37+2 cramps

[dreamerkr]

Hey guys, I’m currently 37+2 and for most of the night I’ve had what feels like period cramps. I’ve had the cramps since probably around 3am-ish, they’re not that that bad but they’re painful, basically it feels like the first day of my period. I can’t feel any tightenings and the cramps are constant. Perhaps this is baby engaging? Because I definitely feel like baby’s head is lower now. 6 days ago I had painful Braxton Hicks cramps that were regular like every 10 mins or so, they too felt like period cramps but they were coming and going. They disappeared 10 hours or so later. These cramps are constant though. Any ideas what it can be? If they don’t ease off I will call my midwife, I just took paracetamol so that might help.

Hi OP. My experience is that your body does all sorts of things in the days and weeks leading up to labour. First time round, I had a day of Braxton Hicks followed by three days of nothing then waters broke without warning. Second time, I was having pretty constant period pains (mostly in my back) for a few days before going into full labour. It turns out that for all the times I had cramps, I was in early labour and by the time I was assessed was 3cm dilated.

For different reasons, I was in hospital quite frequently towards the end but a couple of times I had pains, maternity assessment were lovely so I'd recommend phoning to ask for advice. If they want to see you they'll tell you to come in and if they think all is normal, they'll maybe ask you to stay at home but give you advice about what to look for. They'd much rather hear from you than not and it might give you some reassurance. For what it's worth, my babies were born at 37+2 and 35+6 so it wasn't too early to ask questions about labour.

My labour started off exactly how you’re describing - was like a constant period pain type cramp in the early hours of the morning. As the day went on they got slightly longer and more intense but nothing I couldn’t deal with even without pain relief.
If you’ve not already called your maternity ward then I’d suggest doing so. They can reassure you whether to go and be checked etc.
I was 4cm dilated when I got to hospital but still wasn’t in any more pain than mild period cramps, so wouldn’t have thought I was that far dilated to be honest!

Thank you so much guys. I’m guessing it was just Braxton Hicks, or false labour, as the cramps have almost completely gone away. I hope it means that labor is close though! I really hate getting these cramps, then getting excited, and then the cramps going away