Hello. Please hold HOPE and COURAGE
that each and every day you continue
with your pregnancy you are nurturing
your little one with your love and
protection. Even one more day makes a
difference. I never let that thought
go! I grasped it with both hands and
held ever so tightly. My little
miracle is now a smiling and cooing 8
month old who is dribbling and chewing
a toy whilst she crawls around my
chair. This is my story......
My one and only PROM occurred
in an otherwise healthy and robust 4th
pregnancy, despite having long term
but tightly controlled Diabetes
treated with insulin. My first three
children are young adults (aged 18,21
and 24) and mercifully not placing
strenuous physical demands on me any
more.
One week prior to the PROM I ate one
spoonful of a take away coleslaw from
KFC before noticing that there was a
brown coloured sludge like substance
in the rest of the container. I threw
it immediately in the rubbish and
although shuddered with the thought of
a possible bout of food poisoning
thought little more of my indiscretion
of eating out of home during
pregnancy. I had broken my own
commandment!
Within 3 hours, upon bedtime, I had a
38.3 degree temperature, strong cramps
in my lower abdomen, B.P. of 60/40,
Pulse of 130 bpm, was trembling and
feeling faint. Presenting at the A&E
for monitoring myself and baby had a
reassuring effect and within 3 days of
being admitted I was seemingly healthy
and strong once more with no ill
effects to the baby. I took no
medication at this time. Despite
multiple swabs being taken for
cultures no pathogen was discovered.
An ultrasound showed a healthy baby
and AFI of 20 cubic cm.
Exactly 7 days later, also at bedtime
I felt a little trickle of fluid
between my legs and upon getting up to
the bathroom gushes of amniotic fluid
began running down my legs.
Another admission to the A&E was
necessary. By this time I had gone
into labour. I was terrified and
could not believe that after 3
uneventful pregnancies this time
around was so different and now
fraught with an unexpected outcome.
Over the course of 12 hours I
continued to contract and loose gushes
of amniotic fluid whilst lying
slightly inverted on a delivery table
and attached to a Fetal Heart Monitor.
An ultrasound revealed a healthy baby,
but my AFI was now just 3 cubic cm.
My swab for lacto-placental hormone
was positive and according to staff
meant definite delivery within 24
hours or at the latest 7 days post
rupture. I agreed to a course of
steroids to help protect baby's little
lungs if born. This involved two
Celestone injections 24 hours
apart.
Miraculously after this 12 hour time
frame the contractions just plain
STOPPED as quickly as they started. I
didn't allow any VE's to be done to
check for dilation but the visual exam
with the speculum revealed none-1cm of
movement of my cervix. I was to
remain in the labour ward for a
further 36 hours before being
transferred to the ante-natal ward. I
was informed that this is where I was
to stay for the duration of my
pregnancy as I was to deliver a highly
prem baby who would be ELBW.
I stayed hospitalised for 1 night and
then made the decision to return home
to a sterile, quiet, less stressed,
familiar and restful environment. I
agreed to 4/24hr obs of myself and
baby. also a WCC and CRP twice weekly
on myself to monitor for a
chorioamnionitis. I also consented to
a well being ultrasound once a week to
monitor AFI and growth.
Then we began the long haul. I was
living with an hour by hour
proposition of the very early birth of
my baby and all that involved. My
partner and I decided that he would
take leave from work effective
immediately and we just battened down
the hatches at home. No visitors
except for our private midwife (I had
booked a home birth) and my three
eldest now living out of home adult
children.
My partner cooked 3 nourishing meals a
day, helped alleviate my boredom over
what fluids to drink to make up the 3
1/2-4 litres I set myself as a goal.
I knew that the placenta would
continue to be nourished and hydrated
if I was and that was the lifeline for
the baby. I developed a strong
craving for fresh passionfruit at this
time and allowed myself to satisfy
this by eating up to 12 per day. I
think the vitamin C was probably
helpful and they were full of juice
too which was ideal. I added 2
probiotic capsules into my diet each
evening. I added 6 fish oil capsules
as well per day. I tried to avoid
caffeine and too much sugary/ trans
fat type food to help prevent Candida
getting a hold.
I used personal wipes after each visit
to the bathroom. I avoided
constipation so that there was no
straining or bearing down motion when
using the toilet. This would have
brought huge gushes of fluid out and I
was very intent on maintaining baby's
little remaining liquor. I changed
sanitary pads with each visit too and
tried to remain cool and fresh
constantly with two little showers
each morning and evening. No one
apart from my partner used our toilet
facilities to help keep foreign
bacteria at bay. I used vinegar or
Grapefruit Seed Extract in each load
of washing in the final rinse to
lessen the effects of viruses, fungal
or bacterial nasties in my underwear.
Of course keeping as still as possible
was found to be helpful in the first 4
weeks after PROM and I only climbed
the stairs once per day so that I was
very inactive and mainly still. After
this time I noticed that the leaks
were constant no matter what I did
while remaining virtually horizontal
at all times. I then allowed myself
periods of sitting up reading or
watching tv or using the computer to
alleviate boredom and keep me
contactable. All the time maintaining
a calm restful demeanor which was best
for baby and I.
My Diabetes continued to remain well
controlled despite the massively
stressful situation and I suffered no
pregnancy oedema or swelling, despite
being so sedentary. My obs were always
normal and so were the baby's. All
scans were showing her to be growing
along the 50th percentile on the
development charts. Her SDI was
always good at each and every
scan.
I happily went into labour at 38wk and
4 days and after a 3 hour labour had a
gorgeous waterbirth at home with the
full support of my partner and
midwife. I had an uneventful post-
natal period. Our little daughter is
immeasurably special after her arduous
gestation but she proved to be strong,
hardy and resilient and is to this
day.
Never lose hope that you can nurture
your pregnancy despite PROM! Listen
as much as you can to your intuition
and inner voice about what seems the
best course of action for you and your
little one. Have faith in yourself
and your ability to protect and grow
your baby.
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