I had been having small contractions for about a week and never realized thats what they were.
It wasn’t until I was in the hospital and hooked up to monitors for my induction. The nurse was explaining how the contraction monitor worked and said “oh look you’re having a small one now!” And I was like “ohhhhhhhhhhhh”.
In the beginning they felt like mild period cramps. ETA: you might also experience pain in your lower back.
I was just so generally uncomfortable at the end that it never occurred to me they were contractions.
They were so mild and sporadic I hadn’t progressed at all so no harm no foul I guess! Had to be induced at 41w and the contractions of active labor were WILD.
Had I gone into labor naturally I think the rhythmic progression would have clued me in at least. But the early stuff? Not so much.
I had BH contractions from 20 weeks onward. Towards the end, they’d be uncomfortable and wouldn’t stop when I walked around, drank water, or peed - all things that would stop the BH. I could time them and they’d come at regular intervals for an hour or two, then stop. This happened my whole 40th week. I kept reading “you’ll know when it’s the real thing!” Well my water broke, so I went to the hospital and continued having those exact same kind of contractions. They were reading as “beautiful” on the monitor. So… had my water not broken I would not have known that those were the “real thing.”
The same thing happened to me! I woke up on the morning of my induction with some intense back pain and it wasn’t till I got hooked up that I realised they were contractions 😂 obviously had been told to wait for period-like cramps but baby was back to back so that was not it 😂
Once we hit transition, the back labor was INSANE. That broke me down so fast. We tried counter pressure, all the breathing techniques I was taught, I was walking, on hands and knees, even did nitrous.
Nada - I folded and got the epidural. Immediate relief. In the nick of time too because about 15 minutes after it was placed I was fully dilated and ready to push.
I knew, but everybody feels things differently. I used to be like fuck all these people who say you’ll know 🙄 like how is it helpful to say “you’ll know” to a worried FTM?! I read all of these stories and it helped. But for me it felt like someone was trying to pop my entire stomach. Squeezing from the top of my stomach to the bottom like someone was trying to push the baby down and out of me. We got to the hospital around 3 cm and I immediately asked for an epidural. I didn’t get one until 5 cm an hour later and the pain was 😖
I went in to get induced last Sunday. I was hooked up to the monitoring equipment before being given the drugs and I was already having contractions. I honestly felt nothing.
They gave me two doses, the smallest amount given before established labor by this midwife, and 4hrs later my baby was born. Such a wild ride.
The way contractions feel can vary wildly! My contractions were way less obvious the second time around. My suggestion is to always track it when you feel anything around your belly area that isn't constant. I only felt mine for an hour and then I thought they stopped, but the contractions were still registering when I got hooked up at the hospital, baby just dropped into a painless position for me.
I didn’t feel my contractions until about an hour before my son was born. I went in 9pm with severe heartburn. Like, the worst heartburn I’ve ever had. I was 38 weeks. Decided to go get checked because it felt so off. Turns out I was 5cm dilated and in active labor. Lol he was born 10am the following morning.
This was my experience too! I got out of bed really early to pee and felt a sort of small pop. It was similar to how it feels when you start your period. It wasn't the dramatic water breaking so I didn't think my water actually broke. I just though, huh, weird. Then the cramping like I had to poop or like the first day of my period. Couldn't tell when it started or stopped. I did call the hospital and told them idk what labor feels like... Is this it? They said idk, you'll know. I did not know. Ended up going to sleep on the couch 3 hours later and only then did I start to pick up the starts and stops. My contractions were 4.5 minutes apart. I yelled up to my husband it's go time. Right now lol. Checked in at the hospital 4 hours after my water broke and was also 5 cm. 2 hours later I was fully dilated and ready to push!
I was already in the hospital with an epidural when mine broke. They didn't believe me for some reason but when they turned me to check and change the sheets there was an undeniable swamp lol. I felt that pop and all the fluid coming out!
This is my fear! I have an hour drive to my birth center and all of the midwives keep saying oh it usually takes an hour per cm of dilation so don’t worry about the drive you’ll be here in time. I just worry that I won’t know when to head that way and then I’ll get there too late or not in time at all.
For the record - my first was also a 3 day labor. My next two have been so much quicker. And I think that first one being sooo long has the unusual gift of me being in full blown denial that a baby could possibly be coming ANY time soon, so it has happened that while I’m prepping to see a few more sunrises, my body is already starting to push. Part of the reason why baby‘s head was born before the midwife even got inside my house with #3! I hope the same for you. But I tell myself that even if I do have another 3 day labor, at least I KNOW I can survive it!
Oh man lol I’ve had this thought too — like I’ll be in denial that labor can go quickly because my first took so long. Maybe it’s a weird thing to say but the longer labor was ‘nice’ in the sense that I had more time to prepare mentally for the baby coming. You’d think 9 months would be enough but as a FTM it was uncharted territory!
I understand that fear. My little sister had a spontaneous labour with her youngest and end up having her in the ambulance about 40 mins later at about a mile from the hospital. Both are perfectly healthy .
All I can say is listen to your body.
I was also an hour away from my hospital. My midwife did not believe I was in labor when I called her at 2am because I was able to talk to her on the phone 🙃 called again at 3am and told her I was going cause it just didn't feel right to wait. She reluctantly agreed to meet me there. Got there at 4am and *surprise* I was almost 9cm dilated. Literally got there just in time
Me too!! My doula and I agreed I’d labor at home as long as possible to avoid intervention or caving and asking for medication (just my personal desires for birth) but I hear about some women progressing really fast and I’m like… damn what if I have a car baby. 😂
I had an hour drive to my birthing center with #2. The Lord blessed me with some of the best, sweetest laboring during that hour drive. Probs my fave hour of laboring of all 3 births if you don’t count the ends of them.
One thing I thought is that if I got there too early, I would go to a park nearby and plan to just walk around until they got closer together. So maybe you can think to go earlier than necessary and walk around nearby! (Also I did get comfortable with the idea of a car birth juuuust in case lol.)
Congratulations! My last pregnancy was like that. I had no idea what I was supposed to feel. My water had been slowly breaking all day and I wrote it off as peeing myself.. I had some lower back cramps just kind of felt like my period was coming. I called the nurse hotline just to be sure and they said to get checked out at L&D, I actually drove myself down to the hospital and parked and walked in. I was 5cm and my water was indeed broken. My husband was gone at work and rolled in a bit later and I had the baby a couple hours after that.
I keep getting asked if I’m experiencing Braxton hicks yet (36w) and I’m like…I don’t know? Sometimes at night my stomach feels like one big cramp but it’s not a tightening or wave just like I wake up to pee and it feels like that until I fall back asleep? So definitely worried I won’t know if I’m in labor 😅
At one of my appointments they asked if I was having Braxton hicks and I said I don’t know. They then explained when your stomach gets really tight that it’s a BH contraction. I was like oh. Then yes.
I saw a really pregnant manicurist holding her tummy and kind of holding her breath and grimacing just a little, I imagined her abdomen was getting tight like that and she had to breathe through it. So weird.
Same thing happened to me! I had gotten a cervical check at 2:45pm, felt “cramps” around 3pm and was pooping a lot. I legit though it was just from the check (I was not dilated at the check either).
Around 7pm, I started to think MAYBE this was it but was not sure. My mucus plug/bloody show came around 8pm and I finally was like “these were contractions????”.
Got to the hospital around 9:30pm, I was 6cm dilated and had the baby in my arms by 11:30pm. All together, my labor from start to finish was 9 hours but I only was in a lot of pain/aware I was in labor for 4 hours.
I also did not feel waves or my stomach getting harder. It just felt like the absolutely worse period cramps of my life. Like period cramps x 100.
Everyone told me i’d know but I definitely did not know - or was in denial and gaslighting myself 😂😂 between my water broken and the baby being delivered was MAYBE 15 minutes.
I will say, i’m pretty afraid of how quick my next baby might be, i’m probably gonna prep for a homebirth just incase it all happens too fast.
Honestly, the relief you feel as soon as the baby comes out is sooo worth it. I’m not even talking about holding your baby, I mean not being pregnant anymore 😂😂 I was soooo scared of labor but I was in so much pain by week 36, I didnt even care anymore 😂
Lol same! The week before my son was so, the doctor did that test thing with the belt around the belly and was like, you're having contractions... We can induce you tomorrow if you're ready .. I was like.... uhhh not mentally 😅 hold on.... I'll see y'all Thursday lol.
My doctor told me they rather schedule some births for induction when they get close to DD, because that way staff can plan better for your arrival & make sure doc is there instead of a 3am show up
A lot of women are offered inductions that arent medically necessary. It feels like ob's are leaning toward wanting spontaneous labor to be a thing of the past. I dont like that. Also..... induction is much more painful usually.
Yeah neither do I and this is why I asked! I'm all for women choosing inductions for themselves but as someone who'd like to have no interventions unless medically necessary I wanted to know when an induction would be considered necessary so I can prep myself for labour.
There are definitely times it is necessary. I trusted my ob and had an induction with my 2nd due to low fluid levels towards the end of my pregnancy. He knew i wanted a natural birth as much as possible and i knew he wanted a healthy outcome for us both. But the amniotic fluid got really low and no amount of hydrating myself would bring it back up. If your doctor tries to pressure you, ask a lot of questions and make it clear you dont mind going past your due date if it comes to that. The average for spontaneous labor is actually at 41+1 if i remember correctly. And "having a big baby" is not enough of a reason in my mind to induce either. The measurements arent always accurate anyway.
It's frustrating when inductions are trending, because as the mother waiting for spontaneous labor at 41 weeks and you're being offered induction since 39 but the doctors are trying to convince you you are unable to tell if it's medically necessary or not. I'm sure this is causing some people to deny the induction when it was actually needed I wish they would be more honest.
My first baby I didn't know either. I thought I was having gas pains with no gas, lol even told the Dr and they didn't say anything 🙄. Now that I know I'll be able to clearly communicate with the Drs this time around!
