scared. preterm labor, er overnight, uti, still bleeding??

Hey ladies. New to this forum...not new to the site though.

We found out last mo (16 weeks) our 4th baby, due august 2nd is a little boy. Everything seemed to be going great until last weekend when i started having what i thought were painful Braxton Hicks. They were close together (2 to 6 min apart) but since they were irregular and mostly in the pelvic area, i thought it was okay. 4th babies are supposed to be less comfortable, right? They subsided overnight Saturday, but started in again late Sunday night. Same kind, but closer together. Ok, now im worried. Esp considering the mass amounts of water i consumed the past 24hrs, the laying around i did most of the day, etc. however, i told my normally anxious/worry prone self to sleep, that i probably needed that most. Wrong. I awoke at 2:50 am with painful, full uterine contractions exactly 3 min apart. Luckily, our hospital is only a 2 minute drive.

They immediately sent me to l&d, at only 20 weeks it's an extremely dangerous situation. After a 7 hour stay, 2 kinds of antibiotic, fluids, and finally a med that stopped the contractions (temporarily, they came back for awhile as soon as it wore off), they sent me home with (thank you God) a still thick, closed cervix, a diagnosis of possible bladder and/or uti (it never burns when i pee??) And a rx for another antibiotic.

That was 2 days ago. I've been on as much bed rest as having an active 3 year old allows, drinking plenty, eating well, sleeping when hubby is home. I'm still bleeding, and more heavily than i was when i went into the hospital with a few small clots here and there. The pain is so bad that i, as a self described pain tolerant person, am surviving on extra strength Tylenol...and still in pain when i do so much as shower or make lunch. Even sitting hurts. I'm going back to the doctor today.to discuss all of the above and to request a check for bv as I've noticed (tmi, sorry) my cm has a weird smell to it, buy i was wondering if anyone has experienced any of this. I feel like we had a close call...but i also worry there's more than a bladder infection going on since the bleeding was never explained and that and the pain are getting worse...

Wow, what a lot to have to go through over the past few days. Hopefully your dr will have some more answers for you.

I did have similar pains (although they were never confirmed as contractions) and a lot of heavy bleeding right through my pregnancy with DS5. It was scary and nerve wracking but he is now a very healthy happy almost 4 yr old. :)

Keep us updated and I hope everything calms down for you and the dr gives you some reassurance.

I had what felt like contractions with my last pregnancy too about that stage. They lasted off and on for a week. Did not go to the ER because our ins. would not have covered it. Eventually they went away and I went to over 40 wks but my pg was super painful the whole time with tons of BH. I am hoping this is the same situation for you or at the least that he can hang on for another couple months!!

My BH were terrible with DS2 and started around 15 weeks and lasted until the day I had him. They would wake me up in the middle of the night and they were too often for my comfort. My guess is you have an overactive uterus which just means it keeps contracting. Not dangerous for baby but very uncomfortable for momma! Def check to make sure you have no infections and if the contractions keep up, take it easy, keep yourself hydrated, and rest when you can- nothing too strenuous!

I had a couple UTIs in my last pregnancy. And they don't really present like a normal UTI in a non-pregnant person. The cramping and contractions actually do fit with my experience of a UTI in pregnancy. It never burned when I peed either. But I had some really serious cramping (thankfully, it never got regular, but I heard that if it had progressed further...ie: bladder infection...they may have).

The bleeding is apparently something that can happen with UTIs or bladder infections too. However, I did not have that symptom. And I think it should be spotting, not bleeding a lot. There are lots of other reasons for bleeding in pregnancy that aren't dangerous though. And if something is irritated, it could make even more sense.

Hopefully your doc will address all of it and get you feeling better to bake that baby for a while longer.

Thanks for the replies ladies. It's Thursday now and my pain has gotten tolerable but the bleeding is still there. Feeling pretty miserable though thanks to the antibiotics effects on my g.i tract (last time I had one it caused severe diarrhea and near colon sterilization..yikes.) I've had a pretty funky stomach all day.and am getting those telltale cramps (stomach, not contractions, whew). So I've been taking lots of acidophilus between doses hoping to counteract some of the harshness. Went to the Dr yesterday to check in and convinced her to do a culture for bv, just in case. It definitely shouldn't be anything worse (unless the hubs is trying to get himself murdered, ha) but I thought something has to be causing.my cervix to be irritated enough to bleed. If that's all clear, then ill have to just convince myself not to worry. It makes me feel better knowing so many babies have turned out to be fine after unexplained bleeding, too.

gosh! how scary for you, sorry you have to deal with this stress and hopefully all will be ok x

Hi ladies....just wanted to update. We lost our perfectly healthy, handsome prince on 3-28. I'd gone in to the er again on the 26th after i had a sudden gush of blood and severe pain on my lower left side. When i got to the hospital, the u/s showed what looked like a small placental abruption and my water had broken, leaving a total of only 5 cm of fluid. My contractions were stopped.with magnesium bc my cervix wasn't.dilated.or thinned, and.things stabilized. They had planned on keeping me one more week then sending me to musc which has a level 2.nicu. Sadly, at just under 48 hours.in the hospital, the pain and bleeding returned with what o knew was back labor..real labor. An ultrasound revealed no fluid left, and my cervix was 2cm and 60%. We were told, given the magnesium, labor would likely not be stopped, but rather drawn out across days rather than hours. We were told if we made.it to 23.weeks when musc would take us, he would likely still die soon after birth because of the lack of fluid to help his lungs mature. in the end, we made the hardest choice ever. We chose to let labor happen and pray he would pass in our arms rather than a.lengthy labor or hooked up to ventilators and tubes. And he did. Our beautiful son, Sullivan Michael was born at 11:07 weighing 1lb 2oz and 11" long. He lived for 40 beautiful minutes cradled in his daddys arms, then mine. I don't know if we will ever try again...but i do know i will miss and love him every second of the rest of my life.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I know no words will really help but I will hope and pray that someday you are able to find peace.

So sorry for your loss that is more pain than anyone should have to bear :( I pray in time you heal and your sons place in your heart will grow in love and strength but the sadness will disappear. Hugs xxx