https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 16 May 2026 16:48:52 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-516234 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 15:07:17 +0000 sorrycharlie 516234@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also have to agree with the impacted fart thing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-516013 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 12:05:58 +0000 PrincessBaby 516013@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine never got too bad before I got the epi... But they felt like period cramps, but deeper and wider- like a much bigger area than where I feel AF cramps- and they wrapped around to my back. I got an epi when I hit 4cm bc they were starting to make me irritable and the anesthesiologist came by to introduce herself to me and was like,"Why be in pain? I can go ahead and do it whileI'm here.." So I did, and then I slept a billion hours until they told me to push. It was the most boring l&amp;d ever, lol... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-516002 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:56:56 +0000 autumn865 516002@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do also have to say that as painful as contractions were I really had to stop and think to be able to write this post. In a way after you have that beautiful baby in your arms you really do "forget" the pain :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515902 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:24:45 +0000 pastemoo 515902@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@photojane: Actually I read that the women who are more well informed about the pain are better able to tolerate it. NOT that it feels like less but that they have come to terms with it and can better visualize the endpoint (baby!)</p> <p>Source: this book called "Easy Labor" <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Labor-Womans-Choosing-Childbirth/dp/0345476638/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1358695511&#038;sr=1-1&#038;keywords=easy+labor" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Labor-Womans-Choosing-Childbirth/dp/0345476638/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&#038;ie=UTF8&#038;qid=1358695511&#038;sr=1-1&#038;keywords=easy+labor</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515727 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:35:28 +0000 DillonLion 515727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumn865: I agree. The worst parts for me was the beginning of the contraction knowing I was about to be in tremendous pain again. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515724 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:24:52 +0000 JerricaBenton 515724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@photojane: yup </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515715 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 05:06:10 +0000 photojane 515715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>um probably shouldn't have read through this thread 2 weeks before labor. yikes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515634 Sun, 20 Jan 2013 01:34:08 +0000 Mrs. Superhero 515634@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>mine did not feel anything like a period cramp. I had heard that it feels like an impacted fart. It was true! If you don't know what that means, then I'm happy for you, but if you do....that's what my first contractions felt like!</p> <p>Oh, and I would take a contraction over a night leg cramp, it's not like a sudden screaming pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night, it builds. And it's not the same as being hurt, even though it hurts.</p> <p>Oh oh, but I totally yelled a lot. Some women just do! It's cathartic. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515516 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 22:50:18 +0000 autumn865 515516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine started like period cramps and I breathed through them. I was feeling confident in myself that I was doing great! My OB had immediately started me on pitocin though and they quickly got more intense. When I got my epi at 7 cm. I was throwing up in between contractions and they felt like this paralizing pain that gripped and weighted down my body. i felt pike i couldnt move. The only thing I could do was grip the bedrail, keep my eyes shut and beg my husband to tell me when the peak had passed. The worst part was looking on the monitor and seeing the little line start to go up again... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515496 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 22:34:47 +0000 JerricaBenton 515496@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Haha, ohhh Loooord some of these descriptions are scary! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515449 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 22:08:24 +0000 mrs. wagon 515449@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh I also wanted to go over what it felt like. I describe it as your uterus (or lower abdomen) being like a brown paper bag, filled with air like a balloon. Every 2 minutes a giant comes and crushes the paper bag into a tiny hard ball in one swift clench of his fist and presses harder and harder, mercilessly. Finally he lets go and lowly the bag reinflates, filling up with air and unwrinkling on the surface. The absolute worst part is that you know that giant is coming again, and very soon, and the pain will be exactly the same. My reaction every time another contraction started was "no, no, no no no NO NO NO NONONONO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed so loudly my throat felt like it was turning inside out. I tried to moan instead of scream but I could only keep that up for a few hours.</p> <p>Pitocin contractions at 8 cm dilated after your epidural has failed twice and you've been in labor for 18 hours is not. Fun. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515437 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:59:19 +0000 mrs. wagon 515437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I screamed, cried, vomited, drooled, sweated, snotted.... these were pi to in contractions right before transition. When transition hit I was sat up to place my third epidural and I pretty much blacked out. I don't wanna scare anyone but I do wanna let people know that for some women it really IS that bad! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515387 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:07:48 +0000 wheres_c 515387@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had the same experience as @sorrycharlie: </p> <p>Mine felt like period pains and i dilated to 9.5 without epi. Near the end they felt like stabby pains but never soooo bad. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515384 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:05:12 +0000 mamimami 515384@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think the screaming bit is played up for tv and movies! I didn't scream in either of my labors. I screamed some during my stitches the second time LOL. I agree on the period cramps, but with starts and ends. