Spontaneous Preterm Labour

lavenderash

There are many support groups out there for preemie babies born for various reasons like HELLP, pre-eclampsia, incompetent cervix, etc. It's difficult for me, because I'm in that percentage where there was no "cause" for my son being born 2 months premature. In a way I find that more difficult, it leaves me questioning absolutely everything I did during my pregnancy, constantly wondering if there was something I did inadvertently that caused my son to come early. Are there other mothers out there like me that never did find out the reason for their prematurity and even months/years later still question if it was something they've done?

It's especially difficult for me because I'm now pregnant with my second and absolutely terrified that something will happen with this baby. I've almost accepted the fact that this one will be a preemie too. Just wondering if I'm not the only one in this boat.

tonilee80

I understand completely.. I had my last son at 34 weeks...no explanation.  My husband and myself are very prepared to go early with this one too (I'm at 32 wks now).   Being I had my 1st son 4 weeks early and my 2nd son 6 weeks early they are scared my daughter would come even earlier.. so I have been taking the hydroxyprogesterone shot weekly since 16 wks along.. I wish I enjoyed this pregnancy but I've been scared the entire time of going early.  I've been feeling a little better as I roll into the last 2 months though.. Unfortunately for you...you have a ways to go before you at least feel at ease... I'm sure they will be watching you closely.  Good luck and don't worry too much...

designer303

I'm in the same boat. I went into PTL at 30 weeks for no good reason. I was lucky enough to hold on until 37 weeks to the day when our son was born. I am 14+4 with our second and my OB and I have already started talking about more frequent checks and the fact that given my history it is probably more likely to happen again. Interesting fact, my mother was went into PTL at 30 weeks so maybe there is some genetic component. Good luck to you, hoping we can all hold them in a good long time.

juliesteve

I had a loss at 16w4d in September when my water spontaneously broke. I had been having a normal pregnancy, no issues or concerns. A few days before my water broke, I had a tiny bit of pink when I wiped but didn't think much. I was checked at the hospital that evening as a precaution and I was told baby, placenta, etc were fine and my cervix closed, but they recommended I have a repeat u/s the following day. I was rechecked around 2pm and was told the same thing. Everything was fine...go home, take it easy. 12 hours later, I got up to pee, had 1 terrible cramp which I thought I needed a bowel movement and my water broke on the toilet. I started to bleed heavily within the hour, soaking through my pajama pants (I was at the hospital just before this happened). Obviously baby was too little to survive, and I had no amniotic fluid, so we were given the choice to wait for nature to take its course and labour to start or be induced. We chose induction which was started the next morning and I delivered 4 hours later. Autopsy report later showed our son was 100% healthy and right on track growth wise, but I had an infection in my uterus. They were unable to tell me if the infection caused my water to break, or if the infection was due to my water being broken for 34+ hours before he was born. I was told that sadly, while fairly rare for pprom, it does happen and not sure why. It was devastating to hear he was healthy and perfect and not get real answers. This time, I'm being followed extra close, biweekly ultrasounds and cervix measurements, prometrium, monthly swabs for infection, bed rest (been off work since 13 weeks) etc. 

lavenderash

I'm so sorry for your loss, juliesteve. That's so unbelievably sad.

With my first everything was going fine, no issues. His heart was always strong at every check-up, every blood test I had came back normal. Around 29 weeks in I had kind of a constant dull cramp in my abdomen. It concerned me and my partner enough that we had it checked out at the hospital. They couldn't really find anything wrong, my son's heartbeat was still strong, but they were concerned about there not being enough amniotic fluid. I went back a few days later for an ultrasound and they said everything in that regard looked good but they thought that my son was measuring about 2 weeks smaller than he should have. I went back again on October 20th and had yet another ECG done. They still seemed convinced that everything was fine so I left the hospital and went to work like normal. Around 8:30 that night when I was making dinner all of a sudden it felt like I'd wet myself a little (through my pad). I checked and everything seemed fine so I didn't think much of it. I continued to make dinner when it happened again. I told my partner and he told me to call the hospital just in case. I did and they said it could be that my water had broken. This is at 31 weeks. Needless to say I did not have my hospital bag packed. I ran around quickly trying to pack what I could to take to the hospital. By 9:30 I was at the hospital and being monitored. An hour after that they did a test and confirmed I was in labour and there was no way to stop it. By 12:36 AM my little guy was born. Just like that. Thank goodness he was breathing on his own when he came out. Just needed CPAP for about a week as a precaution but it happened so suddenly. They tested me for an infection and even that came back negative. I just find it funny that I was at the hospital just that morning and was told everything was fine and within half a day my son was born. Crazy stuff. This is why I'm so worried about this pregnancy. Everything was going along just fine until suddenly it wasn't. It's the fear of the unknown that scares me so much this time around. 

