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PTL - Spent the night in the hospital

755 views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  mamacatsbaby 
#1 ·
Yesterday, out of the blue, I started bleeding & having some slight cramping. I totally freaked out, since dh was across the country for work. Called my OB, they said to go to the hospital. Luckily, our parents were able to help out a lot. To make a long story short, I was dilated 3cm when they checked me & having mild, but regulare contractions. (I am just 32 weeks.) They put me on Terbutaline for the night. I have low blood pressure anyway & my BP dropped alarmingly low, but picked up a bit later. The Terbutaline did stop the cx. The next day they gave me a steroid shot to help mature the baby's lungs and we did an ultrsound. All looked well. She is measuring at 4.12 pounds. They released me on modified bedrest. Oh, and dh flew home today. Pheww!

What a stressfull 24 hours I have had. Thanks for reading. Any positive vibes much appreciated. Oh and any tips to survive PTL and bedrest very much appreciated and needed.Hope everyone else is doing well.
 
#4 ·
I was on modified activity level with my second, but not true bedrest. I know there are other women here who are on bedrest who might have a tribe or would be willing to join one, and I think there is a website called sidelines (?) for women on bedrest. I hope all works out for you, and you can keep this little one in there!
 
#5 ·
i feel ya, mama. i know it's scary, but at 32 weeks the chances of a good outcome for your babe is good, especially since you've had the steroid shots.

if you think you might go into ptl again, i recommend you read dr. sears' the premature baby book. i refused to believe that i would have a preemie the first time i went to the hosp, but luckily i decided to check this book out while i was on bedrest and read the first few chapters before my baby was born. it helped a lot with what to expect and made a scary situation just a little more understandable. my dh read the first few chapters while i was in labor and it helped him a lot, too.

is your dh going to be able to stay in town until the babe comes? and do you have friends/relatives that can switch off with helping you out? definately get as much help as you can, cause then if you do have the baby early you won't have to worry if things would have been different if you had only spent less time doing xyz when you were supposed to be on bedrest.


hope your babe stays in for at least five more weeks! if i can answer any questions about having a kid in the nicu, let me know. i'm a regular expert these days!
 
#6 ·
oh Max, im so sorry to hear this! You must have been very scared! But its good that you are back home.
Im no expert like some mamas here, I mean this bedrest thing is still new to me too but I can only say-DO take it seriously and take it easy. The greatest part is that we are so so close now and every day the babies stay in makes a difference!
Imagine how those mamas must feel that get put on bedrest at,say,20 weeks!
At least we are closer to being done.
And i know youve already done some good shopping :)
so hopefully you can get the rest of the stuff done online...
Take care of yourself-now is the time to let the house get a little dirty and not to stress over those small things.
 
#7 ·
I finished a 4.5 day stint in-patient for 29.5W PTL about two weeks ago (regular contractions, fully effaced, 2-3 cm - no other issues), and am back home on modified bedrest too. It does make you batty! No matter what anyone says about getting to relax and catch up on sleep, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I try my hardest to stick to a schedule and not actually stay IN my bed except at night and an hour long nap in the afternoon.

We were on Mag Sulfate for 48 hours, and then tried a dose of Procardia. Like your reaction to the Terb, my normal BP (120/60) plummeted (70/30) and I was lightheaded and dizzy. Just a head's up if you should happen to admit again and they change medication.

All I take now is a weekly natural progesterone injection and my contractions are popping up at the rate of 10-12 per day. Not shocking with twins though.
It's the most "friendly" medicine I found for PTL, and our doctor believes highly in it's success rate.

Our NICU has a 99% intact survival rate at 32W. I know no one wants to have a premature baby, but you are at a point where odds are really great! Try not to be too stressed, that can contribute just as much to another outbreak.

If you want to chat feel free to PM me. Hang in there!
 
#10 ·
Any movies you have been just dying to watch? Time to load up on all the books and movies you have never had time for. Plus maybe a new hobby-I could not imagine bedrest right now. I have had a hard time just getting the extra downtime in to keep my bp down and that only requires about 3 hrs a day off my feet. Good luck to you-tell that babe to stay put for another month!


gretchen
 
#11 ·
on the trauma that must have been!

I got a book on bedrest because all my docs kept telling me I would be on it sooner rather than later and The books, magazines and movies are in there as well as crafts (I learned to knit), talking on the phone or having close friends over, preparing for baby and volunteering to do phone calls for an organization you support.

Good luck and stay in there, baby!
 
#12 ·
Oh no, hugs to you mama!! I was on bedrest from 29 weeks on with DD#1, so I sympathize with you!! Read, read, and read!!
granted, I didn't have any other children either.
Is someone else watching the kids for you??
 
#13 ·
Thank you all for the kind replies and support. Dh and I are just taking this one day at a time right now. We do have our parents to help some and our friends have all ben a real help. In fact, whenever I think about how sweet people are being I start crying. I am extremely independednt, so it is very hard for me to ask for & accept help. But this is one of those situations where there is no other choice.

Because I am on "modified" bedrest, which basically means about 2 hours rest in the am, 2 hours in the pm, then only light activity in between, I can still do a lot of the childcare. And the older two are in preschool & kindergarten, so I only have the 2 year old all day and the others part day.

I am trying hard to take it as easy as I can. Thank you all again. It really means a lot to me to read your posts.
 
#14 ·
I am on modified bedrest since 28 weeks (3 hours AM/ 3 hours PM).

Is the premature baby book scary? Everytime I look up premature babies online, I end up crying. I have been occupying my time with law school (which I am doing from home, but anything intellectual will do - volunteer work is a good idea). That pretty much takes up my time.

Anyway, I just wanted to give my support. I know how hard it is because I am soooo sick of it.

Allie
 
#15 ·
I think the Premature Baby Book has the potential to be scary, if you are reading info on micropreemies, but overall I didn't find it at all disturbing. It was so helpful when i was in an absolute daze of sleepless pumping and worrying. It helped make our NICU experience easier to understand and more bearable.
 
#16 ·
At this far along for most of us, the Premature Baby Book isn't that scary anymore. Sure, there are never guarantees that a baby won't have problems, but at this late in the game the odds are highly in favor of healty kids with no long term issues. I was most impressed reading about all the different equipment... it's not daunting when you know what it all is and the job it performs.

Also, I would really suggest to anyone having PTL to visit your NICU ahead of time. I thought when we went at 26W that I wouldn't handle it well, but it really gave me a great deal of hope. Seeing the tiny fighters in there made me want to fight harder for our girls. Each baby we saw on our visit was perfect... just too tiny to make it on their own yet. One of the nurses told me to look at the NICU as a womb with a view instead of a horrible experience the girls will endure.
 
#19 ·
Hi all. Just wanted to share that I had a very positive doctor's appointment today. I am still at 3cm, but the baby's head isn't pushing on the cervix as hard as it was. No more bleeding & the terb. is taking care of the cx. I had my second steroid injection and the NST came back fine. So, all in all it seems things are going as well as can be. I will stay on modified bedrest for the time being. I am 33 weeks tomorrow - one more week closer!

Thanks again everyone. You have been a big help.
 
#21 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by busybusymomma
So glad baby is cooperating and staying put. Keep us posted!



Sounds like encouraging news Max. More hugs
and hang in there mama!
 
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