Early cervical changes -- how big of a deal is this?

[lunita1]

Short story: I'm 30 weeks pregnant with #4. My older kids were all full term. I checked my cervix yesterday and found that it was very mushy, very short (1/4-1/2 inch?) and maybe 2 cm dilated. Should I be very panicked or just more alert to other sensations and signs of early labor? Or could this just be normal after 3 kids?

Longer story:

I've been feeling occasional braxton hicks for a while. They're quite strong after intercourse but otherwise usually fairly random and not that strong. One day last week, when I spent a lot of time on my feet, I felt 5 contractions(stronger than most braxton hicks, but not really painful) within about half an hour. That freaked me out since my (hospital based CNM) midwife's guideline is that if you have more than 5 contractions per hour before you're full term, it is time to call and/or go in to be monitored. I left and got a drink of water, and once I was off of my feet, they went away.

I felt them similar to that again the other day when I was breaking my back trying to clean and move some large items, except that I also felt a twinge in my cervix that made me kind of raise my eyebrows. I went to lie down, and then yesterday morning after thinking about what had happened and feeling that cervical twinge one more time, I decided to try to check my cervix.

The last time I tried would have been over a month ago and I couldn't reach it because it was so posterior. The time before would have been in very early pregnancy and it was long and hard, but reachable. This time it was much lower, very mushy, 1/2 inch long or shorter and open 2-3 centimeters. I think it is still somewhat posterior (one lip is further forward than the other and easier to reach). The posterior part is good, right?

So is this a big deal? Nothing at all to worry about? Cause for a fetal fibronectin test?

I have a history of lots of prodromal labor and strong frequent preterm braxton hicks (I went in once for monitoring at 34 weeks or so with dd#2, but nothing was happening). Also my labor with #3 was 2 hours long, so my concern is increased by the thought that if I were to go into preterm labor there might be very little time to stop it once I recognized what was going on (especially if my cervix is already ripening?)

[etsdtm99]

with my 2nd baby/3rd pregnancy I checked my cervix at about 31 weeks and felt exactly what you are describing, i also had lots of BH and ctx if i did too much or after sex with both pregnancies and both ended full term.. (39 and 41 weeks) when i had cervical checks near the end of pregnancy my cervix was the same as it was at 31 weeks and did not change any more until a few hours before DS was born (AFTER a few hours of serious ctx) so, i don't know when it changed, but it stayed the same the last 1/4 of the pregnancy.. early on it was firm and long but i didn't check between 4/5weeks and 31 weeks..

so.. if it were me, i would not be worried, but with you history of short labors, you might take it easy and check again if you feel the need.. you could always mention it to your doctor and see what he/she thinks?

[mama to 2 girls]

I don't really think it's too much to worry about, unless it's accompanied by lot of cntrxs.

FWIW my cousin had some "pre-term" labor cntrx because she was dehydrated and was checked and found to be 1cm at about 30 weeks.....Then she was checked again at 38-39 weeks and was found to be 5-6cm's and walked around like that for another week and a half!! Plus she was induced (her own choice), so who knows how long she would have gone.

[annekh23]

I think this is a grey area, where only time will tell. That your contractions went away with water and rest is a very good sign.

I was in a fairly similar position to you, though it was my 3rd pregnancy at I was a bit earlier than you, checked myself after having had a lot of contractions and was freaked out to find that though there didn't seem to be any dilation that I was thin and soft, which meant I was further progressed at 27 weeks than I was 6 hours before my 2nd was born at 39 weeks.

A couple of weeks later I had another episode of contractions that didn't stop despite rest, water, magnesium, the works basically, so eventually I went to the hospital, where they managed to slow them down, but not get them to stop completely, but we did at least get a negative ffn test.

I had a scheduled c-section for unrelated reasons which was also slightly early, but again, not to do with preterm labour.

Having had 2 term babies, I really didn't think I was likely to have a premature baby due to preterm labour, but when I dug around there were plenty of people who'd had 2 term babies followed by unexplained premature labour, so I had to loosen that safety net somewhat as it wasn't as safe as I'd previously thought. The negative ffn was encouraging though.

As it turned out I developed high blood pressure, which was a surprise as there wasn't a change in father, or a particularly large gap between pregnancies and I was still young! So there was something else that stuck it's oar in and influenced timing of delivery.