Braxton-Hicks Contractions

Yesterday my body decided to celebrate the fact that I am halfway to birth by letting me experience Braxton-Hicks contractions. Now, the definition of Braxton-Hicks contractions makes it seem like they are light, easy things to handle.

Braxton-Hicks contractions are usually painless contractions of the uterus, also known as false labor or practice contractions and are sporadic uterine contractions that usually start around 6 weeks however are not usually felt until the second trimester or third trimester of pregnancy.

From that definition you would think it was this light tightening of the uterus muscles that went away quickly. Not so! I was sitting on the couch watching Jon play video games and reading my Bradley book when things just started getting tight. It was almost like when you have bad gas and everything down there just tightens up only it’s not your intestines doing the tightening this time, it’s the uterus. Then it was painful. I guess it would be most akin to a severe menstrual cramp only bigger and stronger and longer. I thought maybe Zoey was just moving around and stretching or something but it just started getting worse and worse.

I couldn’t figure out what it was at first. Since I had just been reading in my book about relaxation being key to managing pain in labor I thought, well, let’s give it a try. I laid down on the couch and tried to relax all of my body. That seemed to be worse. The pain in my belly was getting worse. Then I thought that if staying still was worse, maybe walking around would be better. Bingo! I got up and started walking laps around the house, checking on dinner, picking up the things I’d left on the coffee table and suddenly it all went away.

I was relieved but confused. I still didn’t quite know what that was. As I was sitting there trying to think through what just happened, it started all over again. I immediately got up and started walking around again and this time it only took about a minute or so to go away. I stayed standing and walking for another minute just to make sure it wasn’t coming back again and was quite relieved when it didn’t.

Needless to say, I’m a bit worried now that actual contractions are going to kill me if I found a Braxton-Hicks contraction hard to handle. Maybe it was just the surprise of it all or that I hadn’t felt anything like it before. At least I was able to remember what I had learned so far in my classes when the pain hit. That’s a little encouraging. I guess it’s my body’s way of telling me that I’ve got a lot more preparing to do before I get to Zoey’s birthday and all the mental preparation in the world can’t replace the physical preparation. Point taken body, I’m not slacking anymore!