Preterm Labor Symptoms

"Sam I Am"... A story of hope

Seven years and roughly 8 months ago, I was given one of the biggest blessings I will ever have in my lifetime. Samuel Tully Jordan was born, weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs. He was named for my father's best friend, a man I greatly admired, Sam Johnson. Sam passed away due to Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma during my pregnancy. My brand new little Sam was my easiest delivery out of my three children. The only unusual thing that happened during my pregnancy was preterm labor at 34 weeks. My OBGYN slapped me in the hospital, and put me on a magnesium drip for three days to stop the contractions. They stopped - only for me to be induced at 39 weeks because he was such a big baby. I often look back at this scenario and wonder if that is what happened to essentially cause my son to be "different".

I believe in the studies that show a genetic predisposition to Autism. And I believe in a trigger - that elusive something that switches off the light in their eyes. I don't know what Sam's trigger was and I will likely never know. I, like most parents of children with Autism, have spent an inordinate amount of time and expended a tremendous amount of energy and emotion trying to determine what that trigger was.

Sam was a sweet, calm, happy baby. I distinctly remember thinking and saying that God gave me such a good baby because he was my third and I was so thankful! His first symptom? Flapping his hands when he watched Blues Clues. His second? Lining up VHS tapes down the hallway. (Crawling, mind you.) To which my response was to relocate the tapes to an out of reach location because the behavior struck me as very odd. He was making eye contact, responded to his name, and didn't have that spacey, vacant look in his eyes that your "typical" child with Autism has. Sam's pediatrician asked me the normal developmental questions and he wasn't missing milestones. I poured over the Internet looking up symptoms and he just did not fit into the definition of Autism.

By 3 and 4 years old, he spoke in broken, fragmented sentences, and referred to himself in third person. The words you, or I, or me were unknown to him. He would say "Sam bye?" if we were leaving the house. When he wanted milk, he would go to the refrigerator and say "Momma want milk?", combining asking me for milk with stating that he wanted milk. No matter how many times I corrected him or worked with him, he had no comprehension of what I was trying to teach him.

He lined his Thomas The Tank Engine trains and Buzz Lightyears up on window sills and tables, and stared at them, flapping his hands. He drew hundreds and hundreds of tiny circles at the kitchen table. (With a pencil, mind you - his fine motor skills were impeccable.

Preterm Labor | Pregnancy | Medicinal Plants

Preterm Labor And Uterine Irritability

Preterm labor occurs prior to the end of the 37th pregnancy week. Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of infant mortality and also long-term disability in the United States. In spite of improvements in the outcome of prematurely born infants, the rate of premature delivery has continued to rise, largely as a result of assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) and multiple pregnancies, although poor nutrition and lower socioeco-nomic status continue to play a major role. In 2004, 12.5% of all births in the United States occurred prior to 32 weeks gestation. Rates of preterm birth are highest among African-American women, adolescents, women older than 40, unmarried women, and women with lower socioeconomic status. Additional factors that contribute to premature labor include prior preterm birth, history of second trimester pregnancy loss, preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PPROM), multiple gestation, concurrent obstetric or medical complications, uteroplacental insufficiency, cigarette smoking, drug use, alcohol intake, lack of prenatal care, uterine abnormalities, infections, loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP), and fetal congenital abnormalities. Stress , dehydration, domestic violence, emotional abuse, closely spaced pregnancies, and jobs that require a long period of standing are also thought to be contributory to premature labor. The following specific conditions are associated with premature labor: urinary tract infections , vaginal infections, sexually transmitted infections and possibly other infections, diabetes , hypertension , pre-eclampsia, and clotting disorders (thrombophilia). Dietary patterns also play a role. Decreased frequency of eating is associated with an increased risk of premature labor. Women who consume three meals and two snacks daily throughout pregnancy appear less likely to experience premature onset of labor. Low or no fish consumption, associated with inadequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids, is also associated with an increased risk of premature labor. Other nutritional deficiencies, notably vitamin C, may also be related to increased risk of premature labor.

Uterine irritability is a stressful and annoying pregnancy problem in which the pregnant woman experiences frequent uterine contractions ranging from mild to painful that generally come in an irregular pattern, although they may appear to mimic early labor. Women with uterine irritability have an increased risk of premature labor; however, the presence of an irritable uterus is not indicative of labor, and may simply be a source of ongoing concern to the mother, her family, and care providers, and a bother to the mother.

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