After 2 years of trying to conceive,
we decided to try the IVF route. Our
first try was successful, so
successful, that were were elated to
learn we were expecting twins. For
the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy,
everything went great. No morning
sickness, nausea at all. There were
days when I forgot I was pregnant b/c
I felt so good. Starting around week
13, I started to notice some odd
vaginal discharge but according to the
docs, it was nothing to worry about.
The discharge continued on and off for
the next few weeks and I just didn't
feel right. Well, at 16 weeks, 5
days, I stood up to go to the bathroom
and experienced a huge gush of fluid.
What was confusing was that it was
bloody fluid so when I spoke to the
OB/GYN on call, she thought, I might
have Placenta Previa (Twin A's
placenta was very close to the
Cervix). Thinking nothing of it, we
went in for an Ultrasound the
following day and that's when the real
nightmare began. I was told that Twin
B's fluid was low. In shock and not
really understanding it all, I was
sent home and put on bed rest and was
to be seen the following week for a
follow up ultrasound in hopes that
that the rupture had healed and fluid
levels had increased. The next week
went by painfully slow but the day
finally came and we went in with high
hopes that fluids were replinished.
Unfortunately, it had not but the
doctor we spoke to seemed to be
optimistic for us. She stated that
since I had not gone into labor yet,
that the chances my pregnancy would
continue were good. Additionally,
since it was Twin B's sac that had
ruptured, we had Twin A acting as a
protective barrier. We went home
feeling a little better but still
cautiously optimistic. The biggest
risk we were told was that of
infection. I did everything I could,
stayed in bed except to use the
bathroom, shower or go to the doctor.
I drank water like it was my job, 1-2
gallons a day. Each week, fluid
levels were maintained for Baby B. At
the 21 week growth ultrasound, both
babies were growing at slightly above
average rates. We really thought we
were going to beat this thing and make
it to a viable period. Well,
unfortunately, at 23 weeks (5 days
before I was to go into the hospital),
I passed what seemed to be my mucous
plug. Still hopeful we'd make it to a
viable stage, we marched on but each
day I seemed to get worse. At 23
weeks, 2 days, I woke up to the
absolute worst stomach cramps ever.
Was sent to the triage unit at the
hospital and when the doctor did a
cervical exam, we heard the three
words I would hope no woman will
hear..."I see cord". The doctor was
shocked b/c this was Baby B's cord and
in the 30 years he had practiced
medicine, he had never seen a
prolapsed cord from a Twin B ruptured
sac. He couldn't believe that the
cord had found it's way past Twin A
through my very closed cervix. At
this point, they were still worried
that I had an infection but did
discuss the option of clamping Baby
B's cord to save Baby A.
Unfortunately, after calling the
pertionologist in, they confirmed that
I was infected and that the only
option was for me not to be pregnant
anymore. They left my husband and I
to be alone for a few moments then it
was like all hell broke loose. I was
put on IV and triple antibiotics and
prepped for a labor delivery room.
They started Pitocin but realized that
my body did not want to go in to
labor. I was 0% effaced and was not
even 1 cm dilated. With the results of
my blood test back (my white blood
cell count was at 21, 13 is when
things start to go bad), they did not
want to wait for the Pitocin to take
it's sweet time. So, they placed a
pill next to my cervix that was
supposed to thin it out. Well, after
5 doses of that darn pill, I finally
started to dilate a whole 2 cm. Since
the babies were so small, they didn't
need me to get to 10 cm but they
needed me at at least 5 cm. It was a
nightmare. Approximately, around 1
hours before I delivered (still no
progress), the doctor decided to break
Baby A's sac. It was so heartbreaking
b/c I know she had no clue what was
going on and she was just in there
minding her own business. After the
sac was broken, they put me back on
Pitocin and within the hour, I was
delivering our babies. Baby A, named
Stacy, came into the world crying and
breathing. She stayed with us for
about an hour and was absolutely
gorgeous. Unfortunately, due to the
prolapsed cord, Baby B, named Walter,
was still born. Regardless, we held
them for about an hour until they
decided I needed to get a D&C b/c I
was unable to deliver the placentas
and needed to get those out of there
b/c of the infection. We still don't
know what caused the PPROM and may
never know. I think we'll always ask,
what could the doctors have done
differently? Why did the infection
take so long to present itself? Could
we have saved Baby A? What I will say
is that there is some hope with PPROM
as long as you can ward off
infection. I read that some doctors
will automatically put you on
antibiotics, maybe that would have
helped us. I guess we'll never know.
We're on the road to recovery now, and
there are 2 additional stars in the
sky.
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