Contractions in mid pregnancy

allnurses Guide · Sep 24, 2004

I have one thought . . ask your doctor to put you off work and on disability and go home and put your feet up.

Have you taken your blood pressure while at work?

steph

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 24, 2004

You should be concerned and are wise to see your doctor about this. It's normal to have periods of contracting early in pregnancy on, but increased activity in the mid-term is NOT normal. Count your contractions. If they number more than 4-6 in an hour, drink one liter of NON-caffeine fluid (preferably water) and lay down. If they persist after this, or increase, it's time to notify your doctor/midwife or go to labor and delivery. Do NOT discount "Braxton-Hicks" as normal. ALL contractions are CONTRACTIONS, no matter what we call them. Regularity and persistence, as well as cervical change, are diagnostic of preterm labor and require attention and treatment.

Best of luck. Let us know what your doctor/midwife tells you! I hope all is well.

Jolie, BSN · Sep 24, 2004

Please post and let us know how things are going. I started contracting at 25 weeks with my first daughter. I spoke to the covering doc by phone, and she assured me that I could safely continue working and keep my appointment the next week. Since she told me what I wanted to hear, I listened. Big mistake! The contractions persisted and I insisted on being seen a few days later. By then, I had already begun to efface and dilate. I spent the next 12 weeks on bedrest, monitoring, and every combination of tocolytic drugs imaginable. I had a 3 week hospital hospital stay on Mag sulfate when nothing else would work, and I often wondered if things would have been easier to treat had the doc taken me seriously to begin with. I also blamed myself because I should have known better, too. In the end, I had a beautiful, healthy baby, but getting there wasn't easy!

With my next pregnancy (2-1/2 years later) I started to contract at 16 weeks. By then, I had a new doc who took things much more seriously. By watching for complications and addressing them promptly, I had a much better controlled, though still complicated pregnancy.

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 24, 2004

My son was born at 34 weeks, before I was a nurse. I had NO idea what preterm labor and rupture were til it happened to me. Doctors are NOT doing their job informing us of warning signs, I think. I see this all the time; patients coming in at under 30 weeks in fullblown labor. We need to be educating them more earlier on, that much is crystal clear.

jad2 · Sep 24, 2004

Let me start off by saying that I will be calling my OB in the AM about this...but I value all the judgement that I can get from my allnurses comrades! Plus, I like to hear different points of view on things...
I am about 25 weeks pregnant, and in this pregnancy I am experiencing a lot of contractions when I'm physically active for an extended period of time, mostly at work or if I'm walking a lot. They feel like Braxton Hicks, but sometimes get quite intense. I worked 3-11 tonight, and of course like any nurse was running around a lot (as usual), and I just kept contracting all night long. It got so that if I even stood up (ie: to count the narc boxes) I'd have a contraction. I usually don't experience them if I'm sitting or resting, but soon as I'm up and running, they start up. My coworked felt my belly during one and couldn't believe how hard it was.
I don't usually experience any pain with them, sometimes a lower back ache, no mucousy discharge, or any other signs that I might be in preterm labor. It's just never happened to me before with my other PG's, nor did it happen as often. I'm assuming they'll have me come in to be monitored, but I don't have them when I'm resting.
Any thoughts? Things I should be concerned about or look out for? Anything that I should insist that the doctor do or check?
Thanks everyone!

I used to get your symptoms as well. I was told to drink a full glass of water and lay on my left side. It turns out that I was dehydrated. I guess I didn't want to go to the bathroom so much so I was not drinking enough H2O.

But, yeah, you are doing the right thing by going to the clinic....

And take some time for R & R. :) Hope you feel better.

kristylee · Sep 24, 2004

When I was 4 months pregnant I had my first ultra-sound and my doctor noticed that my placenta was a little low and warned me to keep my activities to a minimum and that she would check again when I was 7 months to make sure everything was ok. At my 7 month ultra-sound my doctor told me that I had Placenta Previa and ordered immediate bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. About 2 weeks after being on bed rest, I started having contractions and I thought it was just a stomach ache or gas and waited a few hours, but then I realized I had to go to the ER, upon doing so they did have to give me a shot to stop the contractions and put me on medication. You may want to ask your doctor if your placenta is in tact and/or high enough, you don't sound like you have the same case, but I thought I would tell you anyways, just in case. Women who have Placenta Previa typically have contractions in their mid pregnancy. Best of luck to you!

jkaee · Sep 25, 2004

Thank you everyone for the replies. I did go in to the doctor yesterday after speaking with the office nurse. They did an internal exam and everything was fine. The NP I saw (who I wasn't too crazy about) said that the more pregnancies you have the more irritable your uterus gets, so as long as it doesn't get worse I should be okay. I took the night off work last night, and I didn't get too many contractions....seems if I take it easy, then I'm okay. But if it keeps on being a problem at work, then I'll bring it up again with the doc next time I go in. But, I agree, the docs now are so busy that they barely spend any time with you during visits....I mean, the doctor is literally in there for maybe 45 seconds, just to check the height of the fundus! I've never had preterm labor before....so I wouldn't know what to expect either. It just seems they wait until you have a BIG problem before they really take notice......

Well, I guess I'll just take my p*ssed off uterus and go chill out for a while. Thanks again everyone!

SmilingBluEyes · Sep 26, 2004

glad to hear you are ok! ty for checking in!

allnurses Guide · Sep 26, 2004

Me too - glad to hear you are ok.

I am amazed at doctors today. I switched to an all women group who advertised specifically that women care for women better than men do. Well, I have had the same quick appointments that you experienced. It makes you feel like a number, not a person.

My doctor did however put me on disability for the last two months of my pregnancy and I was very happy about that. I know pregnancy is not an illness but we are growing a brand new individual in 9 short months and working full-time 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. was tough for me.

That is when I decided to never work full-time again and am very happy working two days a week.

Drink some water and go lay down and take a nap. :)

steph

jad2 · Sep 27, 2004

Glad you are ok. :balloons: