What does a contraction actually feel like?

[lolalotta]

I am 38 weeks with my first and I have been having period-type pains on and off for the past few days but haven't ever had BH contractions as far as I have been aware... I was just wandering what do contractions actually feel like???

It's really difficult to describe and everyone will probably describe them slightly differently...

Early contractions feel like bad period pains, they can be irregular at the beginning too, but if it's the 'real deal' they will get regular and stay regular and get more and more painful. It's like a pain across your lower back (kind of like a belt tightening), it gets stronger and stronger then slowly subsides. These contractions get more and more intense as labour progresses. I had the very early contractions for a few days before my labour actually got going.

The weird thing is, when you get to second stage labour (ready to push stage), your body knows and the contractions give you an overwhelming urge to push. Your mw will examine you before allowing you to start pushing as some women feel the urge to push during the 'transition' stage of labour (when your cervix dilates the last 2cm).

Good luck lolalotta and I hope everything goes really well x

My early contractions felt exactly like 1st day period pains or like I was about to have the shits!

Good luck - sounds like you are on your way!!

Felt like I had really bad tummy ache and my guts were tensing ready for a throw up (sorry).

Early ones like strong period pains, later ones like I was being sliced open but then I was induced with syntocinon despite my cervix being 100% unripe.

Hopefully this will not happen to you.

Period pains, with a gippy tummy, getting stronger and regular (for about 7 hours). Then when they got really full on it was like someone pulling a belt tight round my middle with strong period pain at the same time (for another 5 hours). Mine were 1 minute on and 1 minute off by the last couple of hours. then I had an em cs as they realised my cervix wasn't working properly, I had only dilated 1cm.

Belt tightening around the middle good description, or like someone squeezing a big pair or hands around your middle and down towards your bits.

Good luck!!

Yeah mine started off as regular crampy pains low down. Felt more like the cramps you have when you have the sh*ts to me... Got stronger and i'm not sure how to describe them after that, jsut like a wave of tightening pain. The being gripped round the middle description was good. I didn't feel the pain was unbearable as such, just VERY intense, it was more the frequency of the pain that bothered me, the fact I just got over one contraction and had to breathe through another iyswim?

If this is early labour for you then rest rest rest cause it really is tiring, I tried to stand from early on then ended up kneeling and eventually lying on my side out of sheer tiredness.

Good luck

At first like very bad food poisoning, a bad upset stomach and accompanying cramps.

At the end like there wasn't a bit of my body that didn't hurt. My hair and my teeth throbbed with it. Contractions lasted 2.5 minutes with a 30 second break. For 6 hours. With no urge to push.

I must stress though that I laboured with no waters which makes a difference and dd was in a ridiculous position and came out the sun roof in the end.

Like someone shoving a knife up my vagina and scraping on my cervix.

TENS machine reduced the pain by 80% for me and I would heartily recommend. But then I only got to 3cm dilated! Lord knows how I would have felt had I got to pushing stage .

bibbity! That doesn't sound good...

like period pain, but insted of just in the bottom of your tummy, it's all over your bump, for about 30 seconds.

agree with bibbity about TENS - mine got me to 10cm and was on full for second stage

Mine were each different, with ds1 it was all in my back, like a vice being pushed onto my back just below hip level, but not on the stomach, incredible painful pressure, that could only be relieved by someone pressing on a different part of my back lower down. felt fairly constant coming and going very close together for about 20 hours!

with dd it was more like a wave of pressure, starting low down and then rising up and getting more painful as it rose up to the top of the tummy til it felt like no more pressure could be added, belt tightening is a good analogy, the pain was coming and going for about 5 days, but then suddenly got much worse and then was all over in 2.5 hours.

with ds2 it was like a stitch, or trapped nerve type feeling, in between it was fine, was even typing on mumsnet between them, in fact I did not think it was labour to start with! Then suddenly got much worse as it was a fairly constant trapped nerve feeling but finished within 1.5hours, so manageable.

I think every labour is different and period pain is common in the build up to labour, but how it goes from there is an unknown as everyone is different.