How hard does your stomach go during a contraction?

[Spockrates]

I have been having pains the past few days every day getting more painful I am 40 weeks this is my first baby, this morning it was kind of painful but the last few times I’ve had the pain in the last couple of hours I have to take a breath because it’s getting quite sore but still not sore enough to make me think it’s labour or what I imagine labour must feel like, the pain is in my lower abdomen and lower back but sometimes it’s just in my back and sometimes it’s just at the front or both, the pains haven’t been regular, they are coming at irregular times and sometimes lasting 36 seconds and sometimes lasting only 10-15 seconds, but they are definitely getting more painful as time goes on, sometimes they come every 5-10 mins sometimes they come every half an hour or more, when the pains come my stomach goes harder but I assumed my stomach would go hard as a rock during a contraction so I’m not sure if it’s a contraction or not, also the baby is laying quite far to the left of my stomach and sometimes when my stomach goes hard only one side of my stomach hardens the side the baby is on and the other side sort of sinks leaving my stomach looking crooked and other times my entire stomach hardens on both sides, sorry if I am sounding very confusing I am just trying to explain what I am feeling in as much detail as possible

Sounds completely normal, when they are close together and regular then you will be nearing established labour.
in established labour your contractions will be stronger so more of a “rock”

@ChickpeaPie how long will it take before that happens do u think? I started having pain about 3 days ago but on the first day the pain was only about a 1 out or 10 just a little niggle that u could barely even call pain, second day slightly worse, this morning slightly worse again it was only the last few hours that the pain has gotten significantly worse but still not bad only about a 5 out of 10

Unable to say I’m sorry! Some people have a long latent phase, others have a nice quick one. Keep drinking and eating and midwife if you have any concerns. Good luck

@Spockrates I've been wondering this too but I think I'm getting brackton hicks because mine is more generalised cramping and lasts longer. I asked on here a few days ago if people had any signs before going into proper labour ie cramps, lightening crotch etc. but the consensus is that these things can happen weeks or even months before and there was no pattern to how long it went on for before proper labour started.

It sounds like yours are more like contractions than mine. Best of luck with it all xxx

Sounds like things are happening. I had 3 days like that with my second. First two days my stomach was going hard but no pain, on the third day I could feel it but not painful, throughout that day they gradually got stronger. She was born at 8.55pm that evening.

Eat, drink, rest, bounce on your ball, stay relaxed to keep the oxytocin flowing. Don’t be afraid to call your midwife if in doubt