I went into preterm labor at 33 weeks, 2 weeks ago. I was dilated to 2 and 75% effaced. I was first put on Nifedipine, but I broke out in a nasty rash after a week, so I was told to stop taking it. Within 24 hours I was having painless contractions, but they were frequent, so I went yesterday to the doctor and am now dilated to 3. I've been put on Tributaline, 1 pill every 4 hours. The only side effect to me so far is that I'm really jittery, which I was told by my doctor could happen. I have to stay on it until this Saturday, when I reach 36 weeks gestation. I've read about this drug, and know it's really for asthma, and there is some controversary over it. I was just wondering what your experiences are/were with it. How far along did you reach? How long after stopping it did you go into labor? How was your baby, and side effects? Thank you
gumby2008-02-26T14:20:30Z
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I hated that stuff. I went into labor at almost 32 weeks and was kept on terbuteline until I hit 37 weeks. It was horrible, I was so shaky, I couldn't hardly stand up without falling over. I still had contractions, they just weren't as strong.
After I went off the pills at 37 weeks, the contractions came back, but they still didn't do much to my cervix. At 38 weeks on the day, they got really severe but I refused to go because I had been having contractions for so long, I didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home. My hubby tricked me to getting into the car and he drove me to the hospital. I was almost at an 8 by the time we got there.
Anyway, it was yucky stuff, but it seemed to do its job. My son had other complications so we needed to keep him in there as long as possible.
Make sure you ask for the steroid shot in case your baby's lungs aren't quite ready.
I guess I should have read all of your question. My boy is almost 2 now and he's fine. He had some health issues and still does but those are not related to the terbutaline. One of his issues was that his digestive tract didn't devlop properly in utero. That's actually what caused the preterm labor. His other stuff has been things like having ear tubes put in and adenoids/tonsils taken out. Even with those issues, I can't keep up with him. He's 20 times busier than either of my girls ever were.
My wife went into preterm labor at 23 weeks. She was put on bed rest and was given tributaline (is that the same???) pills she could take if she had more than 4-5 contractions an hour. She only took it a few times and it would make her very shaky. She didn't like it too much. And our OB said you can develop tolerance for is so you may continue to need more and more to ease the contractions. When she did take it, it did usually stop the contractions. And she was able to go full term, after 3 months of bed rest.
I never had this problem, When I was due, the baby just popped out so fast nobody had time to stop and think. I was in labor starting from the time I left home and it took about ten minutes to get to the hospital..I was rushed to the delivery and got prepped and the baby came.... I Had two girls and they were both delivered fast, with no problem... I`m wishing you lots of luck my dear.....