Pre Term Labor

Well I went to the doctor today to check on my "signs" of preeclampsia. While I was there I told the doctor about the tightness I've been feeling in my stomach lately, thinking it was braxton hicks contractions. I wound up on the monitor for two hours and was having regular, consistent contractions! I am only 31 weeks and the doctor was obviously concerned. Seems I am in pre term labor He gave me a shot of terbutaline and I am now taking this in pill form every four hours. I am going to have my cervix checked tomorrow and will go back on the NST monitor on Friday. Has anyone been through this? I am so worried because I am also dealing with early signs of preeclampsia.

Has anyone taken terbutaline before? The baby is going CRAZY tonight, moving and kicking everywhere. Is the medicine affecting him/her? Should I be concerned?

Re: Pre Term Labor

I have no advice just wanted to give you a !

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I also took the terbutaline for preterm labor. I had three shots every 20 minutes in the hospital and then I was given the pills. This medicine makes you VERY shaky. I was actually shaking from head to toe and couldn't control it! It did work to stop my labor for 1 week, I was 34 weeks. My water broke exactly 1 week later! I would take it easy and relax.
Did the doctor give you a shot of steroids to help develop the baby's lungs? If not you may want to ask about this. I did not get this but some say it helps.

Try not to worry, I had a very healthy baby boy who is doing great 10 weeks later.

Re: Pre Term Labor

Posted by babyonthebrain17

I also took the terbutaline for preterm labor. I had three shots every 20 minutes in the hospital and then I was given the pills. This medicine makes you VERY shaky. I was actually shaking from head to toe and couldn't control it! It did work to stop my labor for 1 week, I was 34 weeks. My water broke exactly 1 week later! I would take it easy and relax.
Did the doctor give you a shot of steroids to help develop the baby's lungs? If not you may want to ask about this. I did not get this but some say it helps.

Try not to worry, I had a very healthy baby boy who is doing great 10 weeks later.

Re: Pre Term Labor

Hang in there!
I had a pre-term labor scare at 32 wks. Turns out I was about 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced (even though I wasnt feeling any contractions). I immediately got steriods for the baby's lungs and took some meds to stop pre-term labor for about a week. After a week I was discharged from the hospital and put on modified bed-rest. I delivered DS at 38 wks.
My son's godmother water broke at 31 wks and they were able to keep her in the hospital w/o delivering for about 2 weeks.
If your dr thinks you might have the baby early, I am sure they will give you the steriods for the lungs. It is 2 doses in 48 hrs.

GOOD LUCK

Re: Pre Term Labor

the same thing happen to a friend of mine and she was put on bedrest. i can't remember the name of the med she was taking. But seriously take it easy

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Bumping for the morning crew

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Re: Pre Term Labor

I haven't no advise, just wanted to send some

Re: Pre Term Labor

Posted by Smalls72

I haven't no advise, just wanted to send some

Re: Pre Term Labor

do you know yet if you're dilated or effaced?

i had irregular but very frequent (every 2-5 minutes) contractions starting from about 25 weeks. i was put on terbutaline and nifedipine, and nothing helped. i had steroids to mature the baby's lungs at 29 weeks, and then was put on bedrest until 36 weeks.

thing is, i was never dilated or effaced throughout the whole experience, so in the end they chalked it up to "irritable uterus". i ended up giving birth at 39 weeks, 4 days.

about the terb, don't worry, it might make you a little miserable, but it won't hurt the baby

Re: Pre Term Labor

I also went into early labor at 34 weeks and they gave me terbutaline to stop the contractions (first in shots and then in pill form). They told me just to take it for a week because then I'd be full term. Before I even got the first shot, the nurses in L&D assured me there was no risk to the baby. It made me VERY shaky and I hated the way it made me feel. My water broke exactly 1 week before my due date.

's for you and that everything will be fine


This was my original post from when it happened:

Posted by Little-J-Mommy

I'll start by saying I'm 34 weeks preggo.

So I ended up in the L&D section of the hospital yesterday (Saturday) around 8:30am. I was having cramping (which I thought was gas but turned out to be contractions) and brown staining (which totally freaked me out but turned out to be part of my mucus plug...TMI, I know). I also felt like there was a decrease in baby movement. Scariest moment of my life when they hooked up the baby heart monitor....thank God his little heart was beating like a champ. They said it was brought on by dehydration...so they hooked me up to an IV and gave me a bunch of fluids. They told me I was contracting but didn't really feel them. 3 hrs later they sent me home. I napped, drank lots of water and had dinner.

By 11pm that same night, I was feeling strong contractions in my lower back. Freaking out, I again called the OB and she sent me back to L&D. They gave me another IV and when they didn't go away, they gave me 2 shots of Terbutaline to stop them and sent me home with a script to take it orally for another week.

So.....my questions are....has anyone else had this happen? Do you ever stop feeling jittery on these meds? Since yesterday AM, I still am having brown staining (parts of mucus plug) coming out....when does that stop? I'm so afraid my little guy is going to come too early!!

I know I had more questions when I started typing this......but I guess I'll add them as I remember them

Re: Pre Term Labor

I was on terbutaline (pill form) for a month and had the shots during a few trips to L&D to stop contractions. I had to take the pill form every 4 hours until I reached term. It definitely helped my "irritable uterus" and prevented my contractions from becoming regular. The baby does go crazy on terb because it increases the baby's heart rate every time you take the pills. Once, my baby's heart rate went up to 200 bpm! It totally freaked me out. However, it's presecribed because the benefit of the drug outweighs the risk to the baby.

I tried stopping the pills after my first week on them, but then my contractions returned and I was put back on the meds. The good news is that DS is okay and was born a few days after I was done with the pills all together!

Good luck with terbutaline!

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Re: Pre Term Labor

I had preterm contractions starting very early - 23 wks. At 30 weeks I was in the hospital for 4 days, and then again at 35 weeks - and although I was having regular and sometime strong contractions, I was never dilated. After the first hosp stay I was put on procardia every 6 hrs. The second time the procardia wasn't working so I got shots of terb, but my dr didnt send me home on it because it can cause cardiac issues, so he increased the procardia to every 4 hrs. I had a c-sec scheduled for 37w5d (with an amnio first to check for lung maturity). They day I went in for the c-sec the contractions started again - but still I wasn't dilated at all! So although I had preterm contractions, I was never considered to be in preterm labor. I was put on bedrest after the first hospital stay and got the steroid shots. My babies were born 100% healthy.