Whoever said Braxton Hicks don't hurt obviously haven't felt what I felt last night.

The pains were so intense they woke me up in the middle of the night. I had massive cramping all over the underside of my bump, lasting about a minute each time. I had about 3 minutes rest before it happened again, and it kept happening like this for about an hour.

Not fun

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't doubled over in pain, but they were the worst cramps I've had in this pregnancy, and worse than my period cramps are, an for a moment I seriously wondered if something was wrong I just didn't expect them to hurt, because people just say you feel a "tightening".

I looked it up online and they also said they didn't hurt, which prompted me to call the midwife this morning. I went over the symptoms and pattern, and she confirmed it was BH, and nothing to worry about. I've felt the baby kicking a little this morning, and I haven't had any bleeding, so that's reassuring

Just thought I should post from the other end of the scale, so you ladies know it can be painful, and not just a tightening sensation. Mine just felt exactly like cramping. Obviously if you have something like this, you should still call your midwife if you're concerned. If I hadn't felt the baby this morning, I would be in the hospital as we speak.

This is handy to know! Thanks....when do Braxton Hicks start arriving? When can I expect this delight?! x

Oh yeah it is bull that they arent all painfull! Some are, some arent.

Glad you are ok x

I was bent over in pain the other evening and couldn't walk. I don't know what was going on. Happened a few times over an hour or so and went away. It was not good.

I used my doppler later and everything seemed ok so I tried not to worry. I have just looked up to see when they start and some people even feel them at 16 weeks. I wonder if that's what that was about.

I get pain every now and then (especially in the evening) and joke that it's my little bubba biting me! x

ouch. thank you for posting this up atleast we sort of no what to expect. but when is it normal to feel them and for how long?

i had this last night too. it woke me up. i didn't ring my mw as i could feel bump kicking me through the night, this morning, and right now in fact. but it scared the living sh*t out of me!! am glugging water in the hope that hydration will stop it happening again!!

With each pregnancy i've had I seem to suffer with BH more and more, mine aren't too painful but they go so so tight that it leaves me feeling breathless, such a strange feeling! Im expecting them to be just as bad this time too!

i think my main problem is i haven't been told anything about them. so i don't know what to expect. i only know about them because i read about them on here. and if i didn't know about them i really would have thought it was early onset labour last night. think it's crap my mw has never mentioned them...

I never felt crampy with mine..mostly a wave of tightening to the point my stomach became a rock and was odd shaped and then softened up again. But some DID hurt...With DD I started getting them about 16wks, this time, I felt ONE at 15wks and haven't since then.

they are common during an orgasm too, so be expecting that if your still having fun (I can't )

Apparently you get them from 6 weeks onwards; when your uterus starts stretching, but at that point you don't normally feel it. It's common to feel it from about 16 weeks, but some women don't feel them at all, and for others it's not painful, just uncomfortable.

My midwife didn't mention them to me either; it's only from B&B that I know about them. I'd heard about them in sitcoms like "Friends", but before I came on here I thought you only got them in the couple of weeks before childbirth, not this far back.

I don't think there's a specific time it happens, but mine lasted an hour, coming every three minutes and lasting a minute at a time. Before that I assumed it was one off a couple of times a day; not a full hour of it! Needless to say I was wide awake after that, and I was a zombie at work today