Early labor contractions?

Question

Can anyone tell me what early contractions feel like. I’ve been getting this very mild cramping every ten minutes or so for the past hour. My belly doesn’t get tight though so I’m doubting they’re real contractions.

Answer

I think labor expresses itself differently in each person and can vary with each pregnancy. I was working with a girl a few years ago that was 37 weeks and thought she pulled a back muscle the day before. Her back ached all day that Friday. Turns out she was in labor all day and didn’t even know it. She had her baby that night! I had never heard of back labor before. 
My labors so far have gone from days and days of contractions that can be timed for hours just minutes apart and 30-45 seconds long. They are intense but not mind numbing. Then all of a sudden one day out of the blue one will hit me so hard I scream from pain then sob in between and they won’t even have more than 30 seconds between them. That’s when I know I’ve gone into transition and baby will be here within a few hours, if even that long. I wish my water would just break and I’d have a heads up.

Answer

Mine feel like bad menstrual cramps and my stomach would feel tight and hard as a rock. Sometimes you can’t really tell that you’re having one.. if you’re cramping consistently like that then it sounds like contractions. Just keep up with timing them. If it becomes 4 minutes apart and lasting for a minute for an hour then I’d definitely go in. You’ll know when it’s true labor. The contractions will get more intense and closer together. If you feel like you should call your dr go ahead!

Answer

For me with my first, I had contractions about a week before labor started. They felt like my period starting but I would feel each one for 30-45 seconds and then I would get a 3-8 minute break and as soon as I got up and started walking around they were gone for the rest of the day. When my actual labor contractions started, they felt the same, like my period was starting, but a little stronger and they were closer to a minute long and only 3-5 minutes apart. I still felt them when I walked around son I knew they weren’t going away and that it was time (plus I was a day past my due date). They felt like that for several hours and it wasn’t until the hospital decided to send me back home due to no progression with dilation that they started getting way more intense and by the time I got home, I kept feeling like I had to poop and back labor started so from that point it was just constant pain, there was no break in between contractions and I just had to lay around for a few more hours until I got real shaky and told the hospital I was coming back and I wasn’t leaving.

Answer

It definitely could be contractions - lots of people describe them starting that way. 
Orrrr it could be BH, or just gas 😂 I had similar discomfort for like an hour and a half last night and finally was able to pass gas and all of a sudden my “contractions” were gone haha. 
With my firstborn even the earliest contractions came with pressure in my back as well as in the abdomen like you would expect, so I’m sort of waiting for that sensation again to tell me I’m in labour.

Early labor contractions?

Let's Glow!

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey