39 weeks pregnant...confused. ?

Question

My doctor said I was about 1 centimeter dilated when I saw her on Tuesday. Its been a few days and I have had a lot of cramping but no contractions. The baby is moving and is fine. But, I'm not sure what to look out for. Is the cramping a contraction? Or a form of one? Should I be timing the cramping? This is my first baby and I don't want to s***w this up. Help please.

Answer 1

i asked my doctor about the cramping i was having in my lower belly, and he said they very well could be braxton hicks contractions. not everybody feels the contractions all over the belly. with mine, they are in my lower belly/groin area. i never really feel my whole belly get tight. i just assumed after a while that they were contractions because it was always the same kind of pain in the same place every time. if i were you, i'd start timing the cramping. if it seems kind of regular, they probablly are contractions. but, there is no way to s***w things up, LOL. when you finally start having real contractions and go into labor, you'll know it. when you start timing the contractions, and you can predict when they are going to happen by looking at the clock, that's how you know the contractions are real, and you are in labor.

good luck! congrats!

Answer 2

Call your doctor.  It's obvious you're concerned about the well-being of you & your child.  Consulting a random group of non-doctors on the Internet is not what you should really be doing.  Call your doctor and see what she says.

Answer 3

I was exactly the same, trust me you will know when you are having a contraction and they will be about the same time apart - or you just have a very high tolerance to pain. Your mummy instincts will kick and you'll know when its time to get to the hospital.

Good Luck!!  

Answer 4

You are probably feeling braxton hicks contractions. You will know when they are the real thing. I always timed my "fake" ones with my first because just like you I didn't know what it would be like. Good luck!

Answer 5

Cramping isnt usually a contraction.. the thing youll notice during a contraction is how  tight your belly gets.. as if the baby was pushing all his weight outwards..it will go hard and stay like that for upto 30 seconds..and in real labor you will get cramps with it.. but the cramps will worsen in intensity as your stomach tightens..

i find that during my contractions my stomach becomes lop sided.. probably because of the position of the uterus or baby