Pain at 18 weeks

[havingababy]

HI there!,

Im new to mumsnet but have friends who rave about it,I am having my 2nd baby and have had an interesting time to date (CVS at st georges, a whole array of illnesses etc!, had the dream pregnancy with my son so nothing can be perfect twice!) just back from the docs again as have had niggling pains low down since monday and stomach ache that is quite a dull pain for the last 3/4 days, the doc heard bumps h/beat (so a huge relief) and mentioned a couple of concerns but has anyone else had this at approx 18 weeks, as this is my 2nd I appreciate the streching and growing pains of a bump but dont remember them being this bad with my son? thanks

Have just said this on another thread but I had pain at 18 weeks in my first pregnancy and it was a UTI, had no other usual symptoms of urine infection and they didn't find out until they sent it off for cultures. Have they checked you for UTIs. What were the other concerns the doc mentioned? Also I don't want to frighten you but the heartbeat on its own doesn't mean a lot really in terms of going into early labour or having an infection or anything. When is your 20 week scan booked for?

thanks for your message, the doc tested my urine and that was ok, Ive not had any bleeding and the doc discussed going into early labour and said the pain would be "contraction like" and its not, Im not sure if it would be as strong at 18 weeks as it would be at full term??, its such a worry to not under or over react with pain in pregnancy, my 20 week scan is on 6th may (i'll be 21 weeks) I will have an extra scan at 24 weeks because of the results from my NT/hormone levels, (we had a 1:5 for downs etc) st georges said that the baby was on the small side so the babies size and cord etc will be monitor at 24 weeks...I obviously had growing pains with my son but this feels a bit more serious

Ok in your situation there is no such thing as overreacting in pregnancy - anything you are worried about, you need to get checked out, even if its just to worry you. This is not to worry you but I had a nuchal of 3.5mm in my 2nd pregnancy and sadly lost the baby (although actually the docs think it's something wrong with my blood), and when I finally went into early labour the pains were definitely definitely contractions - I had no doubt about it - even in the very early stages.
But just for your own peace of mind did you see GP or doc at hospital? If it was GP, I would ask him for referral to hosp / midwife just to make doubly sure.

Im sorry for your loss, how many weeks were you when it happened and did you have any pain leading up to it or was it quite sudden (if you dont mind me asking) thanks for your advice, Im going to see how I feel and then go to the hospital tomorrow if no change,Im just really hoping that the baby is having a real growth spurt and therefore everything is stretching and causing the pain, im thinking (me being hopeful!) that because bump is my 2nd that everything was a bit stretched from my son and now the baby is becoming bigger then that is putting the stress on my body and causing the pain (which is why it is later), has been such a difficult path to get to this stage that im just desperate that everything is ok.
(I saw my GP)

Oh I didn't want to scare you, what happened to me is very very rare. I was 17 weeks and had lots of other symptoms (including some of waters breaking, brown discharge etc.) the week before I even went into labour, but definitely had no pain before the contractions started. You may well be right - maybe your small baby is having a big growth spurt to catch up!

I really would go to hosp midwife to check it out though, just for your own peace of mind - now you're 18 weeks you could probably ring labour ward (that's not to scare you its just that there is a lot less wait / worry to be checked out in labour ward usually, especially if you go during the day).

Did they just dip your urine or did they send it off for cultures? A dip test will not always pick up a urine infection as I found out earlier in this pregnancy and some of the pain you describe does sound like a possible uti.

Thanks for your comments, feeling better, I still have a niggley pain on my left hand side quite low down, but dont have a stomach ache,I saw a friend today who said she had a lot of pain with her 2nd around this kind of time, im not one to panic, im not sure if Im more cautious because of having the cvs etc, was hoping to be more confident this time round as is my 2nd!.

They just did a dip test.