Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Sorry in advance if this is a little long, but I'm really struggling with what to do.

I'm 30 weeks along.

Last Tuesday, my Dr. put me on bedrest after getting a second positive fetal fibronectin test. For those that don't know, it is a test that indicates the POSSIBILITY of premature labor because your body is leaking the "glue" that holds the fetal sac to the uterine lining. A negative test tells more of a story than a positive, but it made me "high risk". Negative tests are like 99.9% accurate, and I couldn't find any statistics for the positive tests. Earlier this week, I went for a non-stress test in the morning and I was having slight contractions about every 6 minutes - but I didn't feel anything. So my Dr. put me on procardia to stop the contractions. I take it every 6 hours.

So my friend's mother who is a midwife has been telling me that the doctor is overreacting and that I can go back to work. She said the Dr. is being overly cautious and that she spoke to various colleagues of hers that agree. She said you can't rely on a positive fetal fibronectin and the contractions were probably just because it was too early in the morning and I hadn't had enough to drink.

I would LOVE to go back to work. Aside from the fact that I'm eating up my paid time and I'll therefore not be able to take as long off after LO is born (we don't get paid leave at my job - we can only use accrued time and short term disability), I really LIKE working. I guess it might be kind of weird going back at this point after I told my job I'd be out until after the baby arrived, but aside from that, I'd much rather be at work than laying on my couch all freaking day. I sit at a desk - but we do work longer hours sometimes (like 10-11 hour days).

My gut is telling me that my doctor IS being overly cautious - but at the same time, is that such a bad thing? DH and I had to go through IVF to get pregnant - and we probably would only have maybe another 2 chances at ever getting pregnant via IVF due to limited "goods". Heaven forbid anything went wrong because I went back to work - I'd never forgive myself.

I'm contemplating bringing all of this up to my doctor on Monday, but I also don't want to seem like I don't trust her. I guess I'm just curious how other people would handle this situation.

All opinions are welcome - I'm just torn between sitting at home for no reason and putting financial burdens on our new family versus going back to work when I really SHOULD be at home resting.

Oh - and working from home isn't an option. I tried

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

It must be difficult being on bedrest esp if you're not sure if you really need to be...but I would definitely err on the side of caution.

I'm not sure how long / far your commute is or how far the hospital is from home vs work, but for me I sit on my azz all day at work and my hospital is actually closer to me job in the city, so I'd consider talking to my doc about the bedrest in that situation.

If you do you have to stay home for the next 10 weeks (and maybe it won't even be that long), maybe you can do some freelance work on the side (if your job is mainly at a computer)?

or you can read the Hunger Games trilogy

Talk to your doc about your situation. Good luck!

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Posted by ShhhTTCin11

My gut is telling me that my doctor IS being overly cautious - but at the same time, is that such a bad thing? DH and I had to go through IVF to get pregnant - and we probably would only have maybe another 2 chances at ever getting pregnant via IVF due to limited "goods". Heaven forbid anything went wrong because I went back to work - I'd never forgive myself.

I'm contemplating bringing all of this up to my doctor on Monday, but I also don't want to seem like I don't trust her. I guess I'm just curious how other people would handle this situation.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

At around 28/29 weeks my doctor suggested that I start to "take it easy" after there was a slight change to my cervix (nothing that would cause alarm but I have a history of preterm labor/delivery). He said the decision was up to me but I did take his advice. To be honest, DH and I figured I would probably stop working around the 30 week mark anyway (my DD was born at 32 weeks) so it was just a bit sooner than anticipated. The decision did weigh heavily on me and it would have been great to work longer but after going through what we did the first time around, I decided I'd rather be safe than sorry. It's definitely not ideal but I am happy to report that I will be 35 weeks tomorrow and while I'll never know if the bed rest had anything to do with it, I'm happy that I did everything I felt I could do to keep this one in a bit longer. Again, my situation is slightly different since I already had a history of preterm delivery.

Is there anyway you can maybe work for home? Or maybe cut down your hours? I might have been able to consider some of these options as well if I worked closer to home but I had a 45 minute commute each way. Good luck!

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

I'm in a similar situation. I didn't have a positive FFN by I was having contractions every 2 minutes and my cervix had a significant change an is shorter than what it should be. My Dr. recommended strict bedrest as well until further notice. When I was in the hopsital from contractions I asked every nurse I came across what the usual outcomes were with someone that experienced the same or similar symptoms as me. THey all said the same thing - anything can happen and you never know. Some women have had pre-term weak contractions, and they didn't think much of it - and ended up having to deliver at around 30 weeks. On the other end, some women had very strong contractions and ended up going full term. As difficult as bedrest is, and as much as I wish I could go to work - we decided it was best to stay home. In the long run you have to think its only a few months of your life, and its for your child. We figured, why not do everything you can to keep him/her as healthy as possible?

