XP from August 2011: L&D last night + questions
christyjane17
member
Short story: 33 weeks. Yesterday about 4 o clock I started to feel really bad. Nausea, crampyish feeling, and in my back I felt a dull throbbing pain. Debated, but called doctor and she asked me to come in for observation. My cervix is still long and the swab test (starts with an F) came back negative for preterm labor. BUT, on the monitor I could "see" when my contractions were and they matched up with the pain in my lower back. I have had braxton hicks since 24 weeks and this was different. The nurses and doctor said it may be that because the baby has dropped, contractions are hurting worse in my back.
So...I felt a little silly being there. Even though there were contractions I could see on the monitor, no one seemed overly concerned and they told me to keep dehydrated and rest when I start to feel contractions like I felt last night.
Questions:
Is it common to have little contractions this early?
Do these contractions mean anything about how soon I will go into labor? Could I have these for the next 7 weeks and still make it to 40 weeks?
To those who have been to L&D and in my situation, did your doctor seem concerned?
Re: XP from August 2011: L&D last night + questions
The same thing happened to me at 29 weeks. I was having what felt like contractions in lower back and tight cramping... My OB sent me in and on the screen it showed contractions, but my cervix was closed and negative on the test.... They gave me a big glass of water and said it was probably dehydration.. I felt dumb!
Mine haven't come back, my doc didn't seem concerned that it meant I would go into preterm labor or anything and said to keep hydrated. The nurses in l&d said it happens a lot during the summer especially.
I had my first contractions at 30 weeks... I know I over did it that weekend, went to see my dr the next day because I was able to stop them and relax. My dr sent me to l&d to be monitored just to make sure everything was ok... they weren't concerned while I was being monitored because everything was manageable.
I am not sure how long your dr will let you go through this before they either put you on meds to stop contractions or let it go.
Hope things get better soon... drink LOTS of water and get rest from the heat.
I'm glad it's not just me that feels "dumb"...because I totally did/do.
This is incorrect. A negative FFN means it is highly unlikely you will go into labor in the next two weeks, not that you will make it full term.
"A positive fFN result is not very predictive of preterm labor and delivery. However, a negative fFN result is highly predictive that preterm delivery will not occur within the next 2 weeks.
In other words, when the fFN test is done on a symptomatic woman who meets the qualifying conditions, a negative test result means that there is a less than 1% chance of having a premature delivery within the next 2 weeks. The doctor will also use other tests and her clinical expertise to evaluate each individual situation."