I’ve always been oddly in tune with my body. Whether it was knowing days in advance that I was developing a cold or actually feeling a slight twinge as my ovary released an egg (or so I like to think!), I tend to pay attention to any change in the norm. Call it a sixth sense — or oddly neurotic — but I’ve always known when something was off.
Pregnancy has thrown a bit of a wrench into these personal intuition skills, which makes sense given this is my first baby. I have no point of comparison and am learning as I go. I read as much as I can, I ask my doctor questions and I try to be aware when things feel different. Yet ultimately this is unchartered territory for me and everything is new.
A first pregnancy is a challenge. You don’t know what to really expect, you aren’t sure what is normal and, in my case, I feared becoming the boy who cried wolf if I got upset over every little thing. I wanted to be on top of this pregnancy yet worried about overreacting and being dramatic.
I thought I was getting the hang of this whole thing by the time I reached my third trimester, but at that point it all changed yet again. Everything I was experiencing up until this point was now different as my body prepared for the final weeks of pregnancy, and once more I had no idea what was normal.
I had experienced contractions on rare occasions during my pregnancy, but they were obvious — sharp and urgent, sending pains throughout my abdomen. Luckily they were always singular and never repetitive, and my doctor and I were able to identify direct causes of each occurrence (constipation, dehydration and sex, to be specific).
But when a true bout of Braxton Hicks contractions took over my body I had no idea what was going on, and I certainly never expected to end up in the hospital. Yet that is exactly what happened.
As is the case with most things, in hindsight it makes sense. We had just moved and even though I swore I wasn’t, I had been overexerting myself. I was adjusting to a much warmer climate and the whole situation was causing me undue stress. I started experiencing uncomfortable cramps and tightness, but I was expecting a contraction to be undeniable and body-shaking. These weren’t, so I chalked it up to discomfort and continued on as usual.
At lunch with a friend the following day I commented on my unusually tight midsection, and she wisely pointed out that it could be Braxton Hicks contractions and I should start monitoring the frequency. And here I was thinking I was being lazy and dramatic, which can be the downfall of pregnant women. Don’t ignore any abnormal symptoms!
At that point I started noting every cramp, twinge and tightness and by the next morning when I had experienced more than six Braxton Hicks in 20 minutes I called my doctor, who had me drive straight to the ER. I was hooked up to a fetal monitor and learned I was indeed having contractions. The question was whether it was just that or was I in pre-term labor?
I had a pelvic exam, was checked for dilation and had the fetal fibronecton (fFN) test. All were clear, luckily. After a few hours the contractions slowed and I was sent home on bed rest.
I couldn’t help but wonder “what if” I had identified these Braxton Hicks earlier and slowed down. Was this my fault? Even though I thought I had educated myself and was prepared for anything I obviously wasn’t. Was I already failing at motherhood before it officially began? I can’t lie, that’s how it felt.
My doctor assured me that this was not my fault and was most likely stemming from a fibroid tumor that was identified early on in my pregnancy. I felt some relief, but made a vow not to ignore anything for the remainder of my pregnancy. Whether it be more contractions or simply a stubbed toe, any incident will receive the same attention from me.
Well, maybe I won’t call my doctor for a stubbed toe, but you get the idea. Though a bleeding, stubbed toe? Probably. Just in case!
Did you experience Braxton Hicks contractions? How did you handle them?
Leave a commentPhoto credit: Becky Vieira
