Hi, I've tossed and turned on the idea
of posting a story to this board, but
I'm at a stage where I feel I just
should - if not to just get it out
there in writing - but also for others
to realise that they aren't the only
ones going through it.
On 23rd May 2007, I was getting ready
to head into the local hospital for an
ultrasound - I had one at 19w4d, but
they had found that my uteris appeared
to be opening and had sent me directly
to the specialist at the hospital.
(In this town, given that it's so
small - it's not all about OB's - the
specialists all appear to be in the
local public hospitals)
The specialist had looked at the scans
and read the reports and didn't
believe that my cervix was opening as
such, it just appeared to be longer
than normal - but given had I had
already carried a pregnancy to full
term - he did not believe that I had
an incompetent cervix.
So, he booked me in for an ultrasound
and wasn't going to give the
information of the previous ultrasound
to the sonographer as he wanted an
unbiased opinion.
So, I went to empty my bladder - so
that I could fill it ready for the
ultrasound and whilst sitting on the
toilet, my waters broke.
With my first pregnancy - as I'd had a
DVT and I was on blood thinners - I
was having to give birth to my child
at a hospital in a town over an hours
drive - so they didn't want to risk me
going into labour and then having to
drive to the town (as the blood
thinners may have caused excessive
bleeding) - so they induced me.
Because of this, I had no idea what
waters breaking was like - I just
thought that for some reason I was
unable to stop myself weeing, then I
started to panick.
I tried to stay positive and maybe it
was all just in my head.. so I went
and had a shower - and the water
continued to gush... then I knew that
it wasn't urine.
My husband was out of town, so I
telephoned my mother and said that I
believed that my waters had broken -
she arranged for my brother to come
and look after my daughter and she
came and drove me up to the
hospital.
I was a mess, this was now the second
pregnancy I'd had that hadn't gone
right.
We went in, the doctors confirmed that
my waters had broken, I went in for
the ultrasound and my waters were
decreased - but - I was told by the
doctors that most people go into
labour within the first two days -
after that if you can make it past a
week - then there's hope...
I was sent up to Maternity where they
were going to look at keeping me at
first, then the specialist came in and
said that I'd be better off at home as
there is less risk of infection in a
home environment. But I was to be on
complete bedrest for the following
four months of the pregnancy.
Having been bedridden for part of my
first pregnancy - I knew that at the
end the outcome was worth it. My
parents organised for me to stay at
their place and my husband and
daughter came down there to stay also
(it's only a few blocks from our
place - but with my husband working
away as much as he does - I needed
someone that could look after my
daughter - but also bring meals to me
etc).
While being bedridden, I read up on
pPROM and I read all of the "green"
stories on this board... my hopes
were increasing..
I was booked in to visit the Dr on the
Wednesday - and I felt that I was
getting so close.. I almost felt like
I would manage to get through it.
On the Tuesday morning, I got up to go
to the toilet and I had a slightly
yellowy discharge - I wasn't overly
concerned as I was told that if I'd
had an infection then I'd smell it -
as well as having a tenderness - I
didn't have these things, but I wanted
just to be sure.
When Mom got home from work, she came
down to see me and I told her what I'd
found.
She took me up to the hospital
straight away and I was put straight
into one of the delivery rooms so that
the doctor could examine me.
My mother had to head out to pick up
my daughter, so she was not present
while the examination took place.
At first the examination seemed ok, he
was happy that it wasn't an
infection. Unfortunately, on further
examination - he found that the cord
had prolapsed.
He advised me that the baby had died -
Mom returned about 10mins later - I
told her what had happened and we
arranged for the nurses to induce
labour so that I could deliver the
baby.
My husband was out of town again, I
phoned him and he headed straight
home. He arrived about an hour before
I delivered our little girl,
Chloe.
She was beautiful, she was perfectly
formed.
I was advised by the Doctors that
there was an infection in the amniotic
fluid and this was what had caused the
rupture - but there was nothing they
could have done to have prevented it
and there's no way of testing for it
without increasing the risk of
introducing an infection (by sticking
needles into the amniotic fluid every
week or so).
In September we got pregnant again and
in November I went into the Doctors
for a routine checkup, she advised
that she had a mini-ultrasound machine
that she could use so that I could
have a sneak peak at our new baby. I
was 10 weeks and 2 days. When she did
the scan, it was revealed that the
baby had died at about 6 weeks and my
body hadn't registered the
miscarriage.
We are currently thinking about trying
again and I know in my head that both
situations were "just one of those
things" - but with two of them in just
one year it makes it a little harder
to remain positive.
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