Another trip to L&D

So I had ANOTHER L&D scare, last night. I was at my parent's house last night, and I was standing for awhile...I gave my mom and sister haircuts. I went home at around 1am, and noticed I was having pretty frequent contractions. (Not painful, they just felt like BH) so at 2am, I bagan timing them. They were 6 mins. apart, so I called L&D. They told me to come in, so they could moniter me. Sure enough, I was right. They were 5-6 mins apart. They gave me Nifedipine, and it stopped them. The nurse checked my cervix, and it is softened, and 20% effaced. (Is that bad??? That scared me ) Then around 6am, my doctor showed up, and told me that he's prescribing me Nifedipine, to stop contractions when I'm at home. They also gave me a shot in my hip, of Betamethasone. I have to go to my doctor's office in the morning for another one. He said this will help the baby's lungs develop, in case I give birth within the next few weeks. I finally got to leave at 9am.
I'm seriously freaking out. I don't want my babies to come out yet, I'm soo scared. If they come before 34 weeks, they have to be kept in Sacramento, in the NICU, which is about an hour away from me. I'm 28w3days.
Has anyone else had their cervix change this early on? And also, this might sound stupid, but will the steroid shots do anything to ME? ...like grow facial hair? haha...I was just wondering..

 

I'm sorry I don't have any experience on cervix changes, but the success of babies born this early isn't too bad. The drive would be hard, but you'd probably want to be at the hospital a lot anyway. Good luck and keep us updated! BTW, I love the names you have for the boys!

 

Thank you! I'm just so scared, I want my babies to be healthy, since nothing else seems to go right in my life anymore..I'm really worried!

 

I'm sure it will be fine! The docs are on top of things and know what they are doing. I've learned that you just have to trust them to do their jobs and know that all that time in med school had to teach them something! Have they talked about bedrest at all? I'm sure that is coming soon. I haven't had many complications, but I was told that I should anticipate bedrest before 30 weeks. That's fine with me!

 

My cervix changed really early (16 weeks) and I had a cerclage. Did they put you on any sort of bedrest? The Nifedepine, along with as much bedrest as you can do, should help. Not sitting, laying down. Sitting puts just as much pressure on your cervix as standing.

 

Sounds like your dr. is taking all the necessary precautions. I was 1 cm dilated at 27 weeks and put on bed rest. I spent most of weeks 30-34 on hospital bedrest and mag right at the end. Just take it very easy and stay rested. Your drs are doing all that they can. At least you got to go home

The steriod shots (other than hurting when they go in) won't have any weird side effects...only good ones of helping lung maturity for the babes!

 

try to drink lots of water and lay down as much as you can. I had very frequent ctx..stronger than most women describe bh ctx...and I made it to 37wks 5days...20% effaced isn't too bad... it doesn't necessarily mean you are going to give birth soon.

 

This is very close to what happened to me, although I was 80% effaced. I did exactly as the doc ordered, complete strict bedrest and took my meds, and I was able to hang on until 36 weeks and no NICU time. It is possible! If your doc has not given you any instructions in regards to activity then I would ask when you go in for the shot this morning. I did not notice any side effects of the steroids.

 

Try and relax. I went through the same thing at 28 weeks and carried mine to 37 weeks, scheduled an induction spent 13 hours in labor and they still wouldn't come out and I had a c/s with no NICU time. 20% effaced is not that much and depends on who's checking you. It is good that you are getting the steroid shots just in case. I was on Procardia (Niphedapine) from 28 weeks to 35 weeks and I don't really know if it even slowed the contractions down, I still had a lot every day. I know anytime I spent a lot of time on my feet I would have a rough night. Try and limit your activity and spend as much time laying on your sides as you can and drink lots of water. Listen to what your doctor tells you to do and you should be fine. Hang in there and don't stress. :hug99:

 

Thanks sooo much! Well my doctor told me no grocery shopping, washing dishes, cooking, etc...so I took that as modified bedrest. I'll ask him specifically when I go in in a little while. Even if he still tells me modified bedrest, I think I'll go ahead and put myself on complete bedrest. It's really nice to hear about how you ladies kept your babies in for so long, even when your cervix changed so early! Now I know I have a chance

 

I had the steroid shots at 24w6d and they did nothing to ME. But i strongly believe they were good for my babies, who were born at 34w1d and had absolutely NO trouble breathing on their own from the start.