milk/lactose and Braxton Hicks

My Braxton Hicks haven't gotten any worse and, in fact, some days lately seem to be very mild. I started thinking that drinking milk was having an effect and causing more contractions, so I tried to go without for a few days. It actually seems like they eased up. Well, I had a glass of milk last night and today have had more BH close together again. Could there be a connection or is this all in my head? It's like I want to blame them on something in my diet, because there would be a "solution." I would hate for milk to actually be the culprit...since it's such a good source of protein and calcium.

Has anyone heard of a connection between milk or lactose and contractions? I don't think I'm lactose intolerant...at least I never have been before. I do seem to have loose stools lately (just once a day), but I don't know if that's from something in my diet or not.

 

My Braxton Hicks haven't gotten any worse and, in fact, some days lately seem to be very mild. I started thinking that drinking milk was having an effect and causing more contractions, so I tried to go without for a few days. It actually seems like they eased up. Well, I had a glass of milk last night and today have had more BH close together again. Could there be a connection or is this all in my head? It's like I want to blame them on something in my diet, because there would be a "solution." I would hate for milk to actually be the culprit...since it's such a good source of protein and calcium.

Has anyone heard of a connection between milk or lactose and contractions? I don't think I'm lactose intolerant...at least I never have been before. I do seem to have loose stools lately (just once a day), but I don't know if that's from something in my diet or not.

 

Very interesting question...a couple of weeks ago I found that every milk intake gave me bad diarrhea; took me a few days to figure it out, then when i stopped it went away, and came back.

it seemed to go away, but today i feel like i must have lost three lbs. with it -and i had a big dish of ice cream last night and milk twice today....

haven't noticed any relationship w/BH, but it could be there. My doc told me that developing lactose intolerance is not uncommon during pregnancy. Wish i had a better answer - and a solutio, since it's one of the ways i get my protein too!

 

I'm not really sure about the connection between milk and contractions but I've noticed that if I have too much gas and I need to pass it (sorry, TMI) the contractions seem to start. I wish there's just a button we can push to stop all these contractions when we want to and turn them back on again when the time is right. Haha! Wishful thinking!

 

If a full bladder makes you have contractions, then something that gives you gas or upset stomach probably could do the same thing. Your intestines may be putting pressure on your uterus???

 

Well, I'm feeling better now than I was earlier (fewer BH) and I have passed some gas. I also had chili last night, so maybe that had something to do with it.

 

Thank you for posting this! I've been noticing some really weird connections between the BH and my "digestive" system (some days it doesn't seem to be digesting much, tho).

Isn't it funny to be so happy to pass gas? It feels so much better afterwards tho!!!

Do you also get more BH when you change position (sitting up, sitting to standing, standing for a long time)?

 

Yes, I do sometimes get more when changing positions. However, I don't stand for very long periods of time at all! Today my BH have been more frequent again, but I haven't had any milk, so I don't think there's probably much to it. I'm wondering if they're worse today after having kind of a long day out yesterday. It's sooooo frustrating and scary too! Lately I've had loose stools every morning at the same time but only that one time throughout the day. I mentioned this to my doctor and he wasn't concerned. Aren't we supposed to be constipated??

 

When I was put on bedrest & tocolytics at 24.5 weeks, my acupuncturist asked me to stop eating ice cream. She said one of her clients' preterm labor completely stopped just by stopping ice cream. She thought she had some milk intolerance & also says the cold is contracting.

I don't think I have a problem digesting milk, but she says really cold and raw things are harder to digest. I have noticed if I eat something that doesn't agree with me, I have more contractions. I already have enough belly stuff going on without digestive issues complicating it, you know?

Good luck!