Braxton Hicks Contractions?

kbarry · Post by **kbarry** » Mon May 21, 2007 5:50 pm

I hope your OB can see, Heidi - it is nice to get the u/s

Let us know how you make out with the dr.

I called mine again today since they never really told me if I had BH or not - still waiting for a call back from the dr.

Once they found the Placenta Previa, they didn't talk about the contractions anymore. I seem to get them after peeing, when I lay down on my back, or switch from side to side while in bed.

I leave for vacation in 2 days and quite frankly, I don't want to go now. Such a nervous nelly!
Karen

hhb · Post by **hhb** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:22 pm

I hear you on the nervous thing. I've never been a neurotic patient but this pregnancy is putting me over the edge. I am truly SOOO happy to be pregnant and feel that I haven't been able to enjoy it yet, with the nausea, bleeding, nausea, cramping/pain, and did I mention nausea?

Anyways, I talked with the triage nurse at my Ob's office and she said not to be alarmed and that I probably need to drink more (I'll need an IV to do that), and just to take it easy for a few days. She didn't seem to think it could be anything cervical. Luckily, I see my Ob again in a week so I will get his reassurance (hopefully).

Enjoy your vacation if you can!

-Heidi

kbarry · Post by **kbarry** » Mon May 21, 2007 10:44 pm

The doctor is testing me tomorrow for a protein to determine if I am predisposed to premature labor. He's not willing to write mine off to Braxton Hicks till he gets those results - ugh. Since it is a vaginal swab, it will probably be a week or so before I hear anything.

I hope yours subside soon!

hhb · Post by **hhb** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:04 pm

Oh, I hadn't heard of a test for determining that, that's very interesting. Please let us know how it goes and what the results are. Good luck!

-Heidi

rae76 · Post by **rae76** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:47 pm

This is probably the fetal fibronectin test, right?

(from babycenter.com:

fetal fibronectin (fFN), a protein produced by the fetal membranes. This protein serves as the "glue" that attaches the fetal sac to the uterine lining. It's normally found in increased amounts in your vagina during the first half of pregnancy and again late in pregnancy as you near labor. But if fFN leaks from the uterus and more than a small amount shows up in the vagina too early (between 22 and 34 weeks), it may mean that the glue is disintegrating ahead of schedule because of contractions or an injury to the membranes.)

I had my first BH yesterday and got a little bit scared, as I realized I've probably had them before, at night when I wake up and my tummy feels uncomfortable. Not too many and too often but still. I have an appointment later this week anyway, so I guess I can wait until then to ask my dr about them , as it seems that they are quite OK in moderation. What worries me is that I stay very well hydrated all the time, so there's not much I can do to stop them from coming.

kbarry · Post by **kbarry** » Tue May 22, 2007 6:09 pm

Yup Rae76, fetal fibronectin (fFN) test. He did the test this morning and put a rush on it so we'll have the results this afternoon. He did an internal exam and said my cervix is high, long and very hard which is exactly what they want to see. Based on that, and the ultrasound last week, he's thinking I'm having extreme round ligament pain. He said in some cases, the ligaments pull on the uterus so tightly, it can seem to contract. Fingers crossed, the test is negative and that's all this is. I actually went the whole night with no "contractions" last night

I'm sure you are fine waiting till your appt. later this week. Especially since you are 20 weeks along already - BH is normal at weeks.
Good luck!!
Karen

rae76 · Post by **rae76** » Tue May 22, 2007 7:20 pm

Karen, that's really good news - I'm sure the test will come back negative too. But very nice of them to put a rush on it, so that you can go and take your vacation without having to worry about that too much.

Let us know!

hhb · Post by **hhb** » Tue May 22, 2007 8:21 pm

Karen - that's great that your doc is putting a rush on the results. Hopefully all will be fine. I will be 15 1/2 weeks when I see my ob again next week so I'm definitely going to ask him about that. Good luck!

-H

kbarry · Post by **kbarry** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:00 pm

The doctor called - the results are negative on the fetal fibronectin (fFN) test

SO, he thinks in my case, it is not Braxton Hicks but the round ligaments pulling on the uterus. I'm pretty tall (5'9") and relatively thin so I'm guessing there is just a little extra stretching/pulling going on there.

I think round ligament pain should stop around week 20 from what I've read so 2 1/2 more weeks and hopefully, it eases up.

Thanks for all of your support, guys!!
Karen

rae76 · Post by **rae76** » Thu May 24, 2007 9:21 pm

Karen, so glad to hear it was just round ligament pain - it's uncomfortable but definitely not harmful or dangerous. hang in there!

Well, my Braxton Hicks have gotten worse by the day - not necessarily in intensity but in number and in frequency. My OB really wasn't happy about that when I saw her today. the cervix, thankfully, is closed and I guess a satisfactory length, but she wants to see me again next week. Also, from now on I'm not allowed to exercise and I have to take some mild anti-UTI meds just in case - my sample was clean but they sent it for further evaluation to rule out that completely. I know a lot of women go through this and carry full term but I'm quite nervous as you can probably guess... I do have some risk for preterm labour (previous uterine surgeries), although nothing so severe that it would warrant an expectation of such an early delivery. Hopefully the contractions will just naturally ease up or that there's a small infection which we can easily treat and get rid of the symptoms.

Fingers crossed, ladies...

Braxton Hicks Contractions?

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