BH Contractions? How early?

[Wonderwall]

Hi ladies, 

For those of you on the app I'm almost to the 20 week mark at 19 w 5 days I think?

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to SHARP pain in the groin/vag area and across my lower abdomen from hip to hip and some in my lower back. 

The pain was intermittent but lasted about 2 hours or so.  It was def worse when laying down and got better if I was walking around or sitting up. 

Freaked me out so much I called the on call nurse and she basically told me to take it easy and if it gets worse to call L&D  

So I decided to try and relax - eventually the pain subsided and I fell asleep. This morning I am SORE in that area and from time to time I'm still feeling that pain although much more dull and not nearly as frequent. 

I did email my doctor and we have our anatomy scan today, so I see the techs not my doctor but maybe I can catch her or another doctor if the pain continues....

 I was wondering:

1) Has anyone else experienced this?
2) Are these the famous BH?
3) Would you go in and get checked out?

[Wonderwall]

Feb 28, 2014 12:29:19 GMT -5 swank said:

What did the pain feel like? Sharp pain like that sounds more like Round Ligament Pain than BH. BH has been described to me as a tightening of the belly all the way up rather than painful as you described.

I had a lot of RLP this pregnancy until about 21 weeks then it quit. I think it's most common 18-20 weeks. If you need piece of mind, I would totally get checked but if it's just the one time I might bring it up at my next appointment.

Pain was sharp for sure.  Was just straight up pain no tightening that I could tell. 

See, I agree with you re: round ligament pain but does that pain also include the vag/groin area? It honestly felt like stinging or stabbing all around that area when the pain came. I hope it's just that.

FREAKED ME OUT. Thankfully it did stop.

My next OB appointment is Tues so hopefully if it doesn't continue or gets worse I can wait till then. I did email her this morning to ask if I should go in before or after the Anatomy Scan today to get checked out. 

[statlerwaldorf]

I've had a few BH starting around 21 weeks, but I didn't have them until much later in my first pregnancy. They are more like a tightening or pressure in my lower stomach, but they don't hurt.

I also have had a lot of crotch pain. I mentioned it to my doctor, but she didn't seem concerned. It's mostly just sore, but sometimes I get sharp pains like when rolling over in bed or going up stairs.

[formerlyak]

If you aren't feeling tightening, they likely aren't BH. Your uterus consists mostly of smooth muscle tissue, so when you get BH it feels like when you flex and unflex a muscle (think of feeling like crunches when your tummy tightens, but in the case of BH you can't make it loosen up).

Crotch pain is probably round ligament pain like someone mentioned or things just stretching and moving around.

To answer the "how early" part of your question, I started getting them around 20 weeks with both my pregnancies.

[shelbyann]

I agree that it sounds like RLP or lightning crotch, not BH. I did have BH starting around 20 weeks, but it was just a tightening sensation across my belly, nothing painful.

[andthentherewere10]

my BH don't feel like that. They just make my belly really hard and firm. They aren't low as you describe either. They are an all over sensation.

[pinotgrig]

Ditto what swank and other pp's have said. I had something similar a few weeks ago and called my ob's office who said the same thing. BH aren't painful just a tightening sensation. My money's on rlp for what you're describing. It sucks and can happen without sudden movements, so there's not too much you can do for it unfortunately.

Feel better soon!

[speckledfrog]

They don't sound like BH (although I did start getting them around 20 weeks) but rather some sort of random growing pains. Sorry about your crotch!

[Wonderwall]

Dude, THAT IS LIGHTNING CROTCH?! I wondered what the heck that was. Ok it's official. Lightning crotch SUCKS.

Thank you for the replies ladies and calming the nerves of this rookie who was totally startled last night. After speaking to my OB and reading the responses knowing that it's normal I can def grin and bear it. I just needed to know that it was part of the process and not something wrong.

Whew.

[Deleted]

I agree with the others. My BH feel like my belly gets really hard and there is a tightening/pressure feeling but not a sharp pain. Just last week I had BH that felt almost painful, but I would not consider it a sharp pain at all!

[pinotgrig]

Mar 1, 2014 0:02:52 GMT -5 Wonderwall said:

Dude, THAT IS LIGHTNING CROTCH?! I wondered what the heck that was. Ok it's official. Lightning crotch SUCKS.

Thank you for the replies ladies and calming the nerves of this rookie who was totally startled last night. After speaking to my OB and reading the responses knowing that it's normal I can def grin and bear it. I just needed to know that it was part of the process and not something wrong.

Whew.

Lol! I had to stop myself from using the words "lightning crotch" when I called my ob about it. And yes, it does suck!

[Yankees21]

Yeah, lightning crotch is the worst! BH haven't been that bad for me, it's more just a strange tightening sensation.