Going to Dr. for preterm labor

[Janna]

Monday I had some spotting. I called, they wanted me to come in, but I declined. I wanted to wait and see since I had just had an u/s showing the placenta was fine. Later that day, after the office had closed, I started to lose my plug (or so I think it was - and sorry for the tmi :)). Yesterday, nothing happened all day, but this morning there was more plug (or so I think). So this time I'm going in and am leaving shortly.

 

Any tips? Any btdt's? Anything I should know about that I should decline if they want to do it? I'm assuming they're just going to check my cervix...?

 

I'm 33 weeks, btw.

[JudoMom]

I don't have any experience, but I'll be praying for you. Update when you can, okay?

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Monday I had some spotting. I called, they wanted me to come in, but I declined. I wanted to wait and see since I had just had an u/s showing the placenta was fine. Later that day, after the office had closed, I started to lose my plug (or so I think it was - and sorry for the tmi :)). Yesterday, nothing happened all day, but this morning there was more plug (or so I think). So this time I'm going in and am leaving shortly.

 

Any tips? Any btdt's? Anything I should know about that I should decline if they want to do it? I'm assuming they're just going to check my cervix...?

 

I'm 33 weeks, btw.

 

Start drinking water right now and keep on drinking, drinking, drinking for the duration. A good many preterm labors begin because of dehydration.

 

No doubt all will be well. Hang in there!

[sleepy]

No advice (all mine were late), but I'll be thinking of you today. Hope all is well. :grouphug:

[Harriet Vane]

I pray all goes well.

[*anj*]

Janna,

I don't know if you're still here or not, but I'll be praying for you. It'll be fine. And yes, here's another vote for pushing the fluids.

Update us when you can. :grouphug:

[Mamagistra]

Hugs to you and little Atticus. ;) I pray that all goes well today. :001_smile:

[KristineIN]

Sorry you are having problems, I had three preemies (34 weekers and no idea why they came early) and all are fine and healthy, but yes, when you were spotting, you probably should have gone in. Chances are you may be either too far along now to stop anything or you will be on bed rest for the remainder of the time. Sorry to be a downer, just stating the facts.

 

Kristine

[Cindy in FL.]

BTDT! Lost my plug at 33 weeks while on vacation in Virginia. Had my son 1 1/2 days later. He was in the NICU for 10 days, but is now 7 yo and just fine. Also, even though this was my 5th I didn't realize I was even in labor. Just thought I had to go to the bathroom. They tried to keep him in by tiltling me head down, etc. but to no avail.

 

Best wishes to you for a safe delivery of a healthy baby!

 

Cindy

[MichelleWI]

You can lose your plug and have it re-form. It is not, alone, an indication of pre-term labor.

 

I agree with the poster who said to drink plenty of water. It doesn't sound like you are contracting, though.

 

I pray all goes well. You are earlier than I, so it wouldn't be fair if you went first. :tongue_smilie: :001_smile: Your wee one needs to steep a bit longer.

[PariSarah]

nt

[Sue G in PA]

and I'm still hanging in there. :glare: It was scary, but I didn't have contractions. Midwife said it was from, ummm...you know!:D Praying all is well...take it easy for a few days, no "you know what" w/ dh for a few wks, drink a ton of water, no heavy lifting, etc. Take care of you! Keep us posted.

[MoniMoni]

nt

[Denise in IN]

I haven't gone through this, so no advice. I'm praying for you and your little one, Janna.

[Janna]

First of all, let me just say Thank You for your well wishes and your prayers! You all are so kind and sweet!

 

So I went in and she (the nurse practitioner) gave me a fetal fibronectin test (which is "99% accurate in telling whether you'll be going into labor within the next 2 weeks" because it measures whether your body has started releasing that substance which is does before labor). It's a swab near the cervix and takes about an hour to get the results. Then she checked my cervix and it was still closed. I asked if that meant that I hadn't started losing my plug and she said it didn't meant that at all - that I very well could have started that process, but they don't put a lot of stock into the plug = imminent labor. So there wasn't any concern there at all if that truly is what started happening. She also looked to see if they could see where I had been spotting from, but thankfully there wasn't any indication. So we don't know why that happened on Monday. :confused:

 