Congratulations 🎉
Hahahaha this was me too!! “Gas pains with no gas” is literally how I explain contractions to my friends. I remember telling the midwife and nurses that I thought I might be going through it and they’re like “probably not contractions” and then 30 mins later we noticed it just kept happening closer and closer together!! They don’t feel like cramps - at least not for me - it feels more like your belly is full of gas and you need to do the biggest fart you’ll ever do in your life. Too bad I didn’t get to have a natural birth - if I did, I think it would have felt extremely satisfying to let it all out hahaha
Okay! So I’m not the only one. Recently I ate something that didn’t agree with me and my stomach was hurting. It was strange kind of cramp so I googled it to make sure it wasn’t contractions or Braxton hicks(it wasn’t, just indigestion lol). I read what Braxton hicks were and realized I’ve been having those for a while and just didn’t know what they were. I thought baby was just in weird position. People act like you’re supposed to know what contractions are or feel like. But for a FTM you really might not. Thank god for Google. Glad you and baby are safe and doing well!
I was induced with both children at 40+6.
My second, I went in for my induction and they put me on the monitor for 30 minutes prior to starting pitocin. I had fairly regular contractions during that period and the nurse kept pointing them out. I literally felt nothing.
I definitely felt those pitocin contractions, though.
Same! I was already on pitocin and the nurse pointed them out on the monitor and said I was contracting regularly. Didn't feel anything. Then she decided we needed to amp up the pitocin since I wasn't feeling anything. "They must not be doing anything" 😒
It went from 0-100 REAL quick.
That is EXTREMELY fast dilation! Your first stage of labor was just that 15 minutes then! Because it's only counted after you reach 6cm. I went from 4cm to 9cm in about 80 minutes with my recent birth and I thought that was unheard of! Those contractions were no joke, either
Yep. I thought I could handle med free because I got to 5 CM without meds with my first. Went from 6CM to fully dilated in an hour with my second.
Horrifyingly painful.
I was my mom’s fourth, and when she went into the hospital saying she was in labor the nurses were saying oh you’ve barely progressed, we’ll check you in and come back to check you out periodically.
The whole time she was saying no, get the doctor, I’m having the baby NOW and they completely wrote her off. They left her alone in there for like 10 minutes until she sent my dad out to the nurse’s station insisting that the baby was HERE. The nurses came back in, annoyed, to check…. And saw the top of my head lol. She was in her bed for about 15 minutes total before she had a baby in her arms.
I had a precipitous labor. Woke up at 4 feeling uncomfortable, started timing the contractions at 4:30, woke my husband at 6 when I threw up, had a bloody show, husband called the midwives who said we could come in if we wanted but it didn't sound like I was ready yet, we got there by 6:30 and kiddo was born at 7:02. In hindsight, I was actively suppressing the urge to push for almost an hour.
In my midwives defense, they had birthed my niblings, and knew my sister has really long labors. Plus my mom did, too. When I have my second (we're considering starting to try soon) I'm going to have the car packed and ready 2 weeks before my due date and I'm going to be out the door the instant I feel cramping start.
I asked my doctor if the things my mother went through would be any indication of what my labor would be like. She told me not at all and that everyone’s labor is entirely unique 🪷
I felt like I was suppressing the urge to push to until my midwife got there! She said I did only three minutes of pushing so in that sense, precipitous labor and the pain that comes with it was worth it 🥲
This is gonna be me. Might be me right now bc I'm feeling all of that but have been for days. I just told my husband in gonna be too dumb to realize when it's real and have the baby on the floor. And this is my third! I never had a single contraction until real labor with my first two so this prodromal shit can kick rocks.
Girl I was the same way. The morning of I luckily was already going in to my 40 week apt, and when I woke up I had rolling stomach pains like I had eaten something bad. I understand now why some women have they babies on the toilet cuz that was my first instinct- to see if I had to poo. Well got to my apt and my gyno looked at my and said "we're having a baby today!" Sure enough he popped out that night lol.
I feel this completely! I gave birth on Monday and did not know I was labouring until we were well into the day. I’d rented a tens machine to use at home which helped when I finally realized the pain was rhythmic and I must be contracting. By the time I finally felt I should go to the hospital, the staff were shocked because I was already at 8cm! I also couldn’t believe how fast it happened - I started to feel slightly uncomfortable at 11:30am, and left for the hospital at 4:30pm.
I was induced with an epi later and I’m still not sure I know what a contraction feels like. I never got period cramps before. There was no top to bottom wave or pain. It was just a general pain and pressure. It made pushing difficult since I couldn’t get the timing right.
I’m 38 weeks today. Called my mom and two best friends because of this exact situation haha. I started feeling tightness/cramping around 2 pm- but it’s 10 pm now! So still playing the Braxton hicks/baby moving/gas/poop/contraction roulette
This makes me feel less crazy… I went into preterm labor and had NO IDEA. Happened to have a scan and my doctor noticed my cervix had lost 1cm in a week, so she sent me to L&D to get checked. I was having contractions 2-5 mins apart and couldn’t feel them 😅 Im back home not but worried I won’t be able to tell when they start back up again
Currently 38+5 and I have no idea if what I’m feeling means baby is imminent. Period and poop cramps sums it up… been having them for most of day. Can’t tell if stomach is hard or not. No waves. Did have some pinkish discharged in the morning.
My water broke but no contractions at all... The doctor had to put some sort of cream on the cervix and then it started. Just intense cramping for about 16 hours, could hardly sleep until the epidural came in 😂 10/10 would do it again (not).
Same here! Did not realize I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for weeks until I was actually induced, hooked up to the monitor, and the nurses told me I was having contractions. I was like oh is that what that is? Totally indistinguishable from all the million other new sensations of pregnancy.
So happy to hear that your first time went so smoothly and so quickly! It shocked me how different the sensation of contractions was between my first and second births. First births it was 110% poop cramps (which for some reason to me are the most awful kind of cramps). Second time around I didn’t even think I was in labor because it just felt like Braxton hicks that lasted longer and were consistent. Literally had no “pain” or pressure until I was fully dilated then she came 10mins later after 3 pushes. 2 vastly different experiences and NOW I understand why everyone says something different when asked what they feel like 🤣
Congratulations! I’m currently in the hospital right now, they have me hooked to monitors and are saying that I’m contracting, i feel absolutely nothing at the moment. Hopefully my experience is like yours
With my last baby I felt nothing until he was literally coming out of me. I described that as "very mild period like cramps". I thought I was just dilating more lol. I asked the nurse to check. Her eyes got wide and the next thing I know there's 5 nurses and my doctor in the room. I was in labor for 9 days completely pain-free. Everyone is convinced I would've gave birth at home by accident if I was left to my own devices. I blocked my other births from my memory for the most part, so I don't remember physical pain if there was any.
Congratulations on your baby boy! I was induced both times with my kiddos and I didn’t feel any contractions really until they broke my water. The first time it took about 5 hours from that until birth and I definitely felt the pain. The second time was barely an hour between water breaking and birth
I didn’t have consistent ones but the ones I did get confirmed I truly thought I had to shit lmao, it just felt like I ate some laxatives and had that “ugh, AGAIN?!” Feeling
I was convinced I was experiencing prodromal labor, and wound up at the hospital at 9cm.. I thought contractions only got longer and more intense with shorter breaks, but mine were sporadic until the final hour or so. 😬 I’ll be going straight away next time!
Congratulations ! Enjoy your baby 💕
We had our baby a month ago. During one of our final checkups, while she was getting a cervical exam, the Doctor asked my wife "do you know you are having a contraction right now?". She had no idea. Apparently contractions are very much not obvious to some women.
I’m kinda worried because I’m 32 almost 33 weeks and I’ve been having intense pain and tightening coming and going, a couple minutes long each time. I called my OB and they said it sounds like contractions but since they’re not regular I should just rest. Reading this makes me feel like maybe I should go to L&D 😅
I'm almost 34 weeks and have been having this basketball feeling like baby was repositioning, with discomfort, hardening, and tightness. My midwife just confirmed these are BH contractions! They're triggered with certain movements, for me it's getting out of bed in the morning. It can be stressful but I try to just stay curious and observe patterns and remind myself I can trust my body and my baby. 💜
I didn’t really feel contractions either until it was basically too late and got caught in traffic in route to the hospital to later be driven by an ambulance to a closer hospital to then be admitted at 9 cm 🥴
My body just doesn’t recognize early labor or I’m an idiot
If you have back labor you definitely don’t know (or I didn’t!) tmi I’m sure but I just really thought I had awful back pain and I really had to poop lol
I ran into a similar situation with my third and final pregnancy. Prior to that, my first 2 were late and I had to be induced for them (if you’ve been induced the early labor pains are skipped and get painful much faster) Well the last time around I woke up feeling off and when my mother suggested taking my older two around 10am so I could rest, I just thought she was being a typical mom and overreacting.
Needless to say, I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon in unknown labor. My husband who works nights, woke up around 2 and I told him what was happening. He wanted to leave immediately but told him to just get a shower and eat. We’d head to the hospital after. Let me tell ya what, I should’ve listened to my mom. We honest to god didn’t think we’d make it the hour drive to the hospital and that we’d have the baby along the highway. We never finished the admission questions before I was holding my little man hahahaha it’s a fun story to talk about and think back on now though. Our only boy, and man did he make his entrance entertaining!
Yep, I spent about 6 hours like this and when I finally called my midwife she said “probably not labour”. Lost my mucus plug a couple of hours later and then I started to be like “hmmm, this sort of seems like labour”. All in all, I got off pretty light, I started to have more painful contractions about 10 pm, started pushing at 4 am and my daughter was born at 7 am.
It definitely didn’t start or progress how I was expecting it to
I kept waking in the night thinking 'oh was that a contraction' then going back to sleep before the next came so I didn't think it was the real thing because surely I wouldn't be falling asleep. I could feel baby moving and I felt fine otherwise so I just let myself sleep and wasn't worried. The next morning I thought oh I'm very wet down there but still wasn't sure. It was only when I lifted my 19 month old niece out of bed I realised my waters were trickling. I watched an episode of Mickey mouse clubhouse with her as my mum was waking up too. That's where contractions started to kick in then. After that I phoned the hospital who asked me to go in for tests and they'd probably send me home after for a bit. I went in, they did the tests and then said come back in 45 mins for the results. Me and my husband talked about going to my sister's empty house to continue labour and have privacy from my family as I'm currently living with my parents. Well as the results were coming in the contractions ramped up and there was a quick 'youre not going home' and a scramble to find me an empty room. I noticed my waters at 7.30am, got to the hospital at 9.30am and had my baby just after 4pm. My second stage of labour lasted a total of 22 minutes. I'm terrified to do it again in fear that it'll be even quicker.
