No explanation as to why DD was born early....

LittleBugMama

Has anyone else experienced this? Lily's pediatrician and my midwife both said there is no explanation as to why she was born almost 6 weeks early. It is very frustrating because I feel like I'll be walking on eggshells with the next baby.  Am I the only one who has had this experience?

Ryan&Kristin062009

My LO is only 2 weeks old but they have no idea why he was born 6wks early. I'm small so maybe my stomach just didn't want to stretch anymore? haha He was a good size (5lbs) but yeah I just randomly went into labor one night and even after them stopping it 3 times the contractions just kept coming! Guess he just wanted to be born!

 I haven't thought about the next baby yet... but I am going to assume they'd come early too.. though I really hope not. The NICU stay is brutual  

lax15bsu

My OB has no idea why I went into labor at 32 weeks.  I didn't have him until 35.5wks. 

rachel06

I went into labor due to a premature rupture at 32 weeks.  They don't know why I ruptured but my OB feels that I am at a higher risk for this to happen with my next pregnancy. I should add that nothing about me getting pregnant or my pregnancy was really normal. I got pregnant through IVF after almost 3 years of TTC due to infertility.  I was high risk the entire pregnancy due to blood clotting disorders and 2 prior miscarriages. So for me even though I wasn't expecting what happened, I also didn't expect for the delivery to be completely normal. I should add that I was checked the Thursday prior to me going into labor Saturday night into Sunday. At the time nothing was wrong so that adds to the mystery.

kar5162

None here.  DS was born at 34 weeks due to unexplained PPROM.  I'm really hoping it doesn't happen this time around - 31 weeks now and counting.

skells

This is us exactly! On our delivery sheet they have a question mark under reason for preterm labor. I think it was a cervical issue, they said it may have been a bit of an abruption even though I had no signs, but we have no idea, it's all a mystery. I will be walking on eggshells next time as well.

coachg

Same thing here. I went for my PP check up last week and OB said it will be a mystery and we'll never know. Now I'm terrified of my next pregnancy. I guess the one good thing is they automatically prescribe additional ultrasounds if you have a preemie. I couldn't imagine the last ultrasound being at 20 weeks with the next one!

katie4253

I think it is more common to not know, than to know.  It sucks, but a big part of the preemie experience for a lot of women.  For me, it is probably going to keep me from having more kids. 

ShannonSky

kar5162:

None here.  DS was born at 34 weeks due to unexplained PPROM.  I'm really hoping it doesn't happen this time around - 31 weeks now and counting.

All of this Like, exactly, but I had a DD, not a DS. haha

kaylaaimee

Me too- S was born at 25 weeks and they did an emergency c-section so they examined me to see what happened after they delivered her. Their best guess was incompetent cervix but they told me they sat as a team and evaluated my case and couldn't come up with a solid answer.

Frustrating!

shanlubey

I know why Sam was early, but we will never have an explanation as to why we lost his twin at 19 weeks. We were told gastroschisis, but many babies are ok after some surgeries. Because of his early loss, I remained dilated and my cervis completely funneled. Baby B's membranes were bulging 7 weeks and 3 days and I will never have an answer as to why. 

This experience will probably prevent me from ever getting pregnant again. And if for some reason I do have another baby, it's with lots of counseling, medication and sedation. 

Jynx23

My doctors also couldn't tell my why my daughter came 5 1/2 weeks early but I know what you mean that it will be a bit nerve racking next time I'm pregnant wondering if this will happen again.

GLGB

Same thing happened to me.  I went into my 34 week apt and my doc said everything looked great (she didn't check my cervix) and the next morning I went into L&D for pressure and bleeding and a few hours later he was born.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with me at all, he just was early. 

I feel the same way about my next pregnancy too but I have a feeling they will keep a very close eye on me to try to prevent this from happening again.

korpisar

Mine had no idea why I went into labor 8 weeks early either

IncogNeato

It's pretty common not to know, unfortunately. My water broke at 36 weeks and I don't know why. I had a shorter than normal cervix from 22 weeks on but it stayed above 2.5cm until 34 weeks or so and my doctors did not anticipate an early labor.

And yes, I will be walking on eggshells with the next one. I'm very concerned that he/she could be even earlier. I was lucky that LO stayed put until 36 weeks, of course, but she was just over 5 pounds so the fact that I seem to have small babies to begin with (I was a small baby too) makes me especially concerned about having an even earlier and smaller one.

urbanflowerpot

Not alone - they have no idea why my water broke (sleeping), then I walked around & even went to work while in labor, called an ambulence & out he popped at 30.6.

sucrets4

You are definitely not alone.  We're going to start trying in the fall and although I'm excited, I'm definitely scared, too.  My pregnancy with DD was great.  The only negative thing was my slightly elevated bp - not enough to be greatly concerned about, but enough to have me monitor it.  My dr doesn't believe that it contributed to my ptl, though.

komurphy

We had the same experience.  I had an ultrasound at 24 weeks that showed a long cervix and healthy twins with a lot of room in the uterus.  At 26 weeks 1 day I went into labor.  A quick exam by the doctors found that i was fully dilated and my membranes were bulging.   After a few days on magnesium my contractions stopped and the doctors were able to do another ultrasound to check my cervix and uterus. It showed that the cervix was pretty much completely gone but their was still alot of room for the babies to grow and my placenta was healthy. They ran some blood work to check for infection but it all came back negative.  I ended up delivering at 27 weeks and 2 days.  My labor and delivery team and the NICU told me that they could find no reason for my early delivery. 

My OB has sense warned me that I'm at risk for future preterm labor.  She told my husband and I that if we plan on getting pregnant in the future to make an appointment with her to discuss the needed precautionary measures (leaving work early, bed rest, ect).

 

jteneback

We don't know why my water broke, either.  I did some research already and two things reassured me:  there is only a 15% chance of it happening again, and it's smart to space pregnancies at least 18 months apart.  But I will be very nervous next time around.

sdtchica13

I know why DD was born early (placental abruption which caused severe hemorrhaging and PPROM), but they still have no clue what caused the abruption, why they didn't notice it until 29 weeks, or if it will happen again next time. All of those things have made me seriously question whether I want to have another one, especially in light of the fact that we got extremely lucky with DD; we dodged every single medical bullet and she is actually developing on track or ahead for her actual age (we never go by her adjusted age as a result). My biggest worry is that the same things would happen throughout my pregnancy with LO #2 and we wouldn't get so lucky next time. It has taken a lot of convincing on DH's part to make me want to TTC this time next year, and I know I will be a nervous wreck next time!

Karenf17

I don't know for sure, either, why my DD had to be born a little over 5 weeks early after an easy pregnancy.  I had to have an emergency c-section because she wasn't doing well with the non-stress tests and then scored very poorly on the biophysical profile.  She really wasn't moving much at all.  Doctors can't tell me why this happened other than that it was probably an issue with the placenta, but they don't really know.  The fear of this happening again, or that there could be even more issues next time, is keeping me from trying to have another baby at this time.