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515268 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 19:51:25 +0000 sorrycharlie 515268@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I honestly think it's different for everyone. I dilated to 10 centimeters in about 3 hours before I got an epidural (glad they let me!), and while it was painful enough for me to be gripping the hell out of the side rail and informing DH that I might die (only because they were literally 2 min long and a minute apart!), mine weren't *that* bad. I wanted epi because I was afraid of feeling her come out, tbh!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515204 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:51:03 +0000 pastemoo 515204@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@belleoftheballe: Thanks!Sounds about right. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515198 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:44:56 +0000 holdonforonemoreday 515198@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would liken it to someone stabbing me repeatedly for 1 min every two mins. When I had DD I was screaming in triage because they hurt sooooo much. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515194 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:42:58 +0000 holdonforonemoreday 515194@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@pastemoo: <a href="http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-back-labor" rel="nofollow">http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-back-labor</a></p> <p>There you go! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515157 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:09:44 +0000 Bao 515157@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It felt like bad period pains and got worse and worse. Mine started at 8am and I was like hey, I can handle this. at 9:30am we were on the way to the hospital and I was punching the car window because it hurt so bad. I could have talked through them once I got to the hospital if I needed to but I chose to concentrate and breathe instead. When they are over (in between each contraction), you feel nothing so it's a great break for a minute or two. Epidurals are great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515154 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:04:50 +0000 pastemoo 515154@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>PS Can you link to the back labor post? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515153 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:03:24 +0000 sera_87 515153@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>it felt like someone was squeezing my insides tighter &amp; tighter. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515148 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:58:41 +0000 pastemoo 515148@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It felt like I had been doing bicep curls for 30 reps at like 40 pounds per hand and someone had a gun to my head and said "do another" "do another" "do ANOTHER" for a full day.<br /> Now replace biceps with uterine wall. That's what it felt like. Like I was beyond exhausted but I wasn't allowed to stop.</p> <p>ETA It was not the sharp "OUCH!" pain of the leg cramps for me. It was more like trying to do something that I was physically incapable of doing and yet my body kept somehow doing it again. Seriously like overdoing a workout. I think if I hadn't been so tired, it would have been really easy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515129 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:40:02 +0000 hilsy85 515129@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Like the worst period cramps in the history of the world, also agree with pp that they built to a crescendo and then ebbed slightly. But mine were pretty much on top o each other so there wasn't much if a break. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515077 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:37:57 +0000 mrskc 515077@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh and like @cyndistar3: said, they progressively get more and more intense, unless you have a crazy fast labor. What also helped me get thru was knowing there was an end. That the pain would not last forever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515076 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:35:26 +0000 mrskc 515076@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Mine started out like menstrual cramps. It's hard to explain because I've forgotten what the pain felt like. I had back labor and also felt the contractions in my belly. It's like a cramp you get in your leg but it eventually gets way more intense. Your whole belly tenses up. You can feel the contraction coming and it gets stronger and stronger until it reaches a peak then starts to go away. Then you get a break and another one comes. By the time you're near the end, you hardly get a break. It's very intense. Low moans are good but screaming is not beneficial. However there were times I wanted to scream, and my doula would have to remind me low moans and grunts were better. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515073 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:33:24 +0000 cyndistar3 515073@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>To me they started out like period cramps and just got more and more intense as time went by. That is what made it bearable for me, it was a very gradual process that happened over 48 hours for my first birth so I wad eased into the pain. Second time it happened much quicker but it was still bearable (until I had to have a c/s because she was breech). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515064 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:18:51 +0000 HLK208 515064@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>You know, I never thought they felt like period cramps. My whole stomach would get rock hard. Definitely the same pain as a calf cramp but in your stomach area. They never made me scream (unless it was a pitocin contraction) but more like I wanted to do anything to make them stop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/describe-contractions#post-515058 Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:10:28 +0000 Cherrybee 515058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Right - we've had a post about back labour and - wow - that sounds horrendous! If I have a sunny-side-up baby, I'm totally getting an epidural!! </p> <p>But what do regular contractions feel like? I've heard it described as really bad period pains but I can't imagine that period pains - even the worst kind - could make women scream in pain like they do in labour!! </p> <p>I'm imagining it to be like the cramps I get in my calf muscles that wake me up at night - I scream in pain then!! - and try stretching and wiggling in an attempt to make the pain stop..... </p> <p>What's it like? Is it like anything you've ever felt before? Is it bearable?? Describe it to me!! </p>