Could you have Braxton Hicks without knowing it?

Question

My childbirth educator said that we could be getting Braxton Hicks without knowing about it. She said we may just assume that it's the baby moving, because sometimes fetal movement causes the contractions. However, I thought they were supposed to feel like a light cramp...? I do occasionally feel the baby move and then feel a hard spot (about the size of a baseball) right above my belly button, but I always assumed it was a baby part pushing out. Would Braxton Hicks be that localized or would it be spread out more? Would I feel it without feeling any cramping? I'm just curious because I had a nightmare that I went into labor, but it wasn't progressing, the baby wouldn't drop and I couldn't feel when I was having contractions. I KNOW that will not be the case in real labor, but it made me start thinking about whether or not I'm in tune with what's going on down there. :D

Answer 1

i have been having braxton hicks contractions for about 10 weeks now and there has never been a painful or 'crampy" one. i often don't know i'm having one, i just happen to touch my belly and the whole thing is hard. sometimes they make me fell like i really have to pee but that is about it.  

Answer 2

You can definitely have BH without knowing it, especially if this is your first pregnancy.  With my first, one of my friends who was pregnant with her 3rd and due about the same time as me kept trying to describe what they felt like because she was shocked that I wasn't getting them, and I just wasn't understanding what she was talking about.  About a week or two later, I spoke to a friend of mine who had just had her first, and she was able to describe them a little better than my other friend had, and I realized that what I had been assuming was the baby stretching was actually BH contractions.  What you described is exactly what they feel like.

Answer 3

yes you don't necessarily have to notice the braxton hicks i know that i never noticed them until about a week ago when they started to hurt and my doctor told me it was just my BH increasing in strength and said that since the earlier ones didn't hurt i probably just didn't notice them...