Here is our story. When we found out I
was pregnant we were surprised but very
happy. We already had a 3yr old girl and
a 1 yr old boy. This baby would complete
our family. I started bleeding on new
years eve, I was 15 wks 2 days. It was
brown spotting but it didn't let up. At
my next appoinment with my OB I was
still spotting, he thought that it
looked like a lot so he scheduled me
for an ultrasound the next day.At this
point I was told the baby was fine . It
was another boy, but I had a marginal
tear. The tear was 5 cm long and 1 cm
wide, not too big and it should
hopefully heal on its own, just take it
easy the next few weeks. I stopped
bleeding shortly after the ultrasoundand
but continued going to weekly OB appts.
At 19 wks and 3 days I had a followup
ultrasound and was told the tear had
healed itself, at this point we thought
we were out of the woods. Boy were we
wrong. On February 15th, 21 wks and 6
days I thought I felt some leaking.I of
course denied that my water could be
broken .My sister was visiting for the
day and I told her about it and she told
me to call the Dr. I said I would if it
didnt stop by lunch time. On the way
home from picking up lunch I had a big
gush of fluid. At this point I could not
longer deny that my membranes had
ruptured, I called my Dr. and my
husband. My husband picked me up and we
went to the Dr. My OB did a sterile
speculum exam and said he could see
pooling of fluid. I was told things
didn't look good at this point, I would
need to go straight to the hospital. I
went to the hospital but at this point
things begin to get kind of hazy for me
probably due to the stress I was under
at the time. Basically what happened was
I was given IV antibiotics for two weeks
then oral antibiotics for two weeks. I
was told if I get and infection or begin
bleeding that they would have to
deliver. If I go into labor that they
would not stop it. These things were all
very frightening and overwhelming. I was
told by the neonatologist that at this
point the baby would not be viable. If I
made it to 24 weeks it would be up to me
and my husband whether or not to try
resusitation because this is a white
male child. If I made it to 25 weeks
they would do everything possible to
save the baby. We were also told that
most women who have ruptured membranes
go into labor within 48hrs to two
weeks. But,that the earlier you rupture
the period before onset of labor might
be extended, naturally.We were also told
numerous times about the risk for
hypoplasitic lungs and skeletal
constrictures. I do remember that at
this point we just began to count the
weeks until viablity. It became a daily
and weekly count down.I was given
steriod shots at 24 weeks to help with
lung development. I never did leave the
hospital. I was allowed to shower and
go to the bathroom and the ocassional
wheelchair ride, but I won't bore you
with the details of my 11 week 2 day
stay except to say that it was for the
most part uneventful and my fluid level
seemed to stay at about 5. I missed my
children and our family life like crazy
and figured I would be insane by the
time I left the hosital. During this
whole time the baby was breech so when I
went into labor at 32 wks and 5 days I
had a c-section. Evan Taft Horowitz was
born at 11:05pm 5-2-02, 17 in, weighing
4 lb 12 oz large for a 32 weeker. When
he was born he received 2 doses of
surfactant and was on the ventilator for
12 hours. He never needed anymore
breathing assistance. He left the
hospital 11 days after his birth without
any monitors or medications weighing 4
lbs 10 oz. To us Evan represents the
power of prayer, faith and patience.
This web site helped me tremendously
while I was in the hospital and I am so
thankful to everyone for sharing their
stories regardless of the outcome. They
really helped me accept the lack of
control I had over the experience. You
feel so alone but this web site lets you
know that other people have gone thru
the same things. Remember, miracles do
happen.
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