Reason for premature delivery?

Kerry - posted on 09/20/2010

My daughter was born at 34 weeks, by emergency c-section due to cholestasis which mean i was suffering from really itchy skin, and this had effected my little girl and was stressing her out. She is now 16months old and leads a happy healthy life.

Jenny - posted on 09/16/2010

I was diagnosed with placenta praevia grade 4, hospitalised at 25 weeks allowed to go home but then readmitted at 29 weeks with further bleeding with contractions. I was given pethedine to stop contractions but bleeding continued with me losing some pretty massive clots every few hours of about half a pint in volume at a time!! i made it to 32 weeks then started with contractions again and was haemorraging with every contraction so the desicion was made to deliver- quickly! as was at a massive risk of bleeding to death! so had a general anethestic for my emergency section. i spent 3 hours in surgery due to extensive blood loss, i lost 4 and half pints of blood so needed a tranfusion and lots of fluids via iv but Sophie Grace was born at 7.07am weighing 3lb 14oz on 17th april. luckily i had the steriods to mature her lungs so she was relativley ok but still needed to be admitted to neonatal and spent some time on cipap ventilation and incubator etc until being well enough to come home 3 weeks later weighing 5lbs. Very stressful time for us especially havning a 14 month old at home also but so rewarding in the end! shes 5 months tomorrow still small for her age and behind in development but doing well!

Crystal - posted on 09/15/2010

i have twins and had alot of complications with them...for 1 me being so small carrying 2 babies, i went into labor at 18 weeks and they stopped it, got put on bedrest at 24 weeks and went into labor again at 27 weeks and started dialating but after a day and a half of mag. and nifedipene they finally stopped it but i was very slowly leaking fluid so i stayed in the hospital 2 weeks on colplete bedrest and was released home on bedrest only supposed to get up to use the RR, went to the ER on June 14, 2010 because i had been having really bad back pain and cramping well they got me in and hooked me up i was having some strong contractions but not very regular so they gave me 3 shots of tributilene and a shot of morphine and diladid every 2 hours for the pain and it didnt help, i didnt dialate anymore until about 9:45a.m the next morning June 15, 2010 and i jumped from about 3cm to almost 5cm they started mag and rechecked at 12:45 and i was 6cm i knew then my babies were coming at 32 weeks. Matthew Wade Stinnette Ferguson was born at 6:32p.m. weighed 4lbs 1oz and was 17ins long followed by his twin sister 10 mins. later Madilynn Rose Stinnette Ferguson born at 6:42p.m. weighed 3lbz 1oz and was 15ins long. they were both breathing on their own but still transported to NICU at another hospital because of their gestiation and size, they stayed in the NICU a month and came home July 17, 2010 and are now 3 months old and doing wonderful

LaToya - posted on 09/13/2010

I had my lil girl at 33 weeks due to pre- eclampsia.

Bo Lynn - posted on 09/12/2010

I have a septum in my uterus which sorta makes it into two uteruses and it doesn't stretch very far. So I delivered at 32 weeks each pregnancy.

Candace - posted on 09/12/2010

I had the exact same thing u had. The high blood pressure was new to me. Thenn my placenta was nourshing my son like it was supposed to. I had him at seven months. I'm still trying to figure out why it happens. I am not a scientist by any means and this is just a thought that I have. I think that our bodies were still treating the baby as an alien. Our bodies may not really adjusted to the new life growing in us as we did and it made it misfunction. I say that because after the baby the bodies went back to normal and nothing but memories about what happened or left. Like I said it's a thought and it can happen again, but the next time the doctors may be able to control it because u did it before

Kimberly - posted on 09/10/2010

C-section - Placenta Placenta. She wasn't growing. They took her at 32 weeks advising that she would do better out than in.

Megan - posted on 07/12/2010

Hi. I had pre-clampsia also I had the symptoms fromit long before the doctors actually caught it. I know the baby causes you to have pre-clampsia and the only way to solve it is for you to have the baby. I had my son at 32 weeks the same way you did.

