With my first child, I had no clue what contractions felt like. I thought the baby was moving too much, and each time he moved it was getting more and more painful. As the movements and pain increased, it dawned on me that I was having contractions. God bless
Every baby is different but my daughter was extremely active during contractions. I didn't feel the need to poop until she started moving down into the birth canal which was about thirty minutes before i started pushing. Your stomach will not stay hard all the time. It will relax in between contractions. Well mine did anyways.