I am a complete zombie today. I had to make another trip to the OB ER last night. I started having bad Braxton Hicks contractions around 3pm. They just would not stop. I got them to calm down a bit with a bath around 8:30, but the second I laid down for the night they picked back up again, worse, and with pressure. When I went into the OB ER they stopped for like ten minutes, then started again every 3 mins apart for the next few hours. They monitored me, confirmed I wasn't going into labor (my cervix was closed, and the swab for labor proteins or whatever came back negative), gave me fluids, and sent me home around 3am. When I got in bed, they started up again and are still going as I type this.
Pregnancy is such a mindf*ck. Evidently I just am crampy during pregnancy. But having regular, timed, contractions for hours on end just doesn't seem normal. I am having a hard time squaring what is my body just doing it's thing and what is something to be concerned about. I have a regular midwife appt today and will discuss in more detail with them. I was induced with my son and had a very irregular labor prior to my emergency c-section so I feel like I have nothing to compare this to, which only complicates the "is this my body doing it's thing, or is this something I need to call my doc about" dilemma.
@surrenderdorothy oh no! Hope your midwife has some insight. My friend was having contractions for about three weeks before they decided to break her water at 38 weeks. Glad your's are just BH.
@surrenderdorothy that really sucks! Hopefully the start to calm down and you get some piece of mind today.
I had a complete breakdown at my doctors office on Friday. My anxiety has been insanely high and I couldn't calm down. He gave me a safe for baby fast acting anxiety med and I took one as soon as I got home from work on Friday and slept from 4 in the afternoon until 7 the next day. It really helped!
@surrenderdorothy I had a prenatal class this weekend and something that I found helpful is the distinct differences between BH and labour.
BH Irregular timing Felt in front only Can change with movement Usually doesn't get stronger
Labour Felt in front and back Regular time intervals Continues through changing positions (and if you need to stop what you're doing and breathe is when you go to hospital) And they get stronger as time goes on.
I'm having what I think are severe gas pains, only in my left side both back and front, for the past 3 hours... Why is everything painful. 😥
Ugh @surrenderdorothy! I have BH all day every day and it’s such a pain. Mine started at 19 weeks. With my daughter, they started around 26-28 weeks and I ended up in OB ED and a bunch of non-stress tests. Mine would be every 5 minutes, but go no where. I talked to my OB about it at my last visit, but she just told me to increase my water intake (what I figured she’d say!!). I think I’m just prone to them. I took some magnesium last night to see if it would help. Mine were less today but have picked up this evening.
@doodlemom131 that info is great, thanks! It does help calm my anxiety about what is likely BH vs real contractions. Thanks for sharing.
@emmylou78 I think we are just SOL and in the crampy pregnancy camp. That was essentially what my midwife’s opinion was. She gave me a list of things to look for (water breaking obvi, blood, fluid, irregular discharge) but otherwise I have her blessing to just wait these out at home in the future unless I feel like I need to be seen. She reviewed my tests from last night and other previous tests and has no reason to suspect this is related to or indicative of future preterm labor. I feel a lot of comfort with this approach, and I’m sure less anxiety will go a long way in keeping these contractions under control. Last night I was panic googling ‘babies born at 28 weeks’ and that was NOT helpful.
@surrenderdorothy ugh, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this but I'm glad it sounds like you're at least getting in a better mental place about it now. Fingers crossed that it remains an annoying but benign inconvenience for you!
@cluckymama that solid night of sleep (well, afternoon + night, I guess!) sounds amazing. Hope you're feeling refreshed now and that your new med helps keep things under control.
@surrenderdorothy, I'm so sorry you're dealing with that, but glad you got some reassuring advice from your OB. The second-guessing every little thing is one of the hardest parts of pregnancy for me!
Sorry you're struggling @cluckymama! My anxiety has been INSANE this pregnancy, so I feel your pain. Everything sets me off and I have CONSTANT heart flutters. Then I start questioning whether the heart flutters are just anxiety-related or if If I should be worried. Which then doesn't help the anxiety. It's such a roller coaster ride! I'm glad you were able to get some rest and hope that things calm down for you.
@cluckymama - Oh no! Anxiety is the worst! I'm glad your doctor was able to give you something. My husband has panic attacks and they can be really scary!
@cluckymama, I've had an anxiety disorder since I was in high school. It's only now gotten fairly under control through therapy and consistent medication. Solidarity. I'm glad that you took care of yourself. I was concerned about continuing my medication in pregnancy, but my psychiatrist assured me that in my situation it was better for me and the baby to continue with it.
Add me to the anxiety train. My hormones were so good the first 2 tris, but it's destroying me now. Going to see if I can get through this wave and consider therapy/meds again.
Add me to the anxiety situation. My OB wanted to put me on meds but info’s told feel comfortable with the chance of the meds interacting with my blood thinners so I’m planning on managing with therapy like I did last time with my ppd/ppa.
surrenderdorothy
member
Re: Randoms- 5/17
Pregnancy is such a mindf*ck. Evidently I just am crampy during pregnancy. But having regular, timed, contractions for hours on end just doesn't seem normal. I am having a hard time squaring what is my body just doing it's thing and what is something to be concerned about. I have a regular midwife appt today and will discuss in more detail with them. I was induced with my son and had a very irregular labor prior to my emergency c-section so I feel like I have nothing to compare this to, which only complicates the "is this my body doing it's thing, or is this something I need to call my doc about" dilemma.
Send coffee.
I had a complete breakdown at my doctors office on Friday. My anxiety has been insanely high and I couldn't calm down. He gave me a safe for baby fast acting anxiety med and I took one as soon as I got home from work on Friday and slept from 4 in the afternoon until 7 the next day. It really helped!
BH
Irregular timing
Felt in front only
Can change with movement
Usually doesn't get stronger
Labour
Felt in front and back
Regular time intervals
Continues through changing positions (and if you need to stop what you're doing and breathe is when you go to hospital)
And they get stronger as time goes on.
I'm having what I think are severe gas pains, only in my left side both back and front, for the past 3 hours... Why is everything painful. 😥
@cluckymama that solid night of sleep (well, afternoon + night, I guess!) sounds amazing. Hope you're feeling refreshed now and that your new med helps keep things under control.
@cluckymama - Oh no! Anxiety is the worst! I'm glad your doctor was able to give you something. My husband has panic attacks and they can be really scary!