lavenderash

That's funny that you'd say that, designer303. My Mom had 5 babies, all of us were term babies. She had 3 miscarriages, but that was mostly due to the fact that she'd had her tubes tied and then later had the surgery reversed to have myself and my younger brother. But in saying that, my two older sisters both had preemies. My oldest sister had a 32-weeker and then a 34-weeker a year later. My other sister had 26-week twins a few years after that. They say that prematurity isn't hereditary but I do start to question it after having mine. Kind of a scary thought. 

lavenderash

I had visited with the doctor before we started trying to conceive our second. I wanted to make sure I was doing everything right before I got the go ahead. My doctor did confirm that when I got pregnant they would be treating this pregnancy as a high risk pregnancy. I don't see the doctor until next week, and from there they should hopefully be referring me to a high-risk doctor. I'm living in the UK right now, so I don't know if it's done differently here than in North America. Here the pregnancy and delivery is done through midwives rather than a regular doctor. Either way you're right tonilee80, I still have a long way to go and will definitely be more on edge this pregnancy. Thankfully I'm moving back to Canada in October and will hopefully be referred to a high-risk specialist once home. 

juliesteve

How far along are you now, @lavenderash?

The fear of the unknown and the "what its" are terrible, I know. I worry all the time about making it first past 16 weeks...then to 20 weeks...then viability...then to 30 weeks...etc. I'll be 20 weeks tomorrow, so already I've almost passed 2 of my goals! Will you have cervix measurements? Progesterone?

The only advice I can offer is go day by day, ask lots of questions, and trust that you'll be well taken care of. Easier said than done, trust me I know.

lavenderash

I've only just hit 5 weeks. So early I haven't even had my first doctor visit yet. That's not until next week. 

I'll be the same. I was thinking once I get over the first trimester hump I'll feel better but having my son 2 months early, it'll just turn into, "how premature is this one going to be?" It came on so suddenly with my son. Within 4 hours of my water breaking I had him. I was lucky I was at home at the time and the hospital was only minutes away. I'm hoping once I'm back home with my family they'll help me try and focus and not think so negatively. 

I asked about Progesterone, my doctor said they don't really do that here (in the UK) but I'm hoping they will in Canada. 

That's good advice, day by day is what I'm doing right now and you can bet I'll be asking as many questions as possible. I'm just sad that I won't be able to enjoy this pregnancy like I was hoping to. I didn't find out about my last one until 4 months in (long story) and then he came 2 months early so I was only knowingly pregnant for 3 months. We'll see how this one goes. I've heard of lots of Moms who had preterm babies and then went on to have a healthy term baby. I guess only time will tell on this one.

lavenderash

Just an update on this post. My second little guy decided to come 6.5 weeks early. My OB had assured me I'd have an 85-90% chance of going full term but my babies really seem eager to want to come out early. Again no known cause for Ethan coming early, just spontaneous preterm labour again. But he's a healthy little one-month old now and only spent 2.5 weeks in the NICU so I'm quite happy all things considered

Kelly_12

I was happy to read this post today - and your update, thanks for sharing @lavenderash ! My first was born at 34w0d for unknown reason as well. I'm currently 22weeks pregnant with number two and have been told I have an 80% chance of going early again, based on my history and what is currently happening. Technically my cervix was 'short' with my first but wasn't concerning, it remained stable just under 3cm my entire pregnancy, and then one day - bam I was 3cm dilated, fully effaced and having regular contractions, out of no where. They never said my cervix was the reason I had him early, it's just the ONLY thing that was evenly slightly off. So this time around, my cervix is measuring the same, not really moving or doing anything crazy, but based on this alone my OB has prepared me for another early baby. It is VERY stressful knowing that babe is more than likely coming early and we are going to have another NICU stay. I'm constantly wondering if I'm doing the right things. I'm not active at all this time, she's told me no exercise and nothing strenuous, so I'm basically doing nothing to be super cautious, which is really hard for me. But I want to feel confident I did everything 'right' this time...whatever that may be. I still think maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to symptoms the first time and maybe I should have noticed what I thought was Braxton Hicks was really labour etc and I could have had help to keep him cooking longer.... but nothing I can do about that one now!

I'm happy to hear that you only went another 6.5 weeks early though, that's positive, as I've heard that often with a second early baby they are even earlier. Which is where a lot of my stress lays.. anyway congrats on your healthy little one! And thanks for sharing!