I really don't know where to start my
story. My husband and I got married in
November 2006 and then set off overseas
4 days later on the last of our travels
for awhile. Honeymooned in the U.S then
off to the U.K to work until May. In
February, we decided we had had enough
and changed our flights to come home
early. I had stopped taking the pill on
the 6th of March. We were hoping to have
a baby but didn’t mind if it took a
little while. It only took me 9 days, if
my original due date was correct. I had
to do 3 pregnancy tests before getting a
positive one back but I just knew that I
was. The 2 negative ones just made my
heart sink, even though we weren’t in
any rush. I found out the good news at 5
weeks and 6 days, and confirmed with the
doctor the next day.
At 6 weeks/2days I ended up in the
emergency ward at 2am with bleeding.
Because it was so early, the only way to
pick up a heart beat was by ultrasound,
which couldn’t be done till 12:30pm. So
I was sent home. Ultrasound came back
fine. Went to Brisbane for my brother’s
engagement party and broke the news to
the family.
At 7 weeks/3days I had more bleeding but
stayed away from the hospital this time.
I then left the Gold Cost to spend the
winter season working in Perisher. I had
more bleeding from 11 weeks/6days - 12
weeks/2 days. Visited the doctor to get
a referral for my 18 week scan at 15
weeks/2 days. All appeared to be fine,
At 15 weeks/4days, my day started out
like any other. I woke up at 8am, ate
breakfast, grabbed a cup of tea and
walked to the office. My winter job
involved living in the hotel I worked,
so I was 30m from my room to work. At
about 4pm, I thought maybe I had bled
again and went out to the toilet. There
was no blood, just looked like I had wet
myself. I cleaned up and went back to
work. Before finishing work at 6pm, I
made 2 more trips to the toilet. I
wasn’t really sure what was wrong but as
I had never heard of someone’s waters
breaking so early, I didn’t even suspect
it. I thought I had a weak bladder.
I mentioned it to my husband when I got
up to our room and we decided to keep an
eye on it. It happened twice more before
he started work at 9pm. I went to bed
around 10:30pm and woke up drenched at
11pm. Still no idea but thought nothing
of it. Jayson got back around 2am and I
told him how it was still happening. He
decided we should call the hospital,
even if we just ask a few questions.
Because it was the middle of the night,
the ski tube wasn’t running so we
couldn’t get to our car and it would
take at least an hour for an ambulance
to get to us, and a further hour and a
half to the hospital. The nurse said I
either had a weak bladder or I was
miscarrying. That there was no reason to
come straight in because there is
nothing I could do about it. I should
just see how it is in the morning and
visit a doctor.
I started getting real worried. Couldn’t
really sleep much. Had to wait till at
least 7am to leave and take our car.
Decided we weren’t going to see a
doctor, went straight to the hospital. I
think we got there around 9-9:30am.
Didn’t get seen by a doctor till 11:30.
They booked me in for an ultrasound at
12:30. I knew that was when they went to
lunch because I called them the day
before to book my 18 week scan. We were
assured they were going to see me, even
when it was 1pm and they hadn’t come to
get me. They were running late but
eventually saw me. My fluid level was
down below 2 but I still had a
heartbeat. My due date showed up as
Christmas day, rather than the 21st. I
was also given an internal scan to make
sure my cervix was closed.
I then went back to emergency to wait
and see the doc again. They wanted me to
see the FMU in Canberra and had to
arrange an appointment. I wasn’t able to
get in until 2pm the next day so they
decided it would be best for me to stay
overnight. Between my scan and 3pm, I
lost the remainder of my fluid.
They were so nice to me up in the ward.
My husband went back up to Perisher to
get me some spare clothes, computer to
watch movies etc. They even let him stay
with me for the night. The lounge chair
next to my bed turned into a single sofa
bed. My only issue that night was
sharing a room with a mum and her 9 week
old son who had bronchial problems. All
I needed when I had been told I would
lose my baby was sharing a room with
one.
The next day I had packed all my stuff
and got ready to go to Canberra. I was
transported by ambulance and Jayson
followed in the car. I felt like a real
idiot getting wheeled in on a trolley
while all the mums waiting to have scans
and see their doctors just looked at me.
At 15 weeks, I didn’t even look
pregnant. I had another scan that showed
no fluid around the baby. The head
professor told me that I had to prepare
myself to lose my baby. He said, ‘You
will lose your baby. But don’t worry,
you are young. You can try again.’ We
kept asking him what outcomes we had if
I didn’t miscarry. He just said, in the
1 in 20 chance you have of not
miscarrying, you might make it to 18
weeks but not have enough fluid for the
lungs to develop. Then if you do make it
to term, the baby won’t be able to
breath.
We left his room with me barely being
able to stand up. Went back out to the
waiting room and again I was stared at
by all the other women. Here I was
crying my heart out. The ambulance
driver and nurse came up to me and I
told them I was not going back to the
hospital in the ambulance. That if I
didn’t have a chance anyway, I was going
to drive back in our own car. We got
back to Cooma hospital and found they
had wanted me to see the doc again. I
was moved into a single room. The doc
was too busy so they asked me to stay
overnight and he could see me in the
morning. A nurse even ‘borrowed’ a tv
from an old lady so we could watch the
state of origin decider. Her daughter
came in to get it back in the morning,
not very happy. We explained that we had
thought it belonged to the hospital, not
her mother.
