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What caused your premature labor?

marleysmom
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Some of you had a diagnosable condition which led to the premature birth of your child. But others (like myself) have no idea why our babies were born prematurely. Now that my son is 5 months old, I've begun to think about it more.

I thought we could do a little informal research to see if there are any commonalities between those of us who don't know what caused our babies to be born early. List anything you think might be relevant. Who knows, maybe we will discover something our doctors didn't.

*Throughout my pregnancy, I had slightly elevated thyroid hormone levels (after my son was born, I was diagnosed with Graves Disease)
*At 7 weeks, I had a pretty serious case of the flu, including very high fever
*I traveled to China for three weeks during my second trimester
*I'm a teacher, so I'm on my feet all day long at work
*I worked out at the gym 3-4 days per week during my pregnancy
*My water spontaneously broke at home at 32 weeks (my son was born that night)
*I had a pretty easy pregnancy until then
*I began taking folic acid when we started trying to get pregnant and continued taking it throughout my pregnancy (everyone always asks about f.a.)

Hmm...that's all I can think of right now. Hope to hear from some of you!

Explore topics in this discussion:

Surgery Failure to thrive Acid reflux Back pain Pregnancy Gestational diabetes Lupus Stress Advil Gastric bypass surgery Fever Diabetes Breast feeding Constipation Hypertension Edema HPV Diarrhea Eclampsia Procardia Bypass surgery Pneumonia Hepatitis Stent Endometriosis Graves' disease Folic acid Dehydration Hydrocephalus Miscarriage Rashes Pain Clomid High risk pregnancy Hypothyroidism

52 replies

NateAndTimsMom

We don't know what caused my premature labor, but I had twins. I had contractions since I was at least four months pregnant. They were never progressive, but I had them every day. I am also a teacher, but I made a way for myself to sit down and was off work completely a month before I went into labor.

What I think caused my preterm labor is an infection. Infections can just cause havoc on a pregnant woman's system! A week before I went into labor I was in labor and delivery with a whole ton of blood in my urine. They tested my urine for everything, but found nothing. They still put me on an antibiotic, but the conclusion was that one of the boys had probably given my bladder a very good kick. I developed pulmonary edema from the mag, but one of the doctors (the perinatologist) thought it was pneumonia. A couple days after the boys were born, they developed rashes within a half hour of each other. They had something going on and white cell counts higher than anyone had ever seen. They never did figure out what the infection was, but it was obvious it was contracted inutero due to both of them showing symptoms so close together. With their infection, my possible infection a week prior, and my possible pneumonia, I think it all points to me having had an illness of some sort.

I really do wish I knew what caused my labor. That is the one thing that I really want to know.

princessa083

hello my pregnancy was very good . i did not have any issues. the only thing is that since i was on my 20 week i started contracting i always informed to my doctor and he said it was normal that could be the braxton hicks but honestly i always felt the contractions every day. when i was 25 weeks i went to disneyland for my daughters bday of course i nwalk a lot and by the night i started contractin every 20 min and then stopped. my doctor told me it was normal finally at 28 weeks i went to my check up and i had a little infection in my urine test and i took some antibiotics. at 29 weeks 1 day before my baby shower iwas watching tv and my water broke so i went to the hospital and i was 1 cm . i got steroids and meds and i stayed at high risk floor until 33 weeks i honestly dont know if it was the infection because i always felt the contractions and my belly was very tense so im not sure but im very happy that my son now 7 months is healthy of course with some issues but nothing to get soooo worried

andresito

My pregnancy was very good with only little bumps along the way. Overall, I thought everything was ok until the day I had him:

*At 12 weeks I spotted for two days. Ultrasound showed that baby was ok and everything looked normal

*At 20 weeks everything was normal during ultrasound.

*At 25 weeks I had a 3D/4D ultrasound and it took a good half hour to get him to move in a good position. He was balled up and didn't want to wake or move. I figured it was just his nap time.

*At 26 weeks I developed serious back pain, swelling and constipation (not an issue before this week).

*At 28 weeks measured about a week short on fundus, heart rate was good and all my vitals were good. I complained that my kick counts never were 10 kicks 'all day'! They told me to try to count after a meal. I still didn't get 10 kicks, motions, etc. I started to worry.

