Preterm Labor/ early contractions Question...

crystaleyes39 · November 2011

For those of you with twins....

When did you start having preterm labor signs or early contractions and then what week did you actually deliver at?

Also, were you just on modified bed rest or full out bed rest?

I'm at 26 weeks and i'm pretty sure i'm going to be put on bed rest soon because anytime i'm up moving around I start contracting/ getting pretty severe braxton hicks. I'm just hoping these girls with some bed rest stay in my belly until January.

JosiePosy · November 2011

Well I'm not the best example. I had PTL at 26 weeks and ended up on Magnesium in the hospital for 3 days over Thanksgiving weekend. Then I was on modified bedrest at home and taking Nifedipine until 28 weeks, when I ended up back in the hospital. I had developing HELLP Syndrome at that time, and made it to 29w6d before I had to deliver because I was too sick to continue the pregnancy.

Now that said, up until the point where the HELLP started, the bedrest and Nifedipine definitely helped! I probably could have gone much longer just doing that if my bloodwork hadn't gone all to hell.

crystaleyes39 · November 2011

JosiePosy:

Well I'm not the best example. I had PTL at 26 weeks and ended up on Magnesium in the hospital for 3 days over Thanksgiving weekend. Then I was on modified bedrest at home and taking Nifedipine until 28 weeks, when I ended up back in the hospital. I had developing HELLP Syndrome at that time, and made it to 29w6d before I had to deliver because I was too sick to continue the pregnancy.

Now that said, up until the point where the HELLP started, the bedrest and Nifedipine definitely helped! I probably could have gone much longer just doing that if my bloodwork hadn't gone all to hell.

Oh wow, How did you twins handle being devilered at 29 weeks? How long in NICU and did they have any major health complications from being born that early?

amye84 · November 2011

I started having early BH contractions (very irritable uterus) at 18 weeks. At 24 weeks I was put on bedrest and Procardia for regular contractions that showed up on the monitor in the doctors office. They were just a slight tightening sensation to me and not painful at all. The contractions did not change my cervix at all until 30w3d when I went into the hospital because the contractions were 6-7 minutes apart for a few hours. I spent 2 days on mag and I had dilated to 2cm at that point. I didn't think I was even going to make it to 31w with inside babies!! Luckily I did stabilze and they changed me from Procardia to oral terb. I'm home now and STILL PREGNANT! Hoping to last until 35-36 weeks and beyond. Bedrest really does work... 9 weeks and counting for me - with three hospital admissions, 2 separate rounds of the steroid shot, and 2 miserable days on mag. Good luck to you and know that even though it sucks, bedrest can do wonders for keeping your babes cooking!

frogchic295 · November 2011

We are only a few days apart! I wanted to say that from wednesday until just this morning i was feeling TERRIBLE! so much low pressure, everytime i stood up i had pain and i had to pee right then and the outside of my lady parts felt like they had been through a marathon! But i woke this morning feeling comfortable and refreshed. Hopefully you will get a little relief in a few days too! I don't think i have had any BH yet but i do feel baby a rolling which may or may not be BH and not baby movement...i only feel it very very low and it feels like rolling! Good luck and hang in there only 12 more weeks at the longest!!!

JosiePosy · November 2011

crystaleyes39:
JosiePosy:

Well I'm not the best example. I had PTL at 26 weeks and ended up on Magnesium in the hospital for 3 days over Thanksgiving weekend. Then I was on modified bedrest at home and taking Nifedipine until 28 weeks, when I ended up back in the hospital. I had developing HELLP Syndrome at that time, and made it to 29w6d before I had to deliver because I was too sick to continue the pregnancy.

Now that said, up until the point where the HELLP started, the bedrest and Nifedipine definitely helped! I probably could have gone much longer just doing that if my bloodwork hadn't gone all to hell.

Oh wow, How did you twins handle being devilered at 29 weeks? How long in NICU and did they have any major health complications from being born that early?

I had to get the steroid shots twice. I had a set each time I was hospitalized. I don't know if that helped, but I like to think it did. The girls were in the NICU for 43 days. Honestly, if you looked at them now you would probably never know it. They are doing absolutely fantastic.

Lydia was 3 lbs and Abigail was 2 lbs 4 oz. Lydia only needed the CPAP for 24 hours, and Abby never needed it. They had their own special challenges. Lydia has a heart murmur and Abby had to have a PICC put in for awhile. Looking back it seemed really overwhelming, but they've come so far it's amazing. They were about 20 and 18 lbs at last checkup. They are crawling all over the damn place and teething and starting to get into everything. They are happy, healthy babies. I admit that 6 weeks in the NICU sucked royally, but I really don't think we could have asked for a better outcome given the circumstances.

