Braxton hicks!!! Are they JUST fake contractions ??

I had them with both of my kids and the medical explanation for them is the one you gave. I don't know your history so I can't say for sure. Depending on your due date and whether or not you lost your mucous plug (not everyone but most people do lose it), you probably will not be dilated. Those contractions aren't anywhere near what actual labor contractions are like. They feel completely different. Obviously there pain with labor contractions but there is a whole lot more force behind them as well. You'll see what I'm talking about when the time comes. It's amazing what our strong female bodies can do. :) The "fake" contractions are your body getting ready so you are probably close. They can start as early as 6 or 7 months and trust me can be really annoying when they start that early. In any event, hang in there- you don't have too much longer it sounds like. Enjoy your alone time right now because all he11's about to break loose- LOL. :) Have a great day!

I had my first braxton hicks with my third child. And considering I had moved many miles away from the hospital, I thought I should have my husband go get my niece, (she was to babysit for me). Even though I had changed positions, I still felt the pain and thought it was time, but then I heard that taking a bath can also stop them, so I did and my husband went after my niece for no reason..lol btw, this happened on the 4th of July and my doctor said, (jokingly), don't have the baby on the 4th..So I guess my baby listened and waited until the next day, the 5th of July..:)

yes it is called false labor where I am from and there is no dialating it them I am so sorry and I wish you the best of luck

None of my doctors have wanted to check for dialation unless I was actually in the hospital so I can't say much about that. I know I made an extra trip to the hospital with #4 and was a 2cm but they sent me home and a week and a half later I was still only 3cm when I went to the hospital for the real thing...and I was having Braxton Hicks practically nonstop for those last two weeks, so I'm guessing there's not usually much dialation if any at all. My first ever contraction with my first baby was 100% real, my second I had some 'practice' 4 weeks early and then on occasion during the 5 days over due I went, I really don't remember having any with $3 but she came 6 days early, #4 I had tons for the last month that as I said increased even worse during the last 2 weeks, I was 10 days over with #5 and I think I had some with him too but nothing memorable, #6 was probably pretty typical, I had some but they were never bothersome enough to make me start timing them. Since you haven't really experienced much in terms of 'real' contractions, I'm just going to give the same advice I've always heard and always found unhelpful until the time actually came...when they are real, you will know And trust me, it's true. If/when you get a real one you will have no doubt in your mind about it.

Hello Sissygrl!:-) I may not give an educated response to this question but I’ll share our experience. Ours was first child born last year. My wife started having contractions very early and they were painful too. We really thought that it may be premature so we called hospital and went for a checkup. They said the same thing as you say false contractions/labour. But, they got more and more annoying and my wife was prescribed complete bed rest. She remained on bed rest for nearly three months. Though they increased in strength more and more, there was no real dilation in that period.

With my first pregnancy, one month before my due date, I experienced what I thought were Braxton Hicks contractions. They were driving me nuts! Enough so, that I called the hospital and talked to a triage nurse, who suggested I come in to get checked just in case. It turned out I was in actual labour. Around 5 hours after I started feeling them, Andrew was born. With my second pregnancy, when I was one month before my due date, I started getting those darn Braxton Hicks contractions again. They drove me nuts! Of course, because of my experience with the previous pregnancy, I was convinced that they were the start of labour. But nope. They were in fact "practice". I even timed them, and they would come like clockwork, every 5 to 7 minutes. I went through about a month of that. They never got painful, but they were annoying as all get out. (Eric was born one week before his due date). When I finally DID go into labour, it was even faster than with Andrew. I woke up early in the morning when my water broke. 2 1/2 hours later, I had Eric.

Sure Sugar, dilation happens with braxton hicks. I walked around for 3 weeks dilated to 3 with my second one. Trust me they do not just fall out of there, one wishes that were the case. You are lucky that you are not getting any real pain with them. They can oftren be almost as painful as real labor. But in the end you can sure feel and know the difference. I bet you are getting excited. Where are you going for vacation? I hope not far from your hospital and doctor/midwife. I sure have missed you this week.