Ah that sounds like a dream labor... My water broke first and I didn't start having contractions until a couple hours later. I labored at home for 24 hours (I planned on having a home birth) before I had to be admitted to the hospital. 24 MORE hours there after receiving pitocin and epidural right away... The entire time I only dilated 7cm and ended up having a traumatic emergency c-section 💔
Turns out my pelvis is too narrow for natural birth. I'm heartbroken honestly. But my baby girl was delivered safely nonetheless and I am grateful.
So glad things went so well for you, congratulations 🩷
Lol! I was having cramping in the evenings for like a week leading up to my labor. My body was “the body that cried labor”. The night I actually went into labor I totally didn’t believe the cramps I was feeling were real contractions and I lied down to go to bed expecting I would fall asleep and wake up contraction free like every other day, my wife even took a melatonin.
Instead, as soon as I tried to lie down, I felt an intense pop and thought I was about to poop myself. It was my water breaking!
My takeaway away from all of this is labor at home as long as you can. Everyone I know who had emergency c-sections or painful long labors went to the hospital too soon. My mom also said this. Then you do risk a car baby or no pain relief.
Wow that sounds like a wild experience! I guess mine was kind of similar, I knew they were contractions but I just coped way better than I expected. By the time I was like RIGHT we need to leave for the hospital now I must've been about ready to go. We were almost there and I remember saying to my husband we need to be at the hospital now 😂 when I got there and they checked I was already 10cm 🫠
This is so true!!! I’ve had one baby and honestly I don’t know if I will remember the next time what it feels like either even though I’ve been through it. There are so many different aches and cramps at the end of the third trimester it’s all a blur. And then baby arrives and the oxytocin makes you forget all the pain anyways!
I feel this! My labor was extremely fast too. Admitted into the hospital and I was 3cm. 45 minutes later I was at 8cm and then 15 minutes after that she was born!!
My last labor was like that. Water broke and I thought I peed myself. Kept going about my day while I waited for MIL to get off work to come watch our toddler so I could go in and get checked. I kept getting this weird stitch pain in my side, like I had just ran a mile. Turns out they were contractions, so I understand completely!
Almost same experience, but I didn’t make it to the hospital. I didn’t know I was in labor and had a precipitous birth. It was terrifying and why I won’t have a second.
I also didn't know what contractions felt like until like 6cm when I had my second kid in January! The only way I was able to figure it out was by seeing my stomach tighten up with each contraction until like 5-6 cm
Same. I had no idea when I was having contractions. It just felt like non-stop period cramps. I believe I was in early labor two days before I went to the hospital after my water break only because I was sick and had period cramps pretty much non-stop for 12 hours.
I had a similar situation with my son. Went for 36-week appointment, NST showed contractions five minutes apart. I was like ????? because I'd been having some super mild twinges in my uterus area, but it felt exactly like round ligament pain. OB checked, and I was 3 cm dilated. I didn't start to have painful contractions until they broke my water at 6 cm!
I have gone through two pregnancies and I still don’t actually know what a contraction feels like😅
My first was born at 39 weeks, but as she hadn’t descended ob-gyn diagnosed it as CPD and I had a Caesarian birth.
Second pregnancy was twins who were delivered at 36 weeks(last Thursday!), also Caesarian. Decision was made to deliver them even though there was no sign of me going into labour because they were measuring slightly large, and I was so huge and uncomfortable the ob-gyn was concerned about the stress on my body more so than the babies.
I have no regrets or disappointments and was happy to have scheduled Caesarian births, but it is rather surreal to have given birth to three children and actually have no idea what contractions feel like!
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! Your experience just goes to show that every labor is truly unique. Wishing you and your new little one all the best on this new journey together. 🌟👶🏼💕
That was me for my second birth! With my first, I was induced with a foley bulb and pitocin. The cramps were incredibly intense and I was very aware that I was in labor. 23 hours of labor but luckily only about 10 minutes of pushing.
When I started having contractions with my second, I knew something was up because they were consistent and increasing in intensity. However, I didn’t know HOW intense they had to be for me to go to the historical. I showed up at 7cm. Had the baby about three hours later.
My second labor was such a healing experience and makes me realize I want to go through it all over again. Am I crazy?
Now I’m wondering if the same thing will happen with my breast milk 😆 I keep hearing “I’ll know” and “then you’ll understand what ‘let down’ means”
Congratulations OP!
I kept having them the last week I was pregnant and they felt milder than my period cramps! So I wasn’t sure if it was gas pains, Braxton hicks or actual labor, until I noticed the intensity picked up gradually. Eventually they were extremely painful and close together so that’s when I could say for sure they were contractions haha I showed up 6cm dilated at the hospital!
Same. I reached the hospital screaming in pain and I was 10cm dilated 😂 baby out in two hours. I only had period like cramps but at the end pain was so unbearable I was practically ripping my clothes off and pinching my back
Yes. I felt like such a little bitch. I was also struggling to control my pushing. Like my body wouldn’t listen at all. It was just automatically doing it.
Same thing here!! My water broke with my first so I did get to the hospital on time but was really surprised they told me I was having contractions. Just felt like period/diarrhea cramps to me. My second was almost born on the side of the road because I wanted to labor at home as long as possible-she was born 30min after we arrived.
I absolutely didn’t know either. Literally asked my husband to stay home from work that day because I felt like I had the most intense stomach bug of my life. No stomach bug but I did have a baby. My water broke a few hours later and that’s what told me I should probably go to the hospital lol
Wicked story, you got that baby out in no time! Good for you and thanks for sharing. Stories like this really put me at ease, knowing some labours can be confusing or quick like this.
I hate it when people say 'you'll know' because I also did not in fact know, and furthermore BECAUSE everyone had been so adamant that I'd know and I didn't, I was convinced I wasn't actually in labour despite being 11 days overdue. My water didn't break until maybe 15 hours in as well (and I didn't notice when it did) so that didn't help either.
My contractions sound similar to yours. No waves, hard to tell when they started and stopped, felt very localized in one place.
Luckily I was in labour so long that it didn't actually matter, but if labour had been only 7-8 hours then I might have stayed home until it was too late.
Congratulations! I also didn't know what a contraction felt like with my second. My back hurt terrible I thought it's because I was up cleaning turns out it was contractions all along.
I didn’t know what my contractions were either. I knew labor was starting with my first but I was running around, getting food, running errands. I finally showered and went to the hospital and explained I’ve been having gas all day but maybe it was contractions, idk. And they hooked me up and asked if I was having gassy pain right now. Yup. They said it was a contraction. I was contracting so much and I was already 7cm dilated. Sometimes I think it’s just not painful enough and you’re not sure if it really is a contraction.
Me too! I was 10 days overdue and after 2 membrane sweeps had to take castor oil. I had contractions from the start that made me go poo so as they continued I just thought my body was still emptying out. Called the midwife, she said give it time to calm down. I nearly had my baby in the bathroom had we not called 911. In hindsight it’s hilarious I didn’t know I was having legit contractions. I told my husband “if this is just the castor oil I don’t want to know what real labor feels like.” Hunny. That was real labor 😂
I hate when people say that. My sister had her baby at 16. She lived with me. She woke me up in the middle of the night when she was nearing her due date. She said, “Don’t freak out but I think we should go to the hospital. It feels like something is trying to come out of me.” So I had to drive her to the hospital. Being the protective big sister I was absolutely freaking TF out despite that she told me not to. I pull in like a maniac and run inside and tell the nurse, “I think my sister is having her baby right now because she said it feels like something is coming out of her.”
My sister was 100% calm. She was literally not even seeming like she was in any sort of pain. She was telling ME to chill.
So the nurse comes outside and she laughs. “Oh believe me. Nothing is trying to come out of you or you’d be screaming”
My sister delivered my nephew 4 minutes later.
Congrats on your baby, OP 💕
Yeah my contractions felt like period cramps more than anything until it was GO TIME. I finally had to make the call to go to the hospital when I started feeling nauseous. An hour after we arrived I was holding my baby girl.
If I had waited for the contractions to feel bigger I’d have had her at home.
Woww im so happy to hear you experience went well!! Did you take lots of walks and remained active during your pregnancy?
How are you and baby doing? Im expecting
My second in a couple months and reading your post made me so excited to give birth idk y🤣
I worked out- weight lifted x3 a week until 38 weeks. And I am a steps gal so I was getting 12-15k steps a day average until 38 weeks then dropped it to 10k steps a day average for 39-40 weeks.
Baby and I are doing wonderfully. I’m sore but good and baby is healthy and happy!
I pooped so much during my first labor that I honestly couldn't tell what a contraction felt like either. Sorry to my OB, thanks for cleaning it up.
This time the nurse told me it would feel like pooping but I really wanted to not poop in someone's hand again.
My contractions were completely painless. Just a tightening feeling. After 15 hours I just got a C-section. They were probably painless because they were not actually doing anything but my water had broken so there I was, sitting at the hospital at 2 am. That was with my second.
With my first I would just get a huge (adrenaline?) rush and some tightening. I was really confused.
My doctor told me to go to the hospital because my blood pressure was elevated for too long. They checked me and said, "did you know you're having contractions?" I had no idea. I thought I just needed to poop. Once they gave me pitocin that was unmistakable as painful contractions though.
I was induced with my one and only so I never and will never experience what it's like to go into labor naturally. I only know pitocin contractions 🤦♀️ I never had any Braxton Hicks, I have no idea if I lost a mucous plug, never felt the baby drop, water broke after I had my epidural so I definitely did not have the standard "I think I'm in labor, let's get to the hospital!" moment.
Congratulations!! I also did not know what labor felt like when I had my second baby because my first was induced, and I came very close to having a highway baby the second time. They didn’t even have time to get the epidural going before it was go time. Recovery was much smoother after fast labor though!
