During a routine visit to the hospital
my husband and I were informed that
our baby was at a high risk of having
downs syndrome and I was advised to
have and amnio.
At 17 weeks The procedure was
performed and I was advised to rest
for 36-48 hours. 3 days after the
amnio and even though I followed the
doctor's instructions to the letter I
awoke to a gush of fluid. My husband
took me straight into the maternity
department where I was examined and
there was no pool of fluid near the
cervix and no amniotic fluid was
detected. The doctor put it down to a
weak bladder, even though in my heart
I knew that was not the case, I was
sent home.
Upon returning home to bed I was still
leaking fluid and then another major
gush occured. I returned back to the
hospital and more tests were carried
out which confirmed I was loosing
fluid. I was told that the likelyhood
was I would go into labour and
miscarry my baby or that infection
would set in. Termination was never
discussed and therefore there was no
pressure for us to make an impossible
decision.
I was kept in hospital on complete bed
rest for 7 days, with a constant
regime of tests and antibiotics to try
to monitor for and prevent the onset
of infection. Once there was no
further loss for 48 hours I was
allowed to return home and told to
rest and to keep monitoring my
temperature for signs of fever.
I took every day at a time, unable to
think further than that or to make
plans for the future. Each day that
passed was a day closer to the life of
my baby being viable. The week after
I was discharged I received the
results of the amnio which showed no
evidence of downs and that we were
expecting our second girl.
Time ticked by and after what seemed
like an eternity, my due date
arrived. Upon a visit to see the
midwife I was told that my little girl
was breech. In a way I was pleased to
have been given the opportunity to
have a c-section as after everything
my baby and I had been through I was
worried about the complications that
might have occured during a natural
birth.
In the early hours of the morning on
the day my c-section had been
scheduled, I went into labour. Upon
arriving at the hospital I was 7cm
dilated and by the time I was in
Theatre I was 10cm dilated. An
emergency c-section was performed and
my 8lb 10oz daughter Jessica was
brought into the world.
She is now a happy healthy 4 month-
old.
I hope this story gives hope to anyone
in a similar situation.
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