Too many Braxton-Hicks???

[megumic]

Hi ladies...looking for some guidance on B-H at 29 weeks. Yesterday was having about 10/hour and called Dr. Ended up in L+D for monitoring and received an injection of Brethine (Terbutaline) to calm down my uterus and contractions. Also did an FFN (fetal fibronectin) test and it came back negative (thank goodness) and cervix was closed and thick so likely just an "irritable uterus." I was sent home with bed rest instructions for the day.

Seems the B-H are back at a clip of 7+/hour. How many are too many? Should I call my Dr again? Should I expect this for the rest of my pregnancy? Any experience with persistent, consistent B-H?? TIA - trying not to panic!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Meg - I don't know that I ever had any BH contractions! Well, maybe a handful throughout the entire pregnancy. So interesting how pregnancies are all so different. I was advised to drink a lot of water, but it sounds like you are past that point. I would call your doctor. I was always of the mindset to call when I had any questions. And, they never minded, or at least, they didn't seem to, lol.

I know that it is comforting to talk to others who have gone through similar experiences, and I'm sure others with more relevant experience will post, but still, I would totally call, even if everyone posts and says -- oh, totally normal.

 

[Puppmom]

Meg, I'm sorry you had a L&D scare. I had BH starting at about 27 weeks and they were pretty much all day every day up until I delivered. I kept a log and there were often times when I had just as many as you're describing. I ended up in L&D once and they could see I was contracting on the monitor but they were confident that it wasn't labor. I don't remember what exactly made them sure it wasn't labor.

I would absolutely call your doc about the fact that the contrax are back. At least they can tell you when to worry, KWIM? If I followed the basic guidelines of calling when there were more than 4-6 in an hour, I would seriously have been calling them every day. So, my doc gave me some other things to look out for. I don't remember everything but I know she said to call if I had 8-10 an hour for more than 2 hours that I wasn't able to stop or slow down if I rested. Regular contractions - as in a specific number of minutes apart for a set amount of time - also required a call. She also told me to contact them if I had any back pain with the contractions and any decrease in movement. Last, she said blood=ER right away.

I have to admit, contracting for the last 12 weeks of my pregnancy was stressful. Once I got into the *safe* zone when I felt like delivering would not be the end of the world, my anxiety lifted somewhat. One of my big worries was that I wouldn't know when actual labor started - let's just say that was not a problem!

In the end, all of those BH contractions paid off because I was only in labor for 4 hours with DS (and 4-5cm dilated BEFORE I was even in *labor*). The running joke at work though was that I was in labor for 3 months! I don't want to make light of your contractions or discourage you to take action - DEFINITELY call if something worries you. I just wanted you to know that I've been there because I know how frustrating and stressful in can be.

ETA - I crossposted with LV but definitely drink water. I drank at least 100 ounces per day and that did help. Once the contrax started, it was hard to slow them so prevention seemed to work better. I don't know where you live but it is HOT here so make sure you stay hydrated.

 

[Kunzite]

Your situation is very similar to mine. I was 26 weeks when I went to triage with contractions every 4 minutes, shot of Terbutaline, and negative fFN. Did your contractions stop before you went home? The Peri explained it to me that most likely all pregnant women have these contractions, some just don't know that they're having them. They judge whether to be worried by whether the contractions are having any effect on your cervix. At that point I was already having a cervical length check every two weeks so we could catch any changes. My point is that you should let your doctor know that they are continuing in case they want to monitor you more closely just in case. It's easier to take precautions against preterm labor than it is to stop it once it starts. Since my contractions never stopped they also put me on Nifedipine to try to keep away any preterm labor. Even with all of my monitoring my OB wants me to do like LV and Pupp mentioned, more than 6 BH in one hour and I have to drink a giant glass of water, lay on my left side, and monitor for another hour. If I have more than 6 again they want me to call. HTH!

 

[megumic]

Thanks so much ladies for all of the reassurance. I did end up calling again this morning and the Dr said that as long as they don't progress or get worse and there are no other symptoms of preterm labor, that this could just be the new norm.

LV thanks so much for your input! Yeah calling again was worth it just to make sure there wasnt another concern about preterm labor.

Pupp, yeah I've found just contracting for the past 20 hours has been exhausting. Every little thing makes me want to feel what is going on and I just get worried that if I don't keep track that they'll progress and I won't know. The good news is baby is moving plenty so that is reassuring that things are okay. Your running joke made me crack up -- I hope these go away in a few days but I might be in the same boat! I drink TONS of water as it is, but have been upping my water since it is getting hot here in NJ.

Kunzite, thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, my cervix was in good shape and that is a huge reassurance as well. I will def keep the Dr posted so they can keep an eye on the situation. My next appt is in two weeks so will kind of hang on and keep track myself until then. It's a lot of work to worry about this babe all the time and keep track of what's going on with my body!

If I keep getting BH for the next 10 weeks I had better have an easy labor!!!