*At 31 weeks my DH and I went on a babymoon to Punta Cana, DR for 3 days. I normally take meds for motion sickness and forgot my pressure bracelets. Didn't feel well going and felt worse coming back on the airplane. Was fine there, but did have one day of diarrhea after eating chicken.

*At 34 weeks 3 days I went to triage because of low kick counts for several days. Babies heart rate was good and of course he started moving a little during observation. No ultrasound was performed.

*At 34 weeks 5 days I had a regular appointment and measured 3 weeks short on my fundus. That raised alarm and was told to schedule an ultrasound within the next 2 days. I had the ultrasound on day 1 of my 35 week. I showed a level of 1.3 out of 8 being normal of amniotic fluid. Baby's heart rate would drop down to 45bpm and recover after 30 secs or so. Baby was born by 2:57 PM that very day.

The neonatologist told DH and I that my son was born the size of a 28 week baby (IUGR) and had actually lost weight inside me. He had neonatal hepatitis for six months and tested negative for all possible genetic and viral disorders/infections. He is a medical mystery and my beautiful little MIRACLE.

amydiane

I also don't know for sure what caused my preterm labor. Fair warning, this is a bit long and detailed (may be TMI for some).

* I took prenatal vitamins for almost a year before getting pregnant and continued to take them through the pregnancy.

* I don't smoke, do drugs, etc, and I hadn't had a drink in several months before I got pregnant.

* I had some spotting around 5 weeks. The OB said it wasn't uncommon, but that she had to consider me at risk for a miscarriage with any bleeding.

* For the first about 3 months of my pregnancy, I worked part time in retail, on my feet up to 8 hours a day. After that, I switched to a full time job where I was sitting at a desk the whole time.

* At my ultrasound (around 20 weeks), they noticed some "debris" in the amniotic fluid. My OB sent me to a specialist to check it out.

* About 10 days later (and before I had seen the specialist), I went to the bathroom one evening and saw what I thought was a significant amount of blood. We went to the ER. I was admitted and had 2 more instances of bleeding over the next 2 days. They released me after it had stopped for about a day. My OB said it was probably a small placental abruption that was healing, and had me stay on bedrest for another week at home.

* I had no more bleeding over the next week and returned to work (the desk job).

* At 24 weeks, I went to see the specialist, who couldn't identify the debris either, but he said that everything else looked fine and so it probably wasn't anything to worry about. He didn't feel that an amnio was worth the risk at that time.

* After the appointment, I stopped at the bathroom and saw that I was spotting again. I went back to the desk and they brought me back in for an exam. The doctor said that I had a bacterial infection and prescribed medication.

* 2 days later (Wednesday), I started spotting again. I went in to my regular OB, who said I had a yeast infection - not surprising since I'd just had antibiotics. She prescribed different medication.

* Thursday, I continued to spot during the day, and it got heavier that night. At exactly 5pm, I got a voicemail from my OB's nurse, saying simply to call them back if I got the message before 5pm (when it switches over to the answering service), or the next day. I tried calling back right away, but it had already switched over. The message hadn't sounded urgent, so I decided to call back the next day.

* Friday, I got ahold of the nurse, who told me that my test had come back that I was high risk for preterm labor and needed to go back on bedrest immediately, which I did. The heavier spotting continued, and that night I passed a small clot. I called my OB, who was out for the weekend. I had never met or spoken with the doctor filling in for her. He did not seem to think there was cause for alarm.

* Saturday morning, I was still bleeding, but it was thinner and almost continuous. I called the OB again, and he said that if I was concerned, I could come to the hospital to get checked out. We went, and they were able to tell almost right away that my water had broken (PPROM) and I could deliver at any time. This hospital didn't have a NICU, so I was transferred to one that did.

* I told the new doctors (my OB didn't go to this hospital) everything, including the supposed infections and that I hadn't finished the meds for the yeast infection yet. I don't know if they determined that it had gone away or what, but it was never mentioned to me and I was put back on antibiotics to prevent a new bacterial infection (not meds for a yeast infection).

* I spent the next few days on strict bedrest. I was slowly losing amniotic fluid, and I was told I would be at the hospital until I delivered. After a few days, I improved enough to be moved to a regular room and was even given permission to take a quick shower, but before I had a chance, I went into preterm labor. I delivered the next day at 25 weeks.

