What do Braxton Hicks feel like ?

I've never been pregnant so I'm not sure which sort of aches and pains should be considered BH ? can anyone shed some light ?

Hi Pretty Butterfly,

For me, BH felt like bub pushing from the inside. I actually thought it was bub stretching his legs but then it happened while I was under observation at the hospital and the doc told me it was BH. So it was like a tightening more than a pain for me.

Congratulations!!

Tightening is probably the best way to put it. I also didn't know what it was until I got one when my midwife was here. It feels like your stomach muscles go all tense, almost like the baby is pushing, but it feels more symmetrical iykwim.

Mine started at 24 weeks and got stronger and longer as time went on. The day before I went into labour they were pretty full on, and I had to breathe through them...

GL with the pregnancy!

Same here. Definitely a tightening feeling. Ive been getting them since about 20 weeks but are getting stronger and longer now. I dont have any pain, but it can sometimes be uncomfortable, expecially if Im walking around at the time :)

For me BH were period type cramping pains.
I had stacks of them and always thought I was going into labour!
When labour did actually start I was surprised that I 'just knew' it was happening.
The more BH the better (at least in my case)!
Labour itself felt similar to BH but the cramping was far stronger.

Good luck :)

Wow, this forum really helped me. I have been having so many discomforts I did not know which ones were actual braxton hicks. All the time my stomach gets tight and it looks like baby is pushing from the inside. It is very uncomfortable and lasts about 30-70 sec. I just thought this was baby movement. lol Well than i guess I have a lot of BH.