Does preterm labor contractions mean baby's coming early?

[Biotechick829]

I'm fairly confident that last Wednesday I lost part of my plug (it was this yellowish, dark red/brownish glob the size of a quarter) so I called my doctor's to let them know. They also asked about any contractions and I said sure, that I've been having Braxton Hick's for a couple weeks now and sometimes they're strong and I have to breath through them. Well, they told me to come into Labor and Delivery for an evaluation.

Turns out I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. 1 and 1/2 IV bags only lessened them to every 5 min so they ended up giving me terbutiline to stop them (I was 33+5). Luckily I wasn't dilated and my cervix was still long. Since then I'm still getting the contractions, some stronger than others, that won't go away with walking around. Sometimes they're closer together (7-10 min for an hour or two) and then they just go away, popping up sporadically.

The nurse said something about the baby probably coming early. Since I'm experiencing all of this stuff at 34 weeks, should I expect her to come early? I kind of feel like I'll go early, but it might be in my head.

 

[atayl16]

Every woman and every pregnancy is different, but I went through all of this starting at 28 weeks (with a 6 day hospital stay) with my little girl and she stayed in til 39 weeks. Every time I went for a BPP, the nurses would send me to L&D because they were convinced that I was in labor. After monitoring for a few hours, I would be sent home... twice a week... for 11 weeks. It really got old, but at least she was healthy Hope all goes well for you too!!

 

[Anthrogirl]

With #2 I had weeks of prodromal labor. Contractions every 5-7 mins for days on end. Not necessarily painful, but definitely uncomfortable. My water broke at 37 weeks on the nose and baby was born 42 hours later. However, I think it can go any way!

 

[Biotechick829]

Thanks ladies! Guess it could really go either way. The suspense is killing me!

Well, I just lost a big glob of my plug - looks like what I lost last Wednesday (snotty, yellow, brown/red) but 3x as much of it. We'll seeee!!