* I bled heavily for several days after delivery, but was told this was normal. Turns out it was heavier than normal because I had developed a clot that my body was trying to pass, but we didn't know that until it came out. In the meantime, I had lost a fair amount of blood and was a little anemic.

* I've since been tested for 2 clotting disorders that I found out my cousin has (she had a 24-weeker due to pre-eclampsia), but they both came back negative. My OB says the preterm labor could have been because of the abruption, the infection, or something else.

bekamom

My son is adopted but he was born early because of placenta abruption. His mom also had a history or preterm delivery all of her kids were born early.

sarboo

I have twin 26 weekers...we did IVF to get pregnant. I have hypothyroidism but am on medication. I was a teacher and was on my feet all day and I did some low impact working out. I had some bleeding at 16 weeks but everything was fine when I went to the doctor. At my 20 week ultrasound, the doctor noticed my cervix length was short and he hooked me up to a contraction monitor...I was contracting every 2 minutes and didn't even know it. I was walked down to the labor and delivery area and stayed there for
50 days on hospital bedrest. I was on all sorts of drugs to prevent the labor but I never stopped contracting. After 50 days, my blood levels showed a possible infection so the doctors did an amnio. I'm convinced this is what caused my babies to drop and I delivered 5 hours later by emergency c-section. While in the hospital, my husband and I did countless hours researching preterm labor and the various drugs on the market...I feel both of us could have medical degrees. More frustrating, we contacted several doctors and each one had a different opinion as to what medicine I should take. I was diagnosed by one of the doctors as having "an incompetent cervix" so if I were ever to become pregnant again, I would have a cerclage done before 12 weeks.

Feistylioness78

Mine is a mystery. They think Alex one of the ID twins went into distress. I have triplets. I had IUGR with the twins and they had no fluid. They were born 26.5.

JamiesMom

I had a pretty rough pregnancy, but none of the issues preceding my 20 week ultrasound (which actually happened at 22 weeks because of scheduling) indicated that I was at risk for preterm. My family has no history of early delivery and all the women have had smooth pregnancies -- same with my husband's family. I don't drink, smoke, or take any prescription medications. My son was extremely active the whole time (I never worried about counting since he moved morning, noon, and night) and he never had any decels until I was actually in labor. (He is now 24 lbs, officially going by actual age rather than adjusted, and a very happy, toddling 13 month old.)

Weeks 5-14: INTENSE morning sickness. I was teaching full-time at the time and was throwing up a minimum of 4 times a day the whole first trimester, nauseous 24/7.

Week 10: A little spotting, nothing the OB was concerned about.

Week 19: Was admitted to L&D and put on a monitor for an hour because of some heavy spotting and fainting. Baby's heart rate was fine, and I was told to take a break from work because I was anemic and having difficulty gaining weight. They weren't concerned because the baby was measuring at above average and was clearly active.

Week 21: Had a moderately severe set of contractions, but they stopped pretty quickly.

Week 22: Ultrasound showed that my cervix was measuring extremely short. My doctor let me know that I was technically at risk for preterm delivery but that she wasn't concerned because I was young, relatively healthy, and had no other "indicators."

Week 24: Went in for my monthly check-up, did a pelvic exam just to be safe, and was told to check myself into L&D immediately until the baby was born. I was shocked. Dinner was in the slow cooker and I didn't even have a crib. I was dilated to 3 and completely effaced and hadn't had a clue.

Weeks 24-29: I was on complete hospital bed rest and on a wild series of terbutalin, magnesium, and the occasional pain medication. The contractions stopped briefly during week 25 and my dilation actually reversed to 2. By week 29, that kid was ready to go.

Week 29: I had a lot of mucousy discharge, and they kept checking for infection or amniotic fluid leaking and couldn't find anything. I insisted that something was off, but was told that they'd put me on another round of antibiotics and steriods (I had the usual treatment when I was admitted and they thought I was going to deliver right away) when I entered the final stages of labor. When my son was finally born, there were a lot of strange signs that there was an infection present (my placenta, etc., showed signs), and he developed an infection in his lungs that must have been inutero, but nothing was ever found. We had a 70 day NICU stay after my 30 day hospital stay.

