12 Reasons Braxton Hicks Are Worse Than Actual Labor
bySabrina Joy Stevens
Around my 38th week of my pregnancy, the little contractions I’d get every so often when I didn't drink enough water started happening with more intensity and way more frequently. By then I was dying to meet my baby and actually excited to experience labor. So when I started having more contractions, I foolishly allowed myself to think that I was getting close. Nope. They were Braxton Hicks contractions, which I ended up having for the next three weeks straight. False hope is just one of many reasons why I think Braxton Hicks are worse than actual labor.
There's no doubt that labor is among the most intense physical experiences a person can have. However, as someone who spent almost 22 hours laboring and birthing without medication at home, I much preferred that experience to the annoying, stupid, go-nowhere, do-nothing quasi-contractions that just served to remind me of how freaking pregnant I still was, and how pregnant I didn't want to be anymore. Braxton Hicks may serve a purpose in getting your uterus ready for labor, but for me they were mostly an exercise (heh) in frustration. At least with actual labor, you know you're accomplishing something. Labor is a fast-moving (even if not actually short) trip down a potentially scary but also exciting road. Braxton Hicks, in comparison, are a damn traffic jam and you don't know when or if it will end (and I can't freakin' stand sitting in traffic).
I guess it could have been worse. I ultimately discovered that Epsom salt baths were helpful for the discomfort, and between spending close to an hour a day soaking in the tub and doing just about everything I could think of to try to relax and think of something else besides how uncomfortable I was, I managed. Once my real contractions started, I almost laughed at how mistaken I was when I thought I might be in labor before. That's the thing about Braxton Hicks: they're confusing and they're basically liars and they should just leave already uncomfortable pregnant ladies alone to nest and freak out about having a baby, in peace.