How To Time Contractions
Learning how to time contractions properly becomes extremely important as you enter into your third trimester, as you are now coming down to the home stretch and your baby will be ready to meet the world before you know it.
What Are Contractions?
Contractions are the body’s way of preparing your baby for the big delivery. Basically, contractions help to thin the cervix and push your baby through the birth canal.
However, it is important to note that it is very easy to get fooled by false contractions, which are better known as Braxton Hicks contractions. These types of contractions begin early on in your pregnancy, but they are so subtle that very few women can actually ever feel them until well into their pregnancy. The problem comes about when these false contractions become much stronger in the third trimester, especially near the due date of the pregnancy.
Braxton Hicks contractions have sent many expectant mothers to the hospital much earlier than was needed and in many cases these women had to be sent back home. This is why it is essential to learn the difference between what a real contractions feels like versus a fake contraction.
Real Contractions Versus Braxton Hicks Contractions
Whenever you are having a Braxton Hicks contraction, it will feel more like an abdominal tightening or a cramp that you might have during your menstrual period. However, the pain is very rarely ever that severe and usually when you get up and walk around the pain will begin to dissipate. Most notably with these contractions, is the fact that they do not come in regular intervals and the pain will not increase as time goes along.
With real contractions, the pain will start to steadily increase as time goes along, and you will feel them not only in your lower abdomen, but also in your lower back as well. Real contractions will also follow a steady pattern and walking or any other type of activity will not make the pain go away.
Expectant mothers will go through three phases of labor when the real contractions begin and these phases are known as early labor, active labor, and transition labor. In early labor the contractions will be mild, but the pain will substantially increase as you move into active labor. When transition labor occurs, this is when the baby is extremely close to being born and the pain is the most severe.
Timing Contractions
To time the contractions you want to get either a simple stopwatch or even a kitchen timer which can be much cheaper.
There are two phases you want to time whenever you are measuring the length of contractions. The first is the actual duration of each contraction and the second is how far apart each contraction is from the other.
To time how long a contraction last, simply begin timing whenever the pain first starts and stop timing whenever the contraction ends. When you are trying to determine how far apart the contractions are, you always want to time from the beginning of one contraction to the beginning of the other.
Keep in mind that is not necessary to time each and every contraction.
Most doctors generally recommend that you leave for the hospital when your contractions are about five minutes apart and a minute in duration.
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