Hopefully you will last MUCH longer than I did and will deliver take-home babies. Just know that the bedrest, while amazingly boring and sucky, really does make a difference. Every day counts. Big Smile

crystaleyes39 · November 2011

amye84:
I started having early BH contractions (very irritable uterus) at 18 weeks. At 24 weeks I was put on bedrest and Procardia for regular contractions that showed up on the monitor in the doctors office. They were just a slight tightening sensation to me and not painful at all. The contractions did not change my cervix at all until 30w3d when I went into the hospital because the contractions were 6-7 minutes apart for a few hours. I spent 2 days on mag and I had dilated to 2cm at that point. I didn't think I was even going to make it to 31w with inside babies!! Luckily I did stabilze and they changed me from Procardia to oral terb. I'm home now and STILL PREGNANT! Hoping to last until 35-36 weeks and beyond. Bedrest really does work... 9 weeks and counting for me - with three hospital admissions, 2 separate rounds of the steroid shot, and 2 miserable days on mag. Good luck to you and know that even though it sucks, bedrest can do wonders for keeping your babes cooking!

I'm so glad to hear that you still are cooking those babes! I'm having this exact problem of the painless (but uncomfortable) tightening of my stomach when i'm up moving around. They monitored me yesterday at the hospital for a very short time laying down and nothing showed up, but I know my body and I know that it's only when i'm moving around. They told me to keep my feet up until my next doc visit on Wednesday....So we'll see what they say then. I'm praying that I can keep them in there w/ no probs as long as possible too.

ardilla · November 2011

I started having painless BHs at around 18 weeks if I was overdoing it (it was gearing up for the holidays so I think I did too much!). At 22w1d I went into PTL with painful frequent contractions that had shortened my cervix to a little under 2 cm with funneling. I spent the next 5 weeks on magnesium sulfate plus procardia and terbutaline, in the hospital. I received 2 steroid shots once I reached 24w. After they got me off the mag, they kept me about 2 more weeks in the hospital to make sure the oral drugs alone could keep my contractions under 6 per hour. At that point they sent me home on full bedrest. I made it to 35w6d before being hospitalized again (abdominal pain, more frequent contractions, and slight bleeding). The next day, my OB said it was time to come off the meds and see what happened. Within hours I had gone from 2 cm dilated to about 5, so we rolled to the ER and had babies that day. For 36w0d gestation, they were small, but aside from a 6 hour observation period in the special care nursery, they didn't require any special care. They had to pass a carseat test before coming home, but we were all discharged together when they were 4 days old. Make sure to get rest, stay hydrated, and talk to your doctor! Best of luck keeping those little ones in there awhile yet!

Kimmy08 · November 2011

I was feeling great and hadn't felt any BH when I went to my regularly scheduled MFM appointment at 22wks5days. While they were doing the ultrasound, I kept getting pains where they were putting the wand. Turns out, it was because I was contracting every four minutes and my cervix was at a 0.8 with funneling.

I was immediately admitted to the hospital and they started me on IV Mag. I wasn't allowed to sit up (not even to eat!) and could not lay on my back, only my sides. By the grace of God, I made it to 32 weeks and 1 day, when my body just finally gave up. I contracted the entire ten weeks I was in the hospital, and had a very irritable uterus. I was also on the IV Mag the entire time, as well. I got the steroid shots at 24 and 28 weeks, but the girls still needed the CPAP for five and seven days.

Waiting4Fred · November 2011

I had serious/intense braxton hicks/contractions at 24 weeks, then again at 28 weeks (L&D stays both times) but they don't change my cervix, so technically I don't think it's considered PTL. I take procardia 3x a day. I haven't been put on bed rest, thought I did stop working (I'm a teacher) this past week because everytime I Would get up, I would contract. I am still hanging in there!

crystaleyes39 · November 2011

Waiting4Fred:
I had serious/intense braxton hicks/contractions at 24 weeks, then again at 28 weeks (L&D stays both times) but they don't change my cervix, so technically I don't think it's considered PTL. I take procardia 3x a day. I haven't been put on bed rest, thought I did stop working (I'm a teacher) this past week because everytime I Would get up, I would contract. I am still hanging in there!

Thanks for sharing, this is pretty much exactly me. EVERYTIME i get up i've been contracting and this is only the past few days.....I'm going to see what my doctors say this week when i go in, i'm hoping they give me something to make it stop or some pointers on what will help. I have been trying to keep my feet up as much as possible and bought a maternity support belt in hopes that will help when i'm standing. I am glad to hear you're still hanging in there...definitely gives me hope! Fingers crossed for both of us that we make it as long as possible!

s270453 · November 2011

I was pretty much in your shoes. I got put on strict bedrest for PTL at 28 weeks. My water broke at 34 weeks exactly. Every time I got up and moved around, I would start contracting towards the end. Braxton hicks started pretty strongly around 20 weeks.

hayleydeee · November 2011

I had that exact thing happen at first too, probably sometime around 20-22 weeks. I've had BH longer than that, but that was about the time they started being in response to what I was doing.

I went into actual preterm labor and started dilating at 31 weeks (the hospital stopped it) and have been on bed rest since. No babies yet!

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