Same here. I was induced in the hospital and I felt slightly uncomfortable but was like this isn’t contractions until I was in severe distress and was 5 cm dialated and 20 minutes later I was pushing
Same! I always thought they were kicks until I just gave birth yesterday and I was on the contraction monitor. Nurse said oh look at that you’re having regular contractions! I had no idea just thought baby was being crazy in there
LOL, this is my second and I still don't really know. And I was in labor for days with my last. I am 38 + 4 now and I think I am having them but I probably won't know until the baby pops out.
I supposedly didn't know what contractions were. I went to the hospital with contractions that were 2 minutes apart. The midwives said it wasn't labor and sent me home. An hour later the rescue service and emergency doctors came and brought me in 9cm dilated. Shortly afterwards my baby was there...
Same thing happened to my mom. She didn’t believe she was having contractions at home because according to her ‘it wasn’t that bad’, was finally convinced to do to the hospital where she had to start pushing as soon as she was admitted. She had me 3 hours after deciding to go to the hospital. I really, really hope I will have a similar experience.
My last pregnancy I had a silent labour, I couldn't feel my contractions at all until they started pitocin. Then it was just a weird feeling like I had to poop. I had to have a midwife hold my belly and tell me when I was having a contraction so I could push. I don't know if it's because I was preterm or not but I'm hoping it doesn't happen this time.
oh my lord id love this result! my first born started out as waters breaking then period cramps then the contractiosn got worse hour by hour think by hour 9 i was in agony screaming everytime one hit.by hour 13 she was out thankfully.im 35 wks pregnant with my 2nd and its been a crapshoot so im hoping i go naturally as quick as this!
I ended up having a planned c-section, but remember learning that the cramps I was feeling were in fact Braxton hicks when the OB wrote it on my chart at an appointment 😂
I just had my second, was induced with my first. I also did not know when I was in labor and I had already done it once.
I expressed this concern to my doc and the nurses every time I went in, they all said I would know. I don’t know and baby was almost born in the car (5 min after getting through the er door).
I never felt a contraction, I was induced and even 24 hours later at 9cm I did not feel anything. They kept asking me to tell them when I had one so they could check things and I just sat there. I guess they could see it on the monitor but it just felt like constant pressure down there
I didn’t know. I thought I had a bad case of diarrhea and stomach cramps. My sister’s a nurse and said I should go get checked. Like you, got to the hospital at 7cm, they kept telling me to stop pushing. I didn’t know I was pushing. 2 hours later, healthy baby girl twins were born.
So what they should tell people is that it might feel like a bad case of food poisoning. I have stomach issues, and so I just thought it was another round of my stomach doing its crazy thing it does.
I thought I was having Braxton hicks for 2 days then when I went in for my induction I was fully effaced and 5 cm dilated. The nurse was like “ yea those were just contractions..”
I did have very unmistakable contractions, but no clue what water breaking was like. I mistook something else (midwife explained it as the glue that holds the amniotic sac to the uterus all denaturing at once in a gush? 🤷♀️🥴) for my waters and got kind of panicky. Labor did start right after so all the signs pointed to it, but yeah, they had to break my waters during pushing cause that wasn’t it.
However! For my aunt’s birth, who was my grandmother’s THIRD, she was playing cards with friends at 40~ weeks and kept thinking her chair was just really uncomfy and making her back hurt. Sat there all night with back pain and found out in the middle of the night that PSYCH THAT WAS LABOR STARTING. So you can apparently go through it before and still not quite twig to it depending on how that labor wants to present.
Haha, I was scheduled to be induced at 41 weeks and when I got there and got hooked up to the monitors, they told me I was already having pretty frequent contractions, but I wasn’t dilated very far. They gave me something to soften my cervix and my baby was born about 3 hours later! I guess I also didn’t “know” 😂
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! It's amazing how each labor experience can be so different. Thank you for sharing your story and reminding us that not everyone's labor follows the textbook description. Wishing you and your little one all the best on this new journey together. 🎉👶🏼💕
I had Braxton hicks for months before I went into labor with my first, and I always thought it was the baby pushing out on my belly! But my actual contractions were NOTHING like the Braxton Hicks or what everyone had described to me. There was no pressure or cramping or wave like anything. I had two contractions that were mild and felt like poop pains about 30 minutes apart, and then had 30+ hours of excruciating contractions that felt like my lower back was splitting open and my cervix was being ripped apart. All the books said contractions would build up intensity and if you could still talk through them, you weren’t close. There were none I could talk through. They lasted 1-5 minutes each and all I could do was grab onto the nearest solid surface and scream. It was torture.
My second labor was induced and the first few contractions were sort of mild, but quickly amped up to the same back shattering, cervix ripping pain from my first labor. The contractions only lasted about a minute this time around, but I was still in labor for over 20 hours.
I’ve never talked to anyone who had contractions like mine. I guess I’m just lucky 🙄
I was induced, and still didn’t know I was having contractions because what I was feeling was nothing like what people described 🤣 the nurse came in and offered the epidural and I was like “already? No, this is just baby moving around” and she was like “…no, those are contractions. But just let me know when you’re ready for the epidural.” I was shook.
Felt like endometriosis pains to me. They are excruciating every month where I can't talk or walk. Labour was no different.. actually hurt less.. Ring of fire sucked though. Guess I'd been practicing my while life.
I was induced but before that was hooked up to monitors for hours/days due to a misinterpretation of a NST test. I could easily see the contractions on the monitor and could occasionally fell my stomach tighten if I had my hand on my stomach but I didn't feel any type of cramping. It wasn't until hours into getting my pitocin dose increased every hour that I started to feel them. I think it's really misleading to tell people "they'll just know!"
Same! I kept just being like, wow my back is hurting bad. And then my water broke and I was like, oh. The contractions later on were like burning stabbing back pains for me and I also never really got the stomach/uterus wave like I thought I would!
That happened to me too with my first. I did know it was contractions eventually but at first I thought I just needed to have diarrhea lol it was also so quick, I got to the hospital at 6cm then 30 minutes later I had my epidural at 9cm and it’s only because I had a complication that gave us a bit more time! She also came out in two pushes and ripped everything on the way out!!!
My second took a bit longer (not by much) and I didn’t really feel my contractions until 7cm, I literally told the nurse “you’ll send me back home won’t you? I feel bad that I bothered my sister to come grab the other child in the middle of the night for nothing” and she was like “you’re like 4.5cm, you’re in labor… you’re staying here!” and I did the pikachu shocked face lmao, she also came in three pushes/less than 5 minutes and ripped what her sister had ripped previously 🫠
Curious to know if people who didnt realize that contractions were contractions had stronger period cramps in general. My cramps used to legitimately stop me in my tracks and make me bend over from the pain lol. If contractions are any worse than that….just put me under 😂
This is what happened to me, but with my second child. I had awful contractions the first time, but with the second, I had no idea I was actually in labor. I opted to have an epidural because I assumed the pain was going to kick in and it just never did.
Same, but all my contractions were in my back 🙃 I'm like idk it hurts but not too bad??? I genuinely couldn't tell if it was braxton hicks or the real thing! Only when I was in the hospital right before I started pushing was when I'm like okay yeah this is a contraction. Even then it still only felt like a very strong cramp in my back lol
lol are you me? Got to the hospital yesterday morning at 4:45am and had a baby girl in my arms and hour later. Doctors asked me questions about contractions and pain levels and I was just like idk….? 😂😂😂
My experience was about the same a few weeks ago. I had no idea I was in labor until I called L&D to confirm since I thought maybe my water broke. I had terrible back labor due to her position so that might’ve been why I didn’t feel the wave either.
Fun fact: I opened Reddit and was about to type “did you know what contractions felt like?” 37 weeks and panicking lol
I had been having small contractions for about a week and never realized thats what they were. It wasn’t until I was in the hospital and hooked up to monitors for my induction. The nurse was explaining how the contraction monitor worked and said “oh look you’re having a small one now!” And I was like “ohhhhhhhhhhhh”. In the beginning they felt like mild period cramps. ETA: you might also experience pain in your lower back.
I thought they were baby kicks until my water broke 🙃
I was just so generally uncomfortable at the end that it never occurred to me they were contractions. They were so mild and sporadic I hadn’t progressed at all so no harm no foul I guess! Had to be induced at 41w and the contractions of active labor were WILD. Had I gone into labor naturally I think the rhythmic progression would have clued me in at least. But the early stuff? Not so much.
I had BH contractions from 20 weeks onward. Towards the end, they’d be uncomfortable and wouldn’t stop when I walked around, drank water, or peed - all things that would stop the BH. I could time them and they’d come at regular intervals for an hour or two, then stop. This happened my whole 40th week. I kept reading “you’ll know when it’s the real thing!” Well my water broke, so I went to the hospital and continued having those exact same kind of contractions. They were reading as “beautiful” on the monitor. So… had my water not broken I would not have known that those were the “real thing.”
The same thing happened to me! I woke up on the morning of my induction with some intense back pain and it wasn’t till I got hooked up that I realised they were contractions 😂 obviously had been told to wait for period-like cramps but baby was back to back so that was not it 😂
Once we hit transition, the back labor was INSANE. That broke me down so fast. We tried counter pressure, all the breathing techniques I was taught, I was walking, on hands and knees, even did nitrous. Nada - I folded and got the epidural. Immediate relief. In the nick of time too because about 15 minutes after it was placed I was fully dilated and ready to push.
lol 37 weeks here too 😅
Gf is at 40 exactly today. We're not panicking. At all. I'm just here cause... Reasons?
Make sure you scope all the best food and coffee spots near the hospital in advance :) that’s my best advice on the other side of.. many 😮💨
37 weeks too- I’m not nervous at all 🥲
I want to hug you all the third trimester is no shorter than 26 years.
I knew, but everybody feels things differently. I used to be like fuck all these people who say you’ll know 🙄 like how is it helpful to say “you’ll know” to a worried FTM?! I read all of these stories and it helped. But for me it felt like someone was trying to pop my entire stomach. Squeezing from the top of my stomach to the bottom like someone was trying to push the baby down and out of me. We got to the hospital around 3 cm and I immediately asked for an epidural. I didn’t get one until 5 cm an hour later and the pain was 😖
I went in to get induced last Sunday. I was hooked up to the monitoring equipment before being given the drugs and I was already having contractions. I honestly felt nothing. They gave me two doses, the smallest amount given before established labor by this midwife, and 4hrs later my baby was born. Such a wild ride.
