1.09.2012

Braxton Hicks

Braxton Hicks contractions are weird! And slightly uncomfortable. I'd heard of them before I was pregnant, but I didn't realize they start so soon. I assumed they didn't happen until much farther along- closer to 38 weeks or something. I have learned, however, that they technically can start as early as 6 weeks, though most people don't feel them until later. According to my pregnancy book (Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy - which I recommend), these "practice contractions" help train your body for labor. I started feeling them not long after I really started to show- as early as 14 weeks, I think, though not too frequently. I didn't really realize what they were at first- but sometimes when I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, my whole stomach was hard as a rock. Again- weird. I asked my sister and she knew exactly what it was.

Now that I'm farther along, I have Braxton Hicks more often- random times throughout the day, every few hours or so. And they are still weird! Having your entire stomach randomly harden for half a minute is something I still haven't gotten used to. They aren't painful or super uncomfortable yet, but if I don't realize it's happening right away and bend over or sit down or something, the compression on my stomach is a little unpleasant. Just hope they stay relatively infrequent- don't want them to happen too often, cause that could mean preterm labor. So far though, so good!

Also haven't quite gotten used to the tiny little knees and elbows knocking around in there, pushing out against my belly or kicking my bladder. This child is super active. He moves more than he stays still, and maybe it's because I'm relaxing, but his favorite time to play is when I want to sleep. That's when I tend to feel the hardest kicks. The best is when he pushes out against opposite sides of my belly at the same time. Every once in a while I fail to stifle an "eep!" when he kicks me really hard, or does what feels like a somersault, and Nate looks at me like I'm crazy. He doesn't know what it feels like, and it can be totally surprising! Once, he felt Baby move a whole bunch in a short time, and when I told him it was like that all day long he said, "how can you think about anything else??" to which I replied, "I can't!" You can see my belly move around now too. Sometimes when church is particularly boring (shh!) and Baby is wiggly, I watch my stomach spontaneously twitch. It's pretty entertaining, and a little freaky. Not going to lie- I was watching it this morning before I got out of bed, and the movie Alien definitely crossed my mind. Sometimes I think he's trying to bust his way out. Sorry buddy, you've got to cook a little longer!

4 comments:

Yara said...

Liam and Aisling's personalities now are consistent with how they were in the womb. You might be in for it!

Symantha said...

Aw :) That's so precious. He's already yours and he hasn't even come out yet!

nōms: said...

BABY!!!! eeeeeeps! adorable. i can't wait!!!

Francesca said...

I totally get the Alien thing! I felt the same way too. It IS weird seeing your stomach move, knowing that another human is inside you and is going to come out!