I was given antibiotics to prevent any
infection. I was told I could leave but
I would just be turning around and
coming back again within the week. I
wanted to get out of the hospital
though. I needed to be somewhere else. I
was ordered to bedrest, only to get up
for the toilet and a shower every 2nd
day, which I had to have while sitting
on a stool. I had my original 18 week
scan date moved to the day I was
actually 18 weeks, the day after my 23rd
birthday. So I went home and stayed in
bed for another 2 weeks. Spent Jayson’s
30th and my 23rd birthdays in bed,
except for a short walk down to the
staff room for our chocolate cakes.
On the Thursday, I didn’t know what to
expect. I had been warned that if the
fluid hadn’t built up, I would be best
off terminating the pregnancy. I had
decided however that if my baby had
pulled through, that was not my decision
to make. When we got to the hospital,
the lady doing my ultrasound was the
original lady who gave me the bad news.
She had told me on the day that she had
seen people pull through this. She was
the only person able to give me hope.
She asked if she was the bearer of good
or bad news. We told her that she was
and she admitted that was the part of
her job she hated. Asked us what we
wanted to know before she got started. I
told her fluid and a heart beat. It took
her less than 15 seconds to tell us it
was ok. My fluid had built back up to
almost 14. Then I asked her the sex. She
joked about last bets before she looked
for us and told us it was a girl. We
just had this feeling it was because the
name we picked out years before was
Brianna. While on bedrest with nothing
better to do, I looked up the meaning.
Brianna means ‘the strong one’. I have
also found out since her birth that
girls seem to pull through a lot better
than boys do.
With this news, we headed back to
Perisher. I had planned on returning to
work. All I did was sit at a desk and
answer phones. My boss didn’t feel the
same. She didn’t want the responsibility
or guilt if something happened at work
(again). So we packed up and came back
to the Gold Coast via Sydney to visit
friends. I let Gold Coast Hospital know
I had come home early so I could move my
October appointment forward to august.
My GP decided I needed to be under
hospital care, not shared care anymore.
I went to my first appointment and sat
around for 3 ½ hours before seeing the
midwife and the doctor. Was booked in
for a scan and another appointment in a
month. Before this next appointment, we
had moved back in with family in
Brisbane to save money. I went to my
scan and appointment and asked to be
transferred to Brisbane as I had moved.
The doctor said they were running late
but she would have the paperwork sent to
the hospital within 2 days. After 2
weeks of chasing I was transferred.
I called Brisbane hospital to make sure
they had received the paperwork and they
booked me in for that afternoon. I went
in, got checked out, had my diabetes
test and a blood test to check for
infection. Was also booked in for a
scan, which they did that day. I came
home happy, but also a little freaked
out because they actually worried about
my condition. I was 28 weeks by this
stage and my blood had never been tested
for infection. I was to see the doctor
every week, with weekly blood tests and
fortnightly scans.
At 31 weeks/6days the doctor decided I
was doing really well and that I only
had to come in every 2 weeks and no more
blood tests were needed. At 33 weeks, I
started to lose larger amounts of fluid
and the baby’s movements had decreased.
Went to the hospital and they said I
lost about 2mL of fluid and the baby was
moving again so I went home. Had my baby
shower 2 days later and I was still
losing fluid. At 33 weeks/5days I was
back at the hospital again. This time
they did a scan and said my baby was
small and they would speak to the doc. I
had to come the next day for an
appointment anyway. On the Wednesday we
went in for the antenatal class then to
the clinic for the appointment. The said
that Brianna had stopped growing and my
fluid was down to 5. It was time to get
her out. As my c-section was ‘elective’,
I had to wait until Monday morning, 5
days later. I was given a steroid
injection that afternoon and 24 hours
later. I was also monitored for 20
minutes on the Thursday. Got home from
the hospital and 1 hour later we were
driving back because I had started
bleeding. More monitoring and sent home.
Back on the Saturday for more
monitoring.
I was told that Brianna would be 1700g
or 3lb 14oz from the last scan. That at
this weight she would go into intensive
care until various times. Some said
until 2500g, others said her due date. I
was given a tour of intensive care,
shown a baby that weighed 1700g and was
given explanations of all the machines,
wires and tubes.
Brianna Jayde was born at 10:28am on the
13th of November 2006. She weighed
2110g, 4lb 10 ozs and came out
screaming. She only had to go into
special care. 24 hours in a humidity
crib with only 12 hours of oxygen. A
drip for 24 hours of antibiotics for
infection. Feeding tube for 2 weeks for
feeds while I wasn’t there. She came
home at 2 weeks old (36 weeks/4days
corrected), weighing 2190g.
If anyone reads my story and needs any
questions answered, please email me. I
am more than happy to help you through
your tough times.
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