dr Vent grr!

Ive been having contractions NON stop for the last three days, every 5-20 min constant. Bad right? So I call yesterday... nurse checks with on call doc who also has her own twins, calls back and says come in if they get worse, start hurting or your bleeding... seriously? Cause when I called weeks ago they said to call if they were more frequent, closer, stronger etc... now they are and? Deal basically.
So again today they are still every 10 min all dam day, they are starting to turn crampy vs just the tightening which to me is *something* (mind you I have already done the tylonal, massive water and off my feet regime) so I call, my doctor calls back and says, come in only if they get worse or your bleeding. Im all for toughing it out, my labors are less than 4 hour from the time I get to L&D and every single time im 4cm+ by the time I realize this is the real deal, so for me to be calling thinking 'hmm' worries me.
Just so discouraged that as a patient I dont feel like my concerns are being taken seriously. Im always told, your hx doesnt include preterm labor and youve never had complications, so.... you will be fine.
I guess for me I would just feel better if they would say 'just to be safe..' go in, or lets bump up your scheduled appointment so we can check it out... I already have a reg. appointment scheduled tomorrow, otherwise I would have marched my sassy a** right in there tonight praying everything better be good, I mean really what if something WAS going on? I would have someones a**
I should know this, and I do, I called when I was (now looking back doing the math) in labor and probably 3cm at home hurting and the doc tells me, stay put unless your bleeding? Wow. I delivered 5 hours later. And Im pretty sure I (at least didnt notice) any bleeding until I was propped up for my epi at 7cm.
Im just pissy, i hope these contractions arent doing anything, and they probably arent but WHY ON EARTH am I getting the effing run around?
:headbang:

 

I am assuming your ticker is correct and you are around 18 weeks along with the twins. Many doctors will not intervene until the babies are considered viable which I believe is around 24 weeks. If this is the position your practice takes they should be telling you that instead of leaving you with the feeling you are getting the run a round. I would ask directly at your appointment. Best of luck and hopefully nothing is going on.

 

I think you should just go in and get checked out! Regardless of what your doc says you can always just go into L&D and tell them what's going on and have them check you out. My OB always told me I'd be better off just going in rather than calling if it was something that really bothered me and that wasn't going to be "solved" or "fixed" by a chat over the phone. The pp is right that they can't do much until viability, but if you are just contracting and nothing much else is happening then they can certainly keep an eye on it and give you something to ease it if your OB sees fit.

Anyhow, bottom line for me during my pregnancy was that I was the only person who was 100% in charge of me and my babies and so I didn't worry at all about being a nuisance. I didn't go in many times to L&D (I think 3?) but when I did it was because I felt I really needed to, and I felt better for having done it.

I say go in and get checked out and then you'll know what's going on for sure.

 

Sometimes I think I have a tendency to downplay my symptoms, like I'm weirdly ashamed that my body isn't doing what it's supposed to (keeping the babies in, in this case). So, if I were you, I'd call back and say I believe I'm in labor, I know what labor feels like and want to be checked out. Is it ok if I come down now? Of course if you do not need to call first, I'd just go to L&D to be checked out. I'd also be finding a doc in the practice who I like better than the one who was on-call.

Good luck!

 

I hate that you are going through this and if you really are concerned, go to the ER, bump what the doc says! But a previosly posted, and I know this frome personal exxperience, most doctores will not do anything to intervene. Hence the questions re:bleeding and such. It seems as if he's trying to get a gage on whether or not you're headed for trouble, but hasn't the bedside manner to do it. I remember contracting at 20 wks and going into the ER. They hooked up fetal monitors and such and once they realized I wasn't 24 wks, they acyually took the fetal monitors off, as if to see it doesn't matter. Bur your piece of mind does. So go find out if it's contractions, and if they are doing anything.
PS: Mine were caused by severe dehydration and i went home fine after a few bags of saline.

 

just go to the er and get checked out... if you are only 18 weeks then there is a strong chance your babies won't make it if you continue like this... they can put you on meds to help stop contractions and i would recommend even going on bedrest as much as possible to give your babies a chance at life... just seems like your doctor isn't very proactive at all and i would switch if she continues to push you aside.

 

I thought the same thing. I couldn't even go to L&D until I was 20 weeks. Anything before that would have been a trip to the ER. I know it sounds cold, but I believe the rationale is that you're not far enough along to do anything about it.

I hope your appointment went well today and that you got some answers. :grouphug:

 

I agree.


Also you need to be your own advocate and if you feel like you need to be seen you need to make it happen, not wait for them to tell you to come in. Only you know your body best.

I hope your appt went well today.

 

I know how you feel - except I have never had babies before so I just THINK I am having contractions all the time but have no way of knowing. Not that close together, however. Anyway, whenever I feel like something may be up I tend to tell my fiance who usually goes "Well do you want me to call them?" Which I usually say no to. I'm usually looking for his approval to go to the birthing center at the hospital just in case it is something important, because all my doctor is going to say is that if I feel like it's something important... go to the birthing center. lol. So when Ben says "Do you want me to call your doctor?" to me that usually feels like he doesn't think it warrants a trip to the hospital - and if he doesn't think it warrants a trip to the hospital I end up feeling upset, because I feel like he doesn't understand what I am going through and how hard it is to find peace of mind without the confirmation from a doctor who LITERALLY checks things out and says, no, you're fine.

Sometimes it's better to go into the hospital with a false alarm (maybe sometimes embarrassing if everything is hunky dory) but it's better to be safe than sorry, and peace of mind any way you can get it is better than putting extra stress on the babies by worrying and wondering. So, if you've been through labor especially, and this is what it feels like, I'd say go to the hospital and see if they can help or not. They won't admit you to your birthing center at this stage in your pregnancy, but you can go to the ER and they can check things out and take necessary steps if there are any to be taken.