7cm dilated!

JellybabyGina87 · 20/02/2022 22:30

@Benjispruce5

4 c sections? Wow that’s something. Have your abdominal muscles record?
Yes they're OK, my belly is a mess though, can't get rid of the overhang.
Whatelsecouldibecalled · 20/02/2022 22:34

@Mon2468 my friend waited at home as long as she could. Ended up delivering her son on a crash mat in the hospital car park!

I was induced but I would say it felt like period painat first. The just got more abs more intense. Towards the end I remember saying oh shit not another one!! I had diamorphine which took the edge off for about an hour. Other than that it was gas and air as by the time I asked for epidural I was 10cm and had to push. The pushing stage was so weird. My body just sort of took over. I had a nasty 3c tear which honestly at the time I didn't realise the damage! Good luck.

Mikeythecat · 20/02/2022 22:36

I think everyone experiences it differently. I was hooked up to all sorts of machines and I could see mine coming. The numbers on one of the monitors would start going up. It felt like period pains increasing, increasing, then coming back down. It went on for hours. I was induced. Ended up with emergency section. I counted my way thought them and dealt with it. No gas and air. When I got to 5 cm they put a spinal tap thing in. That was nice. It'd been going on for hours by this point, but I was in the zone and counting. At 8 cm, they did an ecs. I panicked then. I got given adrenaline and there were dozens of people in the room shouting. I don't actually know what the pushing feels like. I do know that you'll cope though. Don't worry. Count, breath, focus. They know what they're doing. It's not constant pain. You get breaks. Then you get a baby and forget about it all. Also, we all have a story to tell because it's the biggest event in our lives, but a baby is coming out of someone somewhere every second. Boom, boom, boom.

Original poster
Mon2468 · 20/02/2022 22:37

It's amazing how every single person is different isn't it. Yeah the achey back period feeling, forgot what that's like. I seen a clip of one born every minute of a lady giving birth in her car at the maternity hospital entrance she didn't make a sound the husband was freaked out more than her. I didn't expect to get this many comments really appreciate them all 😄 .. I'll be sure to update and let you know how it goes for me 🥴

OP posts:
SidSparrow · 20/02/2022 22:38

It felt like the titanic was trying to push out through my anus and taking my spine with it.

CookPassBabtridge · 20/02/2022 22:43

Mine felt like I was about to have a poo the size of a watermelon, it was all in my back and arse! Not what I expected..

CookPassBabtridge · 20/02/2022 22:45

@SidSparrow

It felt like the titanic was trying to push out through my anus and taking my spine with it.
Laughed out loud at this! 😂😂😂
Bumpsadaisie · 20/02/2022 22:50

During labour like serious tummy cramps/period pains.

During second stage pushing - I didn't so much "decide" to push and then push, more there was like a kind of convulsive contraction feeling pushing him out.

You know when you throw up - your guts or whatever just kind of do it? Pushing him out was a bit like that - a kind of whole body vomit 🤣 there was no stopping it and I didn't feel I was "doing" it, my body just did its thing.

Fascinating really.

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