Charley - posted on 07/12/2010

my entire preg i was scared something would happen because i had a misscarrige a month before i got preg with my son but everything was pretty normal other than elavated blood pressure up intil 35 weeks i wen to the hospital on st pattys day having contractions and the tested my urine and said the protin for preclampsia was very high and decided not to stop the contractions they gave me patosen to induce it and 14 hours of labor 30 mins of pushing he was here

Brittany - posted on 07/10/2010

6 mths into my pregnancy i stated getting kidney stones all the time and pains consantly so they had to place a tube in my back and into my kidney to help it drain(my son was not letting one of the tubes from my kidney to my blader flow right) from there on my son sent me into preterm labor almost every week.(all the nurses lnew me by first name by the end lol)...they always managed to get the conrations to stop with meds...then at 36 weeks i went in to preterm labor and only this time they tried to stop my contractions and they couldnt so the broke my water and 15 hours later my beautiful little boy was born...turned out that he had a small infection and that was why he wanted out(i guess lol) he was a very impatient little boy lol

Melissa - posted on 07/10/2010

I delivered at 26.4 weeks due to uterine rupture.

Nikki - posted on 07/10/2010

Tara,
At least what you had has a name! I went into labour at 32 weeks. Normal pregnancy, a little back pain, no warning, no nothing. I thought I was getting brackson Hicks as it was my second child and everything was fine. i waited 4hours (this was what i had with my first and she was full term) and then moved around a bit more to see if it would go away. it got worse. so off i went to the local hospital (the main hospital was 2 hours from where we lived) expecting to be sent home again. ten minutes after i got there my waters tore and it didn't matter what they did - my son was coming! They still have no idea why this happened! But he did get to be the youngest patient in the rescue helicopter to the main hospital, he was half an hour old! and I still have never been in one. I had to follow in the ambulance and saw him 4 hours later!

Schmoopy - posted on 07/06/2010

Both my pregnancies SUCKED. And I'm like you - pretty healthy lifestyle. No apparent reasons for complications.



My first pregnancy resulted in my 29-weeker due to a placental abruption (which they said was probably caused by Factor V Leiden's - it's a blood clotting disorder that only affects me in pregnancy b/c of the hugely increased blood volume).



My second pregnancy was massively complicated - I was on blood thinner (injections in the belly 2 x daily) for a blood clotting issue that caused my premature delivery the first time around; I was pregnant with twins the 2nd time and lost one at 10 weeks - that resulted in spotting; I was severely nauseous for MANY weeks - threw up multiple times daily; I had BH contractions many times a day from week 25 on (which made me feel even more like a ticking time bomb); and I had gestational diabetes.



In both cases I've been incredibly lucky and ended up with beautiful healthy babies. However...



I hate being pregnant. Never again. I am officially done.

Ashley - posted on 07/06/2010

i ended up have low blood pressure and had extreme morning sickness all 24 wks......... they do not know why had my daughter at 24 wks 1lb 7 oz.... then a mth later i was daignose with precancerous cervical

Erika - posted on 07/04/2010

i have endometriosis problem but i can hold babys but when they realize the problem it was to late and my son was born at 26 week

Erica - posted on 07/03/2010

hi all.

I was kept in hospital from 22 weeks due to my water brake in i was then flown to wellington due to the fact i could go in to labor at anytime they didn't no why the waters broke as i have 3 other children who were normal births and 1 who was a emergency c section as she went into distress. She held on to 34 weeks and was born in p.n hospital by c section and was 4.lbs she doing well but still very small the size of a newborn @ 3mnths old

Sheila - posted on 07/03/2010

i have what the called a heart shaped uterus and went into abor at 34 weeks and my daughter was in the nicu for 15 days but at 34 weeks she was 5lbs 4oz so she was able to get out of the nicu fast thank god i was a nervous wreck expecially after being in labor for 28 hours and finally ending with a c-section

Serlena - posted on 07/02/2010

I have a weak uterus and was told from my numerous D&C and LEEP procedure that took most of my cervix. So I had a cerclage thinking all would be well. I gave birth to my son 29weeks and I had developed and infection in my placenta.

