This is our story....but first you must
know some history. My first pregnancy
was a normal pregnancy until 27 weeks at
which point I was found to have an
incompetent cervix. I spent 10 weeks on
bedrest but managed to carry my baby to
term and delivered a beautiful, healthy
boy. He is now three. As a result of my
history, it was decided that I would
need a cerclage in my second pregnancy.
We were delighted with a positive
pregnancy test at the end of August. A
cerclage was set up for 13 weeks. So, I
had the cerclage and was told to take it
easy for the remainder of the pregnancy.
I was allowed to return to work but with
instructions to sit as much as possible.
That is a very hard task in my
profession of pharmacy. I regularly
stand 10 to 12 hours per day.
Nonetheless, I followed orders and did
exactly as I was told. But just after
thanksgiving, at 17 weeks, I noticed
something wasn't quite right. I felt
these "squirts" if you will. I thought
that maybe I had developed an
incontinence problem but in the back of
my mind I knew that something more was
wrong. I started wearing a panty liner
but couldn't shake the bad feeling. Two
days later and at the insistence of a
wonderful friend, I went to the doctor
to be checked. My doctor examined me and
said she saw no pooling of fluid but
swabbed my cervix and examined it under
a microscope. After what seemed like an
eternity, she re-entered the room with a
distraught look and informed me that my
membranes had ruptured and we would lose
the baby. She gave us no hope and
recommended for us to induce labor that
day. She said no matter what our
decision she would have to take the
cerclage out because of risk of
infection. I insisted that I knew the
baby was ok because that day was the
first day I had really felt her moving.
But at the same time I felt numb inside
and incapable of making a decision. Then
my darling husband came in. He was in
shock too. My call to him had been one
of panic but leave it to him to always
be calm and collected. He listened to
what the doctor said...our options or
lack there of. He asked the doctor to
give us a few minutes alone. He put his
hand on my tummy and our baby gave him a
strong, firm kick. We looked at each
other with tears in our eyes but knew
our decision was made. We would pray to
God for hope and leave it in His hands.
There would be no termination. We were
admitted to the hospital and introduced
to our grim reality through a specialist
and a neonatologist. We knew the risks
but had to try. Statistics said that we
might make it 48 hours but probably no
longer than two weeks. We then dealt
with the possibility of making it to
viability but being left with severe
complications including brain damage.
The next day we had an ultrasound and
the fluid level didn't look so bad. I
kept being hydrated with IV fluids and
drinking all I could. The tears flowed
but God gave us a peace about the
situation. After 5 days, we left the
hospital because we were told that
nothing could be done in or out of the
hospital at that point. I was placed on
complete bedrest ( I was allowed to go
to the restroom).For the next 3 weeks I
continued to leak but never gushed and
then the leaking appeared to stop.I
prayed that I had resealed although the
specialist said that would not happen.
At 20 weeks I ended up in the ER with a
possible blood clot in my lung. I was
having trouble breathing but after
arriving at the hospital I seemed to be
doing better. I had an ultrasound to
check for gallstones and a CT scan to
check for a blood clot. Nothing striking
was revealed and I was released with
instructions to walk to the dinner table
and keep wearing TED hoses. At 24 weeks,
things seemed to be holding. I still
experienced times when I though I was
leaking but no gushes. I had fluid
around the baby and she seemed to be
thriving. We decided at 26 weeks to give
her steroid shots to mature her lungs.
After the shots, I developed a fever, an
increase in white blood cell count, and
strong contractions. My doctor said that
I may have an infection and that we
needed to talk about delivery. I asked
her if it could all be related to the
steroid shots. She said that was a
possibility. We decided to wait another
day and see how things progressed. By
the next day the fever and white blood
cell count were down and the
contractions slowed. We continued on. We
dealt with a rollercoaster ride of
emotions and 19&1/2 weeks of bedrest but
made it to 38&1/2 weeks. Our precious
little girl was then born healthy and
strong. She is a true miracle...an
answer to prayer. May this story give
you hope and encouragement.
|
|