I didn't have braxton hicks contractions when I was pregnant with either of my kids. When my contractions came they were the real thing! LOL Where are you going on vacation? Will it be far from home? I'm just asking because I hope baby doesn't decide to make it's debut while you there! :P LOL Have fun! :)

OH heck yes! They were really annoying and could sometimes be really strong too! i was always told it was your bodies way of preparing for 'real' contractions and labour! xxx

I had tons of Braxton Hicks contractions during the last month or two of all six of my prefnancies. They seemed to do something since I wouldf get to 3 centimeters dialated weeks before true labor actually began.

I had the Braxton Hicks off and on a few weeks before I had my son. It would wake me up in the middle of the night and I would stay awake in so much pain. I checked my What to Expect book so many times to try to figure out if they were real or not. The last few days before he was born I had them really bad but they wasn't regular at all. Honestly, I don't know when it stopped being fake contractions. In the middle of the night, my water broke and away to the hospital I went and 30 minutes after I arrived, my baby was born. Since it is very little pain for you right now, it is probably just the Braxton Hicks. You will do great though. I wish you the best of luck.

yes and no! lol! As for these being the contractions that lead you into delivery.. they aren't. But they do have a purpose, they prepare your body for what is to come... it's like your body practicing for the "real deal".

My friend is also at the end of her pregnancy, its her fifth one and she has been having them terrible, she says she has never had anything like it with any of her pregnancies, I told her that she was having braxton hicks, she said but they are so painful that they were more painful than actual labour. Well I had all this with my 4th pregnancy and my midwife told me that the more pregnancies you have sometimes the worse they get and it is just practising and I wasnt dilated at all. I said what on earth does my body need to practise for its done it 3 times already!!

I had fake contractions the last month, which made the last month so hard because It was my first pregnancy and honestly I couldnt tell a diffrence, I spent a lot of time in labor and delivery to only be sent home lol. Which made me even more miserable into my later pregnancy. If you arent sure the best thing to do is call the dr and or go to labor and delivery.

yeah i did felt it when im in my seven month of pregnancy...and at first im scared about it..but since i was advice it was normal then i felt relieved about it..i even did not know that it was called a braxton hicks...its my first time to hear that honestly..but as i read your explanation about it it is only then that i had understood it...

I do not remember having them, but it would have been over forty=five or more years ago since I gave birth to my ONLY child. I might have had them, but I was worried about other things, whether I would find a place to stay after I left the Maternity Home, whether I would have a job, whether the people who adopted my baby were good people whether she would look me up when she was grown up, etc. so Braxton Hicks were the least of my concerns. Besides they really did not tell us anything, because we were not considered good girls.

I had alot of Braxton Hicks contractions with my last one, who was 16 days late and a C Section. If you have never experienced labour, you are lucky, it's pretty heavy duty and can make a grown woman scream her head off lol. I had two live births and two C sections, so I have been through it all. Good luck with your new baby and I hope it all goes well for you.

It has been a long time since I was pregnant, Sissygrl, but some things don't change all that much. Each pregnancy is different, but most women have a built-in sense of what is going on with their bodies. I think you'll know when the real thing comes along, lol.

Yes, I did have like that too when I was pregnant. But don't worry you will notice your self when the labour will come. It will be different pain than the braxton hick that you had. But I don't remember anymore how long the fake contraction happening with me since it was 2 years ago. :)

I had what seemed like a lot of "braxtons hicks" the last few weeks of my first pregnancy. They gradually got stronger and more uncomfortable. When I went to the dr. the day before I delivered I had had them pretty bad for several nights, but they would back off. Well the dr told me I was 2 cm dilated, 90% afaced (not sure how u spell that) and having "braxton hicks", he also said that the real contractions would be more painful (which they were not), so I went shopping and went into labor that night. The "braxtons hicks" that I had were the same as the contractions they just didn't back off and when they first started they weren't really pain just more uncomfortable. They pain got a stronger they last few days before I went into labor totally. I would say they are practice contractions.