Tena - posted on 07/02/2010

Ashley your case does sound like an incompetent cervix. If you have any more kids you would have to have a cerclage done at around 12 weeks. They might recommend bed rest as well but not always. I was on total bed rest with my oldest as I was 2 cm when they did my cerclage at 18 weeks. With my last 2 they did the cerclage at 12 and 14 weeks respectfully and I didn't need bed rest.

Nancy - posted on 07/01/2010

I didn't know what pre-eclampsia was prior to getting pregnant either! I was 38, 50lbs overweight, with mild hbp and on my first pregnancy. At 6 weeks I had to wear maternity pants, at 6 months I was so swollen I couldn't make a fist and my ankles were in a lot of pain and it just got worse for the next month. At 30 weeks, I was in a car accident and ten days later a migraine set in with vomiting, blood pressure at 200/125 when I was admitted. I had so much fluid in my body, within two weeks of having the emergency c-section, I lost 52lbs (all the weight I put on) and it was all baby and fluid. I ate well and drank lots of water throughout my pregnancy. Plus, I walked for the first 5 months until the swelling got too painful. What is HELLP? I'm not familiar with that.

Candace - posted on 07/01/2010

IUGR is intrauterine growth restriction it basically means the baby was smaller than he was suppose to be for his gestational age. My mom had eclampsia with me I dont know if that could be why I had. I was never diagnosed with have preeclampsia so this came a shock to me. The day before I delivered I was having shortness of breath and a little pain in my ribs. The next thing I know I woke up in the hospital. It was a very scary experience! My son was born May 1st but I didnt know until the 3rd. I was so out of it!! I was on so much medication because even after he was delivered my blood pressure still would not come down. Very scary experience for my husband also because he woke up to me having a seizure and he didnt know why that was going on but the seizure is what saved my life. I later found out the shortness of breath and pain that I was feeling was acutally my kidneys shutting down. I've been advised to not reproduce for a long time

Chris - posted on 07/01/2010

I delivered my firstborn at 26 weeks for no apparent reason, miscarried my second pregnancy, and was diagnosed with HELLP during the delivery of my second child at 35-37 weeks. Like you, I was fairly healthy; even with the gestational diabetes I had with second pregnancy, I was strict with my diet and never needed insulin.

In my case, I have a family history of difficult pregnancies; we're pretty sure my mom had HELLP with a baby she lost later on, though they didn't call it that back then. You might want to talk to your mom, aunts, and grandmothers to see what their childbearing experiences were like.

Emma - posted on 07/01/2010

omg that would hv been scarry wast happerned me was scarry enough may i ask wat is iugr ? my daughter was my 1st baby she weighed 1150g n spent 7 weeks in hos she was due to get out hos on 15th dec 2009 but she ended up hven a blue episode while i was breast feeding her

Candace - posted on 06/30/2010

I had eclampsia and had two seizures so I had to have an emergency c-section at 33wks 1day.. After he was born they discovered I also has IUGR and he weighed 3lbs 5oz and he had to spend four weeks in the hospital

Emma - posted on 06/29/2010

hi iam 21 n ni had emergency ceasarean to my daughter was born at 32plus 5 i had pre-clampisa to i went up for trace moniter n i had hv my daughter she was born low birth weight i recon if they didnt get her out when did she mite not be here as part my placenta died due to the pre-eclamsa

Sheryl - posted on 06/29/2010

This also was sent by a friend and I thought I'd share it.
Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen?
Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments
for propagation with great care and deliberation.
As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.
"Beth Armstrong, son. Patron Saint, Matthew. Marjorie Forrest, daughter.
Patron Saint, Celia. Carrie Rutledge, twins. Patron Saint ... give her Gerard.
He's used to profanity."
Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie."
The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby a mother who knows no laughter?
That would be cruel." "But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it.
I watched her today.
She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother.
You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own.
She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."
"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect.
She has just the right amount of selfishness."
The angel gasps, "Selfishness?! Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive.
Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect.
She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.
She will never take for granted a spoken word.
She will never consider a step ordinary.
When her child says 'mama' for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.
I will permit her to see clearly the things I see – ignorance, cruelty, prejudice – and allow her to rise above them.
She will never be alone.
I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

