I knew that I would have a high risk
pregnancy because my doctor had always
told me I would probably need a
cerclage due to a short and possibly
incompetent cervix. Luckily, I have a
very proactive doctor and had not had
a prior loss due to incompetent
cervix. I had a permanent Shirodkar
cerclage (requiring a c-section)
placed when I was 13 weeks pregnant. I
remember my perinatologist telling me
that this would create a higher risk
of PROM, but I never dreamed it would
happen to me!
After two weeks of bedrest I had no
restrictions and no problems until
29w2d, when I noticed some fluid loss.
Thinking I had developed "pregnancy
incontinence" I was sure it was
nothing, but went to the doctor just
in case. He informed me that I had
ruptured and admitted me to the
hospital where I had steroid shots and
antibiotics. I was on hospital bedrest
for 6 weeks, with non-stress tests
twice daily and ultrasounds twice
weekly. My fluid levels varied but
over time seemed to reaccummulate
somewhat. I hunkered down, learned to
knit and tried to appreciate each and
every day that my baby stayed inside
me.
Delivery was planned for 35w4d, but
the day before things started getting
weird. I felt less movement and my
baby didn't have the required
accelerations on his non-stress test,
but the doctors weren't worried. That
morning, though, I was having regular
contractions and they quickly decided
to go ahead and take the baby. I also
lost what seemed to me to be a HUGE
amount of fluid, but my doctor said
there was still plenty of fluid when
they delivered, which was hard for me
to believe. He also said he isn't sure
whether I was truly in labor, but I
was far enough along not to take any
chances.
My baby boy Dexter weighed 5 lb 15 oz
and was 18 1/2 inches long. He stayed
in the regular nursery that morning,
on oxygen for fluid in his lungs,
which was due to the c-section and not
to prematurity. Because of my
prolonged rupture and some discharge
in one eye, though, they decided to
send him to the NICU for 3 days of
antibiotics, just in case.
Fortunately, he did not have an
infection. He ended up in the NICU for
11 days because he wasn't eating
enough and had to be tube fed for a
few days.
Dexter is now 5 weeks old, home and
thriving, gaining weight like a champ.
We've even been able to transition to
exclusive breastfeeding. My doctors
(an ob and 2 perinatologists) believe
that my PROM has something to do with
IC/cerclage but they aren't exactly
sure how this caused the rupture; each
has a different theory. I will never
know for sure, but I would like to
have more children and being PAP will
be very scary. However, I am so
incredibly thankful to have the
outcome that I did with this pregnancy
and to have found this wonderful PROM
resource, which I'm sure will help me
tremendously in the future.
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