Postpartum: I had a lot of bleeding and issues with having developed a clot that wasn't discovered until I got home. It lasted for a few months, but still no infection was found. My cervix may have been judged incompetent, but I'm positive infection triggered the delivery.

tabby33809

I was told I had an incompetent cervix at 14 weeks. I had several stitches put in my cervix and was on light bedrest. Each week it was increased and at 25 weeks the sac came down and tore a small hole in the sac. I stayed in the hospital and leaked fluid for 2 weeks before our son was born. Did not know I was in labor for 2 days which could explain the PVL (brain damage). There's a 50/50 chance this could happen again. Our son is now 8 yrs old (our only child).

huangjaz

1) In 2002 I had a LEEP procedure done, because of an HPV infection. At this time, the doc said it could or could not impact future pregnancies.
2) I'm also a teacher, so I am on my feet/walking around all day long, not really sitting down.
3) I went on a baby moon to Hawaii where we did hiking and swimming. I experienced light discharge but felt no pain so didn't think anything of it. Had some cramping. This was at 5 months.
4) Experienced some back pain and spasms in my back.
5) Went for a check up at 25 weeks and discovered I was dialated 1 cm, I was put on hospital bedrest and they gave me Mag
6) Stayed in the hospital 2 weeks with no change in cervix, was sent home on bed rest.
7) Started having contractions one week later at 27 weeks, wet immiediately to the hospital where my water broke and my daughter was delivered within 4 hours.
8) My doctor called two months after to tell me I "may" have had an infection in my placenta, but didn't know what type of bacteria. I had the StaphB bacteria and was given antibiotics after my water broke. Not sure if I had another infection in addition to this.
9) My doctor thinks that it could have been an incompetent cervix due to my LEEP procedure but she's not sure because my cervix showed no change after bedrest and my water broke seemingly spontaneously, so she said it could have been the infection or a combination of the two. I will probably get a cerclage for my next pregnancy just to be sure.

Hope this helps!

elise75

My story is a little different because I didn't have any bed rest or hospital stay.

At six weeks I had an ultrasound to determine how far along I was. I was given a due date of May 6th.

At about 18 weeks I made an ultrasound appointment to determine gender and do all the other measurements and such. I was told that I could not possible be 18 weeks and that the baby was too small to determine gender. I was given a new due date of May 26. After this information was sent to my OB they said "ummm you can't change a due date that's been determind with an early pregnancy ultrasound" and they refered me to a specialty ultrasound place.

It took several weeks to get in as there was the holidays around that time. I believe I was 24 weeks by the time of the appointment and my baby was measuring at 21 weeks at that time. I was then told I had IUGR and we would come in every other week for ultrasounds to follow it. Baby was confirmed to be a girl at this appointment.

The next visit at 26 weeks was good. Baby was still behind but had grown two weeks worth (now measured at 23 weeks). Everything looked good. No bed rest was recommend.

Next visit was at 28 weeks but closer to 29 weeks. Baby was still measuring 23 weeks some measurements were around 24 weeks but baby was basically the same size as the last visit. Tech went to get the doctor and we knew all was NOT well.

The doctor said that the blood was only flowing through the umbelical cord with my heart beat, not continuously as it is suppose to. We had a big sit down meeting with him. My mom was with me as the baby's father was and I were not married and his job didn't allow him to be at my appointments. I asked the ultrasound doctor if I was going to deliever soon, he walked around the question and kinda tried to say probably not. We were told to walk across the parking lot to L&D where I was checked in. I called boyfriend to let him know I was going to get some shots to mature the baby's lungs incase she came early. He asked if he needed to come, I said no.

Once in the hospital I got the first shot of steroids and was hooked up to all the monitors. They could barely get the belts to pick up the heartbeat and such because my tummy wasn't big enough. The NICU doctor came in to talk to us, and after he was done telling us about the tubes and such I said "Okay but I'm not having my baby soon so I'm not worried if the tubes will fit down her throat". None of my doctors had told me this was a possiblity. The NICU doctor walked down the hall and told them to have one of my doctors come and talk to me. (I think there was a shift change so I kind of got passed over) At that time I was told their hope was to get me to the end of the week so that the steriods could take effect. They'd aim for a couple of weeks but don't get my hopes up. An hour later I was told they hoped just to get me to the next day. I then started trying to get a hold of baby's father and his cell phone battery had died while I tried to explain he should come right after work. About an hour after that I was told they were schedualing a c-section for that afternoon. Megan was born around 3pm that afternoon. Megan's Dad didn't make the birth but was there with his family by the time I was awake from the c-section. My epidural didn't take so I was sedated and I believe I had a bit of a difficult time coming out of the sedation. I was brought a photo of my daughter and told she was doing okay. She weighted 1lb 6oz.