While she was waiting on the lab to read the FF test, she had me monitored (a non-stress test) for an hour. Apparently it was showing that I was contracting "every 8 min. with irritability in between contractions". The office was closing by this time, so they (the Dr. and the nurse practitioner) wanted to move me over into the triage room in the maternity ward of the hospital (which is connected to their office). Well, I was there a month ago after having the stomach flu and being so dehydrated I was contracting every 3-4 min. We got the bill last week for that (before insurance) and they charged $803 just for the use of the triage room! So I put up a bit of a fight over this. I asked them why it was necessary to continue to monitor me when they already had for an hour and she said because if it continued like that they wanted to give me terbutiline to stop them. I asked how long the terbutiline lasts and she said it only lasts for about an hour. Well this made no sense to me. Why go to a room they are charging me $800 for to get some medicine (which is probably another $100 or more) that is only going to last me during the duration they're giving it me? What happens when I go home and they come back? She said they would give me the terbutiline orally then. Well, I'd rather save my money, go home and monitor them myself and then call if I need to. At this point she (the NP) called down to the lab to find out about the FF test. It was negative. I told her that my cervix was fine and the test came back negative - that was enough for me to feel comfortable waiting this out at home. She said if I left, that was fine, but that it would be against medical advice. I told her I understood. So she talked to the Dr. who said that dh and I couldn't have se*, I couldn't exercise and I needed to rest as much as possible. She said gravity wasn't my friend in preterm labor and to get off my feet, but she didn't put me on bedrest (Yeeeessss!). She said I was to call tomorrow to update them and to call asap the on-call Dr. tonight if they weren't slowing down or if my water broke yada yada yada.

 

So I left. I've still had the contractions, but not quite so often. I left really questioning whether or not I had made the right decision. I believe I did, now, but I was feeling bad about it earlier.

 

Anyway, that's the story. Again, I really appreciate your concern and prayers - more than you know!

[Mom2legomaniacs]

Thanks for the update. I really hope you take it easy! Get lots of rest and take care of yourself and that baby, okay! I'll keep you in prayers.

[Barb_]

Janna, it sounds as if you made the right call. Good for you. 99% are excellent odds, so hang in there and :chillpill:

 

Now yell for someone to bring you a tall glass of ice water!

 

Bar

[Crissy]

Will continue to pray for you and the little one, Janna!

[*anj*]

Well, that sounds good. Thanks for updating us. Now you'd just better stick to maxin' and relaxin' because you never know..... :001_smile:

[battlemaiden]

if you had walked into my L&D triage room would give you a pitcher of water to chug-a-lug in a matter of 15 minutes.

 

You'd be surprised how often uterine irritability settles down with proper hydration.

 

Just a thought.

 

Push those fluids girlfriend!!!!

 

:lurk5:Keep us posted- we're thinking of you.

 

Jo

[LizzyBee]

if you had walked into my L&D triage room would give you a pitcher of water to chug-a-lug in a matter of 15 minutes.

 

 

I think I once drank a gallon of water in the triage room. It didn't affect my contractions at all, so they still had to move me to an L&D room and hook me up to an IV. After drinking so much water, I had to keep going to the bathroom. Every time the nurse walked by my room, I had to get her to disconnect the monitor so I could go to the bathroom. :lol:

[battlemaiden]

I think I once drank a gallon of water in the triage room. It didn't affect my contractions at all, so they still had to move me to an L&D room and hook me up to an IV. After drinking so much water, I had to keep going to the bathroom. Every time the nurse walked by my room, I had to get her to disconnect the monitor so I could go to the bathroom. :lol:

 

A bit counterproductive, eh? Especially if you had positional contractions. However, I have seen so many women walk out of the triage room without any invasive intervention all for a pitcher of water. FWIW- I've ended up with contractions from dehydration many times [head smack], you'd think I'd learn...

 

Jo

[Lolly]

They can monitor you from home. I was on home monitoring and bed rest for about 2 months with one pregnancy. I was also on a terbutiline (sp?) pump at the time. The home monitoring is really easy. You have a monitor that you put around your belly X times a day, phone in to a nurse, and they receive the signal magically to tell them if you are contracting. (Actually, I don't remember how they got the information. I may have given it to them. Time does funny things to your brain.) I actually learned to recognize preterm contractions while using it. They were just these tiny little twinges that I would have never noticed on my own.

