I found out I was pregnant when I was
about 8 weeks pregnant. At 12 weeks I
began to bleed. I went to see the
doctor
and they put me on bed rest and told me
that it could be a sign of miscarriage.
3 days later I stopped bleeding. I seen
the doctor again and they told me that
I
could go back to work. The day I was
suppose to go back to work, I started
having cramps. So, they told me to stay
out of work for a few more days. But,
over the weekend, I was in bed and I
felt a gush of fluid. I have a
10-year-old daughter and my water broke
with her (full-term) so I knew what it
felt like. I called my doctor and they
asked me if I was sure that I did not
pee on myself. I told them I was sure
and they told me to come in on that
Monday. I was 13 weeks.
When I went in I had an ultrasound and
it determined that I had lost a lot of
fluid. So, they put me back on bed
rest,
for a week and told me to come back.
The
next week, I went back in and they said
that my fluid was still low. I was
still
leaking fluid. They proceeded to tell
me
all of the things that could go wrong
and they pretty much sent me home to
miscarry. I was sent back on bed rest
and had appointments every week. About
week 16 or 17 they decided to send me
to
a perinatologist. When I seen the peri
they told me pretty much what the
doctors had told me. But, they also
said
that the baby looked normal and they
also told me all the things that could
go wrong-that I could miscarry or get
an
infection and all kinds of other stuff.
So, my husband and myself had a hard
decision to make. Were we going to
terminate the pregnancy like they told
us we should or are we going to go all
the way, no matter what effect that
this
may have on the baby or on us?
Well, we decided to go all the way. So,
I was on bed rest for the duration of
the pregnancy. I was put on antibiotics
at about 16 weeks, but, the antibiotics
made me sick and I had to stop taking
them 4 days after I started. I was
given
no other antibiotics. I had been on bed
rest since October 5th, 1999 and was
looking to be on it until April 20,
2000-my due date. I took the test that
would tell if the baby would have spina
bifida or Down syndrome. The test came
back with a high possibility for spina
bifida. But, the peri said that the
test
was like that because of the ruptured
membrane, but there was still a
possibility. This was very scary.
I was told that since my rupture was so
early that I would not be admitted into
the hospital until 28 weeks. Because of
all of the stress on the baby from the
rupture my baby would die if born
before
then. And still could possibly die at
full term because I had no measurable
fluid from around week 16 until week
28.
My body continued to make the fluid and
it would leak out everyday!! The
doctors
talked about termination all the way up
until Christmas. We still had the
option
of termination until New Years. We
still
did not want to do it as long as there
was a heart beat. We knew that God was
sustaining us and we had to listen to
our hearts and keep in prayer no matter
what the outcome.
I was put into the hospital at 28 week.
When I had that ultrasound before being
admitted, I had 8 cm of fluid-the most
I
ever had after rupture. My husband and
myself were so happy. But, 8 cm is
still
really low. It stayed at 8 cm for 3
weeks and then went back down. When I
was admitted into the hospital, I had 1
series of steroids. I had the next
series at 32 weeks. Also, the day I was
admitted into the hospital, all of the
movement and everything caused me to
have some irregular contractions and I
had to have a brethine shot to stop the
contractions. The brethine shot worked.
I got blood work done about 3 times
during my stay in the hospital. I was
in
the hospital for 6 weeks. I had the
gestational diabetes test and the Group
B Strep, and had my white blood cells
checked to make sure I had no
infections. The whole time I was on bed
rest for the 22 weeks (6 being in the
hospital) I took my temperature 2 times
a day and the nurses checked about 4
times a day and I was on the monitor
while in the hospital 2 times a day for
1 hour.
The week after I was admitted into the
hospital, I got the flu. I had not been
sick the whole time I was at home. Then
I go to the hospital and get sick. Who
would have thought!!! My temp went sky
high! The nurses were freaking out
because they thought that I had an
infection. But, I assured them that I
had the flu and I believe that I caught
it from one of the doctors! They
checked
my blood and it was fine. I was sick
for
2 weeks it made being in the hospital
even worse.
