Pregnant after preemie

ktshafra

DD2 was born at 33w6d and was just a grower, thankfully. She just turned a year and I discovered I'm pregnant with number 3. I've recently realized that some of my anxiety (in addition to having 3 under 3) is that I'm worried this baby might also be a preemie. I know it's probably irrational to worry about, but I still do. Does anyone know the rate of occurrence of successive births being premature?

kelly422

It all depends on the reason you had her prematurely.  If it's something like an incompetent cervix, then it's more likely to recur.  If it's something like PPROM, much less likely. 

ktshafra

Good to know. I think it was just pPROM, though I have a septate uterus and she was on the smaller side. DD1 was on the larger side and was a scheduled CS for breech presentation at 39 weeks. I'm anxious to know what side #3 is on! I'm sure that'll calm some fears, too.

kelly422

The septate uterus may complicate things, but hard to know.  Ask your OB when you see her for your next appointment.  I was asking my OB this exact question at my 6 week pp visit  Congrats and try not to stress TOO much!  

Piper345

DS1 was born at 30w5d. I went into spontaneous PTL and water never even broke. They ran a bunch of tests and all came back inconclusive. I am now 29w6d PG with #2 and being watched very carefully by my OB and MFM. I have been receiving makena injections since week 16 and also have biweekly cervical checks. I was told from the beginning that I have 25-30% chance of delivering early. Thankfully everything has been ok so far but I am a complete nervous wreck especially as I approach the time when DS1 was born. GL to you!

efortune

You will most likely be fine! I had my four girls within five years - 38w, 36w, to 28w. #4 is still cooking at 30 weeks, but I am on strict bed rest due to PTL. #3 came early due to pPROM. Who knows if the issues this time are another "fluke" or a trend with my body. You are at greater risk for problems since you also are having your children so close together. It is harder on your cervix, but you made it out of the 1 year time frame, so you should be okay!

Try to take it easy (ha ha ha.) And congrats! Kids close together are such a joy.

KatFCo

The best thing to do would be talk to your doctor about the game plan. My doctor told me up front that I would be taking shots, having more internals, etc. In a way, it made me relax more because I knew how they were going to treat it and what the steps were.

It is scary. Every week that went by with my pregnancy with DS, I breathed a sigh of relief, but I also was really scared when we were around DD's birth time. I looked for little milestones: get to viability (when DD was born); get to 3rd tri; get past micropreemie; get to 34 weeks, etc. It helped a lot.

Congrats on the pregnancy!