[mamarsupial]

okay, i'm wondering when i go from calling contractions BH to 'real' contractions. i'm still not feeling much when i'm having a contraction (and i know i'm having some stronger ones, since i'm 80% effaced, 2+ cm dilated, and they were registering on the nst this morning. all i'm feeling is a rush of oxytocin and i feel a little flushed. when i was on the nst machine, the contraction line went from a baseline of about 5 to up into the 80s to off the chart...but i still wasn't feeling them. are these still BH? or are these the real thing? or does the frequency make the difference (irregular versus every 5-10 minutes)?? the contractions with dd were pitocin induced and were uber painful...so, i just don't know what to expect.

 

[its_our_family]

From what I understand from when I was pg with ds... a contraction supposedly feels different from a bh because it wraps around...it'll start in your belly and involve your back too. Contractions are felt more in your lower tummy while bh involves your whole tummy and tcan take your breath away This is how I can tell a difference right now. Like right now I'm having a contraction but 2 hours ago Iwas having a bh.... (this is how I was told the difference that and when they are realy contrax you will know

)

I could be wrong though.

Bh can still cause you to dilate. Regularity has a lot to do with bh causeing cervical changes. My thought is that if bh can get you there over the few weeks before the show then yay for you!

 

[mom at home]

I had bh from about 5 months on with both my pregs. Sometimes they did get painful, but generally it was a hardening of my belly and then release, no crampy feelings in the cervix. They do help you dilate, though. I was 5 cm when I went into labor with my second and don't know with my first, but fast labors both. I think the difference would be in the way they feel as I just described and in the regularity. There is no organization of bh, whereas real contractions will start becoming a pattern, closer together and longer in duration. I had some long bh, so I think you have to take both factors into account. In terms of pain, some woman don't feel contractions as much as others and also early labor contractions aren't necessarily painful. Whatever they are, they are helping you dilate, and that's hopefully less time in active labor.

 

[mamarsupial]

well, maybe i'm alternating between both. over the last week, many of the noticable contractions were noticable because of the pain/pressure in my pelvix floor/cervix...so maybe those were regular contractions, but some of the others are BH. my doula said i should be thankful that i've dilated and effaced this much with so little pain...and i guess she's right!

 

[its_our_family]

Yup, sometimes bh can last a couple minutes. When my bh began to organize with my son is when I started to dilate. I'm not sure if I've started to dilate yet but I won't be surrised if at my first internal I am....

I agree, get some of the work out of the way and then enjoy your labor! Heck my mom dilated to 10 and didn't even know it! She was having contrax like youa re describing. They were on the monitor but she couldn't really feel them.... She didn't really go into labor till her water broke!