FFN causing labor?

[Lil'Momma]

I have been receiving the ffn tests since I was 24 weeks. At 30 weeks I was hospitalized when my contractions stopped responding to my procardia and I began dilating and effacing. We got the labor under control with the help of mag. Sul. I am now two days shy of 34 weeks and went in for my normal ffn. When my midwife pulled out the swab it was covered in bright red blood. She looked shocked but then said it was nothing to worry about. She gave me a new rx for mag ox and sent me home. My contractions started up again at ten minutes apart. I called my midwife and was told that was normal after stimulating the cervix. I am still having bloody mucosy discharge. Is this really normal? My midwife certainly seems to think so. Am I just panicky because of my history?

[lisa_nc]

IWhen I had the ffn my perinatologist wouldn't do them after 33 weeks because she said they aren't nearly as accurate and it's not worth the risk of irritating the cervix.

[sbrinton]

I've had nurses end up with blood on the swab with an ffn test. For me, this was when I was already contracting and my cervix was soft and somewhat open (1-2 cm).

For what it's worth, with blood you will probably end up getting a "positive" result with the ffn. From what I remember, any blood can lead to a positive result, even if it's not necessarily signaling labor.

[sarlusan]

Well, it's possible that you were already starting to go into labor before they did the test, so I wouldn't just ignore any symptoms (but I'm realized you posted almost two days ago so I'm sure it's clear by now)! I looked back recently at my calendar from my second pregnancy and realized that MANY of our many trips to L&D for contractions were on the evenings after I'd had an exam with an FFN or cervical check. But in the end, my son was born about 3 days after my last exam, and I don't think it was related to that at all!

[Lil'Momma]

Well, I ended up in the hospital for observation overnight. I was released yesterday evening on strict bedrest, pretty much the same as before. When we got home, we started up our stairs and I got dizzy. I ended up falling down two stairs right onto my back/bum. I felt a popping sensation high on the right side of my uterus and some fluid leaked out. Hard painful contractions started immediately, but there was no more fluid leaking out so I took my procardia and mag and laid down. This morning I am having contractions but only when I sit up or stand up and haven't leaked anything else but if I stand up the contractions hit HARD. My husband and I don't know what to do. The baby is moving just like she always does and we don' want to go right back to the hospital for fear that they won't let me go this time. Any advice?