Do contractions really "hug" you? 😳

Question

My doula said I'll know they're the real thing when it feels like crampy hugs. Which I'm experiencing right now. I'm 39+1 so I hope so!! 😩

Answer

Right before they punch you in the cooch.

Answer

Not to scare you (this is just my experience) but they definitely weren't hugs. I saw a woman on here describe it as "an alien with long claws trying to rip its way out of her stomach" and I thought that was extremely false and dramatic. And then I went into labor and I remember thinking oh my god she was right. But everyone's experience is different and I was also induced, which I guess makes them worse. Really the most normal description I can give (not mentioning clawed aliens) is when you have diarrhea and you get that stabbing pain in your stomach alerting you that you need to find a toilet right away, but it goes away once you go, but during labor that stabbing pain is almost constant except for the small breaks between.

Answer

Really really bad menstrual cramp type pain progressing to OMG my body is trying to turn inside out 😳. Lol I wish mine had felt like hugs....

Answer

Maybe she's trying to reframe how you think about them? Sometimes if you don't think some experience is an awful one, it can lessen the pain

Answer

Never heard it described that way. I've been a labor and delivery RN for 11 years. True contractions are less than 5 minutes apart, last at least a minute for at least an hour - that's usually your sign to go to the hospital.

Also they tend to start in your back and wrap around.

Also if your water breaks then go in immediately.

Best of luck to you!!

Answer

Mine felt like horrible period cramps and the pain was only in the low front of my body

Answer

It hurts the worst on my lower back. Felt like crazy lower back pain that I've never felt before.

Do contractions really "hug" you? 😳

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