woke up with cramps last night

Hi all,

I woke up at 3am with what felt like pretty strong menstrual cramps. It wasn't sharp pain, but dull and intense enough to wake me up. I haven't had this happen before, and it got me a little freaked out. I got up and drank a bunch of water, in case dehydration had anything to do with it, and slept on the couch. The cramps went away, and there was no bleeding, so I'm sure everything is fine and that's normal...

Have others had similar experiences? I have had other more "twinge" sensations, always on my lower right side that I assume is ligament stretching. The cramps last night were different. (I am assuming it's too early for Braxton Hicks??)

The whole first-timer thing is kind of a drag sometimes... I don't know what to expect!

Thanks for any info you can offer.

I remember this happening with my first. It freaked me out too. You did the right thing by drinking the water and relaxing. Seeing that the pain went away and there were no other symptoms, it sounds like pregnancy growing pains. My midwife told me to drink a lot of water, lay down and take a tylenol if needed.

It's not too early for braxton hicks contractions either, I am having them, I think I had my first about a week and a half ago.

I'm glad you are feeling better!

Thank you... it helps a lot to hear from someone with experience.

So, what do braxton hicks feel like?

For me it's a mild cramp that kind of aches. I can feel my uterus get hard, and after about a minute at most it is gone.

I've had this too... drinking water helped me a lot...and I know being dehydrated can cause "contractions" so like Stephanie said, just drink pleny of water... I've also started having Braxton hicks about 2 weeks ago..... I don't remember having them til much later with my other 3; however, I think I'm more aware of everything this time

i too started this around 15weeks. I went to the OB got checked out and all is good. She said its just normal pg growing pains. I remember with my first having the stretching feeling in my uterus around 17 weeks as my stomach expanded.

thanks!

I agree about the water. Sometimes it feels like you're going to drown yourself, but you can still be dehydrated. Granted it was later in my pregnancy (around 30 weeks), but with my DD I had an "irritated uterus." It was really painful, like contractions, but they didn't come in waves like contractions do. They ended up putting me on Breathine (sp?) to relax my uterus. If you keep having the pain, it probably wouldn't hurt to check with your doctor.