braxton hicks question???

Question

only answer if you have had them before! i need a detailed explanation of what braxton hicks feels like, not the textbook doctors exuse! my "male" obgyn has already told me that they feel like period cramps, but i'm sure theres more to it then that so i want to know if what i am feeling is braxton hicks or something else!!! i am 27 weeks but i read that they start around 9 weeks but you dont feel them and no one has told me when you start to feel them either!!!!

Answer 1

A male OB/GYN has about as much knowledge and experience with being female as a person blind from birth has about what beauty a sunset can be. A man who has never felt a "period cramp" can't possibly understand that it is the difference between "being 'tightly but gently' squeezed from the inside out" (Braxton-Hicks), and having a "red-hot charcoal briquette burning its way" down through your abdomen (your period) and being "sawed in half with a rusty chainsaw" (labor).

Answer 2

Braxton Hicks cramps are 'somewhere between' REALLY BAD PERIOD CRAMPS and the beginnings of 'real labor' ... but they can be HORRENDOUS at times, too. Get a good clock that you can 'carry with you' ... sit down or lie down and RELAX when you feel the first 'cramp' ... write down using a 1(low) to 10(high) scale the 'amount of pain' and then put the 'time' between that and the next cramp ... if your pain is getting 'increasingly and steadily worse, and you are having your 'cramps' closer and closer together, you may be going into 'premature labor' ... if the pain 'varies' (does not get worse constantly over 20 cramps) or if the 'time' between does not 'decrease' (stays the same or get farther apart) then you have Braxton Hicks ... if the pain gets 'increasingly worse' or the cramps come 'closer' together over time, call your doctor ...
You can start 'really feeling' Braxton Hicks cramps any time after the 26th week of pregnancy ... so what you are 'feeling' is probably just that ... Braxton Hicks ... but lie down and 'rest' and 'time them' and 'judge the pain on a 1-10 scale' to make yourself 'feel better' ... and to prevent a 'premature birth' ... they do 'happen' because some moms think 'Braxton Hicks' when it's really premature labor. You'll actually 'stop getting' the Braxton Hicks cramps as frequently after the 35th week, because your 'uterus' will be 'in shape' and 'relaxing' before the 'big push' that will give you that BEST PRIZE ... your new baby.

Answer 3

hi my name is liz and i am 26 weeks pg. I have been having them for about 5 -6 weeks or so. At first I thought it was the baby moving and sometimes my tummy would even stick out on one side. Everyone would tell me that was the baby sticking her but out but i knew different. To me they feel like a charlie horse or a really weird tightning sensation...like when you fall from the top of a really big hill and then slowly it will release and im squishy again!!! I have them all the time! I told my doc they were 3 mins apart for an hour and a half and he said not to worry as long as they stop or dont become more intense. But mine have never cramped at all! Sometimes my tummy feels so tight that if i push on the top i can literally feel it in the bottom!!! Like its one big knot! Well hope this helps you in some way! Good luck!

Answer 4

Braxton Hicks contractions final for aproximately 30 seconds to 2 minutes and are additionally time-honored as prepare contractions. you ought to coach respiration workouts to get waiting for the genuine element. If the contractions fade, are not getting more advantageous or greater extreme, and don't have a collection time between them, then it incredibly is Braxton Hicks and you haven't any longer something to rigidity approximately.

Answer 5

I started having braxton hicks with this pregnancy as early as 13 weeks. Its a tighten in your tummy that last for about 30-60 seconds. And it's never painful. Just may cause a bit of discomfort if its a bit intense

Answer 6

It's true you can start feeling them pretty early in the pregnancy.. i honestly don't think there is a time frame of when you have them... i would get them by just thinking about it too much. They do feel like those menstral cramps but just a tad bit stronger... i always thought i was going into labor but beleive you me.... Labor is way worse.... You can feel the pain like a wave (like at baseball games) it starts in the middle of your back then the pain waves to your abdomen. Braxton Hicks go away.... the pain feels similar in the beginning but labor doesn't slow down or stop.... i hope this helps, Good Luck and Congrats....

Answer 7

it feels like you have an elastic band around your abdomen and its being pulled really tightly, i would'nt say they are like period cramps because my period cramps always involved pain and my braxton hicks are not painful but it can feel uncomfortable like you are being squeezed, with a first baby you can start to feel them from around 23 weeks it can be earlier than that with subsequent pregnancies, if you have what you think is a non painful but uncomfortable tightening or squeezing of your stomach then they are braxton hicks but if they dont go away when you move around or they are painful and coming at regular intervals then maybe you should get checked out.

Answer 8

For me it's a tightening of my belly, no cramps. It starts either at the top or bottom and travels until my whole belly is hard as a rock. I started getting them at about 25 weeks. I told my OB about this and she said I MUST drink more water, that dehydration brings them on bigtime. She told me to drink a gallon of water a day (I live in Nevada where it's like a million degrees!). So, I started drinking water and now I very rarely get any BH contractions at all!
Congrats!
Very Best Wishes!

Answer 9

Sometimes women never do feel them, particularly in a first pregnancy.

Basically your uterus tightens, there may be pain but more than likely there won't be. It feels kind of like when you flex any other muscle. You also may only feel them by resting a hand on your belly you will notice it gets harder for 30 seconds to maybe 10 minutes. This may repeat every 5 minutes to 30 minutes or even less often.

Answer 10

I felt mine at around 27 weeks and on and off all the time I thought I was in labour. They are easy enough to handle I just got my husband to time them and they were pretty in -consistent like 5 minutes apart then 2 minutes apart then 7 minutes apart then the next day I wouldnt have any then the day after that they might have come back. Its just inconsistent pain. I wasnt in a lot of pain but sometimes they would hurt and that gave me the chance to practise breathing. You CAN breath thru them. I ended up having a c-section but had real contractions that morning that I found hard to breath thru. Just remember you may not get any at all and breath thru them and time them. Good Luck sweety.