Pre-term Labor (PTL) at 24 weeks

According to the March of Dimes web site, preterm labor happens in 1 out of 8 births. Women who are carrying multiples are at higher risk for PTL than other women. Symptoms include contractions less than ten minutes apart (or 6-7 in an hour), low back pain, cramping, among other things.

Today I am experiencing some symptoms of PTL. This is not a good feeling. This is the background:

Sunday morning, I noticed I had three Braxton Hicks (BH) contractions (Cx) in an hour, and I was just sitting at the table enjoying some banana bread, decaf coffee and the newspaper. I maybe had one an hour, at most, the rest of the day. Probably less.

This morning, I had about five in an hour. Then I sat at the desk and didn't get any for over an hour. Then I got two in quick succession, and my low back started aching a little. Since I was tired I went back to bed. I had drunk about 32 ounces of water by this point, so I wasn't dehydrated and wasn't working hard on something.

After my 2-1/2 hour nap, I got up. While I was standing in the closet getting dressed, I got a BH. When I squatted to get something out of a bottom drawer, I felt a twinge in the area of my cervix. When I went to make lunch, I noticed I got them nearly every time I stood up. And when I went to the bathroom, (sorry, TMI) it went from at first very hard to soft. So I was worried that maybe I was heading into the diarrhea range later... which would be a third symptom of PTL. But I did make black beans and rice for dinner last night which could also account for that, lol.

So I am on my own enforced couch rest. Which sucks because I had a few things I really wanted to do today. But I am worried, and monitoring my Cx on the PC. They've gone from 17 mins, to 23 mins and now 35 mins apart. I called and left a message for the OB nurse. Just to talk it over with someone. I wonder why they are hitting me so hard today?

Although Tim and I try to remain positive about this pregnancy, we HAVE lost our innocence. We know that just because you are pregnant, does not mean you get to take home a baby (or two). If I go into full blown early labor, the babies today, at 24 weeks, have a 50% chance or so for survival. But they will definitely have developmental issues and physical issues like possible hearing loss or blindness to contend with.

Not one woman I know who has suffered a loss feels full blown excitement about being pregnant again. Not one. I am related to two other women who are also currently expecting (we are all due within months of each other) after a loss. I can guess that they, too, are not 100% sure they will have a baby to bring home, no matter how far along they get. This is our reality; we don't expect you to understand it, but we do hope you will respect our feelings in this regard.

So now my Cx are 16 minutes apart again...

I will update the blog later to keep you all posted. When I was worried, I took a peak outside the front window and saw some light flurries falling, which was not in the forecast today. And I knew it was Thomas reassuring me that all would be well. He is such a good boy.

Oh, here is my belly picture I took last week at 23 weeks: