I have a good friend that is soon to go into labor with her first child. Feeling some pangs of anxiety of the impending pain (and of course knowing that I am no expert and that everyone’s experience is different), she e-mailed me with questions concerning my experience with labor… here is one exchange:
Did you use any special breathing techniques? Sometimes during the night it is hard for me to breathe so I am taking a lot of deep breathes is this me having Braxton Hicks contractions? I feel silly but I think I have had some contractions but I am afraid I will not be able to notice them!
Yes, those are Braxton Hicks- again, those are good in preparing you for birth but they are different from labor pains. You might sleep through early contractions, but really, that’s ok but I will tell you that my labor contractions woke me up at 4:30 AM so you will wake up when they become a bit more significant (it doesn’t take much).
I did not do any breathing techniques outside of just slow deep breathing. Some people suggest thinking through the alphabet on each contraction, visualizing each letter and how to draw the letter along with an image of something that starts with that letter. This seems to be to just be another way to get your mind off the contraction.
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