# re_match_first_or_last_digits.py

# re_match_first_or_last_digits.py

import re
url='ZZZZZ&h=749&hlZZZ&h=1200Z'
z='&h=749&hl'

# ... for the first...

print re.findall('&h=([0-9]+).*',url)

# ... or the last...

print re.findall('.*&h=([0-9]+)',url)

# ... or if a unique delimiter is expected...

print re.findall('.*&h=([0-9]+)&',url)

# ... and if none found, [] is returned