My placenta was sent for studing and it showed that it was not fully developed but already disintigrating. This hopefully means that next baby won't be a preemie since you grow a new placenta each time.

During the pregnancy I was living with my parents and pregnancy was unexpected so there was some stress of telling all the parents but after they were supportive. My boyfriend's mother was terminally ill and she passed away one month before Megan's birth. I was attending collage and managing good grades. I was working as a Nanny and over Christmas holidays also worked in retail. I also babysat on the weekends and any other avalible days. I often wondered if perhapts stress played into the early delivery, but doctors didn't think so.

My biggest worry now is that I'll get pregnant while my husband is in the Air Force. I don't trust the military doctors to follow me the way that Megan was. I think if I wasn't followed so closely Megan would have died in utero. So for now we're filling our baby void with foster babies hopefully. We are applying now and hope to have a placement by fall.

Elise

ashleysmom1

I had the textbook, classic pregnancy until 27 weeks, 2 days. I had morning sickness from, about, 5 weeks until 14 weeks, but nothing that ever required a physician's intervention. I worked out 3-4 days a week, but nothing ever strenuous (just walking or PG workout videos). I ate very, very healthy but only gained 12 pounds.

At 27w2d, I began feeling contractions and was hospitalized at 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Less than 12 hours later, I was 7 cm dilated. My fetal fibronectin test the night before was positive. I had my daughter 5 days later at 28w1d.

My doctor has NO IDEA why this happened. I never had an infection, no incompetent cervix, no family history, no history of pre-term labor - nothing.

babalou

I was originally pregnant with triplets. Around 9 weeks I started bleeding. I was out of town visiting my parents, so I went to an OB in my parents' town. He said that Baby C had a small abruption, or a "subchorionic hematoma." He said to go home and rest. That night I bled so much, and I knew I had lost at least one baby. I didn't know for sure, but somehow I knew I was still pregnant. I had to wait until I got back to Seattle to see the perinatalogist a couple of days later, as it was New Year's weekend. I already had a perinatalogist appointment set up because I was expecting triplets. They did an ultrasound and found that Baby C no longer had a heartbeat. I was very said but hopeful for the other babies.

Over the next few months I continued to bleed, but the blood generally was brown-old blood. Baby C was still in my uterus, surrounded by a large blood clot. However, around 16 weeks I experienced bright red bleeding. I went in for an ultrasound. The peri said Baby A (Truman) had a small placental abruption now. He also said he had very little amniotic fluid (3 cm) and the prognosis was not good. I was sent home on bedrest and I drank tons of water. The next week, his fluid had increased!

This went on for awhile. I had another big bleed around 19 weeks, just a couple of days after an amnio. The fluid level dropped again. Finally, things looked stable around 22 weeks-both boys had stable fluid levels and the bleeding had stopped. I even went back to work.

On my husband's birthday, I woke up to go to the bathroom. I felt a huge gush of fluid into the toilet. I was wondering if my water broke, but I had had fluid leakage and bleeding so much over the course of the pregnancy that I just wasn't sure. I had an appointment two days later, and the peri said Baby A's water had broken, and he had almost no fluid. I was only 25 weeks.

I stayed in the hospital for a month. I finally developed an infection and went into labor, delivering at 29 weeks, 5 days.

Chilimeg

My pregnancy was just filled with bad news appointments from the beginning.
* I didn't gain enough weight - like, any - until 18 weeks, and then started gaining 10 pounds a week.

* At all of my ultrasounds and GYN appointments, they told me how concerned they were with fetal size and development. Because I refused the quad tests, they told me that they were pretty sure that I had a serious chromosonal disorder but couldn't tell me definitely.

* A large choroid plexus was discovered.

* My legs and ankles were so swollen by 25 weeks that some days I couldn't walk, so I was put on modified bedrest, and was drinking almost 2 gallons of water a day.

* At an appointment at 31 weeks, my blood pressure reading was 220/110, so I was rushed to the hospital with severe pre-ecplampsia. Emergency c-section 2 days later. It was discovered that she had completely stopped developing around 28 weeks.

