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I had bleeding - no contractions or anything.

Hopefully it's nothing!

@Anagram ALWAYS better safe than sorry with PTL! They may have you come in or go to the hospital to be monitored to see if you are having contractions, or they may look at your cervix to see if it is shortening. I think the signs and symptoms of PTL can be hard to distinguish because sometimes they are similar to other random pregnancy issues. Cramping and diarrhea can both be signs.

If I were you, I would want to at least come in to be put on the monitor to make sure you are not having contractions and have some peace of mind.

Edited to add: I haven't actually gone into preterm labor yet - I'm just being treated for threatened PTL (shortened cervix, contractions, etc). My symptoms are frequent contractions (my belly especially lower part gets hard as a rock - unmistakable) - with pain. The pain is like menstrual cramps but worse (worse than my cramps at least) but also in my back, and sometimes a pressure/cramp feeling that kind of goes down my upper thighs.

Agree with everyone else...you need to get it checked out. For me it was bleeding first, then contractions, but the week ahead of time I just felt weird, kind of like I had a UTI or something.

I've had the same thing! It started last Sunday, and I thought I ate something crappy at a BBQ but it has only started to get better after about 5 days. I ended up calling the nurse and got a pretty condescending lecture about the important of fluids and how hormones can cause fluctuations in bowel movements.

@Anagram: Ugh, I'm sorry. My triage nurse tends be condscending and I swear she has two options 1. You're fine, why are you even calling me? or 2. Go to the emergency room immediately. There is no middle ground with her. When I was 10 weeks I called because of constant vomitting and really had to fight to get her to just call in some meds for me as opposed to making me go to the ER for IV fluids.

I had preterm labor starting at 33 weeks. I started having contractions in my back and abdomen and felt very, very tired. I did not feel like myself. I ignored the contractions for a few days, thinking they were Braxton Hicks and by the time I got to the doctor, I was already almost 2 cm dilated. I say call, if you are not feeling right it's better to be safe than sorry. My contractions continued for the next three weeks until he was born and they were pretty intense (but never got closer together until it was GO TIME). Hopefully in a few days you feel better and it's not PTL!

I had contractions and lots of leaking (sorry TMI) which ended up being my mucous plug (but it was completely clear which freaked me out and made me think it was my water breaking or amniotic fluid!)