-excerpt by Erma Bombeck

Sheryl - posted on 06/29/2010

I also had pre-e and Hellp. I was perfectly healthy and had no complications until my 7mo. check up. All of a sudden my blood pressure started rising and I was retaining water like crazy. I had an emergency c-section 8 hours after being put on hospitalized bed rest due to Hellp being discovered. There are many theories as to what causes the pre-e and Hellp but nothing concrete. If it helps you my son was 30 weeks and 2lbs 8oz when he was born. He will turn 1 on July 1st, has stayed ahead of the curve for his adjusted age on development and now weight 22lbs and is 30 inches tall! This will be the most difficult time you will experience but trust me, but months from now you'll be amazed at how fast it went by!

Ashley - posted on 06/28/2010

I had my baby girl a month early due to me being a diabetic.....I had an appointment to get enduced at 37 weeks but my doc did an ultra-sound and saw that I had no fluid surrounding her so he enduced me that day.......a month early and she weighed a healthy 5lbs 12oz ......

Lindsey - posted on 06/27/2010

I am 28 yrs old and have 5 kids. My first 4 were relatively normal pregnancies but my 5th one was not. At 30 weeks i went to the er having serious pains in my right side, they said it was my appendix and sent me to surgery to remove it. They told me after the surgery that it was normal and that i had it removed for no reason, 12 hours later they rushed me back into surgery because the pain was from the placenta tearing away from the uterus and they had to deliver the baby. I had lost 2 pints of blood into my abdomin and had gone into shock, if they hadnt delivered right then i would have died. My baby was 10 weeks preemie and spent 6 weeks in the nicu, she is home and healthy now and is 4 1/2 months old.

Cherae - posted on 06/27/2010

I had an emergency C-section at 30 weeks and 6 days for pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome. I had gained 9 pounds in a month and my doc thought I was headed down the road and was prepping me to have a section around 32 weeks. I ended up going in after 3 days unexpectedly. I was no where near considered a "high risk" patient. I didn't eat the best and was too tired most days to exercise, but I didn't lead a sketchy life style. My weight gain up until that point had been very minimal and I ended up losing 30 pounds, mostly fluid, in the first 11 days after delivery with pumping around the clock and blood pressure meds. I'm hoping I don't have the same experience with the next pregnancy.

Jo - posted on 06/27/2010

I had my son be emergency c section as well. He was born at 35weeks as I had preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. As well as this my kidneys started to shut down. Because they had left me so long as the midwife didnt pick up on my symptoms of the HELLP I ended up having 15 minutes to get baby out or I would have died. A fact that they only told me after I was pregnant again.
I am also young. I was 22 when I had him. They say it can be quite common in young woman and first time mums

Natalie - posted on 06/26/2010

my pregnancy went well apart from the swollen ankles until i went for my week 30 appt. i was given 1 hour to go home and pack my bag to be admitted to hospital. i was diagnosed with severe pre eclampsia. my mum had toxemia with me which is the old name for pre/e. i spent 6 weeks on my back bored. skylar was born after 2 days of failed inducements by emerg c section because she was failing. she had the cord wrapped twice around her neck and was diagnosed as failure to thrive. she was only 4 lbs. she then spent 6 weeks in the neo unit.
i thought my age was the prob as i was 36 but it can happen to anyone. just unlucky draw. none of my friends were sick so like yourself i was quite ignorant to this and thought that it only happened to substance abusers or over weight people.

Kayla - posted on 06/26/2010

I just had my daughter 5 weeks early weighing in at 9lbs 9oz. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 22 weeks. I had her by emergency c-section due to preeclampsia. Lucky for me she was perfectly healthy and came home with me from the hospital 4 days later.