* I worked two jobs while I was pregnant - office job for 40 hours, and a part-time waitressing job. I used to smoke, but never did again after I found out I was pregnant. I also never drank. I've never been much a meat-eater - and never red meat - and ended up with an aversion to chicken, so I've often wondered if that's had something to do with developing pre-e. You can bet next time I will force more protein in, just in case.
Meg

PS - I had a co-worker that smoked, did drugs, and drank moderately the whole time that she was pregnant, and ended up with a full-term, gorgeous, healthy girl. I'm glad that the baby turned out well, but almost a year later, I'm still angry about circumstances, as bad as that is.

Archi

Hi ,

when I found out that I am pregnant after one week I started spotting/ little bleeding problem. I was supposed to be 9 weeks pregnant according to my last menstrual period date but my ultrasound report said baby was only 5 weeks of gestation. So Docs said it was case of late pregnancy and Because of spotting/ bleeding problem I might have a misscarriage withing a month. So I was told to go for bedrest for one month. I didnt really do a bed rest but yes I stopped going for work for one month (relaxed at home without moving too much)and then another half a month went half a day at work.

Well after 2-3 weeks of spotting the problem disappeared. After first ultrasound we did ultrasounds every 2 weeks to see baby's growth. Baby was growing absolutely fine keeping a diffrence of 4 weeks from last menstrual period.

Docs allowed me to go to work. I worked from 10 - 6, did pregnancy yoga for 1 hour in the morning, 30 minutes walk in the evening,kept myself active in all ways to have a healthy and normal pregnancy.

During 34 weeks of gestation Docs found that my baby didnt look as big as she should be at 34 weeks. Had an ultrasound and some parts of baby corresponded to 32 weeks ,some to 31 weeks and some to 34 weeks. Well Doc was ok after the ultrasound.

Suddenly in the morning after my Yoga I suddenly felt gush of water from my vagina. I was shocked when I started leaking clear water from that time.

Doc said It could be just an infection but I somehow felt it wasnt just an infection. I kept on leaking for 2 days and then I was admitted to the hospital for another 2 days after giving steroids to mature my baby's lungs as I had already leaked most of my amniotic fluid and the baby had to be taken out.

My daughter was born with a Csetion as she was in breech position. She stayed in NICU for 4 days but was not diagonsed with any premature baby complications.

Archana

denaesmom

I had an incompetent cervix, that we didn't know about. I started spotting at 25 weeks, and went to the hospital. They admitted me and starting giving me steroids for the baby's lungs. She lasted another week, and De'nae was born at 26 weeks, 1lb 13oza

Filakia30

It is very interesting reading everyones responses!! I myself had a normal pregnancy. I was nauteous all day for the first 4 months!! All my ob visits were fine, all my tests were normal!! I had an ob visit on Friday I took some test. Saturday night I felt pressure pains I called my ob sunday morning & advised me I was having contractions & head to the ER. My husband drove me to the ER they immediately checked me in & told me I was 8 cm dialated. I had no clue, this was my first child!! They tried to give me steroids to hold off on the delivery, but there was no stopping this child. I delivered with in an hour of arriving to the ER vaginal. I delivered at 28 weeks. The dr's had no idea why I delivered early?? I am self employed, so I work from home?? I don't know what could have triggered early delivery!!!

devermee

This is a topic of great interest to me also. I also am very healthy, nonsmoker, nondrinker, took prenatals w/ folic acid for 1+ years prior to conceiving.
My DD was born at 26 weeks 5 days. I had a great pregnancy. I had constant nausea up until around 20 weeks, but never threw up, it was just annoying. I had my 1st ultrasound around 21 weeks & things looked great. There was never anything of concern at any of my prenatal appointments. A week before DD was born, I had a routine appointment and all looked well. Then, my husband & I moved cross country to be closer to my family. I was excited about the move and I don't think I over did it w/ the moving process. Three days after the moved, I noticed contractions. They never hurt, but I could feel it if I had my hand on my stomach. They continued all day despite increasing fluids & resting. We called the local hospital (not my usual, since we had moved, but one I felt comfortable with as my mom is a RN there). They suggested I come in to be checked. Contractions continued, no cervical changes, tests drawn to look for infection. They gave me a shot of terbutaline (contractions stopped) & sent me home w/ oral terb and instructions to take it easy for a few days but never was told to go on "Bedrest". Three days after that incident, the contractions increased, were painful & coming regularly. Went in to the same hosptital. My amniotic sac was prolapsed. After a helicopter ride to a hospital (with a level 3 NICU), an ultrasound showed the cord also was prolapsed. So an emergency Csection was done. After inspection of the placenta & my uterus, no abnormalities were found. Many people (not medical professionals) say it must have been the stress of move. But like I said, I wasn't stressed, I was excited, & I didn't over do it. I'm told I'm one of those cases where there is no explanation for going preterm. Makes me scared to think about next time. DD is now almost 17 months actual.

