What Contraction Feel Like
Maybe I’m alone in this. But I had no idea what to expect when it came to contractions. Sure I’ve seen plenty of sitcoms with women going into labor. The screaming in pain/agony. But how that pain would feel seemed to elude me.
I remember a doctor asking me if I was having contractions. This was during a random visit where I was having round ligament pain but didn't know what was happening. I remember thinking like I don't know. I just know that it hurts. Because I hadn’t gone through labor before I wasn't exactly sure what a contraction would feel like. My mother described as the worst pain you were willing to forget. I will have to get back to you on the forgetting part. But I will say having our son in or lives made it all worth it. I know that's not going to help in the moment. All the sources that I researched described the squeezing pain whilst contracting and nobody could tell me what that would feel like.
During my pregnancy I had round ligament pain which was a tightening of the muscles in my lower abdomen. Read more about it here. I thought to myself while this was happening that if this was labor, it’s horrid, but doable. At lease I knew there was an end in sight. With the round ligament pain that tightening happened for at least a week straight. I figured my labor would not last that long.
Surely, someone could tell me exactly how it felt for them. Is it continuous, does it burn, stab, and where? I assumed it would be in my abdomen and women parts. So here’s my experience with contractions.
It feels like period cramps. In the beginning, for me, Braxton and Hicks contractions and my early labor contractions were very minimal period cramps. Once I was in hard labor they were so intense. My entire torso would tense up. I think the best book that I read that described them was Hypnobirthing by Siobhan Miller. It talked about how your uterus muscles are pulling up in the beginning of labor and then when it's time to have the baby they pushing down. I don't know that I felt this as much because I had an epidural at the end. But the beginning seemed pretty accurate.
I remember standing leaning over the side of the delivery bed thinking the contraction was lifting my entire body up, in the most uncontrollable way. When all I wanted it to do was let everything down.
My best advice is to try multiple positions to see where you are most comfortable. I tried walking, sitting, sitting on a exercise ball, sitting on a peanut ball. In a hot tub with the jets going. For me what felt most comfortable was standing leaning over something. I was dead tired and wanted to sit down, but the pain was in my lower back and baby did not like that position. We had the bed raised so I could bend slightly over it and sway side to side. The light movement helped a lot. And my husband's fists pushing into my lower back. Back labor is no joke.
What I leave you with. Do not fear the birth of your baby. It’s going to happen and your body knows more about what it needs to do than your mind may think. Be open to letting your amazing nurse staff help you. (if that’s the route you go) I asked them multiple times in the 7 hours ideas or things we could try to help move things along. And they always had something new to try and were so patient with me.