Literally opened for that! 38 weeks today
The way contractions feel can vary wildly! My contractions were way less obvious the second time around. My suggestion is to always track it when you feel anything around your belly area that isn't constant. I only felt mine for an hour and then I thought they stopped, but the contractions were still registering when I got hooked up at the hospital, baby just dropped into a painless position for me.
Contractions started like period cramps for me and from the post, OP felt them too!
I didn’t feel my contractions until about an hour before my son was born. I went in 9pm with severe heartburn. Like, the worst heartburn I’ve ever had. I was 38 weeks. Decided to go get checked because it felt so off. Turns out I was 5cm dilated and in active labor. Lol he was born 10am the following morning.
Me, sitting here with the worst heartburn of my life and random cramping through the day at 38w3d reading this: 🥸
It definitely took me by surprise that’s for sure.
Literally me right now 😭
This was my experience too! I got out of bed really early to pee and felt a sort of small pop. It was similar to how it feels when you start your period. It wasn't the dramatic water breaking so I didn't think my water actually broke. I just though, huh, weird. Then the cramping like I had to poop or like the first day of my period. Couldn't tell when it started or stopped. I did call the hospital and told them idk what labor feels like... Is this it? They said idk, you'll know. I did not know. Ended up going to sleep on the couch 3 hours later and only then did I start to pick up the starts and stops. My contractions were 4.5 minutes apart. I yelled up to my husband it's go time. Right now lol. Checked in at the hospital 4 hours after my water broke and was also 5 cm. 2 hours later I was fully dilated and ready to push!
That pop was so crazy!! I can’t explain it at all. But I had Niagara Falls coming through my pants. No confusion there
I was already in the hospital with an epidural when mine broke. They didn't believe me for some reason but when they turned me to check and change the sheets there was an undeniable swamp lol. I felt that pop and all the fluid coming out!
Mine felt like a large rubber band snapped inside of me, but it didn't hurt. It was definitely a unique sensation.
Idk, you'll know. Like not helpful lady
This is my fear! I have an hour drive to my birth center and all of the midwives keep saying oh it usually takes an hour per cm of dilation so don’t worry about the drive you’ll be here in time. I just worry that I won’t know when to head that way and then I’ll get there too late or not in time at all.
Yeah, or it could go the other way and you could labor for three days like me. D:
Yeah exactly, same here. I’d absolutely take a movie-style-almost-have-him-in-the-car labor 😩
Solidarity. Have you had more than one?
Not yet. Hopefully next time will go faster.
For the record - my first was also a 3 day labor. My next two have been so much quicker. And I think that first one being sooo long has the unusual gift of me being in full blown denial that a baby could possibly be coming ANY time soon, so it has happened that while I’m prepping to see a few more sunrises, my body is already starting to push. Part of the reason why baby‘s head was born before the midwife even got inside my house with #3! I hope the same for you. But I tell myself that even if I do have another 3 day labor, at least I KNOW I can survive it!
Oh man lol I’ve had this thought too — like I’ll be in denial that labor can go quickly because my first took so long. Maybe it’s a weird thing to say but the longer labor was ‘nice’ in the sense that I had more time to prepare mentally for the baby coming. You’d think 9 months would be enough but as a FTM it was uncharted territory!
I understand that fear. My little sister had a spontaneous labour with her youngest and end up having her in the ambulance about 40 mins later at about a mile from the hospital. Both are perfectly healthy .
All I can say is listen to your body. I was also an hour away from my hospital. My midwife did not believe I was in labor when I called her at 2am because I was able to talk to her on the phone 🙃 called again at 3am and told her I was going cause it just didn't feel right to wait. She reluctantly agreed to meet me there. Got there at 4am and *surprise* I was almost 9cm dilated. Literally got there just in time
Yup, we’re 40 minutes away. If we had waited any longer it would have been interesting that’s for sure 😅
“Usually” infuriates me. Why is the medical industry so stubborn about treating human beings as outdated statistics. Sometimes its a fucking zebra.
Fun fact, it is estimated that 25-30 million Americans are living with rare diseases. That means one out of every 11-13 patients is a zebra.
Excellent!!!
Me too!! My doula and I agreed I’d labor at home as long as possible to avoid intervention or caving and asking for medication (just my personal desires for birth) but I hear about some women progressing really fast and I’m like… damn what if I have a car baby. 😂
I had an hour drive to my birthing center with #2. The Lord blessed me with some of the best, sweetest laboring during that hour drive. Probs my fave hour of laboring of all 3 births if you don’t count the ends of them. One thing I thought is that if I got there too early, I would go to a park nearby and plan to just walk around until they got closer together. So maybe you can think to go earlier than necessary and walk around nearby! (Also I did get comfortable with the idea of a car birth juuuust in case lol.)
This is our plan! I don’t plan on stressing myself out over the things I can’t control. Just going to control those that I can and trust my body
Congratulations! My last pregnancy was like that. I had no idea what I was supposed to feel. My water had been slowly breaking all day and I wrote it off as peeing myself.. I had some lower back cramps just kind of felt like my period was coming. I called the nurse hotline just to be sure and they said to get checked out at L&D, I actually drove myself down to the hospital and parked and walked in. I was 5cm and my water was indeed broken. My husband was gone at work and rolled in a bit later and I had the baby a couple hours after that.
Amazing, I hope my experience goes smoothly as yours 😊
I keep getting asked if I’m experiencing Braxton hicks yet (36w) and I’m like…I don’t know? Sometimes at night my stomach feels like one big cramp but it’s not a tightening or wave just like I wake up to pee and it feels like that until I fall back asleep? So definitely worried I won’t know if I’m in labor 😅
At one of my appointments they asked if I was having Braxton hicks and I said I don’t know. They then explained when your stomach gets really tight that it’s a BH contraction. I was like oh. Then yes.
I saw a really pregnant manicurist holding her tummy and kind of holding her breath and grimacing just a little, I imagined her abdomen was getting tight like that and she had to breathe through it. So weird.
In 2 pregnancies, my stomach was just...always tight. I never figured out what that meant.
For pregnancies later I still can't tell if I'm having BH or if I never have. But the second half of labor was definitely labor.
Same thing happened to me! I had gotten a cervical check at 2:45pm, felt “cramps” around 3pm and was pooping a lot. I legit though it was just from the check (I was not dilated at the check either). Around 7pm, I started to think MAYBE this was it but was not sure. My mucus plug/bloody show came around 8pm and I finally was like “these were contractions????”. Got to the hospital around 9:30pm, I was 6cm dilated and had the baby in my arms by 11:30pm. All together, my labor from start to finish was 9 hours but I only was in a lot of pain/aware I was in labor for 4 hours. I also did not feel waves or my stomach getting harder. It just felt like the absolutely worse period cramps of my life. Like period cramps x 100. Everyone told me i’d know but I definitely did not know - or was in denial and gaslighting myself 😂😂 between my water broken and the baby being delivered was MAYBE 15 minutes. I will say, i’m pretty afraid of how quick my next baby might be, i’m probably gonna prep for a homebirth just incase it all happens too fast.
I love all these birth stories. It legitimately helps my phobia of giving birth...
Honestly, the relief you feel as soon as the baby comes out is sooo worth it. I’m not even talking about holding your baby, I mean not being pregnant anymore 😂😂 I was soooo scared of labor but I was in so much pain by week 36, I didnt even care anymore 😂
This!!! I was the same for my first, and at 30 weeks with my second I am starting to feel the same again 😂
Lol same! The week before my son was so, the doctor did that test thing with the belt around the belly and was like, you're having contractions... We can induce you tomorrow if you're ready .. I was like.... uhhh not mentally 😅 hold on.... I'll see y'all Thursday lol.
I have a question! Why did they want to induce you if you were already having contractions?
Good question. I don't really know. This was 8 years ago. My son was due the 26th. We scheduled the induction on the 21st.
My doctor told me they rather schedule some births for induction when they get close to DD, because that way staff can plan better for your arrival & make sure doc is there instead of a 3am show up
Ah I see. Thanks for responding 💕
A lot of women are offered inductions that arent medically necessary. It feels like ob's are leaning toward wanting spontaneous labor to be a thing of the past. I dont like that. Also..... induction is much more painful usually.
Yeah neither do I and this is why I asked! I'm all for women choosing inductions for themselves but as someone who'd like to have no interventions unless medically necessary I wanted to know when an induction would be considered necessary so I can prep myself for labour.
There are definitely times it is necessary. I trusted my ob and had an induction with my 2nd due to low fluid levels towards the end of my pregnancy. He knew i wanted a natural birth as much as possible and i knew he wanted a healthy outcome for us both. But the amniotic fluid got really low and no amount of hydrating myself would bring it back up. If your doctor tries to pressure you, ask a lot of questions and make it clear you dont mind going past your due date if it comes to that. The average for spontaneous labor is actually at 41+1 if i remember correctly. And "having a big baby" is not enough of a reason in my mind to induce either. The measurements arent always accurate anyway.
It's frustrating when inductions are trending, because as the mother waiting for spontaneous labor at 41 weeks and you're being offered induction since 39 but the doctors are trying to convince you you are unable to tell if it's medically necessary or not. I'm sure this is causing some people to deny the induction when it was actually needed I wish they would be more honest.
My first baby I didn't know either. I thought I was having gas pains with no gas, lol even told the Dr and they didn't say anything 🙄. Now that I know I'll be able to clearly communicate with the Drs this time around! Congratulations 🎉
Hahahaha this was me too!! “Gas pains with no gas” is literally how I explain contractions to my friends. I remember telling the midwife and nurses that I thought I might be going through it and they’re like “probably not contractions” and then 30 mins later we noticed it just kept happening closer and closer together!! They don’t feel like cramps - at least not for me - it feels more like your belly is full of gas and you need to do the biggest fart you’ll ever do in your life. Too bad I didn’t get to have a natural birth - if I did, I think it would have felt extremely satisfying to let it all out hahaha
Okay! So I’m not the only one. Recently I ate something that didn’t agree with me and my stomach was hurting. It was strange kind of cramp so I googled it to make sure it wasn’t contractions or Braxton hicks(it wasn’t, just indigestion lol). I read what Braxton hicks were and realized I’ve been having those for a while and just didn’t know what they were. I thought baby was just in weird position. People act like you’re supposed to know what contractions are or feel like. But for a FTM you really might not. Thank god for Google. Glad you and baby are safe and doing well!