 

As far as the expense goes, the cost of a preemie in the NICU for one single day is far more than taking care of you and keeping that baby baking. I've seen the bills. Ours three preemies are worth over a million each after insurance fought the hospital to have the bills lowered. Keep a close watch and ask about home monitoring if you have any doubts as to how you are doing.

[MichelleWI]

It sounds like you made a very sound decision based on the information they gave to you.

 

While pre-term contractions *are* a concern (I'm not trying to make light of that!), remember that most doctors and hospitals treat pregnancy and childbirth like a disease to be remedied and they are always on the lookout for something to throw some meds or tech at. It makes them feel useful. :D

 

Rest. Keep those feet up. Drink, drink, drink until you're awash. LOL

 

Incidentally, I didn't know there was any such test that could tell you would go into labor within two weeks. Neat!

[Doran]

I missed your first post, but I'm so glad to hear that things seem okay for now. I know it's hard to make "strong" decisions like this when there's so much at stake. But, your confidence is a good sign, Janna. You know your body and it's great that you are listening to it!

 

Thoughts and hugs are with you.

 

Doran

[Tammyla]

Oh, I've been wondering about you and the little one. I'm sending out some hugs and prayers for the two of you. :grouphug:

 

Take it easy-easy, rest, eat well, drink plenty and we'll be wishing you the very best.

[LizzyBee]

A bit counterproductive, eh? Especially if you had positional contractions.

 

Position didn't matter - I had contractions 2-5 minutes apart from 30 weeks until 38 weeks. I was on turbutilene from 30-36 weeks and still contracted constantly. My uterus was so well primed for labor that I spit that baby out with one push. The cord was wrapped around her neck, so the dr (who very nearly missed the whole thing) told me to stop pushing. All I could think was, "It would take a thousand horses pulling the other way to stop pushing." :ohmy: Dh said when the dr cut the cord, dd "shot" the rest of the way out. :lol:

[Mom2legomaniacs]

How are you doing today? Did things settle down? (or is there an update somewhere else that I missed) I hope you are able to take it easy and let it all calm down.

[Janna]

I have continued to have contractions today, but they aren't as often and I've tried to sleep as much as I could. We're doing a garage sale this weekend which started today, but dh did most of it so I could sleep. I'm heading back to bed now because I've had a horrible headache all day with some nausea - where that came from...:confused:

 

Anyway, you're so kind for thinking of me!

[Lolly]

Nausea and vomiting are a symptom. I don't want to scare you, but you should be aware.

 

Preterm labor does not hurt. It does not feel like labor AT ALL. Nausea and diarrhea are often the first symptoms. I thought I had a stomach bug the night before my first preemie was born. A slight backache is another symptom. Increased discharge is something else to be looking out for.

 

At the least, stay off of your feet. No garage sale working for you. Don't I remember the doctor saying something about taking it easy and gravity not being your friend? At least just direct from a chair while you take money.

 

Hopefully I am worrying for nothing. My bad experiences are just creeping me into your world. Keep us updated.

[Doran]

Nausea and vomiting are a symptom. I don't want to scare you, but you should be aware.

 

Preterm labor does not hurt. It does not feel like labor AT ALL. Nausea and diarrhea are often the first symptoms. I thought I had a stomach bug the night before my first preemie was born. A slight backache is another symptom. Increased discharge is something else to be looking out for.

 

At the least, stay off of your feet. No garage sale working for you. Don't I remember the doctor saying something about taking it easy and gravity not being your friend? At least just direct from a chair while you take money.

 

Hopefully I am worrying for nothing. My bad experiences are just creeping me into your world. Keep us updated.

 

 

Nudge, nudge, Janna. Are you listening!? We are all just wanting the very best for you, and somehow "garage sale" doesn't fit into my mental picture of taking it easy.

 

Hugs, friend.

 

Doran

[MichelleWI]

The headache and nausea you posted about made me jump a bit, too.

 

 

I have had an intense headache 48 hours prior to delivery the last two pregnancies. It can be caused by a hormonal shift the immediately precedes the onset of true labor.

 

Please rest and drink and relax. Consider alerting your caregiver to how you're feeling today and see what they say. I understand the frustrations of excessive testing and monitoring when you are self-pay and I know it's a balancing act.