Thank you ladies! I'm at 34 weeks now and 35+ is what they shoot for before NICU becomes not an automatic. Biggest worry is getting the steroids in for babies lung development. Contractions have stopped, baby is doing well, we will see how night one goes.
@eli_belle fight for two separate disability claims! Just because they back up to one another doesn’t mean they’re related. And honestly, I might consider a token day of email checking at work to break it up, if baby cooperates.
@angelob88 returning to add that with my PPROM I really liked marking every 6 hours as a milestone to be celebrated. 6 hrs - still no labor! 12 hrs - still no labor! Antibiotics taking effect! 24 hrs - 2nd dose of steroids in! 48 hrs - 1 week of lung development unlocked, level up!
There are also some stats about the speed with which PPROM turns into preterm labor (like, 50% within 24 hrs, maybe? Ask mfm, I forget) that I used for my celebrations. And as it stretched into several days without labor, I got to also celebrate statistical jumps in outcomes at x weeks. Obviously, that’s an artifact of how researchers bin neonates and it’s a much smoother line in real life, but it helped me in my mental handling of the situation to think of it as jumps. Xoxo
@lyse01 thank you! That really helps keep things in perspective. We made it through night one and had our second round of steroids today so less than 24 hours until they are effective and it's one day at a time from there. I know I'm lucky it happened yesterday because if it would have happened today my doctor said she would have just let me go and not given steroids, I feel like baby has a slightly better outcome now and more hope of less nicu time. How many weeks were you when you had your pprom? How long after did you have your baby? (sorry if you have said before I'm terrible at scrolling backward through these threads)
@angelob88 my PPROM was 6pm ish on 25+2 and I delivered a bit after noon on 26+1, so almost 6 days!
DD spent 102 days in the NICU after that, which put her a little more than a week after her due date. They say to expect to be in the hospital until your due date - it’s a blessing if you get to go home earlier. At this point, though, they should let you start BFing right away (I had to formally wait til 34 weeks or so, though I snuck the nipple in early), and you should be able to hold the baby fairly soon after it’s stabilized.
I have a lot more advice in the thread I linked at the top of this thread, but one priority item for you will be to get a tour of the NICU so you can get familiarized with its layout, rounds schedule, care team structure, policies on visitors/handwashing/food, etc. Some NICUs have family rooms where you can room in with baby, which we took advantage of the week before DD went home.
also I had spotting a bit tonight, L&D phone call said it should be fine if it wasn’t any more in the next hr. It wasn’t. So, that’s fun. Improbably overdid it today and also pooping is hard...
Ugh, agree 100% on the pooping difficulties, @kbirchtree...
I've noticed much more frequent Braxton Hicks, but nothing that gets regular or intense. I think part of it is just that I'm more conscious of them the second time around, and babe is running out of room in there so it's clear when my stomach gets super hard, haha.
@kangstadt@kbirchtree +1 for Braxton Hicks! I had one that was a little intense this morning, but I think mostly because of how I was sitting and the leg/inner hip cramp I got simultaneously.
Re: pooping... I'm contemplating adding stool softeners to my morning pill regiment leading up to baby, just to hopefully make things flow a little better before. Ive heard you tend to get rid of everything just before labor/delivery anyways!
@kbirchtree I noticed spotting in the third tri and realized it was coming from pooping too. Ugh. So glamorous. And @kayceebaby1 I was expecting the cleaning out with DD also, and didn’t have it!
I went to L&D at 28 weeks due to frequent Braxton Hicks (every 5 minutes). My cervix was closed/not progressing so they sent me home. I've had similar episodes since then, but my OB is not concerned. I've also had some constipation throughout the pregnancy that I was trying to manage with prune juice, but have since switched to one Colace every day and drinking water with lemon in it which I think is working better (that and/or stopping prenatals and calcium supplements on my OB's advice). Maybe it is my imagination but I feel like being less constipated is reducing the Braxton Hicks contractions.
@kayceebaby1 I only have experience with one other pregnancy but my midwife thought I was going to give birth onthe toilet at one point with my daughter. I had craaaaaazy diarrhea while I was walking around/ laboring with her. By the time I got to the hospital ready to push there was literally nothing left!
I had a trip to LD today. I’m 37w4d, had intense cramps and have been losing my mucus plug all day. After some monitoring - just intense Braxton Hicks. I’m only dilated 1.5 cm, 70% effaced and baby in -2 position. I’m trying to hold baby in for another 2 weeks... but I don’t know if that’s going to happen.
Re: Braxton Hicks and trips to labor and delivery
Keep us updated if you can!
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
H: 36
L & N twin girls: 3yo. Born at 30 weeks. 2 month NICU stay
BFP Aug 2018: EDD April 2019
@angelob88 returning to add that with my PPROM I really liked marking every 6 hours as a milestone to be celebrated. 6 hrs - still no labor! 12 hrs - still no labor! Antibiotics taking effect! 24 hrs - 2nd dose of steroids in! 48 hrs - 1 week of lung development unlocked, level up!
There are also some stats about the speed with which PPROM turns into preterm labor (like, 50% within 24 hrs, maybe? Ask mfm, I forget) that I used for my celebrations. And as it stretched into several days without labor, I got to also celebrate statistical jumps in outcomes at x weeks. Obviously, that’s an artifact of how researchers bin neonates and it’s a much smoother line in real life, but it helped me in my mental handling of the situation to think of it as jumps. Xoxo
BFP: 1/26/20 | EDD: 9/20/20
DD spent 102 days in the NICU after that, which put her a little more than a week after her due date. They say to expect to be in the hospital until your due date - it’s a blessing if you get to go home earlier. At this point, though, they should let you start BFing right away (I had to formally wait til 34 weeks or so, though I snuck the nipple in early), and you should be able to hold the baby fairly soon after it’s stabilized.
I have a lot more advice in the thread I linked at the top of this thread, but one priority item for you will be to get a tour of the NICU so you can get familiarized with its layout, rounds schedule, care team structure, policies on visitors/handwashing/food, etc. Some NICUs have family rooms where you can room in with baby, which we took advantage of the week before DD went home.
also I had spotting a bit tonight, L&D phone call said it should be fine if it wasn’t any more in the next hr. It wasn’t. So, that’s fun. Improbably overdid it today and also pooping is hard...
I've noticed much more frequent Braxton Hicks, but nothing that gets regular or intense. I think part of it is just that I'm more conscious of them the second time around, and babe is running out of room in there so it's clear when my stomach gets super hard, haha.
Re: pooping... I'm contemplating adding stool softeners to my morning pill regiment leading up to baby, just to hopefully make things flow a little better before. Ive heard you tend to get rid of everything just before labor/delivery anyways!
I’ve also had a daily stool softener as part of my pill regime from the beginning to combat iron pills.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
And @kayceebaby1 I was expecting the cleaning out with DD also, and didn’t have it!