Braxton Hicks

[stjohnjulie]

All right ladies... can you tell me your experiences with Braxton Hicks contractions? I really didn't have them much with my first guy, but I am having them all the time with this pregnancy. Or maybe I just forgot about them with the first??? It's been 9 years...so there is a chance I just forgot about them. They kind of freak me out. I tend to get them if I am walking too fast. I just hit the 24 week mark.

This pregnancy is soooo much different than my first.

[NancyM]

I don't know if I had Braxton Hicks or not Stjohn, but I did have 'cramps' during the first 3 mos of my pregnancy.

The doctor checked me and said the baby and I were fine and she also said it was normal. ?

I don't know, everyone is different and our doctor is the only one who can tell us whats going on. What did the dr say?

[Xero]

I did get them every now and again, mostly just towards the end of my pregnancy though. They're not fun! lol My sister got them a lot, and she's kinda dramatic so she was in the hospital thinking she was in labor all the time. lol

[1mom.4kids]

I got Braxton Hicks all the time with my first. At times they were very painful. It scared me so much because as I am doubled over in pain breathing through contractions I was being told that they were practice contractions and the real ones would be 20x worse. They were but I didn't need to hear that. :P

[Xero]

My sister never had to find out what the real ones were like! lol She got a C-section!

[1mom.4kids]

By the end of labor with all three of mine I was begging for the c-section. My labors were long and awful...=/...the end result was worth it but I would have liked to have ONE quick and easy labor.

[stjohnjulie]

I had to laugh about "in the hospital all the time"... I think I know a few people like that

I guess since I have already been through labor, I can tell that these are Braxton Hicks. The might be painful sometimes, but they are NOTHING like the real thing! Since they tend to come on when I am exerting myself in someway, I don't feel too freaked out about it being the "real thing". If I slow down, they go away.

Went to the midwife yesterday for the 6 month check up and she said that Braxton Hicks can be worse if you are dehydrated. It was a real DUH moment. I live in the tropics, it's been extremely hot and humid, and duh, I'm probably dehydrated. I forgot to drink enough water for two. Nothing to worry about, she just said when you think you've drank enough water, have two more glasses. So other than that, everything checked out just fine. Baby is growing like he should, blood pressure is on the low side, heart is beating strong.

[Xero]

Originally Posted by 1mom.4kids

By the end of labor with all three of mine I was begging for the c-section. My labors were long and awful...=/...the end result was worth it but I would have liked to have ONE quick and easy labor.

I was in labor for like 12 hours I think, but I suppose it could have been longer considering I slept through a lot of the first part haha. It was pretty tough, I planned on trying to go all natural but I gave in pretty quick and asked for the epidural, which they gave me. Oh well, I tried.

My sister though, she was complaining about being pregnant and they had her taken in to get induced. They tried inducing her twice and it just plain didn't work at all (that's what you get for rushing it), and since she was there anyway they just asked her if she wanted a c-section and she said yes. She says it was easy and she'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Originally Posted by stjohnjulie

Went to the midwife yesterday for the 6 month check up and she said that Braxton Hicks can be worse if you are dehydrated.

That's totally true! Another story about my sister, she was in the hospital at one point because she went into a hot tub while pregnant (not supposed to do that!!) and she got braxton hicks REAL bad! She got to the hospital and they told her it was because she was dehydrated, which is what a hot tub will do to you.

[OneLove1]

This is the third time around for my wife and I, and we are at 33 weeks! Her Braxton Hicks contractions have been getting crazy, they have been for the last month. The doctor told us if she gets 8 in an hour that we need to immediately go to the doctor.

The most we've had is 5 and that was the other day, I know they're not the real thing, but the way she was squeezing my hand I thought they were!! I commend all women for bringing a life into this world, I don't think nothing can compare to what your bodies go through, glad I don't have to experience it, lol.

[stjohnjulie]

Congrats on the baby to come! You are almost there!

Is your wife dehydrated maybe? That seemed to help me out a lot. It's just been really hot here the past couple of weeks. I get the BH when I am exerting myself.

Being pregnant is one of the strangest things to me. Even though I've been through it before, I still am amazed at all the things my body is doing. I scared the crap out of myself the other day when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror when I was getting dressed. I pulled a shirt over my bare chest because I thought someone walked into the room....duh, that's me!

I went from a 34A to a 34C almost right away. It was kind of fun at first...but I'm over it, would rather have my flat, no bra needed, chest back. Then I noticed something that really surprised me. I was doing some "prep work" in the shower getting ready to go to the beach and when I found a position where I could see what I was doing in the bikini area and found that the hair had changed color! WHAT???!!! Blond???!!! (Dear god, please let that be blond and not gray.) Then there is all the baby movement. Kicks, elbows, hiccups, all this crazy movement in your belly. (He must know what I'm typing, because he just started moving around.) I've gotten a few jabs to the bladder and that is an especially weird feeling.

This time is so much different for me. I think most of that is because I'm older. Pregnancy at 36 is a lot different than it is at 26. I'm just thankful I live in the Caribbean because I can go soak myself in the gigantic Epsom salt bath called the Ocean. It's like heaven to float around in the warm salty ocean when your body is aching.