I hope that this will help provide
some
hope to those going through PROM
pregnancies. I know that when I was
going through it, I lost hope on
several
occasions. Reading others' stories
helped me regain my hope that our
child
would survive. Miracles DO happen.
My
little miracle is asleep in my
husband's
arms at this very moment. Our little
boy that wasn't supposed to survive to
viability is alive and well. There is
hope. This is Jack's story:
After multiple first trimester
miscarriages, we found ourselves
expecting again. We decided not to
share our news with others unless we
made it through the first trimester.
Well, the first trimester was a little
rocky with some spotting here and
there,
but we made it through and decided to
tell our friends and family. We
thought
we were home free!
Then, on Father's Day, at 19 weeks
gestation, I felt a small gush of
fluid
after gagging on something. I thought
I
was becoming incontinent. It was a
Sunday, and because I thought it was
urine, I didn't worry too much and
decided to call the doctor the next
day.
When I called on Monday, I was told
to
go directly to the hospital.
Tests were done ("fern" test and
others)
as well as an ultrasound. There was
still ample fluid around the baby and
the tests on the leaking fluid
indicated
that it was not amniotic fluid. I was
told it was probably as I had
suspected
- incontinence. So I was sent home
and
resumed my normal activities which
included caring for a very active two
year old.
One week later, my husband and I went
in
for my 20 week ultrasound. I remember
that we were very excited because we
wanted to find out the sex of the
baby.
During the ultrasound, the US tech
told
us that she couldn't see well enough
to
know the sex of the baby and got very
quiet and left the room. We were
taken
to an exam room where the doctor met
with us and told us that there was
absolutely no amniotic fluid around
the
baby. Having never heard of PROM
before, I asked, "Well, how do you fix
it?" I was told that there wasn't a
fix
and that I should go to the hospital
right away.
Upon arrival at the hospital, I was
examined and tests were run to
determine
if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I
was.
I was then told that the baby would
probably not make it to viability. If
he or she did, the chances of the
lungs
being developed enough to survive
outside the womb are very small. I
was
also given the other scary statistics
of
birth defects and other problems
should
the baby survive. We were
devestated.
I was advised to think about
my "other"
options (Meaning: termination). I
spent
the night in the hospital in shock,
not
sleeping and crying a lot.
I was discharged the next day and put
on
bedrest to wait it out at home. I was
told that if the baby made it to
viability, I would be admitted to the
hospital for the remainder of my
pregnancy. But, I was cautioned that
it
was unlikely that this baby would make
it to viability.
Well, Jack surprised them all by
making
it to viability! I was admitted to
the
hospital and put on a fetal heart
monitor 24/7. Weekly ultrasounds
revealed that there was still very
little amniotic fluid (AFI = 0 to 4)
and
they could never make out the sex of
the
baby. I was moved into a room close
to
the OR because everyone was convinced
that this would be an emergency
delivery
and I needed to be as close as
possible
to cut down on time spent in transit
to
the OR. There were a few tense
moments
during my six weeks in the hospital
when
Jack's heart rate decelerated and they
were ready to take me in for a
C-Section, but he always rebounded.
As I got farther along, a plan was
made
to take Jack at 32 weeks gestation.
He
kept rolling on the cord and it was
feared that he would crush it if he
was
allowed to get much bigger than
that.
However, Jack had other plans. On the
morning of September 13, at 31 +2
weeks
gestation, I started having
contractions. Not the intermittant
weak
ones I had been having for weeks, but
strong steady ones. After a few
hours,
the decision was made that this would
be
Jack's birthday! My husband and I
were
terrified as they wheeled me into the
OR. I kept saying that if he can cry,
everything else will work itself out.
I
was praying so hard that we would hear
him cry.
It went by so fast. Before I knew it,
I
heard the doctor say, "He looks like a
boy to me!" We waited for what seemed
like an eternity, although it was only
a
few seconds and we heard three loud
cries in succession. He COULD cry!
My
husband and I both started to cry.
The
NICU staff immediately started to work
on him. I was told that he was not as
bad off as they had expected him to
be.
He was brought to my side for a few
moments before they whisked him off to
the NICU to work on him.
Jack spent 50 days in the NICU. He
was
on a ventilator only for a few days
and
came home on oxygen. He had a double
hernia and a perforated colon. He
requires splints on his feet because
they pull up a little. However, all
these things have been or will be
corrected. We expect that he will be
off oxygen by spring - a total of 7
months on oxygen.
He has shown no lasting, permanent
damage from the PROM. All the doom
and
gloom scenarios just didn't happen
with
him. I know that there are many
precious children lost due to PROM.
However, it is not an automatic death
sentence. If you are going through a
PROM pregnancy, please don't lose
hope.
Allow yourself to be cautiously
optimistic. Yes, there could be a
loss,
but there could be a LIFE! I regret
that I didn't keep my hopes up higher
and enjoy being pregnant with Jack. I
can't ever get that back. It's time
lost
that I could have bonded with him and
loved him when I just couldn't allow
myself to do so.
Please don't lose your hope. Be
prepared for the worst, but HOPE for
the
best. Our little miracle is proof
that
it can happen!
This is an update to my story posted
on 1/5/06:
Jack is now completely off oxygen and
no longer needs splints on his legs.
His ostomy will be reversed next month
and all is well! He is growing very
well and is average size for his age.
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