 

[Puppmom]

Kunzite, I wonder if my BH had nothing to do with my early cervical progression. By early, I mean at 35 weeks and a few days I was 2-3cm dilated. I didn't deliver until 38w4d but, at my cervical check that day, I was 4-5cm dilated. I always assumed that the early contrax helped push things along but maybe it was just coincidence. BTW - congrats on making is so far with the twinkies! You must be relieved.

Meg, I hope your contrax stop too. Sometimes they made me cry. Looking back, it was silly because they didn't hurt. I would just be so tired and want to rest but couldn't.

 

[Skippy123]

Personally if you feel like you are having more than 4 in an hour? I rather be safe than sorry and be checked out. I started having BH at 20 weeks and my twins came almost 10 weeks early (30w4). Now that I gave birth early and know all the NICU time involved I push other moms to be checked out!!! I hope yours stop or you get in soon!

 

[mayerling]

I've been having BH since week 20. On some days I could have as many as 30 a day if not more. Since about week 30 they've gone down so some days I might only get about 10.

I told my midwife in the UK and she wasn't concerned. She said they're normal and didn't do anything about it. But a couple of weeks ago when I came home to prepare for the delivery and I went to register at the hospital, they saw my file from the UK and were concerned about the BH. So along with the ultrasound they scheduled for me, they also arranged to measure the length of my cervix - I suppose they're worried I might deliver early. Anyway, the scan and cervix measurement are taking place today so I can't say more about this right now, but given how relaxed people in the UK were about BH, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[mayachel]

Meg, glad to hear you went to get checked out when you were concerned about what was going on with your uterus and that the baby and you are doing well besides your restless body. The biggest difference between BH and labor contractions is whether or not they are causing cervical change. It is great that yours are not. I am very concerned however by your doctor's choice to administer Terbutaline given that last year, it was directed to be discontinued immediately for use in pregnancy. You can see the warning on PubMed here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000593/

I had lots and lots of bh during my pregnancy, starting early on too. My mw was big on reminding me to stay hydrated. I thought I was doing an adequate job, but truth be told when I did up my intake, they did calm down. I tried to take it as a cue from my body when I was maybe overdoing it. Walking too fast, carrying something too heavy, not eating or drinking enough. Rest as best you can, put your hands over your lower abdomen and take some deep breaths and focus in on relaxing the area. Definitely listen to whatever advice they've given you in terms of when to call, but it sounds like the "other signs of labor" may be more useful to you as a guide. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but typically women are given as a guide: Bloody show, persistant low back pain, all over cramping, sharp shooting pain, blurry vision, leaking of fluid, and of course, the mother's sense that something "isn't right".

 

[Kunzite]

mayachel - I don't disagree with you about Terbutaline and I was really upset that my doctor advised it without talking to me about the risks. However, the main warning is that it shouldn't be used for over 24-48 hours as a constant tocolytic in pill form. The warnings state it may be used at a providers discretion in emergency situations. I know, like Skippy said, my opinion is certainly colored by going through the NICU experience and I trusted my OB to do what was best to prevent a repeat of that (only worse at 26 weeks). So sure, Meg's experience might not have called for it, but some might.

 

[mayachel]

Kunzite, it makes perfect sense that your experience, with your doctor(s) would color your view on it. I think that it is true for all of us, whatever our personal path is or was. I have a relative at the moment who is on hospital bed rest for preterm, rupture of membranes (her water broke way too early) and we were discussing this concept of personal experience and how it colors us today. There is certainly a place for it in the conversation. As well as drawing back to the idea of sharing of information. I can not begin to know the situation under which it was decided that it was appropriate in your or Meg's scenario, but I do hear you saying you wish your doctor had discussed the risks with you, and I am concerned that they didn't. My biased opinion is that my health is something I need to be an informed advocate over and it is a partnership relationship I have with my care providers. I chose my care provider based on a certain willingness to trust their training and expertise, and have known a number of people in all sorts of health care relationships who at some point or another felt that maybe they weren't getting the full information they should have. Considering that the use of terbutaline is now the exception to the rule, I'd want to be clear with my provider as to why they thought I was an exception to standard practice.

 

[Kunzite]

I actually agree with you fully. I just wanted to clear up the statement that it should never be used in pregnancy.

 

[megumic]

Thanks ladies for the discussion. I did discuss its with my dr before the injection was administered and we discussed that it isn't a long term solution, but a one time effort to calm down the uterus. We discussed the possible risks and associated side effects in advance as well. Without having googled it, I trusted my dr and felt comfortable with his advice. Having done some research of terbutaline after the fact, I still feel comfortable with the once administered dose. It seems the FDA is mostly concerned with prolonged usage and usage outside of a hospital setting - neither of which were my scenario.

While I'm not sure it was 100% necessary to administer the drug, I will say that my BH did not seem to respond to the drug, or if they did, then the BH would have gotten worse without it as I continued to have 15-20 BH even the next morning.

In any event, the BH have calmed to a normal rate and I am feeling back to normal for now. Thank goodness!

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and input. I helps to have others to bounce the things off of!