Q: What do Contractions feel like?

Q: What do contractions feel like? We're all warned as first time mommies that they will happen, but nothing really tells you what it will feel like?

I had so much confusion about contractions during my last few pregnancies, probably mostly because no one ever explained it to me in detail about what to look for in a contraction. My first pregnancy, my water broke at 35 weeks, and then I didn't have contractions until I was induced, baby number 2 I had pre-term labor and only experienced a crampy/achy menstrual type feeling. I never thought it was a contraction, but after going to the doctor and getting checked I was actually progressing from them.

So that is where the confusion came in! By baby number 3 I was having unbearable pain in the top of my stomach so bad I couldn't breathe at 15 weeks until my water broke at 38 weeks. That ended up not even being a contraction even though it felt like one. It was a gallbladder attack that was miss-diagnosed as acid reflux! They kept saying you will know it's true labor when it starts at the top and radiates down your belly! But it was doing that, and it wasn't like that with the last two and I was in labor!

So the best way I've ever heard it explained is, if you make a muscle with your arm, and hold it there for a LONG period of time as tight as you can, and get tighter and tighter as you hold it. That is the closest thing to what a contraction actually is. The pain will get gradually more intense your stomach muscles will tighten from the top to the bottom gradually, tighter and tighter just like your arm muscle for periods of time starting slowly and getting more and more intense and closer together as time passes. It is possible you will also feel cramps or pain in your back as this happens.

Because of my experiences if you are having any type of cramps, achy menstrual type feeling in your lower back, or an intense contraction, contact your doctor right away so they can check you out and make sure your not in progressive labor. Better safe than sorry!