My husband and I always had trouble
conceiving, so we were thrilled when
we got pregnant so quickly the third
time. I started having trouble
immediately, though. I started
bleeding at 4 weeks, and continued to
bleed until 12 weeks. I had an early
ultrasound, and my OB attributed the
bleeding to placental implantation,
something you read about in pregnancy
books, but kind of ignore.
After bleeding stopped, I was enjoying
pregnancy, getting excited about
starting to show and wondering what
this baby would be, a boy or
girl...then at 16 weeks 2 days I had
one of those days where I just felt
sooo tired and like something was just
not right. I struggled through the
day, hoping maybe it was nothing.
That evening I went to the bathroom
and then decided to make a snack.
While I was in the kitchen, I felt
something wet begin to run down my
leg. I was shocked, because I had
just emptied my bladder, and I felt no
sensation of emptying, but there was
definitely something coming out. I
called my husband to the kitchen, and
he was just as shocked as I was. He
told me to go sit on the toilet and
see what happened. I continued to
leak for another 30 minutes and it
would get worse if I stood up. I
finally decided to call the doctor on
call, and he told me there was nothing
they could do. He advised me to go to
my local ER if I started to contract
or bleed, otherwise call in the AM and
make an appointment with my OB. I
went to bed, scared that I would lose
the baby, but hopeful that it was
nothing.
The next morning I called my OB and
made an appointment. When I explained
what happened, they didn't seem all
that worried, so I started to relax a
little. My doctor did a range of
motion test to see if I was still
leaking, and decided based on what he
saw that I probably just had a bladder
infection and had wet myself without
realizing it. He scheduled an
ultrasound for the next week, and told
me to drink lots of water.
I went to the ultrasound at 17 weeks 2
days, fully expecting everything would
be normal, maybe we would even see
what we were having. Instead, the
technician had us wait afterwards.
She explained that things didn't look
quite right, and sent us over to my
OB's office. As soon as I went into
the office, the nurse ran into the
waiting room and started telling me
that we needed to go to Des Moines
immediately, that I was leaking
amniotic fluid.
My husband and I went immediately to
Des Moines and I had another
ultrasound and then were sent into a
room to wait. The doctor came in and
explained to us that we had a 17 week
baby, fully formed and gestationally
size appropriate, but no fluid. He
told us there was a less that 1%
chance that I would carry the baby
much longer, and even less chance that
it would survive after delivery. He
told me the fluid was necessary for
lung development, and since there was
no fluid, the baby would not be able
to breathe.
We went home, and called everyone we
knew to pray. I went on bedrest,
drinking a gallon of water a day in
hopes that somehow I could replenish
the baby's water supply. I had 2 more
ultrasounds over the next 6 weeks that
still showed no fluid, but I continued
bed rest and prayer.
At 22 weeks 6 days I was put into the
hospital in the antepartum unit.
There I received steroids at 23 and 24
weeks, and was watched like a hawk.
They continued to tell me that the
baby would more that likely not
survive after birth, but they were
hopeful since I had made it to
viability. Then chaos broke out, I
had 2 partial abruptions, one at 25
weeks and another at 27 weeks 3 days.
I was told that if I had another, they
would take the baby, but for now they
would just monitor his behavior and
well-being. At this point I was
receiving daily ultrasounds and hooked
up to a monitor continuously.
The day before my baby was born, I was
exhausted. I slept a majority of the
day, and just felt worn out. I just
didn't feel like myself. That night,
I got up to use the restroom, but once
I got back to bed, I still felt the
urge to to again. So I did, but had
not relief. I tried again, but then
the urge started to become more
irritable, so I called the nurse. She
hooked me back up to the monitor, and
noticed the baby was not tolerating
whatever was going on. Things
immediately sprung into action and the
doctor that told my my baby would more
than likely die, delivered a screaming
2 lb 8 oz little boy by emergency c-
section. He was only on a ventilator
for 2 days, and then taken off because
it was causing more trouble than
helping. He still requires oxygen
support, but holds his own temp and
has started to take feedings from a
bottle. I have since read up on our
ordeal together, and we are so blessed
that BOTH of us are alive and well.
This site was much encouragement to me
during those 12 weeks, I pray that
this story helps someone else in their
time of need. Please feel free to e-
mail me, I know how scary it can be,
and I long to encourage anyone who has
been discouraged, especially after the
miracle that has taken place in my
son's life.
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