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Pelvic pressure or symptoms of pre-term labor?

2K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  NaturallyKait 
#1 ·
Being a first time mommy has its disadvantages as I have no idea what is "normal." I'm currently 32 weeks + 4 days. Last night I started having strong contractions after the baby turned head down (perfectly anterior, her spine aligned with my linea *****" with her head going directly into my cervix. Each contraction pushed her deep into my pelvis and caused intense period like cramps (more like a cross between period cramps and intestinal cramps) they were all in my low belly and pelvis/cervical area. Nothing I did would ease the pain, I tried laying down, walking, sitting/bouncing on an exercise ball. I kept thinking that I needed to go to bathroom, but there was nothing to pass (sorry, tmi.) The frequency of contractions was not consistent enough for me to think it was real labor, although I was timing them to make sure they didn't develop into a consistent pattern, they ranged from 17 to 3 minutes apart. This lasted from 5:00p.m. (when the contractions were about 10-17 minutes apart) to 3:30 a.m.(when they were 3-7 minutes apart) when the baby turned from head down position to transverse. After she turned, which hurt excruciatingly, the contractions ended abruptly.

I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions since week 17, so I am quite accustomed to them, however I've never experienced pain with them and they are never strong enough to push the baby down.

The baby has turned head down a few times, but she never had her head on my cervix like this. The pressure never let up even between contractions.

After she turned I have not had anymore pain, just my normal Braxton Hicks. I do not know if the contractions were caused by her head against my cervix or why they ended so abruptly when she turned. Has anyone else had this?

I have been drinking 80-90oz of water a day since 18 weeks, so I feel like this is not induced by dehydration.

Miss baby has stayed transverse or breech all day and I am ashamed to say I am now kind of scared of her turning head down again. I thought I had a high pain tolerance, atleast I have in the past, but this is a pain I am not sure how to manage. I feel like such a wimp :crying:

Does this incident sound like a symptom of preterm labor or am I just worrying about nothing? Has anyone else experienced this?

I called my OB office and talked to the nurse, but she couldn't really comment much until they had examined me.
 
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#2 ·
With baby number 2, I experienced something like that around 35 weeks when she turned head down, Of course, I was also concerned that it was because I was working 16-18 shifts as a floor nurse, on me feet, and typically took no breaks. (Life of nurse.) After that, I started ensuring that I took a 15 minute break every 4 hours and sat down, and put my feet up. I'm still not sure if it was pre-term labor or not, but it never did return, and she was born full-term, 3 days before her EDD.
 
#3 ·
When my baby turned head down and moved lower, I had rhythmic contractions for a couple hours. That was at 28 weeks. They definitely were not painful, though -- just rhythmic, with an accompanying crampy sensation and I could feel tightening all the way around to my back. I think it was just brought on by the new position. Sounds like yours were more intense than that. Since then, he has stayed head down and I have not had any more contractions like that at all, just the regular BH contractions that don't bother me.
 
#4 ·
DDCC from July. :) I had this happen at 28 weeks just the other day. My baby has been transverse for a while and one afternoon, she turned head down but her one shoulder was facing my spine and her other shoulder was poking out waaaay down in my pubes - I could actually grab it between my fingers.
I also was having regular contractions and I laid down in bed for a while, flipped onto hands and knees and even tried to manually move her out of that position. I finally had to get up to take the kids to ball practice and I took a huge dose of magnesium (citrate - Natural Calm) and that reeeeaally eased things up. My uterus completely relaxed and baby moved out of that awful position.
Have you tried magnesium? I take it regularly, in multiple forms, but sometimes I need to take some mega doses to get my uterus to calm down. I imagine a tight uterus can affect baby's positioning...

Wanted to add: this is baby number 5 and I've had BHs with all of them from early on. They get painful as time goes by, to the point that I need to breathe through them and I can't move, but my babies have all come at full term. I've also had "false labor" a couple of times with most of the pregnancies and a hot shower and some magnesium was all I needed to relax. If I get anxious about something, I tend to get in this mental-physical spiral of contractions leading to more anxiety which leads to more contractions, etc. Once I realize that it really can be a matter of mind over matter, it seems easier to calm down.
 
