contractions

[Lolafanana]

this may sound like a silly question but what do contractions feel like?

i'm 37 weeks and have felt a bit of tightening here and there but nothing has been uncomfortable or painful. i keep hearing that they are super painful and that i'll just know when they happen but, ummm.... shouldn't i have felt them by now? i lost my mucous plug last week and i was 1cm dilated last week as well and everything has been pretty breezy so far. can anyone describe what they feel like?

[MAMom]

For me they feel a lot like menstrual cramps...and of course more intense when you get father along. Just like your uterus is contracting to expell its lining when you're having your period, your uterus is contracting to expell the baby. The tightening you describe sounds more like Braxton-Hicks.

I would try to remember that the contractions are the work your body needs to do to birth your baby, and instead of thinking of them as "super painful" try to put put a more positive spin on it. The more fearful you are, the more intense the pain can be.

I love The Birth Book by Martha Sears. Her book has a couple of great sections on relaxing for birth...

"Relaxation helps in 5 ways:
-untenses birthing muscles to help them stretch more comfortably
-raises pain threshold, lessening labor discomforts
-releases natural pain-lessening hormones
-enhances mental acuity for decision making
-conserves energy, lessening exhaustion"

She especially enphasizes keeping facial muscles, neck muscles & shoulder muscles relaxed since tension in those muscles can make muscles around your uterus really tense.

Remember, your body is designed for birthing babies!

[AndiG]

on the other hand, if you end up starting off with back labour (more common with a posterior baby if you happen to have one) It will feel like a pressure inside your tail bone. Imagine someone open and closing their fist from inside the tail bone.

Yes, the tightening is likely BH. But don't worry if you haven't felt much yet. I didn't have ANY noticable contractions with my first until the morning of the day she was born at 41 weeks, 1 day gestation. I kept just wondering 'what is this going to feel like?" Didn't feel contractions (abdominal contractions) like the other poster described until I was practically pushing.

So if you end up with back labour, you're watching for lower back achiness and cramping that rises and falls at timeable intervals.

[MAMom]

Originally Posted by AndiG

But don't worry if you haven't felt much yet. I didn't have ANY noticable contractions with my first until the morning of the day she was born at 41 weeks, 1 day gestation.

Agreed! I also didn't have any contractions with baby #1 until 41w1d.

[aguacates]

With dd, I didn't have any real contractions until I woke up in labor almost two wks past my edd. (I had been having BH though) And for me, labor contractions felt a lot like when I was in India and had dysentary(sp?). I thought I had some kind of bowel funk for about two hours until I noticed that the abdominal cramping was coming at regular intervals. One would think that being almost two wks late I would have caught on quicker.

[Lolafanana]

thanks for the responses. it's good to hear that there are other people that also did not feel contractions until the very end. i went to my doc yesterday and everything is fine. he said that i am probably having lots of contractions but just not feeling them- that it is quite common.

anyway, thanks again