Apparently, in addition to the muscle memory and the speedier delivery, one of the traits of subsequent pregnancies is that you feel Braxton Hicks contractions earlier and stronger. I simply cannot believe how frequently I have them. My doctor told me to call her immediately if I ever have more than 6 in an hour and I don't think I've even come close to that, but I have at least a couple every single hour. I feel like with Henry, I only had a few per day if any. They did start relatively early (around 20 weeks, I think) but I don't think I even felt them unless I put my hand on my tummy. This time, I feel a distinct tightening every time and it's a lot more uncomfortable. Not painful or anything, but certainly not something I think is nearly as cool or to be celebrated as I did last time. Just very bizarre that they're stronger the second time around. Why would that be? Aunt Stevie? Can you weigh in on why they'd get stronger for each subsequent pregnancy? I mean, I understand showing earlier and bigger because your muscles are all stretched out, but I don't understand stronger practice contractions.
Otherwise, I'm doing great except I'm real frigging tired. I'm getting pretty sick of reading the Baby Center updates telling me how much energy I'm probably having right now. Cuz I'm not. I'm just tired. All the time. I guess I do have more than I did in the first trimester when I was feeling so queasy all the time, but I just get so run down so quickly these days. I watch Amy's family go-go-going seemingly all the time and I try to keep up, but it just makes me so exhausted that I can't. Maybe it's because I'm out of shape or maybe it's just the pregnancy but I'm real sick of hearing about how much energy I'm supposed to have. Speak for yourself. Jerks.
So, my book says the purpose of Braxton Hicks contractions is to increase muscle tone to prepare the body for labor, so it's possible you're feeling them more because your tummy isn't as toned as the pre-Henry tummy, thus tummy has to work harder to get ready to push out baby 2. (The actual definition of "muscle tone" is a "state of readiness." I always thought that was cool.) It also says that they can start as early as 16 weeks, but they will intensify during your third trimester as your body prepares for the event, then their function is to help thin out the or efface the cervix. The main way to tell the difference between a real contraction and a "fake" one is that real contractions won't go away with movement or activity, whereas you can get the Braxton Hicks to weaken or taper off with something as simple as walking.
ReplyDeleteHuh. That's interesting. And makes perfect sense because your muscles would theoretically be weaker and weaker after each successive pregnancy. Thank you, Aunt Stevie!
Delete