Braxton Hicks

[xkoliex]

I noticed a lot of you are experiencing Braxtion Hicks contractions, especially the moms that are due on or around the same time that I am (Dec 1st) I, on the other hand, either don't realize them or are not having them... Is this normal? Since this is my first pregnancy and all, I really don't know what to expect. :innocent Everytime I visit my dr I keep forgetting to ask her, :nut plus all you wonderful ladies seem to be very schooled in the art of child birth. :love Just thought I'd stick my neck out and ask.

[ldsapmom]

I don't think I had them with baby #1 or #2 until I was just a couple of weeks from my due date. This time I started having them at 16 weeks! For not doing anything, they sure are uncomfortable!

[amis2girls]

From what I understand, everyone gets them but not everyone feels them. Those of us who don't should be grateful. :) You can't dilate without contractions, but I've been 3 cm w/o having felt a thing. :scratch

[Spark]

but I've been 3 cm w/o having felt a thing. :scratch

Were your other two girls vaginal births? If so, then that's quite normal. Our cervixes have been "proven".

Some women never really feel B/H at all. Then, BAM they just go into labor. Others have lots of B/H. It just differs. Doesn't mean that one will have an easier or faster labor than the other. Doesn't mean that a first time mom with B/H will dilate easier than a first time mom without B/H. It's just the way some people's bodies warm up and get the baby in the right position.

[amelissam]

Don't worry, you're okay :) I never felt them with my first either, and I've got 'em bad this time around (#4).

[scrappingmom]

i didnt feel them with #1 until about the last week(week37, had to be induced cause of pre-e :( entirely unrelated thugh) and i only felt them then i think because i was at my aunts house, alone, with nthing to do but lay there and pay attention to my belly :p so i laid ther for like 4 hrs, reading some and with my hand on my belly and could feel slight hardening and softening that DIDnt seem to be baby pushing.
#2, i felt them once in a while in the last month, generally though, only when i was really paying attention
#3 i felt them a fair amount starting around 6mo, but i also went into labor the first time then, likley i think why i was more in tune to them

this time however, i'm having them SOOO strong .. if they werent so far apart and irregular id swear i was in pretty heady labor , i've even had to kinda blow thru a couple of them :o ... praying thats not an indication for how labor will be :p

being your first though.. id say, no worries, you just havent been trained in what you are feeling and everything is tighter and such. Kinda like us "seasoned" mommies tend to feel movments a lil earlier than first timers :wink

[Geofizz]

Another one here with no noticed B/H in my first pregnancy. In retrospect, I was probably getting them, but I didn't interpret them as such. This time, I've had very noticable B/H since about 20 weeks. At my last appointment, we all had to wait a minute before my contraction subsided to get any measurements!

When DD was born, there was evidence on her head that I'd been dialated to ~4 cm for quite a while before labor started. DD was born after 5 hours of labor.

[GreenMommy]

I did not have them like this with 1st pregnancy - but this time it is like I have to try and breathe thru them...

Alicia
(who is due Jan 7th)

[mariposita]

I didn't feel them at all the first time around (and started labor at 3cm). I don't necessarily think that feeling them prepares your body more for labor either since I didn't feel them and went from 3-10cm and pushed DS out in 2 1/2 hours!

[Taedareth]

First-time mom here, too.

I can't say for sure whether I've had any BH, but once in a while the round ligaments will get REALLY tight for a minute or two (giving me nasty pain in my low back) and then it goes away. I'm guessing this means that my uterine muscles were contracting but the muscles themselves didn't hurt - just the stretched ligaments.

[xkoliex]

You girls are great, thanks so much for your thoughts and experiences :throb