I don't understand what a contraction is

[leosmama20]

Okay, this makes me sound sooo stupid, espcially considering I have already had a kiddo. With my first, my water was broken and went from no contractions (despite dialating nicely) to a huge, non-stop, 3 hour long contraction. It never, contracted persay. It was just, intense non-stop pain.

So, this pg, thought I was having contractions early on but found out that really it was just the baby moving.

I am so jealous of people (well sorta ) who KNOW what a contraction is. I am in a lot of pain that comes and goes. Feels like menstral cramps or cramps after running a sprint or something. And sometimes, I get a lot of pressure and lose my breath for a second and have to kind of breathe to get it back. But, I am not sure any of these are contractions. I also wouldn't say anything is in a pattern or timeable or anything.

I figure, worst case scenario, the baby will start coming and I will know LOL. But really, since I am not being induced this time, getting to the hospital is weighing more on my mind. If I went into labor during the day, I would have to track dh down from work and he has a 30-45 minute drive home. Plus, we would have to get dd taken care of.

Sigh. I hate not knowing! LOL If someone said, okay, kick back girlfriend, this baby isn't coming for 3 more weeks, I would be okay with that. But not knowing when just drives me bonkers. I am a planner

[Pom]

Ok, Leos, so you know, really, that you'll figure all this out when the time comes, right? That this is absolutely normal late pg panic combined with what seems to be a natural inclination for you to worry and plan?

But maybe I'm projecting b/c once again, Leos, it's like hearing my own brain...

I think the pains along with the difficutly breathing are probably contractions...at least, Braxton Hicks ones. The other stuff is probably just Pre-birthin' gettin' ready stuff.

But, I -- also induced last time --- have no real clue about those slow and steadily growing ones...except when I think back to the beginnning of induction I can kind of remember the "ouch" to "oooh nooo" moment. But timing??? How am I supposed to do that? (although I did find an online applet to do it). How will you know when to leave for hospital?

I'm also a big planner. The whole who's taking the kid thing is throwing me for a curve. I"m at the point where I'm kinda just ignoring it and hoping it all works out, even though 2 of my back ups don't have cels, and one is supposed to be in Michigan the week of my due date. Eeek!

And did I mention, for anyone who follows astrology, Mercury goes Retrograde July 22nd??? Doh! (this is approx 4 weeks when traffic, communication is supposed to go haywire for most people, and nothing goes as planned. Grrreat!)

[soccerchic21]

I think the pains along with the difficutly breathing are probably contractions...at least, Braxton Hicks ones. The other stuff is probably just Pre-birthin' gettin' ready stuff.

I agree. The menstral cramp pains that you are talking about. If you feel your uterus and it is hard I would say yes that is a contraction. I have been getting those. I noticed that the braxton hicks take my breath away like what you were talking about too. So it sounds like you are having both here and there.

But timing??? How am I supposed to do that? (although I did find an online applet to do it).

Ok you HAVE to share a link with us! That will come in super handy if I go into labor while DH is at work.

[forevermommy]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one...

My real problem is with my dd I felt no pain at all. I was a little uncomfortable. I couldn't sit or lay down because the pelvic pressure was so intense. But pain. No. No pain. I know that during contractions I became very quiet and tuned into myself. We have no idea when my water broke. I had no "dripping" during labor and there was no rush of fluid after my dd was born. Who knows...

Currently my belly is just continually hard. My midwife says that my baby's head is well down. I'm having a homebirth so I'm not worried about getting anywhere. And I'm not afraid to deliver on my own as long as I know my midwife is on the way. I just wish I'd feel it and know that I'm feeling it. I'm just frustrated because I can't (and neither can my midwife) find/reach my cervix. I'd like to know if anything is happening there.

Well just a rant. Two more weeks, I want it today...

[Pom]

Online contraction log

http://www.dragonsept.com/mnfiddledr...ntraction.html

[leosmama20]

Sigh, okay, but is anyone else overweight like me? I can't really tell if it is getting hard. I keep getting very nauseated with the pain. Oh, I am just fratchety!!! LOL

[Pom]

Woman, You ARE fratchety!!

