One year ago today I "prom'd," so I
thought it was time I posted my story:
On June 3, 1999 I had amniocentesis and
the following morning, one year ago
today, I sat up in bed and felt a gush.
I called the perinatologist who did the
amniocentesis and he said to come in
immediately and to pack a bag in case
they admitted me to the hospital. When
I arrived at the peri's office he did
not do an full internal (risk of
infection) exam but just enough to
determine that there was moisture and
that my water had, in fact, broken. He
admitted me and encouraged me to
terminate my pregnancy. I could not do
that. I'd risked my baby's life by
having the amniocentesis done and I had
to give him every chance now. While I
was in the hospital those first 5 days,
I felt my son move for the first time!
I felt he was telling me, "Don't give
up on me!"
The peri and my OB gave me very little
hope and the peri gave me horror
stories about what problems my son
might have if he survived. I'm happy
to report that the peri was wrong. I
was originally in the hospital for 5
days and then was sent home for
bedrest. I went back into the hospital
at 26 weeks as at that point my baby
was viable (would have a chance of
survival if I delivered) and they
wanted to be able to work on my baby
immediately when he was born. Although
I did have bleeding and pre-term labor
at 28 weeks, IV anti-biotics and
hydration stopped the contractions and
the bleeding stopped after a few days.
I received betamethazone (steriod)
shots once a week from 26 weeks on. The
steriods were to help speed the
maturity of my son's lungs as that is
one of the biggest hurdles preemies
encounter is under-developed lungs. The
peri and my regular OB watched in
amazement as I continued to carry my
son until 32.5 weeks. On Saturday,
Sept. 11, 1999, I felt my son had not
been moving much that morning and told
the peri on duty. She immediately had
me sent over to L&D for the fetal
monitor and to monitor contractions.
Well, my son became active, but I was
having contractions and didn't even
know it. As they got closer together,
the peri scheduled me for a c-section
that afternoon (my son had been breech
since before I ruptured). At 4:44 p.m.,
my son was born via c-section. The peri
said she had to "pry" him out due to
the lack of fluid (amniotic fluid had
been nearly non-existant since I'd
ruptured). My son, Joshua, needed no
assistance breathing and, besides the
prematurity (he stayed in the NICU for
15 days), the only PROM-related
problems he had was a contracted
(limited muscle movement) arm and
turned-in foot due to inability to move
and position in the womb. My son has
physical therapy to help loosen the
muscles in his arm and he had several
casts to gradually turn his foot to the
correct postion. I've since heard from
a number of women who had "normal"
pregnancies that their baby's
experienced the same "club" foot due
to positioning in the womb. I'm happy
to report that by the time my son turns
one, both problems should be behind us.
The peri who did the amniocentesis and
encouraged me to terminate refers to my
son as a miracle. He is to me in any
case, but since my son was born I've
subscribed to the PROM email list from
this site and heard many similar
stories. I know doctor's have to be
conservative and not give false hope,
but I truly think many doctors
underestimate the possibility of
delivering a healthy baby after PROM. I
know not all stories have a happy
ending, but I wanted to share my story
as I really needed to hear some
positive outcomes when I was on bedrest
agonizing about what would happen to my
baby.
If you are currently on bedrest due to
PROM, I wish you and your baby the very
best! Drink lots of water (so baby can
keep making amniotic fluid even if it
leaks out!) stay in bed, don't dwell
on the negative (emotional upset can
bring on labor!), lay on your left side
as much as you can stand it (best
circulation for you and your baby), try
to keep from going stir-crazy, and
pray! Email me or the PROM list and we
will pray for you!
Take care!
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