Gretchen

LisaandBryan

I mean to ask you this...my doctors wouldn't do they ffn test yesterday on me because i had just had a vaginal ultrasound and they say that anything in the vagina can give you false results for up to 24 hours.  i don't know if you had one before your ffn but just case that's what my doctors told me yesterday.  also if you don't mind me asking, you didn't get the steroid shots right? is there a reasoning to this? did your dr mention any negatives to get them at this point?  i'm just asking cause my dr. didn't really think it was necessary for me to have them either but i insisted...

hope you are doing ok and that we can both hang on for a while longer!

GretchenlovesMichael

hey sweetie!  i had a manual vag exam *and* a transvag u/s on tuesday around 11am-12pm.  the FFN was on wednesday around 1pm... so theoretically i was fine b/c i was out of that 24 hour window (they did tell me that same thing.)  the only other wrinkle is that there was def blood on the FFN swab, since i was still very lightly spotting.  it came out looking tan basically.  that can def affect the results as well.... but idk how much.

i did not get the steroids b/c after we talked at length about it we decided to wait.  i had no cervical change (other than softening.  my cervix was still 3.7cm long and closed on tues.)  also my contrax all but stopped on rest and IV fluids alone, i did not get any terb or anything else.  my dr said there was no real risk or s/e to the steroids, so no real drawback, other than the fact that they are most effective when administered within 7-10 days of birth.  meaning that while this was probably very slight PTL or not really PTL at all, if i went into major PTL around say 31 weeks, we could hopefully get the shots in then and if we couldn't stop the labor the shots would be way more effective if we had *just* had them, as opposed to having them 2-3 weeks prior... it is such a grey area and a hard call... i honestly am not sure we made the right call (how can you be) but i trust my dr and both michael and i thought it made sense to wait... however in your case with the shortening cervix i might have insisted as well. 

i hope we can both hang in too!!  i'm thinking of you!!!