i need words of advice/encouragement

carlierenee · September 2009

hi ladies! this my first time coming over to this board and i thought i would share my experience in my third tri so far if you dont mind.

first off i will be 32 weeks on tuesday. (my ticker is slightly off) i have been having what i assumed where braxton hicks contractions on and off for the past 3 weeks. i am a wedding photographer with my husband and whenever we are on our feet for a long period of time i get them and i go somewhere to rest and drink lots of water. last saturday the 12th we were shooting an engagement and after about an hour i started to get bh. we went home and i layed on the couch and drank water but the would not go away! they usually don't go away but dont get worse. it looked as though my stomach was being sucked by one of those freezer seal machines. it was pretty scary and they were coming every 4-5 minutes. i called the on call doctor and he told me to take 3 motrin and rest and if they persist to call. i was so tired i went to sleep. when i would get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom i would be having another one.

the next day they were a lot more mild and so were the next couple of days. i just assumed they were dying down and everything was fine. on thursday i wasnt having them any worse but something was just bothering me and telling me to call my doctor. she had me come in to monitor the bh. turns out i was having real contractions every 2-3 minutes without really feeling them. they checked my cervix which was thankfully completely closed and hard and they did the swab test to see if i would deliver in 2 weeks. that came back negative. they gave me a shot to stop the contractions which only helped for about 30 minutes and put me on terbutaline 2.5 to take whenever i felt 4 or more contractions an hour. i was still feeling them more than 6 an hour on the meds so they had me take 5 mg. which is causing headaches, anxiety and chest pain. so i stopped taking them. i have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to have my cervix checked again and to discuss a different route of meds. and i am still having contractions. they arnt painful but every now and then they do feel like period cramps. lots of tightening.

i know this was such a long post it just helps to share with other women who might have gone thorugh the same thing. i guess my question is how worried should i be if at all and have any of you gone through something like this and when did you end up delivering. from when your contractions started to when you actually delievered how long was that? and do you think these contractions are hurting the baby or causing and distress. i am still doing kick counts and he is moving around just fine. any advice or words of love and encouragement would be wonderful!! thank you so much!!

ijack · September 2009

I'm sorry that you've been having a tough time with contractions. The medication that they give you can be hard to get used to, but it really is in your best interest to take it. I don't want to sound harsh, but a headache is so much easier than having a baby in the NICU. Take it as easy as you can, and good luck! Hopefully your body will hold out a lot longer!

borc0080 · September 2009

Good luck! I hope you and your doctor are able to come up with a good plan to keep your baby inside as long as possible!

carlierenee · September 2009

ijack:
I'm sorry that you've been having a tough time with contractions. The medication that they give you can be hard to get used to, but it really is in your best interest to take it. I don't want to sound harsh, but a headache is so much easier than having a baby in the NICU. Take it as easy as you can, and good luck! Hopefully your body will hold out a lot longer!

i 100% aggree with you that a headache is much better than a baby in the nicu and i didn't mean to complain about a headache. its more the chest pain and hot flashes and that the medication bottle says to immediately stop taking if i have any of these symptoms. kind of scares me that it could be bad for the baby too.

but if it is not affecting the baby i would feel sick all day if it meant he would be in there as long as possible.

kamcfarlane · September 2009

first of all, your siggy picture is gorgeous! i wish i (or DH) had an ounce of creativity in me!

now, back to the post. did they give you steroid shots? i would make sure to ask about them. at 32w they can make a lot of difference!

good luck and i hope he stays put for a lot longer!

Lizard1131 · September 2009

i second,third and fourth the steroid shots. I really think they made all the difference in DD's NICU stay. I was 33wks when she was born, and we had a fairly short stay 15 days...

JessAndi · September 2009

It's a good sign that your fetal fibronectin came back negative. I was having contractions, too, but I had a positive ffn. What I was told is that it isn't accurate so much if it's positive - you may or may not deliver in the next two weeks, but that it's a much better predictor if it's negative. And I agree with PP about getting the steroid shots. They only do them up until 34 weeks.

carlierenee · September 2009

i had to go into labor and delivery tonight since i was having more painful contractions. they gave me some shots to stop the contractions but the doc didnt see any need to give me the steroid shots. i have a appt with my regular doc tomorrow at 11 and i will ask her more about the steroid shots and if she thinks i should get them. no one seems to be too concerned that i will deliver soon so i am assuming that is a good sign.

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