Can stress trigger BH?

[MSWR0319]

It's been an long long day. DH has been overseas for two weeks and DS was out of control today. Everything set him off and he'd cry and whine forever. The last few hours I've noticed more BH than usual. They started when DS was having his worst breakdown of the day. They don't seem to be regular by any means so I don't think they are real. Just curious if stress could trigger BH or if i should be concerned. They seem to have stopped for now. Thankfully DH is on his way home. Only another hour or so!

[edurnemk]

I don't know if stress can be a direct cause, but I can certainly see how stress can lead to the typical causes of more frequent and strong BH: physical exertion and dehydration. If your DS is acting up you'll naturally be more physically active trying to soothe him, distract him, etc. And if you're stressed you're more likely to forget drinking enough water.

I had a rough couple of days at the beginning of the week and also had strong and frequent BH, it got better as soon as I sat down on the couch, relaxed and drank a couple of glasses of water (DH has been out of town for 10 days, with one more week to go), I put on a DVD for DS to watch to be able to relax a bit.

[sntm]

I do notice it with emotional stress, though most often with physical stress and dehydration. I'm also having occasional runs of strong, frequent ones. I was told to put my feet up, drink 2 glasses of water, and even have a glass of wine if that doesn't make them go away (alcohol is apparently a natural contraction retardant.)

[kellij]

I definitely think so. Stress and exhaustion. The times I've had them the worst are when I've been extremely stressed and exhausted. My daughter was really sick for 12 days in November; several dr visits and a couple of hospital of visits later she was totally fine. She would cry through the night too, so I didn't get sleep at night. Then DH had a vasectomy the day after she got better and had issues with that, so he was unable to help me out with our kids for a solid two more weeks. Also, in there was Thanksgiving and friends coming to visit and stay with us, who had never seen our house before, so I had to make it perfect. I had BH every 5 minutes for 2 or 3 days. My mom ended up taking our kids for the weekend and I was finally able to rest and it hasn't happened again like that since then.

[daisymommy]

Yes, absolutely. Whenever I start having too many in a day and they are grouping closer together, my midwife asks if I am drinking enough water, if I'm under stress, and have I been overdoing it.
She says drink a bunch of water and get into a warm bath to relax. That usually helps.
Please take care of yourself! BH can become real labor contractions!


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[MSWR0319]

Thanks! I didn't even think about exhaustion and I was super exhausted yesterday. That combined with my stress set them off I'm sure. I'm almost wondering now if they weren't all BH, but the baby pushing its body against me, as I think it's flipped and lying transverse again based on where I'm getting kicked. Thankfully DH is home today so I can take it easy.

[twowhat?]

It totally can - and if you/ve been having long days you probably didn't drink enough either and being dehydrated can cause BH. I learned that the hard way, with a several-hour stay in L&D at 29 weeks hooked up to IVs for fluid and a nurse lecturing me about drinking water:)