- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Preemies
XP: PTL at 31 weeks, now on bed-rest (long)
Friday, April 15th I went in for my regular appointment and everything looked great. The next morning I woke up with menstrual type cramping in my lower back. It didn't feel like contractions to me since it didn't continue to the front of my uterus, but it hurt so I drank a bunch of water and laid back down until my son woke up for the day. After a few hours, I called the on-call doc since they hadn't stopped yet (the office wasn't open yet). She told me if I thought they were bad enough to go ahead in to the hostpital, otherwise just call when the office opens and try to get in that morning. I opted for the office since I wasn't sure it was anything too serious. I got in to see a nurse pracitioner that morning. She checked my cervix, still high and closed, but there were contractions showing up on the monitor when I was hooked up. She prescribed Terbutaline (Brethine) and told me to take it easy and they'd probably stop. I took the Terb every four hours until Sunday morning when they finally stopped on their own. They were stopping with the Terb, but would come back when it wore off. I felt fine most of Sunday, all day Monday and most of Tuesday so I thought I was in the clear at that point.
Tuesday afternoon the cramping started back up. This time I called the on-call doc (who happened to be my OB that night) and she told me to come in to the hospital to get checked out. When I got there I was checked and had progressed to 1cm and 50% effaced and was having contractions. At that point I was admitted and they started trying to stop the pre-term labor. Since I have a history of PTL (had my son at 36 weeks) they did a fetal fibronectin test, started me on fluids, Procardia and gave me a steroid shot for baby's lungs. Even with everthing they were trying, I was still contracting and they couldn't figure out why or how to stop them. I stayed the night and the next day they decided to also try some Morphine to help stop the contractions. It must have been the combination of Morphine, Procardia and Brethine, but they finally stopped around 8pm that night. They had been telling me all day that if they couldn't get them stopped by about 8:30, the were going to start me on Magnesium at 9pm which would require another 24-36 hours at the hospital. The contractions stopped JUST in time and I didn't have to get the mag. I stayed another night (last night) and they gave me the second steroid shot. The fetal fibronectin test came back negative, but my doctor told me that although that's a good thing, she's had patients go into labor exactly two weeks later so you can only put so much stock into that.
Since my contractions continued to stay away through the night (still on meds though) they decided to discharge me this morning! I'm on Procardia around the clock, with Terbutaline as needed and now on bed-rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. We're really hoping to make it to 36 weeks. It's going to be hard since I have a 14 month old and I stay at home with him, but thankfully I have a lot of family more than willing to lend a hand. Hoping and praying she stays in for another month! I figured I'd post on here since some of you ladies may have had something similar happen. Anyone have something similar happen and STAY pregnant awhile longer? I'm nervous, but trying to stay positive that things will be okay. They keep telling me that preemie girls are fighters and tend to do a little better than boys in the NICU (I wonder why that is..?). T&Ps would be greatly appreciated!
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: XP: PTL at 31 weeks, now on bed-rest (long)
Hey! To answer your question about preemie girls, our NICU nurses always referred to it as "wimpy white boy" syndrome, and that girls tend to go with the flow and learn quick!
Take it a day at a time, although I know it is tough with a little one at home. Utilize the help because in situations like this, bedrest really can make a HUGE difference.
We'll be thinking of you!
sending T&P!!
We saw a ton of examples in the NICU where girls do much better than boys - I was startled by the difference!
I like your son's name, I have a Noah too!
Yes, girls tend to do way better in the NICU. It is weird, but true. It is good that you got the steroid shots. They make a big difference. Sending lots of T&P your way.