From: news@mot.com (Robyn Carey-Jones)
Subject: Re: Update on my preterm labor: bed for the duration
Organization: Motorola Inc
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 16:43:38 GMT
Followup-To: misc.kids

Tracy,

Reading you note really hit home for me.  My son Christopher was
born December 1, 1990 after being off my feet for 5 months. Christopher
was actually born 7 weeks early after my water bag decided to break
I am so glad that you were smart enough to listen to your intuitions.
This was not the case for me in my first pregnancy. I was pregnant at
the time and just not feeling right.  I thought I had strange discharge
and cramping but I ignored it.  Just into my 27th week of pregnancy
I hemorraged badly (my placenta tore from my uterus)...I nearly died from
blood loss and our first born son David was born just a tad over 2 lbs and
very weak.  He lived for 2 days after a gallant struggle and finally
succumbed
to respiratory failure.  I have to say I will NEVER get over the guilt I
felt and the anger for not questioning and just listening to other pregnant
woman who acted like I was just a neurotic first time pregnant person. To
any pregnant woman reading this ...go with your gut feelings.  It is 
better to have a false alarm then a tragedy.

My second preganancy we took every precaution possible. Like you I am
an older mom..even older than you.  Christopher was born when I was 37
years old.  I read all the statistics also regarding premature labor etc.
I was monitored twice daily with a Tokos monitor and drank enough water
to fill Lake Michigan.  There were days that I questioned why I was doing
this, those days when the words beached whale could be associated with my
name.  My husband was great...we had no family to help and we made it.
I don't think I need to tell you that it was all worth it.  As a matter
of fact I am even considering going through it again (this time it will
be harder with a very active 2 year old).

Hang in there...what is your actually due date anyway?  If you need a pal
to chat with please feel free to contact me via e-mail.  
Please keep me posted.  I am so excited for you and wish you and your
family as much happiness as my husband and I have experienced with 
our Chris.  

Regards,

Robyn Carey-Jones

In article <1ebcumINN1v3@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>, larrabee@cse.ucsc.edu (Tracy
Larrabee) wrote:
> 
> Well, I'm still in bed.  And the way it looks, I'll only get out of this
> bed before Christmas if I do it to give birth.
> 
> I went to see my doctor on Monday.  I had a feeling things weren't going
> to go well, so despite the fact that I had permission to drive myself,
> I asked my husband to take me.  Result: I am now 95% effaced.  To recap
> my progression, the week before I was 50% effaced and the next day I was
> 80% effaced (as I was the day after that).  The drive home from the
> hospital seemed to set off more contractions, and the ones I had seemed
> more uncomfortable.
> 
> With not much more than a wet paper towel between my son and the
> world, my restrictions have become more extreme and my connection to
> drugs more strong.  I guess I am lucky I am not in the hospital as it
> is.  I have a little book in which I am to write every contraction,
> anything special I did just before it (like eat, turn over, or visit
> the toilet), and the timing of each dose of medication along with my
> pulse.  I'm to call my doctor if anything seems at all odd--and I
> should interpret that liberally.  I am to tell the staff not to put
> me on hold but to get my doctor's nurse or beep my doctor (depending
> on the time) right away.
> 
> So it has finally hit my husband and me that we are in for the long
> haul.  He is revamping my arrangment in bed, he is getting more
> matter-of-fact about being responsible for *everything*, and we are
> spending time talking about things we could spend money on that would
> make our lives easier. (Example: the baby's room is a horrid pink
> color and he promised to paint it.  We are looking into paying to have
> it painted.  And yes, I know painting the nursery isn't crucial, which
> is why we don't want Dan doing it, but we don't want to give up all our
> little plans for things to have ready for our little guy.)  This is 
> quite a change from our most recent financial frettings.  Suddenly
> the tenor of the times and the balance in our savings account doesn't
> seem quite as influential as it was a week ago.
> 
> I'm glad I have computer access.  The email is a life saver.  Not to
> mention the FAQ file, a phone call from an Oregon netter, and a fellow
> net.bedrester who has loaned me two books: *When Pregnancy Isn't
> Perfect: A Layperson's Guide to Complications in Pregnancy* and
> *Pregnancy Bedrest: a Guide for the Pregnant Woman and her Family.*
> I've only read the first one but it really scared me about how
> ignorant I was about the signs of preterm labor.  There were enough
> signs of what was going on with me to objectively state that I was in
> trouble before I resorted to that self-exam--I just didn't realize
> what it all meant.  I'm really glad I trusted the overwhelming feeling
> I had that something was wrong.  I almost let my fear of appearing
> hysterical keep me from getting help, and that would have been very,
> very bad.  
> 
> I urge all you pregnant women out there to be aware of any tightenings
> of your uterus.  If your whole uterus goes rock hard more than a
> couple of times in an hour; if your uterine tightenings are at all
> uncomfortable or if they seem to come as the same time that you have
> "digestive distress": play it safe and ask your doctor about what is
> going on.  I might have figured out earlier that something was odd if
> my constant lower-digestive distress hadn't masked things.  Now my 
> doctor says that that constant intestinal activity probably had a lot
> to do with my current sedentary confinement.  Preterm labor just isn't
> that uncommon: 6% of pregnancies have premature labor or premature
> rupture of membranes.
> 
> On another topic, I feel like a poster child for late-in-life
> pregnancy.  I'm not that old: I turned 35 yesterday, but I recently
> read a UPI article about how pregnant women over 30 have higher
> incidences of miscarriage (bingo!), chromosomal defects (bingo!),
> preterm labor (bingo!), and stillbirth (please, or please--no bingo
> here).
> 
> Anyway, I have had colleagues, friends, relatives, and my pets helping
> to keep me sane through taking over my duties, putting up with my
> phone calls, offering to visit, and giving me some warm and furry
> affection.  I have some things going for me.  Maybe I'll finally learn
> a little bit about patience over the next few weeks.  In any case, as
> many of you have told me: six weeks will have been a very short time
> to have invested in a healthy son. (If I just *knew* he would be OK, I
> think it would make the whole thing quite a bit easier.)
> 
> You will probably hear from me again.  I hope I don't get too 
> repetitive.
> --
> Tracy Larrabee		larrabee@cse.ucsc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids