Anyone have regular Braxton Hicks with pain?

Well, I am 27 weeks and 3 days and on Friday night I thought I was having regular contractions every 8 minutes or so which was 7 each hour for two hours and lasting b/t 45 seconds to 1 minute each. I called my ob and they said to go to L&D assessment and once there it turns out I was just having regular Braxton Hicks with a little pain. I felt sort of dumb but I also didn't want to take any chances being that I am only 27 weeks along and since I only had my dd 14 months ago I didn't want things to progress any further than they possibly would have with a second pregnancy. The nurses were soooo nice. They called them uterine irritabilities I think to make me feel better about my embarrassment : ) There were a few blips on the monitor but nothing to signal true labor. After urine and ffp tests, which both came back negative, they let me go home and since then I haven't had any regular BHs but I am nervous it will happen again.

Has anyone else had this happen to them and if so, what is your advice?

 

I actually just had that about 2 nights ago. Im in my 33 week and I seriously thought I needed to go in. My husband kept telling me and he was timing them. They were about 10 min apart and 1 min each. My stomach got seriously hard and TMI my crotch was KILLING me. This went on for about 4 to 5 hrs and I fell asleep on and off but still was in pain.... I finally fell asleep and when I woke up in the morning I still didnt feel well but I was better. I guess it was just Braxton Hicks cause I get them occasionally but not as bad as that night.

 

That is funny you mention about your pain in your groin. I also had it almost like it was varicose veins in my vagina or something. I have had hemorrhoids so that is the only thing I could kind of relate the vaginal pain to or rather the achiness. My uterus also tightened a lot and I think since there are two in there it was much higher than if it was BHs with a singelton pregnancy like I had before. Oh well, thanks for the feedback. I am glad to hear yours have lightened up. I too didn't feel that great yesterday but it too was far less than the night before.

 

I've experienced that (though not that regular until recently). Please don't feel bad though; you were absolutely right to go to L&D when you did! Usually the rule of thumb when you're preterm is to go in if you have 6 or more in an hour.

 

Everything I do gives me Braxton Hicks. They sometimes give me a menstrual cramp kind of feeling and I can feel them coming on because my heart starts to race and my breathing changes. I spent the night in L and D when I was 22 weeks (I actually went in for a tiny bit of spotting that has not happened again) and they put me on a contraction monitor which found some contractions I wasn't recognizing at the time. They did an ultrasound and I had some funneling of my cervix when the contrations were happening, so although they diagnosed me with irritable uterus I have been on nifedipine (procardia) to control the contractions. I am now 28 weeks and still no labor but lots of contractions, it's nerve wracking. I have an appt. tomarrow and am going to ask for another ultrasound to make sure my cervix is staying long and closed. I think Braxton Hicks are pretty common for us twin mommies, but you did the right thing by checking with your Doctor. Always better safe than sorry when it comes to those babies.

 

I've started having regular contractions in the last 2 weeks. They have been particularly bad today and were even making me nauseated. They were averaging 5-8 minutes apart for multiple hours. My OB called in some Procardia for me and so now I will be taking that every 6 hours. I just took my first dose and we'll see if that helps. I'm glad your contractions have lessened up.

BTW, I used to work as an L&D RN and we monitored patients all the time that had contractions and irritable uteruses. You definitely did the right thing by calling and then going in to get checked out. We like when we can stop the contractions and send the mama's home. It's a good thing and nothing to be embarassed about. No worries!

 

QUOTE(tbeards @ Jan 4 2009, 12:01 PM) [snapback]1132432[/snapback]
That is funny you mention about your pain in your groin. I also had it almost like it was varicose veins in my vagina or something. I have had hemorrhoids so that is the only thing I could kind of relate the vaginal pain to or rather the achiness. My uterus also tightened a lot and I think since there are two in there it was much higher than if it was BHs with a singelton pregnancy like I had before. Oh well, thanks for the feedback. I am glad to hear yours have lightened up. I too didn't feel that great yesterday but it too was far less than the night before.


Yeah, Im just stubborn thats why I didn't go in. But I would definatly say to someone go in. I work in the ER at the hospital that I would be going into and I was like uhhhh I have to get up and get dressed.... Im wierd like that. I been feeling horrible lately tho. I dunno if its my body preparing for it or what. My husband keeps asking me if its like what I felt with my daughter and Im like I DONT KNOW I DONT REMEMBER. All I remember is that the Sunday night I just didnt feel good like I wasnt feeling right... I went into the dr the next morning and she checked me (2 days before my due date) and I was 6cm and 80%. So every time I say I dont feel really good.... HES LIKE IS IT TIME TO GO?!?!?! hahaha.... Thats my husband for ya. I hope your feeling better though... Keep me updated on how your doing. :hug:

 

Braxton Hicks were my signal to slow down. It got to the point near the end that I was only doing things that were absolutely necessary, meaning basic care for the older kids. That was it. Lots of things can cause them. If your bladder is too full, if you don't drink enough water, sitting or standing too long, walking too much, too much bending and reaching, etc. Make it a point to drink tons and lay down as much as possible. The last few weeks I had hours of them in the evenings no matter what I did. They never got closer than about 10 min and didn't last more than a few hours. They gradually turned into real labor and I didn't even know it! Yes, the twins were numbers 4 and 5 so I'd done this labor thing before! Don't second guess yourself...if you don't feel right, go get checked out!

 

Thanks everyone for your responses! I am going in at 10:30 for a follow up appointment. I just had an appointment on New Years Eve and my OB said my cervix was long, firm and closed and on Friday I had slight funneling and was 50% effaced. That freaked me out. I will update everone when I get back. What scares me the most is that with my dd, my cervix was only 60% effaced and closed at 38 weeks when my water broke so I don't think my cervix gives me a good indicator : )

 

I just got back from my OB visit and everything looks good. My cervix has a little softening but she said nothing to worry about. Also, since my FFP test came back negative they were very happy. Whew!

Thanks again for all of the replies!

 

That's great news! I'm glad to hear that your cervix is cooperating a bit more!