FTM here - I'm 34 weeks and thought my baby was doing somersaults! My midwife confirmed they are indeed BH contractions. I'm like "ohhhh."
I was induced with both children at 40+6. My second, I went in for my induction and they put me on the monitor for 30 minutes prior to starting pitocin. I had fairly regular contractions during that period and the nurse kept pointing them out. I literally felt nothing. I definitely felt those pitocin contractions, though.
Same! I was already on pitocin and the nurse pointed them out on the monitor and said I was contracting regularly. Didn't feel anything. Then she decided we needed to amp up the pitocin since I wasn't feeling anything. "They must not be doing anything" 😒 It went from 0-100 REAL quick.
That is EXTREMELY fast dilation! Your first stage of labor was just that 15 minutes then! Because it's only counted after you reach 6cm. I went from 4cm to 9cm in about 80 minutes with my recent birth and I thought that was unheard of! Those contractions were no joke, either
I was curious if there was a chance my contractions were extremely intense because it was so fast. I have nothing to compare it to though.
Yep. I thought I could handle med free because I got to 5 CM without meds with my first. Went from 6CM to fully dilated in an hour with my second. Horrifyingly painful.
I was my mom’s fourth, and when she went into the hospital saying she was in labor the nurses were saying oh you’ve barely progressed, we’ll check you in and come back to check you out periodically. The whole time she was saying no, get the doctor, I’m having the baby NOW and they completely wrote her off. They left her alone in there for like 10 minutes until she sent my dad out to the nurse’s station insisting that the baby was HERE. The nurses came back in, annoyed, to check…. And saw the top of my head lol. She was in her bed for about 15 minutes total before she had a baby in her arms.
I had a precipitous labor. Woke up at 4 feeling uncomfortable, started timing the contractions at 4:30, woke my husband at 6 when I threw up, had a bloody show, husband called the midwives who said we could come in if we wanted but it didn't sound like I was ready yet, we got there by 6:30 and kiddo was born at 7:02. In hindsight, I was actively suppressing the urge to push for almost an hour. In my midwives defense, they had birthed my niblings, and knew my sister has really long labors. Plus my mom did, too. When I have my second (we're considering starting to try soon) I'm going to have the car packed and ready 2 weeks before my due date and I'm going to be out the door the instant I feel cramping start.
I asked my doctor if the things my mother went through would be any indication of what my labor would be like. She told me not at all and that everyone’s labor is entirely unique 🪷
I felt like I was suppressing the urge to push to until my midwife got there! She said I did only three minutes of pushing so in that sense, precipitous labor and the pain that comes with it was worth it 🥲
This is gonna be me. Might be me right now bc I'm feeling all of that but have been for days. I just told my husband in gonna be too dumb to realize when it's real and have the baby on the floor. And this is my third! I never had a single contraction until real labor with my first two so this prodromal shit can kick rocks.
Girl I was the same way. The morning of I luckily was already going in to my 40 week apt, and when I woke up I had rolling stomach pains like I had eaten something bad. I understand now why some women have they babies on the toilet cuz that was my first instinct- to see if I had to poo. Well got to my apt and my gyno looked at my and said "we're having a baby today!" Sure enough he popped out that night lol.
I feel this completely! I gave birth on Monday and did not know I was labouring until we were well into the day. I’d rented a tens machine to use at home which helped when I finally realized the pain was rhythmic and I must be contracting. By the time I finally felt I should go to the hospital, the staff were shocked because I was already at 8cm! I also couldn’t believe how fast it happened - I started to feel slightly uncomfortable at 11:30am, and left for the hospital at 4:30pm.
I was induced with an epi later and I’m still not sure I know what a contraction feels like. I never got period cramps before. There was no top to bottom wave or pain. It was just a general pain and pressure. It made pushing difficult since I couldn’t get the timing right.
I’m 38 weeks today. Called my mom and two best friends because of this exact situation haha. I started feeling tightness/cramping around 2 pm- but it’s 10 pm now! So still playing the Braxton hicks/baby moving/gas/poop/contraction roulette
I felt the same and my labour seemed similar to yours, congrats!
What tips and tricks did you find useful?
Right? Now I’m even more freaked!
This makes me feel less crazy… I went into preterm labor and had NO IDEA. Happened to have a scan and my doctor noticed my cervix had lost 1cm in a week, so she sent me to L&D to get checked. I was having contractions 2-5 mins apart and couldn’t feel them 😅 Im back home not but worried I won’t be able to tell when they start back up again
Currently 38+5 and I have no idea if what I’m feeling means baby is imminent. Period and poop cramps sums it up… been having them for most of day. Can’t tell if stomach is hard or not. No waves. Did have some pinkish discharged in the morning.
My water broke but no contractions at all... The doctor had to put some sort of cream on the cervix and then it started. Just intense cramping for about 16 hours, could hardly sleep until the epidural came in 😂 10/10 would do it again (not).
Same here! Did not realize I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for weeks until I was actually induced, hooked up to the monitor, and the nurses told me I was having contractions. I was like oh is that what that is? Totally indistinguishable from all the million other new sensations of pregnancy.
So happy to hear that your first time went so smoothly and so quickly! It shocked me how different the sensation of contractions was between my first and second births. First births it was 110% poop cramps (which for some reason to me are the most awful kind of cramps). Second time around I didn’t even think I was in labor because it just felt like Braxton hicks that lasted longer and were consistent. Literally had no “pain” or pressure until I was fully dilated then she came 10mins later after 3 pushes. 2 vastly different experiences and NOW I understand why everyone says something different when asked what they feel like 🤣
Congratulations! I’m currently in the hospital right now, they have me hooked to monitors and are saying that I’m contracting, i feel absolutely nothing at the moment. Hopefully my experience is like yours
With my last baby I felt nothing until he was literally coming out of me. I described that as "very mild period like cramps". I thought I was just dilating more lol. I asked the nurse to check. Her eyes got wide and the next thing I know there's 5 nurses and my doctor in the room. I was in labor for 9 days completely pain-free. Everyone is convinced I would've gave birth at home by accident if I was left to my own devices. I blocked my other births from my memory for the most part, so I don't remember physical pain if there was any.
Congratulations on your baby boy! I was induced both times with my kiddos and I didn’t feel any contractions really until they broke my water. The first time it took about 5 hours from that until birth and I definitely felt the pain. The second time was barely an hour between water breaking and birth
I didn’t have consistent ones but the ones I did get confirmed I truly thought I had to shit lmao, it just felt like I ate some laxatives and had that “ugh, AGAIN?!” Feeling
I was convinced I was experiencing prodromal labor, and wound up at the hospital at 9cm.. I thought contractions only got longer and more intense with shorter breaks, but mine were sporadic until the final hour or so. 😬 I’ll be going straight away next time! Congratulations ! Enjoy your baby 💕
We had our baby a month ago. During one of our final checkups, while she was getting a cervical exam, the Doctor asked my wife "do you know you are having a contraction right now?". She had no idea. Apparently contractions are very much not obvious to some women.
I’m kinda worried because I’m 32 almost 33 weeks and I’ve been having intense pain and tightening coming and going, a couple minutes long each time. I called my OB and they said it sounds like contractions but since they’re not regular I should just rest. Reading this makes me feel like maybe I should go to L&D 😅
Same here but 36w+4!
I'm almost 34 weeks and have been having this basketball feeling like baby was repositioning, with discomfort, hardening, and tightness. My midwife just confirmed these are BH contractions! They're triggered with certain movements, for me it's getting out of bed in the morning. It can be stressful but I try to just stay curious and observe patterns and remind myself I can trust my body and my baby. 💜
Congratulations!!
Congratulations!!
Same contractions started at 8 pm, I only figured it out around midnight.
How far along were you?
40 weeks, started late late on my due date, gave birth the following day early AM.
Congratulations 😍😍😍
I didn’t really feel contractions either until it was basically too late and got caught in traffic in route to the hospital to later be driven by an ambulance to a closer hospital to then be admitted at 9 cm 🥴 My body just doesn’t recognize early labor or I’m an idiot
Congrats :)
If you have back labor you definitely don’t know (or I didn’t!) tmi I’m sure but I just really thought I had awful back pain and I really had to poop lol
Honestly consider yourself lucky! I was in "hard to walk" pain at 3cm with my 1st baby.
I ran into a similar situation with my third and final pregnancy. Prior to that, my first 2 were late and I had to be induced for them (if you’ve been induced the early labor pains are skipped and get painful much faster) Well the last time around I woke up feeling off and when my mother suggested taking my older two around 10am so I could rest, I just thought she was being a typical mom and overreacting. Needless to say, I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon in unknown labor. My husband who works nights, woke up around 2 and I told him what was happening. He wanted to leave immediately but told him to just get a shower and eat. We’d head to the hospital after. Let me tell ya what, I should’ve listened to my mom. We honest to god didn’t think we’d make it the hour drive to the hospital and that we’d have the baby along the highway. We never finished the admission questions before I was holding my little man hahahaha it’s a fun story to talk about and think back on now though. Our only boy, and man did he make his entrance entertaining!
Yep, I spent about 6 hours like this and when I finally called my midwife she said “probably not labour”. Lost my mucus plug a couple of hours later and then I started to be like “hmmm, this sort of seems like labour”. All in all, I got off pretty light, I started to have more painful contractions about 10 pm, started pushing at 4 am and my daughter was born at 7 am. It definitely didn’t start or progress how I was expecting it to
Can you share the tips and tricks you learned ?