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

i am pregnant due to ivf as well.

here are my thoughts.

what is the worst that can happen if you stop working?

what is the worst that can happen if you DONT stop working?

i mean hellll isnt pregnancy when a doctor should be overly cautious???


plus bt you and me all we went through to get pregnant kwim?

i would ask the doc you see on monday that you are worried about stopping working in case these are false positive tests and what the chances are of pre term labor

i just try to go by what would i regret more? taking it easy and losing money and going full term or even if premie knowing you did all you could?
or working and having a premie and then wondering if you should have listened to the doc?

this is bt you and your husband and YOUR DOCTOR...not someone who isnt treating you..

gl in your decision! xoxox

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

I would listen to your dr. At 27 weeks I was having contractions and also failed the FFN test. My cervix shortened but I didn't officially go into labor. I was put on strict bed rest(only to get up to go to the bathroom and shower). I read that some people don't believe in bed rest,etc but strictly listened to my dr who told me not to get off bed rest until 38 weeks. I came off of bed rest and went into labor that night. It obviously worked and I'm so glad I strictly adhered to it. As soon as I started walking around my water broke!
Although the FFN makes them initially nervous it is only a prediction of possible labor for a short period of time. I would imagine the frequency of your contractions is part of the alarm as well. Is your cervix atnall shortened?
Just so you know my water broke with my DD and I didn't feel a contraction until I was 7 cm dilated so not feeling them does not mean they arent doing anything.
30 weeks is too risky IMO. I would definitely listen to your dr.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

How is your cervix?

I'll tell you this much... I ended up out of work at 22 weeks and was in the hospital for a week.

I was on strict bed rest at home from 22 weeks (only getting up to use the bathroom!) and I STILL delivered at 34w4d.

My son was in the NICU from 2/14-3/1 and my daughter from 2/14 - 3/10. It was not fun! And I know bed rest is what kept them in there so long.

I did IVF as well and I have been out of work since November (and was only planning on taking off 6 weeks after babies were born). It has not been easy financially, but we did what we felt was best for our babies.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Lurking.. Can you go on short term disability and still collect some of your pay check?


I actually did that when we lost our first baby and wasn't ready to return to work. I went on a leave, and collected a portion of my paycheck through short term disability.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

In my opinion Drs just don;t put you on bed rest for nothing. They may tell you to take it easy or try and work part time but not full bed rest unless it is really needed

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

I definitely would listen to your dr. I was put on bedrest at 24 weeks because of a shortened cervix and even with that I still ended up delivering at 30 weeks. If I could have done more to keep them in there I would have. If FFN's weren't reliable then dr.'s wouldn't use them. Because of my pre term labor last time I am currently getting them done every 2 weeks now. A positive doesn't mean that you're going into labor tomorrow necessarily. Or maybe it does. You don't know but obviously it's worse then getting a negative result. So why take the chance? I would 100% trust your dr.'s advise.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Thank you so much for all your feedback. It made me feel a lot better.

My cervical length is okay, and I am not dilated yet.

But you girls are right - I shouldn't be letting someone who isn't treating me put doubts in my head. It is only a couple of months and we'll be fine financially - even though it is frustrating. It will all be worth it when I have my healthy

And Pennycat- I can collect like $180 per week for disability while I am out, which is better than nothing, but still. I can collect my full pay until my sick/vacation time runs out.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Posted by ShhhTTCin11

Thank you so much for all your feedback. It made me feel a lot better.

My cervical length is okay, and I am not dilated yet.

But you girls are right - I shouldn't be letting someone who isn't treating me put doubts in my head. It is only a couple of months and we'll be fine financially - even though it is frustrating. It will all be worth it when I have my healthy

And Pennycat- I can collect like $180 per week for disability while I am out, which is better than nothing, but still. I can collect my full pay until my sick/vacation time runs out.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

assuming you can afford it, i dont see the point at all in you going back to work. it just doesnt make any sense other than you being bored on bedrest. IMO totally not worth the risk whatsoever. maybe go off bedrest and work at 35w when you are nearly full term.. but at 30w def not worth it. that baby needs to cook more!

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

I would say to definitely take the time off. It just isnt worth the risk esp after all your went through and then carrying the babe for 30 weeks. You will never forgive yourself if something goes wrong.

See if you can be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. Apply for short-term disability like PennyCat said.

Also what do you do for a living? Are you on your feet alot or do you sit at a desk. Do you have a long commute or walk to work (NYC). These all play factors.

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

I have been on strict bedrest since 29 weeks being watched for preeclampsia. Honestly, most days I feel absolutely fine, which makes it really hard to lay around and take it easy, especially because I have a 2 year old son. My MIL had to fly up from FL to help us, this whole thing has been extremely fustrating. I begged my doctor to take me off bedrest because I felt good and he felt that bedrest is what was keeping my numbers stable. I have not personally delt with IVF, but I have experienced 3 miscarriages. I see nothing wrong with a doctor being overly cautious in these type of situations. In the end it is all worth it for our LO's and I doubt you will ever look back and regret being on bedrest. Take it easy and these weeks will fly, although the days seem to drag...lol! Your baby will be here soon and you will be so happy you did everything to keep him safe! I am sure your friend's mom means well, but I would listen to your doctor that has all your #'s in front of her. They may see other things that are borderline and just want to keep you and baby safe. Good Luck to you!

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long

Re: Bedrest Opinion - sorry kind of long