PTL @ 26 weeks!

Well, I'm now joining the bedrest league. We spent the last 2 days in the hospital for PTL. I have to take procardia every 6 hrs and I HATE IT!!!! I'm so sensitive to it. It makes my whole body soar and gives headaches and just plain yucky all over! Kinda like a mild case of Mag Sulfate (had that last pregnancy ) I also got 2 rounds of the celestone steroid injections for their lungs just in case. I'm home now, but even with all the meds, I'm having the occational contraction, probably just BH. I'm just really worried! I'm only 26 weeks! Any suggestions, or experiences to share would be greatly appriciated. Losing my mind!
Mods, please link this to NICU forum as well please

 

I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this. I haven't been there but I know there are lots of people here who have. Hang in there!

 

I'm so sorry! Bedrest is tough. Just know that you can do it & you can still keep those babies cookin'.
Have you looked into sidelines.org? It's a great site for women on bedrest.
BTW, I was hospitalized for PTL at 27/28W & again at 31/32W, but made it to 36W5D. Hang in there.

 

I started bedrest at 26 weeks also. I ened up carring them to 36w3d - and could have gone further but I was just really uncomfortable. Drink LOTS of water. Relax - read- knit- watch TV- get lots of microwave meals - if you have a laptop hook it up near the sofa/bed so you can play on that.

Good luck. The next few weeks will be hard but you can do it!!

Angel

 

I went on bedrest at 25 weeks with the boys. I napped & watched alot of TV. I didn't have any kids back then so I was able to do nothing & not bother anybody. I also continued to have contrax the entire time, but still made it to 36 weeks.
It gets boring, but so worth it.

 

Unfortunately, the shortcutting feature is not an option on this new software.

Sorry to hear about the bedrest, did you see we now have a new bedrest subforum? Are you experiencing cervical changes as a result of the contractions? Do you know your measurements? My PTL issues weren't noticed until 29 weeks but I was under 2cm in length, 80% effaced, 2cm dilated, funneling with a bulging bag. I was in the hospital for a couple weeks until they realized that the meds and bedrest were working and nothing was changing. I was home on bedrest, taking Nifedipine, for an additional 5 weeks until my water broke at 36 weeks. Everyone was healthy, no NICU at all.

Follow the docs orders to a T and listen to your body if you feel anything is not right call your doc! Most of all, don't lose faith!! You can do it!

 

I went on bedrest at around 24 weeks for contrax that were 2 min. apart (now I'm 32 weeks). Since then, I am on Procardia 4 x's per day, as well. I have had to go the hosptial 4 times since my original bout with contrax. The last time (this past Thurs.), 2 min. contrax were found by NST. I was in the hosptial for about 8 hours. When my dr. came in, he said, "what do you think we should do?" Granted my contrax had slowed down considerably by this time, we had confirmed that my cervix wasn't changing, and I had a negative ffn ...I said this is nothing out of the ordinary for me and he let me go. Every specialist says to me that I just contract alot because of twins. My whole point here is, as long as your cervix isn't changing, it can be normal to contract lots and there's nothing wrong. So, TRY not to worry too much. On the other hand, if things feel like they are changing, don't take a chance and go straight to the hosptial! HTH

 

Hi there! I'm also at home on bedrest for PTL, but I'm a little farther along. Join us up top in the bedrest subforum if you'd like, too. I just keep looking at the encouraging stories and hope that I can hang onto these kids for awhile longer. I think it's mostly my body can't handle 10 pounds of baby in my uterus; I figure I'll be contacting the rest of the time.

Good luck, keep your spirits up as best you can!

