SIL in pre-term labour at 33wks - really scared

[Devon]

Hi everyone

I've just found out today that my SIL has gone into pre-term labour at 33 weeks. She's gone to hospital for two days at least, and has been given an injection to stop the contractions, and another injection to mature the baby's lungs if he's born soon.

I'm so worried for her, my brother and their baby They're in the US so I can't see them. Apparently she is feeling positive, but I can tell my brother is scared.

Can anyone tell me what are the chances of all being OK if she does give birth really soon? How successful are the injections in stopping labour? Does this mean she'll have to have a caesarian? I don't know anything about premmie babies.

Any reassurances would be really appreciated. I don't know how worried I should be, at the moment I'm freaking out.

Thanks girls.

Devon
xxxx

[Trillian]

33wk babies have a great chance at survival and not having any residual effects from being born too early. There have been a few babes on this site born at that gestation and earlier who all had great outcomes. It is scary, and if she does go into labour and they can't stop it, she may not necessarily need a c/s - it all depends on the bub. I'm sure all will be fine.

[nadia]

Hun, I had both of mine at 35 weeks and 5 days, the baby will be fine, I'm not an expert but this is what they (midwives told me ), when I went into pre-labor at 30,32,34 and finally real labor at 35 weeks, so hope this eases your mind a little. 4 u.

[Devon]

Thanks so much for your replies Trillian and Nadia.

Nadia - it's very reassuring to hear that they managed to stop your labour at 30, 32 and 34 weeks. Being born at 35 weeks isn't too bad. I'm feeling really sad for them that things aren't going to be the way they'd hoped. But they are very positive people, and as long as the baby is born healthy and OK then that is all that matters at this stage.

I'm crossing everything that the injection will stop the labour, hopefully for a few more weeks.

Thanks again.

Devon
xxxx

[[M]umma[M]ia]

There is a lady on here.. i wont give names but she had her son at 30 weeks. He is the happiest little boy! and hes absalutley gorgeous. At 33 weeks ur SIL's bub has a great survival rate. Its amazing what babies can do!!! Good luck!!!

[*Beema*]

Hey Devon,

I have my little girl 3 weeks 2 days ago at 33 weeks 4 days, for me there was no stopping the labour, I got to hospital and was 7-8cm dialted and contractions 3 min, after 50 min of contractions, we didn't even have time for the injection of steroids, I had a VBirth, just very quick one. My little girl came home after 2 weeks in hospital and is doing extremely well.

33 weeks is a pretty reasonable gestation, aside from not having a lot of fat, my girl is perfect, she has just started putting on weight - finally!! Bubs will likely need formula to start with as they need a lot mroe calories at that early age, but my girl has been solely bf'd for 12 days and doing great.

We were in special care for 5 days at the Womens and Childrens, she was in a humidi crib for 24 hours, went under lights @ 3 days for another 24 hours, then when she was stable we got transferred privately, where we had our own midwife (same a special care but I had her in my room - much better then being separated), this made a massive difference in us coming home as early as we did.

We did a mixture of gavage (tube into tummy), bottle and breast feeding, mostly gavage as the others took up too much of her energy.

Each bub is different, but she has a great chance, if you have any questions just post or message, seeing as I have only just been going through the whole thing!!

Take Care!!