What do you mean by overweight? I weighed 200lb towards end of last pg and had no clue. This time I weigh about 185 and feel some more stuff, but that is supposedly common with #2, and given that I never actually went into labor last time, maybe it's a sign I will. Dunno. I'm about 5'5".

[Shanana]

Well I have no idea either :LOL . But I suppose that's normal for a first-timer! I guess it doesn't help that every woman has her own unique experience, too -- even from pg to pg. The one thing that puts me at ease is knowing my monitrice will come to my house whenever I want (once labor has started). She was a direct-entry MW for many years, so she knows the drill. I'm sure if it's not really labor, she'll just go home, and come back when I call again (she lives about 20 minutes away). And once things are going, she stays with me, can check my dilation, etc. So I'm counting on HER to help guide me through this, and tell me when to leave for the hospital (20 min away), etc. And if things go faster than we think (doubtful!!), well, she was a MW for years, so I'll be in good hands.

Finding and hiring her was the best thing I ever did! It really puts my mind at ease.

And if my contractions are so hard to identify that I can't tell they're contractions, well hot damn, I'll be happy because that means they can't be hurting too much :LOL !!!

Shana
EDD 7/29/05

[MamanFrancaise]

I was not induced with my last pregnancy.. not in the beginning anyway and you will just KNOW when it is contractions. Even if you are overweight, which I am also, you will feel the contractions and you will notice that your belly feels harder.

For me the very first contractions felt like an urge to poop, LOL. I would run to the bathroom and sit down and the urge would be gone. I didn't even know these were contractions until my sister came over and told me, LOL. They were 5 minutes apart for the entire labor... they just turned from poop urges to tightening then to a little painful..

[NordicMamma]

With ds my first contractions started out as heavy period cramps. It took me a while to realise that these cramps were coming and going in a regular pattern. I knew I was REALLY in labour when I felt the need to stand up and swivel my hips during each contraction. That didn't happen until another 10 or 12 hours after I first felt the cramps.

I had a slow labour, though, so it wasn't vital that I knew whether I was having contractions are not! By the time I went to hospital 36 hours later there was absolutely no doubt!

For some women labour contractions seem to start as BH that get worse and worse.

[orangebird]

And did I mention, for anyone who follows astrology, Mercury goes Retrograde July 22nd??? Doh! (this is approx 4 weeks when traffic, communication is supposed to go haywire for most people, and nothing goes as planned. Grrreat!)

Shut up! That is like my due date. Not like I have a whole lot of "plans" but my basic plan is a homebirth, healthy baby, I wish I hadn't read that, now I'm going to be sure things will go wrong. I'm calling my astrologer friend this week. Unless she posts here, Sarah, are you reading this? Help!

Although, I was told the date I was scheduled to go into surgery for my breast reduction last year was a bad day, that the surgeon would not be good with his knife that day. Something to do with metal. I don't remember nor do I know alot of the astrological lingo. But the surgery went like a dream. My friend was begging me to change dates but I didn't.

[Pom]

Mara -

Sometimes things not going as planned can go in your favor, right? In fact, I have one friend that LOVES Merc in retro-- for some reason it always works in her favor. So maybe you're like her! Don't freak!

I think it's prob more important that we all conceived when Merc was NOT in retro.

Besides, if you're birhting at home you don't even have to worry about traffic!

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

In the weeks leading up to the birth of my first, I had all kinds of different sensations that I thought might be labor. One time, I was just having really bad indigestion. I told my husband that I now understood how labor is so difficult. Then it went away, and I realized that the Thai food I'd just had disagreed with me. :LOL

What was different with my labor contractions and all those other sensations was how I could time them. My contractions weren't painful for the first 9 hours or so of my 12-hour labor, but I could still time them. They started and stopped, not necessarily at regular intervals, but they had definite beginnings and endings. Before, all the sensations would fade in and out and become very intense for a time, then less and last for unpredictable amounts of time. The contractions were more predictable. I couldn't have timed those other sensations (even with the BH it wasn't always obvious when my belly was hard or relaxed, sometimes it was only half-hard, or whatever).

[NordicMamma]

Originally Posted by BinahYeteirah

What was different with my labor contractions and all those other sensations was how I could time them.

That is exactly how it was for me. With my irritable bowel I get all sorts of cramps and aches, but they are not 'timeable', whereas my contractions were.