BH's are kickin' my butt!

[mehndi mama]

Note to everyone - the more babies you have the earlier you will feel and be affected by your Braxton Hicks contractions.
OOOF! No wonder I haven't wanted to do much of anything but hang out in bed & sleep this week. My uterus grew over a cm in just a day or so, and whenever I actually have the motivation to go do something (I have half a million play costumes to sew tonight ), I work for a while, start feeling tight down there, and have to go sit down for a bit.

Okay, I think I'm done whining. Back to your regularly scheduled posting

[wtchyhlr]

Hey, this is baby #1 for me and I've been having BH's for a good couple of weeks. Noticing them more this week... definately noticing them more when I'm either doing Energy Work, or having Energy work done to me... This baby likes energy (i'm a Reiki Master... thats the particular genre of energy work i'm talking about, so very gentle energy... but still). That whole tightening thing down there is very disconcerting for me.

[ekblad9]

You just need to get fat like me and you won't feel them as much. :LOL I can remember feeling them intensely really early on with my first four kids but with five and six I'm way heavier than I was. Plus I drink alot more water. Dehydration brings on the BHs.

Good luck!

[Periwinkle]

As I posted in the one thread, I have been freaking a little with these. I've been getting them in the evenings - maybe 2 or 3 noticeable ones at most. That lower LOWER belly tightening with the shortness of breath / flushed thing. My last pregnancy is so hard to compare anything to (twins, "high risk", gained a ton of weight) that I admit to feeling a bit like a newbie here on my 2nd pregnancy since I went into preterm labor at 27 weeks so never really got used to what BH feel like. But I'm glad to see others having them too and not being alarmed about it. And yes, I've completely noticed that even mild dehydration brings them out more.

So ... how do you know they're just BH and not REAL contractions? Is there even a difference or don't you care unless your cervix is changing?

OT... my baby seems really low. I'm wondering if this has something to do with it. While my uterus measures where it should for 23 weeks (a cm or two above the belly button, with my belly button flattening out nicely) I am really feeling the baby most of the time practically on my bladder (or at least this is where it feels like he/she is?! Like halfway between my belly button and the middle of my pubic bone?) Should the baby be higher or is it bad that it's so low... will that cause too much pressure on my cervix and cause it to open up?

[ekblad9]

My baby is also really low. As they grow, they usually move upwards (they'll crush your lungs :LOL ) and change direction a few times. At this size I don't think they can really change your cervix too much. My second baby had a foot caught in my cervix area for weeks and weeks but still she refused to come out!

BH contractions are way different than real contractions. Real contractions are crampy and full of lots of pressure. The tightness of BH's is there but it's a totally different feeling.

[Lousli]

I'm having those low belly contrax too, like the baby is curled up in a ball at the bottom of my uterus. I don't remember having any with my first, so it is a little weird for me to be having them this time. They started early, around 17 weeks, and I've been having them ever since. It often feels like the baby is literally pressing right into my bladder. But then last night, it was like she came to the surface to say hi! I was sitting there in the rocking chair with my DD in my lap, when I realized my bump was "off center". When I felt it, I could feel a hard lump on one side of my belly, most likely a butt or a head. It was kind of uncomfortable, but very cool.

[threeforme2005]

Man these months are just flying by. I can't believe we are all well into our 2nd trimesters and almost heading into the 3rd already! All this talk about baby's kicking and sticking butts out our bellies and BH contrax is so awesome. Doesn't it seem like it's going by really fast?

I'm getting BH real low too. The baby loves to kick way down in my lower tummy. When I lay down on my back in bed I feel them right away and then the baby starts kicking like crazy. It's wild!

[mainemom]

I remember having a lot more BH the first time, but ds was also more active than this one is overall.

I also remember that BH, while sometimes intense, usually started and stopped, or stopped/changed if I moved around, got into a different position (or stopped having sex!) With "regular" contractions, they were pretty consistent. I did have a ton of BH the week before I delivered ds, saw lots of signs that it would be soon (lost my plug on Tuesday- water broke Friday, he was born Sat.) Thing is, once I started having "real" contractions, I definitely knew the difference!!