JessicaC25

Thank you, Marleysmom for bringing up this topic of conversation. Thank you also to all of you for your replies. I have been comforted by seeing to many similarities to my pregnancy.

My story is quite similar to devermee's. This was my first pregnancy at 34 years old. I've never smoked, done drugs or drank excessively. I was on prenatal's for years before conceiving. In January, I had an ultrasound that dated me at 7 weeks 2 days. I had the nuchal translucency test at 11 weeks and another ultrasound in April and everything looked perfect. My blood pressure and urine were always fine.

On June 13th, I had some cramping so they sent me to the hospital. I passed the fetal fibronectin test. But they still gave me terbutaline and monitored me overnight. I was sent home and was not told I should be on bedrest. On July 12th at 32 weeks, I noticed some discharge. I went for my regular appointment that day. When they checked me I was 1cm dilated. They sent me to the hospital and gave me the first shot of steroids for baby's lungs. I was put on Procardia and bedrest. That works for 8 days. Chloe arrived at 33 weeks 1 day.

No one can tell me why this happened. I've thought A LOT about it. Like a couple of prior posters, I have hypothryroidism, but my levels have been under control with medicine and I was tested monthly throughout my pregnancy. I work in a corporate environment/"desk job". My job is stressful, but there was nothing out of the ordinary happening.

I was about 20 pounds overweight when I got pregnant. My OB only wanted me to gain 15 pounds, which I thought was incredibly unrealistic since I've always struggled with my weight and it's always been very easy for me to gain. I had gastric bypass surgery 11 years ago and that has been a great tool in helping me maintain a healthier weight. This also wasn't an issue for my baby because she was 'large for gestational size' at 5 lbs. 2.6 ozs. She's also now in the 97th percential for weight and 90th for height based on her actual age, not adjusted.

I did have an abdominalplasty (tummy-tuck) 6 years ago. My stomach muscles were tight, but I was assured by all of my doctors that the body does what it needs to accommodate a growing baby.

I'd like to have another baby, but I am apprehensive. I would need to be monitored very closely as 'high-risk' - I know this is also something a lot of us share in common.

Thanks,
Jessica

elliephant

I got pregnant with Amelia just shy of a year after having my first daughter. (Who was induced at 37 weeks due to mild pre-e). I was sick, but not as sick as I'd been the first time around. Around 16 weeks I stopped BFing to take anti-nausea meds. Everything was normal until one Friday afternoon when I went to the bathroom and when I wiped there was lots of blood and clots. I started cramping an hour or two later. I spent the weekend in the hospital, got the steriod shots, and was sent home. I was 2cm.
They weren't picking up contractions and couldn't find any infections or anything. I was put on pelvic rest only. For the next 3 weeks the bleeding came and went repeatedly. The Tuesday before she was born I went to the hospital again with contractions and was sent home with an Rx for the once-a-day version of Procadia. Thursday night I had more contractions, but they went away and I went to bed. Started up again in the morning, but I had a 9am OB appt, so I just went to that. I was 4 cm and he sent me straight to the hospital. By the time he got there to check me I was 6cm, waters bulging, and the baby was footling breech, so he told me it would be a c-section as soon as everything was ready. Amelia was born at 30 weeks according to LMP, but 29 weeks going by when I ovulated. She was 3 lbs 4.4 oz, 15.5 inches and spent almost 2 months in the NICU.
I was a month shy of 32 years old and have never smoked or drank. I am obese and I think that made it hard for the equipment to pick up the contractions. Also, I'd only had pit-induced labor with #1, so I didn't really know what natural contractions felt like. I'm a SAHM and had been taking prenatals for over 2 years.

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