Click on the image link below to view the chart I created on the 19th January when I first started getting regular contractions.
They started at 12:15pm, and finished just before 4pm.
As you’ll see in the chart, there were some sporadic jumps, but overall there was a clear reduction in time between contractions.
The contractions were painless.
From what I can tell, these contractions did not result in any effacement much less dilation … but I could be wrong.
Another series of contractions were felt in the evening on the 20th. 10-15 minute intervals for 2 hours.
What do the contractions feel like?
I’ve done a lot of contraction analysing.
About 5-10 seconds before I can physically feel the contraction (either as a tightening of the abdomen, or by poking my stomach to find that it’s rock hard), my breathing changes.
The best way I can describe the change in my breathing is that it’s like taking a breath of COLD air in the morning, but without the cough that would normally follow, and without the cold.
It’s a light, airy breath: I feel like I need more oxygen, and feel compelled to breath more deeply – like the air I’m getting isn’t enough.
I have created an excel file for free download that will log contraction start and stop times, and automatically calculate the duration of the contraction.
The log entries will be put into the next cell below the last entry (so you can log contractions indefinitely).
If you log contractions on a new date, the sheet should automatically insert a horizontal line and extra rows to separate it from the previous lines.
right-click to save as