I found out that I was excepting my
second son after two early
miscarriages. As with my first son, I
experienced hyperemesis from week 5 to
week 20 and was taking anti-emetic
medications to help me get proper
hydration and gain weight. We found
out at 19 weeks that he was a boy, and
everything was perfect then. At 21
weeks, I woke up to take my 3 year old
to the bathroom in the middle of the
night when I felt a small gush of
fluid. I freaked out, but my OB said
it was likely just vaginal discharge
but to come in in th emorning to get
checked. The OB found no traces of
amniotic fluid and my fluid level was
fine. The night leaking, however,
continued and increased. I went back
for another check at 23 weeks and
again, nothing was found and my fluid
levels were fine. I was told I was
probably peeing myself since it only
happened at night.
At 24 weeks and 1 day, I was standing
at the counter cooking for Easter
dinner the next day when I fully
ruptured. There was no mistaking it -
it felt just like when my water broke
with my full term son. I did not
bother calling my OBs office - I just
went to the ER where I was immediately
admitted to L&D. Again, the PH test
came up negative and only small areas
of ferning were seen on my slide, but
the house doctor who examined me saw
the fluid gushing out and said I was
definitely ruptured. An ultrasound
showing an AFI of 3 confirmed this.
Apparently, sometimes early on in the
pregnancy the amniotic fluid will
not "trigger" the PH test. I was told
I had earned myself a bed in the
hospital until I delivered. I was
also told that even though I wasn't
contracting at all at that time, that
I likely would develop an infection or
go into labor within the next 72
hours. I received the betamethasone
(steroid) shots and grit my teeth with
determination to hold this baby in as
long as humanly possible. I was given
a NICU consult and the news they gave
me at that time (24w2d) was grim at
best, and only shored up my
determination.
I spent the next 6.5 weeks on total
bedrest. After the first week, they
gave me bathroom privileges (opposed
to the bed pan), but I started
bleeding a few days later, so they
revoked them. I eventually got a
bedside commode and a once-a-week
shower (I couldn't stand the grease in
my hair!!). At 28 weeks, I passed a
strang chunk of tissue and no one
could quite figure out what it was.
But within a few hours, I began to
contract. The contractions got closer
to closer over the next few days, and
at 28w3d, I went into full blown
labor, BUT I wasn't dilating! They
gave me several bags of IV bolus
(saline fluid) and eventually, the
contractions slowed down. Thereafter,
I was still contracting between every
10 to 30 minutes.
I also began having twice weekly
biophysical profiles at this time. At
29 weeks, I failed my first BPP, but
my monitoring strips were reassuring,
so they decided to repeat the BPP the
following day, and I passed. I failed
the following two BPPs and it was
clear that there was absolutely no
fluid left. I was told the morning of
Cinco de Mayo that they were going to
deliver my son that afternoon at
30w3d. I was so upset, because I had
my eyes on the magical 34-week mark!
I guess they knew what they were
talking about though, because within
two hours, I went into very hard labor
and was bleeding quite a bit. My son
was breach, however, so I had him via
c-section.
He came out screaming and kicking -
Apgars of 9/9!!! He looked beautiful -
perfect! Just a little small. He
was 3 lbs 2.4 oz and 14. 5 inches. We
thought he was "in the clear" based on
his delivery room performance.
However, he quickly deteriorated after
they took him to the NICU and had to
be resucitated and put on a
ventilator. He remained on the vent
for 8 days and then went to CPAP for
about 6 weeks (we tried many times
without success to wean him off). He
came home 5 days before his due date
(a 9 week stay) at 6 lbs 2 oz and 18
inches. We took him home on a nasal
cannula with oxygen and an apnea
monitor. At 7 weeks adjusted age/17
weeks actual, we weaned him off the
oxygen during the day, and we're still
waiting for him to come off of it
completely. Other than the BPD
(bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and
problems with anemia, he's done very
well! I never discount the miracle we
were blessed with by having him make
it to 30 weeks.
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