What do Contractions feel like??

[H.Starr]

And because it's your first, it's highly unlikely that you'll be contracting for a short time and be ready to deliver in a snap. Usually takes longer with first babies.

Roman is my first, and I was in labor for 15 hours, pushing for a little over 3.
Definitely not a speedy process!

[hardworkinmama]

My contractions felt like prolonged muscle spasms that just kept intensifying. I was one of the lucky ones and when my water broke I actually just thought that I had to urinate. The contractions came on about 45 minutes after that while I was waiting for my husband to get home from work. Unlucky for me, I was in labor for 17 hours after that. I got an epi 10 hours into labor when I reached my pain threshold and then 6 hours later I was ready to push. So again I was a lucky one by only having to push for an hour.
You will definitely know when it's time!

[Bec caV]

I feel so odd... I only pushed for 15 minutes.

I think I was having contractions for about an hour before I realized I was having them. It felt... well hard to describe. Something like gas pains, a bit like menstrual cramps (which was what tipped me off that I was in labor). They'd start off like the gas pains but quickly escalate into cramps, then peak with a sudden sharp cramp. I felt like I had to constantly pee. I had them in the morning I went into labor, but I wrote it off to having had Braxton-Hix contractions for the past week (were they really? Dunno. I may have been starting and stopping, but they never lasted long enough to be labor) and having pressure for being 9months along.
As the night went on they stopped feeling like gas and would be more intense. I got the epidural early so until they got to the intense peak, I wasn't feeling them.

When my water 'technically' broke (I had a foresac so that broke but my actual amniotic sac didn't break) I went out of labor... go figure. So they gave me the pictocin. The hospital wasn't going to send me home at that point... to dangerous.
But when that final stage of labor came along... oh it was painful. If I hadn't had my husband and a wonderful nurse to help me through it, I don't know what I would have done, but they kept me focused and that helped me deal with the pain.
Oh, and it is possible to sleep between pushes I was so tired, hadn't slept in 24 hours (I can't sleep with the blood pressure cuff and the monitor alarm going off, my blood pressure and John Gabriel's blood pressure kept dropping) so I actually fell asleep between pushes Scared my husband and the nurse to death, they kept waking me up but I was too exhausted to smack anyone

[H.Starr]

I feel so odd... I only pushed for 15 minutes.

Oh shut it. :P

[Kerisweetpea]

sorry to say this but after reading all these stories i am by far the most lucky one so far!!
at 11pm on Wednesday night i thought i was peeing myself but called my Dr and told me to go to the hospital to get checked out, and sure enough my water was just leaking. but absolutely NO pain at all. but they wouldnt let me go home since my water was leaking. i walked up and down the hallway ALL NIGHT, sat in a rocking chair, and bla bla bla. did everything i could to get the show on the road, but when my Dr came in the morning at 7 to check on me i was only at 6cm. :P so he told me to get some rest (yeah right) and he will be back and noon, and remember during all of this still no pain. the most i felt all night was something that felt like gas. well the Dr came back at noon i was still at 6cm! AHHH so he decided to give me pitocin. so after the dr came in, checked me made the order for the pitocin, they gave it to me, it was already 12:45! and when i say this im not joking 5minutes later it kicked in and i felt like i was dying! and the dr came back in at 1pm to check me i was ready to push!! YAY and Caleb came out at 1:14pm.
im just hoping it happens that easy again!

[babe010]

Well me I really don't kno I just heard that they hurt REALLY BAd but I'm really SCAREd because I'm young..is there anything that can help ease the pain?

[H.Starr]

Well me I really don't kno I just heard that they hurt REALLY BAd but I'm really SCAREd because I'm young..is there anything that can help ease the pain?

Once you're in full-on labor at the hospital they can give you an epidural. Before that, there's nothing you can do.
Go buy the book "What to expect when you're expecting," it will tell you a lot.

[lismom2]

Well me I really don't kno I just heard that they hurt REALLY BAd but I'm really SCAREd because I'm young..is there anything that can help ease the pain?

You can also look into pain management techniques like the bradley method or hypnobirthing. I also suggest reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. It is a very 'crunchy' book, but it explains the birth process and its stages VERY well and is full of positive 'you can do it' birth stories.
Birth in our culture is made out to be a very scary thing, and I found that it helped immensely to become as familiar with the process as possible, whatever pain management you decide on It's a lot harder to be scared when you know your stuff

[Jill_at_StorkRadio]

So the other night I think that I had a few - felt like intense sharp pains in my stomach - very different than Braxtons, went away came back, went away came back. But then they totally stopped. Although you can have labor contractions before you actually go into labor I think. Or maybe I had a bad stomach ache, this is where is gets hard for me to decipher.

[KayLady]

So the other night I think that I had a few - felt like intense sharp pains in my stomach - very different than Braxtons, went away came back, went away came back. But then they totally stopped. Although you can have labor contractions before you actually go into labor I think. Or maybe I had a bad stomach ache, this is where is gets hard for me to decipher.

That sounds more like round ligament pains. I had those pretty bad with both of mine.