I have been under a massive amount of stress the last month or so. More than I have ever been in my whole life (bad timing, during my pregnancy) I am nervous about going into preterm labor. I am 28w 4d pregnant with my first. She is incredible low and my last U/S showed her head slammed against my cervix. The u/s tech said to talk to my midwife about it but she left to deliver a baby and I got stuck with a Doctor that just said oh that's normal just deal with it. It hurts to walk and the pain that stretches from my back to the bottom of my uterus is killing me. I still have two and a half months to go! I can't live and work like this. I don't get any sleep because of the stress and the pain I'm having. I don't even know what to look for if I go into labor. I need some serious advice on all of the above! How to deal with the stress, the pain, and knowing what preterm labor feels like.

Please help! Thanks ahead of time.

I wish I could help you a little more with first hand experience but I'm sure one of the other AMHD usuals will be able to do so. As of right now I would like to refer you to this website, BabyCenter -- Preterm labor and birth. I am so sorry that you are experiencing a lot of stress at this time in your life. In my opinion, one of the best things you can do is see a therapist for guidance. They do wonders, trust me. It doesn't mean you are crazy at all. As for your doctor, just brushing your problem to the side and not informing you on the details and how you can deal with the pain... this isn't right. I would seek a second opinion for another doctor. As I said, hopefully someone who is more experienced with labor will be able to help you out a little more. I'm trying for a baby and I've seen a lot of child births so I know my fair share. Good luck sweetie.

It was not right for your doctor to brush you aside like that, however, it can be normal for the baby to be in that position and cause you pain... I think the best thing to do would be try to lay and rest aas much as possible. I don't know if you work full time or not, but maybe it would help to switch to part time for now so that you can get the rest and relaxation your body needs. Take a long shower or bath at night to help calm your nerves and ease the pain you are feeling. Also things like massaging your feet and palms can also help calm yourself (good for your hubby to do). Unfortunately, you are just at the point of pregnancy where things just start getting uncomfortable. While stress can cause pre-term labor, taking care of yourself in this way can help prevent it. Good luck to you!

I am 26w4d pregnant with a little boy, and I am also under a lot of stress! My little one has been head down and pushes against my cervix since at least 20 weeks. I know how uncomfortable it can be. I have found that lots of rest helps, as does exercise. A really good one to try is get on all fours and lift your back like a cat, then relax. Do this a couple of times and see if baby moves a bit. You can also stand with your back against a wall, tighten your butt and pull in your stomach to get your back as flat as possible against the wall. These are both really good to get the baby to move up a little, at least for me. As for the stress, I still haven't figured that one out. I'm a huge worrier, and find it difficult not to do so. All I can do is pray, and place everything in God's hands with the faith that everything will work out. Unfortunately there is often little that we can actually do to fix the problems in our lives, and worrying about it does nothing to improve our stress level. Read up on preterm labor. If you are truly worried about preterm labor make sure to let your doctor know your concerns. Just try to relax and embrace every moment of your pregnancy. They don't stay in forever!

My daughter was born and 32 weeks they caught her at 28 weeks as she wasn't growing and I spent 7 weeks in hospital for the run up to my waters breaking and the care afterwards.
Pre term labour is like any other you have the benefit of the baby being smaller so they come out easier, not that I got that choice I had to have an emergancy section as her heart was very unstable all this was also due to stress I must say you seriously need to rest giving birth this early on is feasible hell I have seen the proof but baby is mucy better off inside you than out.
You need to call your midwife again and talk to her there supposed to be there for you and your concerns if she doesn't acknowledge your worrys then contact the mw centre and ask to see another mw you have every right to good care.
Millie went from being head down to feet down to laying across me she was all over that morning id lost my mucas plug it was the consistancy of snot but white and had lower back pain on and off I didn't know what was going on till that evening when my waters broke.
Two hours after that she was born and taking to the prem baby unit and that's where she stayed for 8 weeks so she could grow and put on weight and gain the ability to feed.
All I can say is if you think your stressed now its nothing to seeing that little bundle in an incubator wired up and helpless sweety if you can see your dr and ask for a note to have some time off work and get some rest before they make you do it.
If you want to know anything about my labour and the troubles I had do ask I'm not very good at giving detail.
Lots of hugs xxxxx

No they picked up her lack of growth due to stress at 28 weeks I was then hospitalised given steroids to help the lungs of baby grow she came of her own accord at 32 weeks I managed to hold onto her for another 4 weeks from 28 with the hospitals help and lots and lots of rest its pretty flipping scary hunn you really need to rest and take care of yourself.
Believe it or not I'm pregnant again steering well clear of stress well at least I'm trying I'm also under constant consultant care.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by curlybenswife

No they picked up her lack of growth due to stress at 28 weeks i was then hospitalised given steriods to help the lungs of baby grow she came of her own accord at 32 weeks i managed to hold onto her for another 4 weeks from 28 with the hospitals help and lots and lots of rest its pretty flipping scary hunn you really need to rest and take care of yourself.
Believe it or not im pregnant again steering well clear of stress well at least im trying im also under constant consultant care.

---

So how could they tell she had stopped growing? Given the docotr I had to see just brushed me off. They did an u/s to make sure I didn't have placenta previa but they didn't really measure the baby.

My midwife picked up on my measurements and then my specialist confirmed by scanning me.

Should I just tell my new Midwife that I am under a lot of stress and see what she does with the knowledge?

You should certainly tell her how you are feeling and that you are finding everything so difficult she should be helpful and listen and suggest time off.

I'm 29wks under allot of stress been crying hard for 2days now because of problems wher father. My eyes hurt my back hurts and my stomach has been in a hard knot for 2days now. I feel her move but w my stomach being so hard seems like it hurts worse when she does. I'm at kind of high risk right now so I'm really worried that I'm going to go into pre labor. I feel allot of pressure.. I don't feel like eating much and sleep well not sure what that is these days. I had a set of twins 6 /2 yrs ago and had them early at 34wks. What are my odds of going into labor early?