When you had your first, did you recognise contractions straight away?

Question

Just in case the question isn’t clear enough, when you were going into labour with your first child, were you able to identify your contractions as actual contractions. 
Or did you think they were just pains from being pregnant ?
As this is my first, I worry that I may not even know I’m having contractions until the baby is coming. You hear stories of women giving birth in their cars because they didn’t have time to make it to the hospital I just don’t want that to be me.

Answer

Yes but i did have a small gush of liquid prior to them starting so I suspected something was going to happen and had already called the hospital to say I was sure my water had broken. The contractions that followed 15 minutes later were unmistakable. Trust your body. You will know when it's time to go..

Answer

I thought mine were Braxton Hicks but timed them anyway just to be safe. 5 minutes apart lasting 1 minute and I woke up to that. I should’ve gone to the hospital a lot sooner than I did but I was in denial because I was only 38 weeks and hadn’t had any of the other labor signs. Finally went to the hospital after I got off work. I was 7 cm dilated and 90% effaced when they checked me in the ER 😅. The early contractions feel a lot like intense period cramps. The later ones are indescribable and unbearable. There’s no way you’d mistake the later ones.

Answer

Yes. But I had absoulutely no false pains or anything until that point. So I knew it was going on. And also I was already 41+4... So it ws about time.

Answer

With my first two kids I knew right away. My first my water broke but his head plugged the hole so I had a small gush that I was pretty sure was my water, then contractions started off 5 minutes apart. They felt like period/poop pains lol like my lower abdomen felt like a warm tingling sensation when they hit and then obviously was contracting. My daughter was similar just without my water breaking, my contractions just randomly started. Now with my 3rd I have no idea, I’ll get random times when I get really strong what I thought were Braxton Hicks, but they feel so different from my strong contractions. But I’ll go sometimes all night and afternoon with them, then they’ll stop, and start up again the next day or afternoon.

Answer

I thought mine were just cramping and painful Braxton Hicks or fake labor. I didn’t realize they had all been real contractions until I went into my 37 week appt and my doctor told me I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced. They mostly felt like bad period cramping. I had downloaded a chart that gave tips on how to identify real contractions vs false labor contractions, but mine really never felt like the real contractions on that chart. My belly was tightening like they say, but I couldn’t feel it tightening with everything going on. I just went into the hospital when they were fairly regular and only timed a few of them before going in.

When you had your first, did you recognise contractions straight away?

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