Your body knows what it's doing--"practicing", etc. It's such an awesome and odd experience!!

[Mama2Chloe]

I too have had the BH in full force. I do notice them more when I'm holding Chloe or bending making up my bed every morning or doing stuff like that. I don't remember getting them this early last PG. They've been going on for a couple weeks or so. I do need to drink more water. I agree that there is a clear difference between real contrax and BH. It's hard to explain, but you will know. I remember being scared that I wouldn't know that I was in real labor. Well, I did. When the real ones came (around time for my due date) they were different and more intense than any that I had felt with the BH. It does feel like this PG is going so fast. It helps that I have you all as a community and also Chloe keeps me very busy. Take care!

[Lisashepp]

I have been having BH since 15 weeks and I am almost 25 weeks now!! I have a minimum of 3 VERY strong ones every day, and usually a handfull of smaller ones each day too.

[mehndi mama]

I had contractions every 10 minutes for a few hours last night. I finally caved and checked my cervix, just so I would know for sure that nothing is happening! And then they stopped right after I did that
For me, I can never tell the difference between BH's & "real" contractions - I get months of prodromal labor, and can walk around dilated to 3 for weeks on end and still carry by babies to term. And my labor contractions have always felt just like my BH contractions, but just a little crampier (they feel just like menstrual cramps!) until my water breaks.
So anyway, I learned to check my cervix during my 4th pregnancy, just so I wouldn't have to go someplace to have someone else tell me what the heck was going on with my body - that got old real fast when I was at the end of Amber's pregnancy!

[HelloKitty]

Yeah I've been having quite a few too - yesterday especially I had a lot. I also have noticed that making sure I drink plenty of water usually helps a bit. I don't remember having any with pregnancy 1 & 2 but had a ton last time and they've started even earlier this time so I'm expecting to get a lot more. They get stronger and more noticeable the more pregnant you get. But I also just *knew* the difference when the real ones started. One sure sign is that real contractions for me have a lot to do with my back - BH are purely my belly.

Kitty

[happymamajenni]

I didn't have them last time, so I wonder if I am less likely to get them this time!?

[Periwinkle]

T

Mehndi Mama (and others), how did you learn to check your own cervix? I never did that part of the FAM method (I just did temping and CM... and OPKs!). How do you know whether you're 1cm or 2cm... and especially whether your cervix is "shortening" or effacing? That was my big problem last time - effacing early but still closed.

TIA!

[mum5]

I have never had any BH, or never any that I noticed.
I am kind of hoping that I will this time, as it is your body's way of getting prepared right?

[wtchyhlr]

I second what Periwinkle said. When i was charting, I never could figure out if I was feeling my cervix or not. Nevermind what it felt like, etc.

[mehndi mama]

Well, to find your cervix, you have to do a real good feel-around inside. Not sure how you all feel aout doing something like that (I know a lot of women are squeamish about poking around inside there ), but to find it, you have to look for it, yk?
Anyway, the cervix is really the only big hole in there. I wish I had learned how to check mine when I was pregnant with my first - I really have no clue what a first-timer's cervix would feel like. But I know that mine right now feels like a very smushy "hill" with a fingertip-width crater in the middle. Mine is "craggy" because I've had a few big babies through it, but a newbies should feel nice and smooth, so I'm told. It'll feel mushy, but firm underneath.
To check dilation, you just use your fingertip to see how open that hole in the middle is. If you can actually put your fingertip into it, you're 1cm or "fingertip" dilated. 2 fingertips would be about 2 cm, and 2 fingertips with a cm between them would be 3, and so on.

[shannon0218]

Am I the only one who's arms are too short to reach up in there around my belly???

[mehndi mama]

Well, if you try it while in bed, and kind of get on your knees and hunch over so the top of your head is on the bed, you might be able to get a better reach

[shannon0218]

Wow, I'm older than you :
Ok, so another question, I've had a d&c, so it would be normal for me to be slightly dilated right??