I ruptured on December 1, 2002 when I
was 13.5 weeks pregnant with my second
child. My first pregnancy was
textbook: a healthy pregnancy followed
by a full term, healthy baby. This
pregnancy proved to be different
starting at 9 weeks when I began to
spot blood. I continued to do so
until I ruptured. I hadn't realized
that I had ruptured--I thought it was
just a weak bladder--so I didn't
inform my doctor until my next
appointment at 15 weeks. He did the
strip test on me to see if it would
show up positive for amniotic fluid
and it came back negative. Of course,
at this point it had been well over a
week since I ruptured. I continued to
leak so we scheduled an ultrasound
which was to take place at 16.2
weeks. That appointment showed no
amniotic fluid..which was the first
time we realized what was going on. I
was sent to see a Maternal Fetal
Specialist for a high resolution
ultrasound the following week, which
ended up being the day after
Christmas.
It was at this appointment that we
learned the grim news that my AFI was
0 and our baby would have slim to no
chance of survival if carried full
term. The "IF" being a big "IF" since
I would most likely miscarry any day.
We were sent home in utter disbelief
and told to either wait to miscarry or
terminate the pregnancy. Our OB, a
dear family friend, told us to sleep
on our decision for a few days and to
remember that "there is always room
for a miracle." We chose to continue
to live as normal as we could and put
this in God's hands. At this point,
we began to live day to day—each day
waiting for the cramping and the
bleeding. I continued to leak every
day. Some days more than others, but
still always present. Each week, I
would visit my OB to hear the
heartbeat and get my weekly hug and
hear “So glad to see you again this
week, Lynn.” Every other week I
would go for an ultrasound with Dr.
Doom and Gloom…the woman who gave us
the very bad news on December 26th.
Each ultrasound we would pray for a
small pocket of fluid near the baby’s
mouth but my AFI never got higher than
3cm by the time I hit 24 weeks.
Around 21 weeks, both my doctors
started talking about a long term
hospital stay if I made it 24 weeks.
It seemed impossible to get there at
the time, but eventually we did. I
started slowing down my lifestyle at
home around 22 weeks. I had daily
help with our son and I limited my
trips up and down the stairs because I
seemed to leak more after climbing
them.
I was admitted into the hospital on
February 10th, 2003. I was given
bathroom privileges and allowed one 30
minute wheelchair ride a day. I had
weekly ultrasounds to check on my AFI
and we took the baby’s measurements
every other week. He was growing just
wonderfully and my AFI started to
increase dramatically once I was on
full bed rest in the hospital. After
4 weeks in the hospital, my AFI was up
to 15cm!! It eventually came back
down to 12cm where it stayed until I
delivered. Again, I was still leaking
fluid so I had to be cautious with my
level of activity. More than one
doctor told me that if I would stop
leaking, I would be able to go home.
But, that never happened. After my
AFI seemed to be stable, I slowly
increased my activity level around the
floor. By the end of my pregnancy, I
was walking down to the coffee shop to
get a smoothie and sitting outside to
drink it. Although, the doctors
didn't like this very much, they
understood my anxiety from being
cooped up in a little room during
spring. My advice: make it clear that
YOU are still the person in charge of
this pregnancy AND your sanity. Long
term hospital stays aren't fun but
there are ways to make them
bearable.
We chose to induce the pregnancy at 36
weeks. I’m pretty sure none of us
thought I would have stayed pregnant
that long. I spoke to the
neonatologist the day before my
induction (who I had come to know
pretty well in preparation for a
potentially sick baby) and she told me
that she still couldn’t tell me that
she was hopefull our baby would
survive. The bottom line was that our
son was without fluid for up to 8
weeks. Those 8 weeks are a critical
time for lung development. It was so
frustrating to have put so much time,
faith, love, and hope into something
like this just to be told that it may
not be enough to save our son.
The induction was started the morning
of May 5, 2003 and our son was born 21
hours later on May 6, 2003. The
moment I started pushing was one of
the scariest of my life. At that
point, I realized that this baby was
alive as long as he was inside of me
but as soon as he came out, I had no
idea what was going to happen. The
second our son was born was so
different from our first son’s birth.
My husband and I just sat up and
quietly watched as he fought to cry
while they sucked the mucus out of his
mouth. Those first 10 seconds felt
like forever. And then he let out the
loudest, most beautiful cry ever.
They rushed him over to the warmer
where he was checked by the
neonatologists from Riley Children’s
Hospital and after a couple minutes I
heard someone say “This baby is going
to be just fine.” I almost didn't
hear it so I asked "What did you just
say? Are you serious?" The tears began
to flow. I have never felt such
relief. All the doctors agreed, what
a miracle! He weighed 6lbs and was 18
inches long. He spent 2 days in the
NICU to receive IV antibiotics just in
case of infection. I agreed with this
precaution but I had to laugh and
remind the doctors that he avoided
infection for over 150 days, why do
they think he has one now? He only
stayed one extra day and they ran a
few other tests on him, all of which
came back normal. The hospital
allowed me to stay that extra day with
him in my room that was my home for so
long. On May 9, 89 days after I had
arrived, Matthew and I went home…
together.
Today, he's almost 9 months old. He
weighs about 19lbs and is somewhere
around 29 inches long. He is a big
fan of food…especially whatever the
rest of us are eating. He has one
tooth but still manages to gum up
corn, carrots, chicken, whatever we
give him. He hasn't quite figured out
crawling yet but he has a big interest
in walking. I’m sure when he masters
one skill, the rest will follow
quickly.
The ladies on the PROM support group
ran by this website were my rock
during those 6 months. In the
beginning, they answered my questions
and listened to my fears and then at
the end, they cried with me and
thanked God with me. It was the most
wonderful support I’ve ever felt.
Someday, I hope to join the list again
so I can be an inspiration to others
who may not know how to feel during
such an unsure time. Good luck to all
you PROM queens out there. You too,
must believe that there is always room
for a miracle.
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