I also have a 10-year-old daughter
(Full
term baby). She had to go stay with her
grandparents while I was in the
hospital
so that I would not be stressed from
worrying about her. I missed her a lot!
The day I was 32.6 weeks I collected
some amnion for the doctors so they
could check to see if my baby's lungs
were developed from the shots. I could
not get an amniocentesis because I did
not have enough fluid at any given time
to collect. So, I had to collect it
like
I was giving a urine sample. The next
day (33 weeks) the tests came back that
the baby's lungs were not matured. That
scared me a little. But, I thought if I
can last this long… maybe I will
last till full term and that may make a
difference.
But…2 days later, (33.2 weeks), I
woke up at around 2 o'clock in the
morning and I was having bad back
labor.
I was not sure what to do. So, tried to
go to sleep. But, it got worse. So, at
around 5 am I called the nurse and told
her. She put me on the monitor but the
contractions were not showing. I
assured
her that I was having back labor. She
called the doctor and the doctor came
to
see me. She brought the ultrasound
machine with her and gave me an exam.
She saw that the baby was okay, and was
still in a breech position. Because the
baby was in a breech position and the
low fluid-we did not know if we were
having a girl or a boy. She also gave
me
a vaginal exam-the first one that I had
had since I ruptured. She said I was
not
dilated and that was good, since I was
having a c-section, if I was in labor
they needed me not to dilate so there
would be no other complications. After
repositioning the monitor about 25
times, they finally could measure the
contractions. They were coming every 6
minutes and they gave me brethine again
and that did not stop the contractions.
So, I was taken to get a c-section
--about 1 hour after they actually
could
see the contractions on the monitor.
When I was getting the c-section I
could
do nothing but, pray and talk to my
Lord. When they took the baby out my
doctor says, "it's a girl" the next
thing I hear is her crying. The doctor
says " she's got a nice set of lungs on
her… she is breathing on her
own."
After they evaluated her they brought
her to the head of the table and let me
see her and kiss her. Then they took
her
to the NICU. After, about 45 minutes
the
Neonatologist that was there for
delivery came and talked to us. He said
that our daughter was a little miracle
and that she was breathing on her own.
She had no deformities, NO spina
bifida!
She was breathing a little fast right
at
birth, but that quickly stopped. They
had to give her an IV (sugar water) so
they could regulate her blood sugar
(Because almost all preemies cannot
regulate their blood sugar level) After
a 6 to 12 hour period she was able to
do
it on her own. She also needed the IV
for vitamins. After being, in the NICU
for a couple of days for observation
she
got put in a step down NICU. She stayed
in the hospital for 3 weeks-she needed
to drink from her bottles before she
could come home. She did not have the
suck swallow and breathe down yet. She
would drink a little and get really
tired. So she was in the NICU so she
could eat. When she was born she
weighed
4pds 4 ozs. A week after she came home
she weighed 6 pds! Now she's almost 7
pds. It's only been 3 weeks since she
has been home. Although a little small,
she is like a full term baby. Ready to
eat every 2 ½ to 3 hours. She is our
special little gift from God.
Just think! What if we would have
terminated when they told us that we
would possibly miscarry?! We have our
sweet baby girl home with us…
Kassia Kindle Love is her name!
Her name means "The scent of the
anointing of God fires up/stirs up
LOVE." I would do it all over
again… even the almost 6 months
of
bed rest! Thank you LORD…you are
the great…
I AM!
Katrina Love --29 years old
Bed rest @ 12 weeks (Due to bleeding
for
3 days)
22 weeks of bed rest
PROM @ 13 weeks
Ruptured/leaking and low fluid from
week
13 till Delivery
Delivered a healthy daughter --Kassia
Kindle at 33.2 weeks...
(Weighed 4pds 4 ozs)
Now weighs 6 pds and no problems or
complications also, mother to daughter
--Keiana Latasha/10 yrs old (PTL but,
was born fullterm)
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