MARTINA - posted on 06/26/2010

i also had preeclampsia i deliverd at 30 weeks vaginally

Melissa - posted on 06/26/2010

I was sick my whole pregnancy, I broke out in shingles, had brocites (sp?) twice and generally felt bad almost the entire time! I wasn't gaining alot of weight but my doctor didn't seem concerned! I went in at my 34 week appointment and was in labor and dilated to a 6 and didn’t know it. They don't know why I went in to labor early or why I was so sick and caught everything while I was pregnant. I think everyone is different and every pregnancy is so different! I had a friend who had trouble with preeclampsia on here first one but her next two she had no trouble and had to be induced!

Lorraine Alicia - posted on 06/26/2010

I had my son at 33wks and he weigh a llittle over 3lbs and he spent 6wks in ICU. Everthing was normal i just started bleeding, doctors said i had and abruption in my placenta. My son almost died doctors said they were not sure if he would survive. He did he is now 6yrs old, i had to struggle with him in and out of hospital for the first 3yrs of his life with lungs problem. But all that is behind us now he is well and have caught up to kids his age.

I do not know why these thing happen but i just thank God that he is with me everyday. I saw many moms lost their premmies and my Heart go out to them.

It is important that we do not blame ourselves and just take care of our bundles of Joy.

Kaitlyn - posted on 06/25/2010

I was 18 when I spontaneously went into labor at 33 5/7 weeks. There was absolutly no stopping it.. even with all the drugs. I was 5 cm dialated anyways so when it wasn't stopping anyways we just went ahead with it. There was abnormal bleeding in the placenta which eventually led my doctors to send me to get blood work. They found I had a condition called thrombophilia which is a blood clotting condition. I now take medication for it.. but if i get pregnant again.. which i don't intend to do anytime soon.. I'll update everyone on what to do. I'm 20 years old now.. almost 21 and my little boy is doing fantastic.. just a few developmental delays that honestly have NOTHING to do with coming early!

Alisia - posted on 06/25/2010

my son spent a whole month i had a stroke and to ceezers but i am healthy now and my baby is also

Alisia - posted on 06/25/2010

I had an emergency caesarean section due to pre-eclampsia and i was 32 weeks i was 17 and i did not drink smoke or nothing like that

Lilah - posted on 06/24/2010

I'm 35 and I've had 4 babies and 3 of those pregnancies had complications. I was 20 with my 1st daughter and went into premature labor at 33 weeks. They were able to stop it until 36 weeks when my water broke and she was born healthy. I was 24 with my 2nd daughter and had no complications at all. I was 29 with my 3rd daughter and developed preeclampsia between 34 and 35 weeks. I was on bedrest for nearly 2 weeks before being induced at 37 weeks. She was fine too. My last baby, my son, was born last year. I was 34 and showing some signs of preeclampsia developing when my water broke at 35 weeks. He was 4 lbs 7 oz and spent 5 days in the hospital. He is wonderful and healthy today. Some women just don't carry babies very well which is why we are 100% done having them. You may never have another problem in the future.

Amy - posted on 06/24/2010

My daughter was born at 28 weeks by emergency c-section due to a placenta abruption. She was born weighing 2lb 12oz and we spend 10 weeks in the Neo Natal unit. This is my first baby and first pregnancy. The believe the abruption may have occured due to my high blood pressure pre-pregnancy, despite being on medication and leading a healthy life style.

Emily - posted on 06/24/2010

I had bleeding throughout my pregannacy. At about 25 weeks i was having low back pain, and it was discovered i was in preterm labor. To this day I still dont know why I went into labor. They held me off til 27 wks. Also, earlier in the pregnancy my cervix started to funnel from the inside but then corrected itself. my baby girl is doing great now.

Kristi - posted on 06/24/2010

My son was delivered via emergency c-section as I developed Class I HELLP Syndrome. I was 35 weeks pregnant and consider our family extremely lucky, my son was large (already 7 pounds) and I didn't die (although I came WAY too close for comfort!)

