Your contractions will become more frequent and occur for longer, and stronger, once your cervix has dilated (opened) to around four or five centimeters. Afterwards i questioned my reaction to the pain, somehow internalizing the judgement that the contractions must have not been real, because i was not progressing..I also didn’t understand how things could shift so dramatically from one midwife to the next.
I would describe the contractions as uncomfortable for hours before it finally registered with me. It also kind of feels like you need to have a bowel movement. You may need to change positions with each of the first few contractions to see what works best for you.
If contractions come regularly every 10 minutes or less rather than intermittently, you may be in preterm labor. In contrast, Braxton-Hicks contractions do not increase in severity over time and are not associated with any change in consistency …