#5 ·
Assuming they have stopped by now, I think this is quite normal. Babies can 'drop' into the pelvis and its definitely an intense sensation! It happened at 29 weeks on DD1, but not until labour with DD2. I think this time baby flipped head down about 32 weeks, but I don't think they have dropped...
 
#6 ·
Thank you all so much for the responses! It hasn't happened again and I am so thankful! It was so intense and nothing eased the pain or pressure. I'm afraid I worry greatly about her turning head down again and that it will produce the same results.

She's content to remain breech or transverse for the moment and I am somewhat relieved. She moves alot (pretty much all day long) but has only gone head-down 3 times with this last time being the only time she's pressed against my cervix. With her upright, I'm having my regular BH contractions, but nothing painful.
@MnMtm I can't imagine working such long shifts at 35 weeks <yikes!> but I understand the life of a nurse. I work in healthcare (although on the administrative side) and the nurses have my deepest respect! Y'all are amazing!
@Metasequoia, Thanks for the magnesium suggestion! I take 400mg magnesium citrate (BlueBonnet brand) everyday, but I can up the dose if need be.

I don't want to face the coming weeks in fear of this happening again... The thought of labor doesn't scare me, because there is an end in sight, but the thought of a month or more of those contractions or worse, Little Miss coming a month or more early...yeah, that troubles me greatly :crying:
 
#13 ·
@Metasequoia , Thanks for the magnesium suggestion! I take 400mg magnesium citrate (BlueBonnet brand) everyday, but I can up the dose if need be.
That's the RDA, which is really low. I've taken grams and grams of magnesium with only beneficial changes.
The worst that will happen from "too much" magnesium is that you'll have diarrhea. :lol
Everybody needs varying amounts depending on so many factors (one of which is stress!) And pregnancy can cause stress on our bodies, both physical and emotional.
 
#8 ·
I'm glad to hear that it hasn't returned! A girl on facebook the other day was posting about how she was having what she though was pre-term labor contractions, and she went the hospital. They hooked her up to monitors and what-not, and assured her that there were no changes in her cervix, and that everything looked great. They told her that sometimes BH contractions can just be intense. She was upset, and insisted that she knew the different between the 2. This was her third baby, and she is planning a repeat C-section. She was trying to convince the doctors to admit her, and do the C-section right then. She was 34 weeks along. I was like, no no no no no no no! Keep that baby in!
 
#9 ·
Mine is flip flopping a lot right now and I have what feels like a lot of fluid (hoping not too much....that thought occurred to me too!) So he is mostly breech and then I will have painful sumersaults with BH and then back to what I think is breech. I am reading Spinning Babies, but now am not sure WHAT I am feeling where...


Hope your Braxton Hicks have slowed down!
 
#10 ·
This baby is a non stop flipper too. I can't tell when baby flips to transverse which is pretty often now, but I have a harder time determining when he/she is breech vs vertex. Usually I can tell when baby gets hiccups based on where I feel them :)
 
#12 ·
Yeah I'm not 100% sure on anything except when baby is transverse. That one's obvious. My OB hasn't tried to figure out position at all yet so I'm not sure that I know the difference in what I'm feeling since I have no frame of reference. The only time I've known for sure baby was breech was at my ultrasound. Back then I always felt very specific feelings down low, but now that baby is bigger it's not that simple anymore :)
 
#14 ·
So this ended up happening to me last night, from about midnight to somewhere between 3 and 4 am. I basically spent that whole time on my hands and knees because no other position was bearable. Baby had definitely shifted into a different position, I felt the shift after emptying my bladder and then this his instantly. This was the first time I had any type of even braxton hicks I could feel so it was interesting to me. At the end it was still there but I was able to get off of my hands and knees and sleep through the rest.
 
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