Your contractions will become more frequent and occur for longer, and stronger, once your cervix has dilated (opened) to around four or five centimeters. Afterwards i questioned my reaction to the pain, somehow internalizing the judgement that the contractions must have not been real, because i was not progressing..I also didn’t understand how things could shift so dramatically from one midwife to the next.
I would describe the contractions as uncomfortable for hours before it finally registered with me. It also kind of feels like you need to have a bowel movement. You may need to change positions with each of the first few contractions to see what works best for you.
If contractions come regularly every 10 minutes or less rather than intermittently, you may be in preterm labor. In contrast, Braxton-Hicks contractions do not increase in severity over time and are not associated with any change in consistency of the uterus.
I drank coconut kefir and ate a couple clementines and some scrambled eggs that Grant brought upstairs for me. I talked with Erika and Grant when contractions weren’t bothering me. I started to need more coping methods during the peak points of the pain- my main one was pulling on Grant’s arm as hard as I could.
The contractions were so bad I was vocal about it. Normally during contractions I would meditate until they passed but these were bad. These contractions are typically not painful and do not happen at regular intervals. I was experiencing strong contractions sporadically from an hour apart to 1.30 min were more consistent at night, and really only spaced out during the morning.