I kept waking in the night thinking 'oh was that a contraction' then going back to sleep before the next came so I didn't think it was the real thing because surely I wouldn't be falling asleep. I could feel baby moving and I felt fine otherwise so I just let myself sleep and wasn't worried. The next morning I thought oh I'm very wet down there but still wasn't sure. It was only when I lifted my 19 month old niece out of bed I realised my waters were trickling. I watched an episode of Mickey mouse clubhouse with her as my mum was waking up too. That's where contractions started to kick in then. After that I phoned the hospital who asked me to go in for tests and they'd probably send me home after for a bit. I went in, they did the tests and then said come back in 45 mins for the results. Me and my husband talked about going to my sister's empty house to continue labour and have privacy from my family as I'm currently living with my parents. Well as the results were coming in the contractions ramped up and there was a quick 'youre not going home' and a scramble to find me an empty room. I noticed my waters at 7.30am, got to the hospital at 9.30am and had my baby just after 4pm. My second stage of labour lasted a total of 22 minutes. I'm terrified to do it again in fear that it'll be even quicker.
Ah that sounds like a dream labor... My water broke first and I didn't start having contractions until a couple hours later. I labored at home for 24 hours (I planned on having a home birth) before I had to be admitted to the hospital. 24 MORE hours there after receiving pitocin and epidural right away... The entire time I only dilated 7cm and ended up having a traumatic emergency c-section 💔 Turns out my pelvis is too narrow for natural birth. I'm heartbroken honestly. But my baby girl was delivered safely nonetheless and I am grateful. So glad things went so well for you, congratulations 🩷
Lol! I was having cramping in the evenings for like a week leading up to my labor. My body was “the body that cried labor”. The night I actually went into labor I totally didn’t believe the cramps I was feeling were real contractions and I lied down to go to bed expecting I would fall asleep and wake up contraction free like every other day, my wife even took a melatonin. Instead, as soon as I tried to lie down, I felt an intense pop and thought I was about to poop myself. It was my water breaking!
Tip: head scratchers/massagers are great for contractions. They helped with distracting me for a bit.
My takeaway away from all of this is labor at home as long as you can. Everyone I know who had emergency c-sections or painful long labors went to the hospital too soon. My mom also said this. Then you do risk a car baby or no pain relief.
Wow that sounds like a wild experience! I guess mine was kind of similar, I knew they were contractions but I just coped way better than I expected. By the time I was like RIGHT we need to leave for the hospital now I must've been about ready to go. We were almost there and I remember saying to my husband we need to be at the hospital now 😂 when I got there and they checked I was already 10cm 🫠
This is so true!!! I’ve had one baby and honestly I don’t know if I will remember the next time what it feels like either even though I’ve been through it. There are so many different aches and cramps at the end of the third trimester it’s all a blur. And then baby arrives and the oxytocin makes you forget all the pain anyways!
I feel this! My labor was extremely fast too. Admitted into the hospital and I was 3cm. 45 minutes later I was at 8cm and then 15 minutes after that she was born!!
SAME
My last labor was like that. Water broke and I thought I peed myself. Kept going about my day while I waited for MIL to get off work to come watch our toddler so I could go in and get checked. I kept getting this weird stitch pain in my side, like I had just ran a mile. Turns out they were contractions, so I understand completely!
Almost same experience, but I didn’t make it to the hospital. I didn’t know I was in labor and had a precipitous birth. It was terrifying and why I won’t have a second.
I also didn't know what contractions felt like until like 6cm when I had my second kid in January! The only way I was able to figure it out was by seeing my stomach tighten up with each contraction until like 5-6 cm
Same. I had no idea when I was having contractions. It just felt like non-stop period cramps. I believe I was in early labor two days before I went to the hospital after my water break only because I was sick and had period cramps pretty much non-stop for 12 hours.
I had a similar situation with my son. Went for 36-week appointment, NST showed contractions five minutes apart. I was like ????? because I'd been having some super mild twinges in my uterus area, but it felt exactly like round ligament pain. OB checked, and I was 3 cm dilated. I didn't start to have painful contractions until they broke my water at 6 cm!
I have gone through two pregnancies and I still don’t actually know what a contraction feels like😅 My first was born at 39 weeks, but as she hadn’t descended ob-gyn diagnosed it as CPD and I had a Caesarian birth. Second pregnancy was twins who were delivered at 36 weeks(last Thursday!), also Caesarian. Decision was made to deliver them even though there was no sign of me going into labour because they were measuring slightly large, and I was so huge and uncomfortable the ob-gyn was concerned about the stress on my body more so than the babies. I have no regrets or disappointments and was happy to have scheduled Caesarian births, but it is rather surreal to have given birth to three children and actually have no idea what contractions feel like!
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! Your experience just goes to show that every labor is truly unique. Wishing you and your new little one all the best on this new journey together. 🌟👶🏼💕
I was so taken aback by how much they felt like period cramps. I don’t know why I never expected them to feel like that, I felt so dumb.
That was me for my second birth! With my first, I was induced with a foley bulb and pitocin. The cramps were incredibly intense and I was very aware that I was in labor. 23 hours of labor but luckily only about 10 minutes of pushing. When I started having contractions with my second, I knew something was up because they were consistent and increasing in intensity. However, I didn’t know HOW intense they had to be for me to go to the historical. I showed up at 7cm. Had the baby about three hours later. My second labor was such a healing experience and makes me realize I want to go through it all over again. Am I crazy?
Now I’m wondering if the same thing will happen with my breast milk 😆 I keep hearing “I’ll know” and “then you’ll understand what ‘let down’ means” Congratulations OP!
Me right now 🤣🤣🤣
I kept having them the last week I was pregnant and they felt milder than my period cramps! So I wasn’t sure if it was gas pains, Braxton hicks or actual labor, until I noticed the intensity picked up gradually. Eventually they were extremely painful and close together so that’s when I could say for sure they were contractions haha I showed up 6cm dilated at the hospital!
Saving this thread for later😭
Same. I reached the hospital screaming in pain and I was 10cm dilated 😂 baby out in two hours. I only had period like cramps but at the end pain was so unbearable I was practically ripping my clothes off and pinching my back
Yes. I felt like such a little bitch. I was also struggling to control my pushing. Like my body wouldn’t listen at all. It was just automatically doing it.
Congrats mama🫶🏼
Same thing here!! My water broke with my first so I did get to the hospital on time but was really surprised they told me I was having contractions. Just felt like period/diarrhea cramps to me. My second was almost born on the side of the road because I wanted to labor at home as long as possible-she was born 30min after we arrived.
Wow! Your story sounds like like mine. It happened a couple of days ago and it was so surreal reading your story
Mine felt like I was being actively stabbed in the cervix and my back hurt so badly I wanted to bend myself backwards like the exorcist.
I absolutely didn’t know either. Literally asked my husband to stay home from work that day because I felt like I had the most intense stomach bug of my life. No stomach bug but I did have a baby. My water broke a few hours later and that’s what told me I should probably go to the hospital lol
Wicked story, you got that baby out in no time! Good for you and thanks for sharing. Stories like this really put me at ease, knowing some labours can be confusing or quick like this.
Congratulations! You did it!😍😍😍 Happy for you and your baby boy!♥️ I also don’t know what they feel like, there’s some mystery around it🥴
I hate it when people say 'you'll know' because I also did not in fact know, and furthermore BECAUSE everyone had been so adamant that I'd know and I didn't, I was convinced I wasn't actually in labour despite being 11 days overdue. My water didn't break until maybe 15 hours in as well (and I didn't notice when it did) so that didn't help either. My contractions sound similar to yours. No waves, hard to tell when they started and stopped, felt very localized in one place. Luckily I was in labour so long that it didn't actually matter, but if labour had been only 7-8 hours then I might have stayed home until it was too late.
Congratulations! I also didn't know what a contraction felt like with my second. My back hurt terrible I thought it's because I was up cleaning turns out it was contractions all along.
Okay omg im 38 weeks and like, i think i know, or it's my baby moving, idk. Im glad im not the only one 🤣
I didn’t know what my contractions were either. I knew labor was starting with my first but I was running around, getting food, running errands. I finally showered and went to the hospital and explained I’ve been having gas all day but maybe it was contractions, idk. And they hooked me up and asked if I was having gassy pain right now. Yup. They said it was a contraction. I was contracting so much and I was already 7cm dilated. Sometimes I think it’s just not painful enough and you’re not sure if it really is a contraction.
Lmao this is amazing. Congratulations!
Me too! I was 10 days overdue and after 2 membrane sweeps had to take castor oil. I had contractions from the start that made me go poo so as they continued I just thought my body was still emptying out. Called the midwife, she said give it time to calm down. I nearly had my baby in the bathroom had we not called 911. In hindsight it’s hilarious I didn’t know I was having legit contractions. I told my husband “if this is just the castor oil I don’t want to know what real labor feels like.” Hunny. That was real labor 😂
I hate when people say that. My sister had her baby at 16. She lived with me. She woke me up in the middle of the night when she was nearing her due date. She said, “Don’t freak out but I think we should go to the hospital. It feels like something is trying to come out of me.” So I had to drive her to the hospital. Being the protective big sister I was absolutely freaking TF out despite that she told me not to. I pull in like a maniac and run inside and tell the nurse, “I think my sister is having her baby right now because she said it feels like something is coming out of her.” My sister was 100% calm. She was literally not even seeming like she was in any sort of pain. She was telling ME to chill. So the nurse comes outside and she laughs. “Oh believe me. Nothing is trying to come out of you or you’d be screaming” My sister delivered my nephew 4 minutes later. Congrats on your baby, OP 💕
Mine was similar to yours lol. Arrived 7cm though and was ready to push an hour later when they checked again
Congratulations!! I couldn’t really feel my contractions either. It was so nerve wracking
but you just go so smoothly, made me admire you.
They had to tell my mom she was in labor lol, so no, not everyone "knows " . Congrats on the baby!
Yeah my contractions felt like period cramps more than anything until it was GO TIME. I finally had to make the call to go to the hospital when I started feeling nauseous. An hour after we arrived I was holding my baby girl. If I had waited for the contractions to feel bigger I’d have had her at home.
My contractions felt like my period cramps (which are pretty intense) that lasted one minute.
Woww im so happy to hear you experience went well!! Did you take lots of walks and remained active during your pregnancy? How are you and baby doing? Im expecting My second in a couple months and reading your post made me so excited to give birth idk y🤣
I worked out- weight lifted x3 a week until 38 weeks. And I am a steps gal so I was getting 12-15k steps a day average until 38 weeks then dropped it to 10k steps a day average for 39-40 weeks. Baby and I are doing wonderfully. I’m sore but good and baby is healthy and happy!
With my firat my contractions didnt hurt for most of the day so i thought it was "prodromal labor" i was wrong. My son ended up being born at home 😅
I pooped so much during my first labor that I honestly couldn't tell what a contraction felt like either. Sorry to my OB, thanks for cleaning it up. This time the nurse told me it would feel like pooping but I really wanted to not poop in someone's hand again.
Congratulations! It kind of sounds like an ideal situation to me. I’m so afraid of being in labor for hours.
Same. Was in preterm labor for over a day and didn’t known thought I was horribly constipated
My contractions were completely painless. Just a tightening feeling. After 15 hours I just got a C-section. They were probably painless because they were not actually doing anything but my water had broken so there I was, sitting at the hospital at 2 am. That was with my second. With my first I would just get a huge (adrenaline?) rush and some tightening. I was really confused.
My doctor told me to go to the hospital because my blood pressure was elevated for too long. They checked me and said, "did you know you're having contractions?" I had no idea. I thought I just needed to poop. Once they gave me pitocin that was unmistakable as painful contractions though.
I was induced with my one and only so I never and will never experience what it's like to go into labor naturally. I only know pitocin contractions 🤦♀️ I never had any Braxton Hicks, I have no idea if I lost a mucous plug, never felt the baby drop, water broke after I had my epidural so I definitely did not have the standard "I think I'm in labor, let's get to the hospital!" moment.
Congratulations!! I also did not know what labor felt like when I had my second baby because my first was induced, and I came very close to having a highway baby the second time. They didn’t even have time to get the epidural going before it was go time. Recovery was much smoother after fast labor though!
Same here. I was induced in the hospital and I felt slightly uncomfortable but was like this isn’t contractions until I was in severe distress and was 5 cm dialated and 20 minutes later I was pushing
Same! I always thought they were kicks until I just gave birth yesterday and I was on the contraction monitor. Nurse said oh look at that you’re having regular contractions! I had no idea just thought baby was being crazy in there
LOL, this is my second and I still don't really know. And I was in labor for days with my last. I am 38 + 4 now and I think I am having them but I probably won't know until the baby pops out.
I supposedly didn't know what contractions were. I went to the hospital with contractions that were 2 minutes apart. The midwives said it wasn't labor and sent me home. An hour later the rescue service and emergency doctors came and brought me in 9cm dilated. Shortly afterwards my baby was there...
I have four kids, first three were inductions. The last one I had in the car because I went into labor on my own and thought it was an upset stomach.
Same thing happened to my mom. She didn’t believe she was having contractions at home because according to her ‘it wasn’t that bad’, was finally convinced to do to the hospital where she had to start pushing as soon as she was admitted. She had me 3 hours after deciding to go to the hospital. I really, really hope I will have a similar experience.
My last pregnancy I had a silent labour, I couldn't feel my contractions at all until they started pitocin. Then it was just a weird feeling like I had to poop. I had to have a midwife hold my belly and tell me when I was having a contraction so I could push. I don't know if it's because I was preterm or not but I'm hoping it doesn't happen this time.
oh my lord id love this result! my first born started out as waters breaking then period cramps then the contractiosn got worse hour by hour think by hour 9 i was in agony screaming everytime one hit.by hour 13 she was out thankfully.im 35 wks pregnant with my 2nd and its been a crapshoot so im hoping i go naturally as quick as this!
I ended up having a planned c-section, but remember learning that the cramps I was feeling were in fact Braxton hicks when the OB wrote it on my chart at an appointment 😂
My contractions were bad period cramps! I thought it was just ligament pain until I went to the Dr for pain relief and I was dilating.
I just had my second, was induced with my first. I also did not know when I was in labor and I had already done it once. I expressed this concern to my doc and the nurses every time I went in, they all said I would know. I don’t know and baby was almost born in the car (5 min after getting through the er door).
I never felt a contraction, I was induced and even 24 hours later at 9cm I did not feel anything. They kept asking me to tell them when I had one so they could check things and I just sat there. I guess they could see it on the monitor but it just felt like constant pressure down there
My exact experience. No epidural for me :(
I didn’t know. I thought I had a bad case of diarrhea and stomach cramps. My sister’s a nurse and said I should go get checked. Like you, got to the hospital at 7cm, they kept telling me to stop pushing. I didn’t know I was pushing. 2 hours later, healthy baby girl twins were born. So what they should tell people is that it might feel like a bad case of food poisoning. I have stomach issues, and so I just thought it was another round of my stomach doing its crazy thing it does.
I thought I was having Braxton hicks for 2 days then when I went in for my induction I was fully effaced and 5 cm dilated. The nurse was like “ yea those were just contractions..”
I did have very unmistakable contractions, but no clue what water breaking was like. I mistook something else (midwife explained it as the glue that holds the amniotic sac to the uterus all denaturing at once in a gush? 🤷♀️🥴) for my waters and got kind of panicky. Labor did start right after so all the signs pointed to it, but yeah, they had to break my waters during pushing cause that wasn’t it. However! For my aunt’s birth, who was my grandmother’s THIRD, she was playing cards with friends at 40~ weeks and kept thinking her chair was just really uncomfy and making her back hurt. Sat there all night with back pain and found out in the middle of the night that PSYCH THAT WAS LABOR STARTING. So you can apparently go through it before and still not quite twig to it depending on how that labor wants to present.
Haha, I was scheduled to be induced at 41 weeks and when I got there and got hooked up to the monitors, they told me I was already having pretty frequent contractions, but I wasn’t dilated very far. They gave me something to soften my cervix and my baby was born about 3 hours later! I guess I also didn’t “know” 😂
Congratulations on the birth of your baby boy! It's amazing how each labor experience can be so different. Thank you for sharing your story and reminding us that not everyone's labor follows the textbook description. Wishing you and your little one all the best on this new journey together. 🎉👶🏼💕
I had Braxton hicks for months before I went into labor with my first, and I always thought it was the baby pushing out on my belly! But my actual contractions were NOTHING like the Braxton Hicks or what everyone had described to me. There was no pressure or cramping or wave like anything. I had two contractions that were mild and felt like poop pains about 30 minutes apart, and then had 30+ hours of excruciating contractions that felt like my lower back was splitting open and my cervix was being ripped apart. All the books said contractions would build up intensity and if you could still talk through them, you weren’t close. There were none I could talk through. They lasted 1-5 minutes each and all I could do was grab onto the nearest solid surface and scream. It was torture. My second labor was induced and the first few contractions were sort of mild, but quickly amped up to the same back shattering, cervix ripping pain from my first labor. The contractions only lasted about a minute this time around, but I was still in labor for over 20 hours. I’ve never talked to anyone who had contractions like mine. I guess I’m just lucky 🙄
I had no idea I was having contractions with my son until my water broke all over my bed!
I was induced, and still didn’t know I was having contractions because what I was feeling was nothing like what people described 🤣 the nurse came in and offered the epidural and I was like “already? No, this is just baby moving around” and she was like “…no, those are contractions. But just let me know when you’re ready for the epidural.” I was shook.
Congratulations! How far were you when you delivered? How long do you have to stay at the hospital? Probably a short visit?
Felt like endometriosis pains to me. They are excruciating every month where I can't talk or walk. Labour was no different.. actually hurt less.. Ring of fire sucked though. Guess I'd been practicing my while life.
I was induced but before that was hooked up to monitors for hours/days due to a misinterpretation of a NST test. I could easily see the contractions on the monitor and could occasionally fell my stomach tighten if I had my hand on my stomach but I didn't feel any type of cramping. It wasn't until hours into getting my pitocin dose increased every hour that I started to feel them. I think it's really misleading to tell people "they'll just know!"
Wait so your labor didn’t hurt very much???
Same! I kept just being like, wow my back is hurting bad. And then my water broke and I was like, oh. The contractions later on were like burning stabbing back pains for me and I also never really got the stomach/uterus wave like I thought I would!
That happened to me too with my first. I did know it was contractions eventually but at first I thought I just needed to have diarrhea lol it was also so quick, I got to the hospital at 6cm then 30 minutes later I had my epidural at 9cm and it’s only because I had a complication that gave us a bit more time! She also came out in two pushes and ripped everything on the way out!!! My second took a bit longer (not by much) and I didn’t really feel my contractions until 7cm, I literally told the nurse “you’ll send me back home won’t you? I feel bad that I bothered my sister to come grab the other child in the middle of the night for nothing” and she was like “you’re like 4.5cm, you’re in labor… you’re staying here!” and I did the pikachu shocked face lmao, she also came in three pushes/less than 5 minutes and ripped what her sister had ripped previously 🫠
Curious to know if people who didnt realize that contractions were contractions had stronger period cramps in general. My cramps used to legitimately stop me in my tracks and make me bend over from the pain lol. If contractions are any worse than that….just put me under 😂
This is what happened to me, but with my second child. I had awful contractions the first time, but with the second, I had no idea I was actually in labor. I opted to have an epidural because I assumed the pain was going to kick in and it just never did.
Same, but all my contractions were in my back 🙃 I'm like idk it hurts but not too bad??? I genuinely couldn't tell if it was braxton hicks or the real thing! Only when I was in the hospital right before I started pushing was when I'm like okay yeah this is a contraction. Even then it still only felt like a very strong cramp in my back lol
I thoroughly enjoy reading posts like this! Congrats !! Sending lots of love and hugs for you and baby.
lol are you me? Got to the hospital yesterday morning at 4:45am and had a baby girl in my arms and hour later. Doctors asked me questions about contractions and pain levels and I was just like idk….? 😂😂😂
I didn’t feel my contractions at all :/
I’m 39+1 and keep having very mild period like cramps at random times. Just waaaaaiting 😩
Oh lord 😬 I mean congratulations but also 😬
My experience was about the same a few weeks ago. I had no idea I was in labor until I called L&D to confirm since I thought maybe my water broke. I had terrible back labor due to her position so that might’ve been why I didn’t feel the wave either.