Erica

 

I was hospitalized at 27 weeks due to PTL. They had me on a lot of meds in the hospital to stop the contractions. After 5 days they finally sent me home on 20mg of Procardia 4x per day. The procardia makes me really lethargic and lightheaded, but it is way better than the terb. Did you have any cervical changes? I didn't and I did really well at home on the meds until this past Thursday when I had to go to L&D for really painful contrax that were about 4 min apart. They ended up sending me home and upping the procardia again. Thankfully they said this is the last time they are going to try and aggresively stop my labor. I know it sucks but once you get into a routine at home it's not that bad. Just start watching new shows that you didn't have time to watch before and that way you always have something to look forward to at night. During the day I just make a little schedule for myself so I feel like I have stuff to do. Read, then a soap, then lunch,read, then another show, then I take a shower (since I am allowed to do that), you get what I mean. It makes the time go by faster until DH gets home. Hang in there you and those babies will be just fine. I think bed rest is good practice so that when the babies come we won't feel cooped up in the house, you're already used to it. Oh I also got the steroid shots which gave me a little peace of mind.

 

I went on bedrest at 28 weeks, and delivered at 37! You can do this!! :hug99:

 

I ended up in the hospital on bedrest at exactly 26 weeks...and I'm still here. My cervix has shortened, funneled and dilated so I'm stuck. They haven't given me the procardia, I'm on the terb pump and have had two rounds of mag. And I got a positive fFn at 28 weeks.

As long as you stay busy, the time does go by. There's a post on the bedrest subforum with suggestions on what to do while on bedrest.

I would encourage you to really do exactly what your doctor says. Get specific guidelines as to what you can and can't do and really try hard to stick to it. Bedrest means different things to different moms. Before bedrest I was put on "restricted activity" but I did WAY more then I should have - so here I am. Do whatever you have to in order to stay home on bedrest because I think being in the hospital absolutely and totally sucks!

 

You're not alone! I ended up in the hospital for inc. cervix at 20.5 weeks, had an emergency cerclage and was put on terbutaline for contractions/uterine irritability. I was sent home a week later with a terb. pump. They tried procardia during my hospital stay and my blood pressure dropped to something ridiculous like 70 over 40. The pump and bed rest have been working okay until last week when I had to be maxed out on the pump dosage. My next step if the contrax continue is the hospital for a mag wash (which I am totally dreading). I was on bed rest in the hospital briefly and have been on home bed rest for 5 weeks (7 more to go). Both have their pros and cons. At home I try to get away with a (very) little more than when I was at the hospital. I prefer the home environment but I felt so much safer at the hospital. I liked being able to have an update on the babies more often and I knew if something went wrong I was in the best place. It's also much easier to bug a nurse than your husband. I digress but the point is, bed rest whether in home or not is totally doable. I sshedule most of my day around TLC and Discovery Health Channel shows with the occasional crossword puzzle and twin books. I think I know pretty much everything there is to know about pregnancy and twin preparation. Of course I'm aware that it will all go out the window when they actually get here! No, it hasn't been much fun and yes, I've cried myself to sleep a few times, but I just mark off each day that goes by and try my best to remember that for every two days they're in the womb replaces one day of NICU stay for the babies. I think the most important thing to do is try not to be hard on yourself. I have days where I feel guilty for something being "wrong" with my body and I even have days where I want to just say forget it when I get to a milestone date, which makes me feel really guilty. But you just have to remember that those feelings are normal and not to beat yourself up about it. You're only human. Take care and just take things one hour at a time. We'll make it! Good luck to you.

 

I'm so sorry you're going thru this!

I was hospitalized at 24 weeks with horrible contractions. They treated me with 40+ hours of mag sulfate, and discharged me on a super low dose of terb via pump (which serves essentially the same purpose as the procardia). When it happened, I was soooo depressed - I thought i'd never make it another day. And yet, here I am at 30 weeks today, not on bedrest, and expected to last several more weeks (fingers crossed!). You're going to be fine - try to stay positive! (although I know from experience how tough that is). Maybe the doc would consider another med in lieu of the procradia (like terb?) if it is making you feel bad.

Oh, and FYI - the terb side effects lasted only a few days, and now i can almost forget I'm even on it. I do still have BH ctx (0-4 per hour, my max allowed is 5 per hour) which the doc says is very normal when you have multiples - there's no need to wipe them out entirely!