How do I know if this is BH?

[PaigeC]

Hi ladies! Stupid question!

My midwife always asks if I'm having BH contractions and I say no. I'm wondering if I am and don't know it. Sometimes I feel like maybe the baby kind of stretches up like she's trying to bunch up in the top of my uterus. When this happens my "baby bump" gets hard and high and sometimes lopsided (like she's more on one side than another). I always thought it was her sticking her butt up in my face but I always hear BH described as "hardening." What do you think? How would you describe a BH?

[clynnr]

I would describe it as a tightening of your uterus--the whole thing, not just parts of it or the area where the baby is "sticking his butt out," LOL! This baby does that a lot. Anyway, it sort of feels like your uterus has turned into a basketball--if you poke at it, it has that same hard feeling, no give. In a minute or two it will go away, and if you poke it again, you will feel give. I loved BH ctx with my first! I would sit there and poke at my tummy until it went away.

[AllyRae]

I believe you get BHs throughout the whole pregnancy--so I guess her real question should have been "can you feel them!" LOL!!

And yep, the entire uterus feels like a hard ball, but it's not really very painful, and they're usually not very rhythmic like real contractions.

[nighten]

The way I describe them is it's like a blood pressure cuff, only around your uterus/abdomen instead of your arm.

So when it gets really hard and/or tight, that's BH.

[justKate]

I was thinking the same thing until my midwife felt it and told me what it was. She said if it's hard in just one area, that's the baby; if it's hard all over, that's BH contrax.

I'm also noticing now when I am just going about my day...making dinner or whatever, sometimes I'll need a sudden deep breath. When I touch my belly it's usually hard all over, so I'm guessing that's BH for me.

[Mainstream Hippie]

To be honest, the first contraction I felt with my first was at the onset of labor. I did not notice any BH or otherwise before that. It made matters a lot less confusing when I did go into labor.

With my second, I was very aware of BH, and had some pre-labor contractions in addition, and it was kind of frustrating.

This one, I have noticed some BH when I am over-doing it, when I am bracing things I am carrying against mah belly, and after orgasm.

But whether you notice them or not, you are probably having them. (Like Ally said. )