I'm 29 weeks along. In the past week or so I started experiencing painless contractions -- just a tightening of the abdomen -- along with downward pressure on the abdomen. I thought perhaps these were Braxton Hicks and ignored them. Then, 3 days ago, I had sharp pains in my lower abdomen, mostly right in the middle right along the pelvic bone, sometimes on either side, but mostly in the the middle. These were at random intervals and while painful, each one didn't last long enough to stop me from doing anything. By the end of the day, the sharp pains were still there, but they were joined by a dull heavy ache that ran horizontally across my abdomen along the line of the pelvis. The next morning, pain was gone, but I noticed some clotting -- dark brown, grainy clotting, bigger than sand & smaller than gravel. Not much, but enough to have me call the doctor. The on-call doctor told me to meet her at the hospital. The hooked me up to a monitor. They could see the uterine contractions. There was no cervical dilation. They gave me a swab which came out negative, which indicated I was not going to go into labour for at least another seven days, but they said if the contractions continued more than four/hour to let them know. I went home. The next day, while walking the contractions were definitely more than four/hour. I laid down, and it got better, but then I started feeling something quite like labour. Low pelvic cramping, radiating down the legs and into my back at irregular intervals, and also I could feel my baby moving but only the pelvic region. Big moves, like she was getting her head positioned correctly to come out. I called my doctor, got an appt for today. After having seen my doctor, she says my cervix is still OK, but what I am experiencing is not normal and needs to be watched. She has told me not to do anything. Well, I can putter around the house (specifically she said I can stand up for 20 minutes at a time to make meals) but nothing else. No walking the dog, no driving myself anywhere, and if anything happens, I am to go the hospital immediately, as she doesn't want the risk of a very preemie baby being born at home accidentally. Whoo, sorry so long!
So my question is for moms who have experienced preterm labour/birth: is this anything like what you went through? And how did it work out?
So my question is for moms who have experienced preterm labour/birth: is this anything like what you went through? And how did it work out?