Tara - posted on 06/24/2010

I too did everything by the book when I was pregnant with both my boys. I have always been healthy but pregnancy does not agree with my body. With my oldest son, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 wks. At 30 weeks I was hospitalized with severe pre-eclampsia and then developed HELLPS (a very rare liver and blood disorder). My health was failing so quickly that they did an emergency c-section (classical incision) at 31 weeks. Fortunately, my son did very well and was only in the NICU for 22 days.

I developed gestational diabetes with my second son around 26 weeks and then was having pre-term labor contractions from 30 weeks until I delivered him at 35 weeks. I spent that time in the hospital and at home on bedrest. When they delivered him by c-section they told me my uterus had started to rupture and it was a good thing they decided to deliver when they did.

After delivery all my problems disappeared. I was not prepared to have a preemie at all with my first child. It took me by such surprise. I was seeing a midwife and everything was fine. One office visit my blood pressure spiked and she called the doctor in. He told me to get to the hospital as fast as I could because I might be delivering the baby that day. I was scared, confused, and an emotional basket case. They don't know why my body doesn't handle pregnancy well. I decided to get my tubes tied after the second preemie. The doctors didn't think I could handle another pregnancy.

Linda - posted on 06/24/2010

I had 2 premies. one at 26 weeks and one at 35 weeks. Never got an explanation as to why. One of those mysteries in life I guess. As for Pre-eclampsi, I've know quite a few people who had suffered from that. Don't know why it happens either, but it's very dangerous of the mom.

Tena - posted on 06/24/2010

Tara my case is not the norm as I come from a family that has blood pressure issues and I knew with the last 2 pregnancies I would be at risk for more risk due to my age. Also with the first 2 surviving pregnancies my body thought that it was a first pregnancy due to the age gap between my boys. Besides we just joke about it and say that the preemies were natures way of saving me from myself since their dad make big babies and my family doesn't. I'm not built to have kids that are over 10 pounds since my full termer was only 6lbs 12oz and the last 2 should have been about 12 and 10 respectively at term. I don't even mention that they were preemies because of there size unless the person already knows or notices by their actions that something is a little off and delayed. My daughter just turned 7 months on Father's day and she is already 20 pounds. Her brother was that big at 4 months.

Janet - posted on 06/24/2010

I have heard of pre-eclampsia, however when i was having my son I as well had endometriosi. Which actualy sucked because on top of having morning sickness EVERDAY Then I had this outrageous thing atacking me it seemed like. I was only 17 at the time and had to be hopitalized and everything. I was completely blindsighted too bcause then only thing I knew was tht I was sick, because I had much more nausea than per usual, and I had a fever. My bf at the time had to cool me off with ice baths and everything. It was so bad. My son came @ 34wks and 6 days. He was 3lbs 13oz, but he's almost 3 years now.

Tara - posted on 06/24/2010

My doc told me that the chances of getting pre-eclampsia again is very small. Now I don't believe him since you have had it 3 times in a row, Tena!!!!!!!
I agree with Tammy, it is unfair that women who 'do everything right' during their pregnancy have these horrible complications. But on the flip-side, perhaps its only women who will try anything to give their baby their best, who will be the best preemie moms???? Can you imagine a druggie with a preemie? One of the nurses (who told me that my baby was going to die because he is a boy...I wanted to slap her soooo badly) told me that if we knew of all the things that could go wrong in a pregnancy then nobody would risk having children!
My son is alive and well.perhaps I should go back and slap her anyway...hhhmmmm.

Tena - posted on 06/23/2010

I have had pre-eclampsia with my last 3 pregnancies. I already knew that I was at risk for premature labor since I have an incompetent cervix and had to have a cerclage (after losing my first daughter at about 18 weeks) My oldest son was full term, my 2nd son was born via emergency c section at 35 weeks with IUGR and my daughter was born via c section after failed induction (due to the cerclages and the scar tissue they left) at 33 weeks.

Annahmarie - posted on 06/23/2010

I went into labor with my first son at 21 weeks. He passed at 46 hours. Noone could tell me why or what had happened..I had faith in God that everything would be ok. I have been pregnant twice since then one being delivered at 30 weeks and the other at 37. They are both very healthy little boys now