Well, I think I am the poster child for trusting your gut instincts.
First and foremost, have you had the steroid shots yet? If not, the hospital needs to get off its ass and give you betamethazone NOW! How often are they monitoring baby? Are you on antibiotics??
Now that that is covered. All I can say is you need to trust your gut instincts. If I hadn't, Greg might not be here right now, and if I had have been more insistent in August, then Devon might be with us right now.
With Greg, about 21 weeks pregnant, I just started feeling off. Couldn't put my finger on it, but I wasn't feeling right, and anyone who knew me back then will tell you that I was saying for awhile I just didn't feel right. It was so bad, I stopped driving the hour it took to get to University, because I just knew something wasn't going right. At 22 weeks I was told it was the flu. At 23 weeks I was told I had a yeast infection. At 24+1 I started spotting pink, but was told this could be from the yeast infection. I started considering driving the 8 hours South to the only hospital I knew that had a NICU. But at 24+2, I started bleeding and membranes came out; not a lot of blood mind you, and no pain. My Dr sent me for an ultrasound. The tech said my cervix was 1.3 cm and I was flown to Victoria that night; still no pain and minimal bleeding. Yet they prepared me as though I would deliver early. I was sent to L&D that night, and didn't have him. Stayed in the hospital for 5 days before he was born. But in the meantime, I started bleeding heavier and heavier. And I started having back pain and menstrual type cramps. I brought this to the attention of the nurses. They said I was fine and wasn't in labour. I insisted I was. They said no. After 4 days they switched me to the ante natal ward as they thought I was ok. They sent everyone home that night, even though I was having contractions, because they said I wasn't going to have the baby. Well guess what... 2 hours after they sent everyone away, the nurses had to pay attention to me because of the amount of blood on the bed. They checked my cervix, and holy shit, I was in labour and 4 cm dilated! I had him that morning at 25 weeks pregnant.
With Devon, I knew I had an infection and I tried to make my Dr listen to me. He said I didn't have an infection and wouldn't treat me for one. I said I was having back pain like I had with Greg. He said I wasn't in labour. I went and saw him the next day, and he said I might have an infection but I wasn't in labour. He sent me home. The pain got worse and more rythmic, centered in my back. I went to the ER at 5 AM. He saw me, said I wasn't in labour despite starting to bleed. He sent me home with T3's and sleeping pills. I called an OB at 1PM, he asked me to drive an hour South to see him and I said I couldn't. He told me to go back to my ER. I did. The Dr still said I wasn't in labour because the machines weren't picking it up. I was sent home on T3s again. I went back because the pain was intense later that night... and guess what, I was dilated. And I had to be sent to a different hospital who would intevene since I was only 23 weeks and my hospital wouldn't. But by the time they got me, things were too far gone. They tried to help, but they only stalled it until I could get to Vancouver. Got to Vancouver, and Devon was born at 23+2 or 3 depending on who you ask. She died. The labour was brought on by an infection in the vagina called bacterial vaginosis. It went untreated, and when it ascendid the vagina and into the cervix and touched the amniotic sac, it ruptured it and gave me something called Acute Chorioamniotitis.
If I had have trusted my gut instinct and MADE someone give me antibiotics to begin with instead of trusting them... it never would have gotten as far as it did. If I had have sucked up the pain and driven an hour south to the hospital that helped me, when they asked, things might have been stopped still. But I didn't trust my gut... I listened to the Drs, and look what happened.
You need to trust your gut instinct. You don't want to end up like me. At 26+ weeks, with the steroid shots, your baby has a good shot at making it if you are indeed in labour. They should also maybe give you some Toxolytics right now. If you have an irritable uterus, it can calm it and take away the pain. Indomethacin is a medication they give as a suppository first. It calms the uterus and stope contractiosn. After that, they give it to you orally every 8 hours I believe. They can do this for 4 days before it causes problems to the baby. After 4 days it can decrease the amniotic fluid which isn't good. Nifedipene or Terbutaline can also be given to calm the uterus and stop contractions. It can also calm an irritable uterus. I don't know what the bleeding is, but with me, bleeding meant labour.
So good luck, and trust yourself. You are the one that's pregnant right now, not them. And remember, Drs don't know everything!
x x
