Fetal fibronectin (fFN) is a protein produced during pregnancy and functions as a biological glue, attaching the fetal sac to the uterine lining. During the first trimester and for about half of the second trimester (up to 22 weeks of gestation), fFN is normally present in the cervico-vaginal secretions of pregnant women. In most pregnancies, after 22 weeks, this protein is no longer detected until the end of the last trimester (one to three weeks before labor).
The presence of fFN during weeks 24-34 of a high-risk pregnancy, along with symptoms of labor, suggests that the "glue" may be disintegrating ahead of schedule and alerts doctors to a possibility of preterm delivery.
Or the way the way Dr E described it to me is: They test to see if your body is starting to prepare for labor. If the test comes back negative, there is less than a 1% chance that you will go into labor in the next 2 weeks. However, if the test comes back positive it does mean that you are at an increased risk of going into labor in the next 2 weeks, but it's NOT a guarantee. Basically a negative result is a really good thing (especially since he was going to take me off my meds and bed rest if it was negative) but a positive result does not mean you are DOOMED to have your baby in the next 14 days.
Well you may have already guessed based on the title of this entry, my test came back positive. So now I am at an increased risk of going into labor over the next two weeks, so I have to stay on my meds AND bed rest for a while longer. I have to reiterate, this test does NOT mean that I WILL go into labor, but just that I am at an increased risk. The goal is to stay on the meds and bedrest and to try to put off labor for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE, whether that be 2 weeks or 12 weeks from now.
I honestly thought my test would come back negative. I thought that all this preterm labor stuff was just one big misunderstanding. Like maybe my uterus some how made up this big lie just to get some extra attention from the Dr while I was in the hospital for my "kidney infection". I guess not!
I guess this really is REAL!!!
