Gastroenteritis and 37 plus weeks... do I need to go in?

[expatnow]

Hoping someone can help me. I am 37 1/2 weeks and think I have gastroenteritis. I have felt nauseous for a couple of days on and off and also have severe diarrhoea today. Initially I had hoped it might be early signs of labour since it is accomapied by lower back pain, restlessness and insomnia (!). My daughter had a bout of vomitting and diarrhoea a few days ago so then I thought I had just caught the bug from her. I'm not in the UK so can't call NHS direct and the hospital/ dr here is quite far, so would only want to go in if absolutely necessary. Any advice?

I managed to get campylablactor (sp?) from our local Brewsters when I was 36 weeks. It was horrendous and went on for days. In the end the stomach cramps were so severe I didn't know whether or not I was in labour. The labour/delivery wards didn't want me anywhere near in case I caused an outbreak.

In the end I went to the out of hours dr and was prescribed co-codamol to help with the pain and it is also causes constipation.

So were they worried about the baby? IF there is no harm to baby I would rather stay put and just keep hydrated.

They were not worried about the baby as it would take what it needed first before me (if you see what I mean) and that it would be me who suffered and not him.

Try and keep as hydrated as you can. I was so bad that we sat in the out of hours for about 2 hours before I could manage a wee for a urine test despite them giving me cup after cup. I literally could not stop having diaohrea it went on for over a week and all was fine. It had to run it's course and the codene definitely helped.

I think there will come a point when you should be checked though. The main reason I went was that the stomach cramps were so bad it felt like labour. I was due a planned c-section at 39 weeks so there was no way I could risk going into full blown labour.

Are you cramping? If you are, I would go in to make sure that you aren't going into labour.

Stay in the comfort of your own home. Try to drink 200ml fluid for each bout of the runs and take some co-codamol for the pain and it can also help to bung you up. The dose is tiny and will not harm baby. If it lasts for more than 3 days I would ring your doctor. At 37+ weeks you are officially 'term' so if labour starts it is not all panic stations, but you should certainly go into hospital if you think you are in labour.

I think you need to go in tbh.
You have felt naseous for two days before diarrhoea started. The lower back pain could indicate some sort of infection or you could in fact be in labour. I have a friend who delivered at 36 weeks in the same sort of scenario. Impossible to tell if baby coming caused the symptoms or if baby came because she was unwell.