By Christine Sanchez, Then: Goose Creek, SC. Now: Colorado Springs, CO USA
PROM at 22 weeksDelivery at 31 weeks.
Story added: 2011-11-13

By the time Meghan was 2, Jake and I knew we wanted to try for our third baby.  We had to wait for my cycles to return to begin.  My cycle returned March of 2010, we charted that month and every month until Jake left in July for Saudi Arabia.  No luck.  Jake came home for the Christmas holidays and it was then that we recieved our blessing!!  Best.Gift.Ever!!!  I got my positive test 3 days before my missed period.  The beginning of my pregnancy was different from my previous two.  I was pretty violently ill.  By 16 weeks the nausea had finally passed and I settled in to enjoy the rest of my pregnancy.  I was very tired, so I suspected the baby was a boy, as I had been very tired when I carried Derrick.  When I was 18-19 weeks pregnant the kids and I went on a family vacation for Spring Break.  We went to D.C. and enjoyed alot of walking and site seeing.  The week after I returned at 20 weeks I got my anatomy sonogram.  I got to see my perfect baby boy on the screen.  Two weeks later at 10:49 pm I woke up feeling wet.  At first I thought it was sweat from being hormonal, but when I pulled to pillow from between my legs there was a large wet spot and my underwear was soaked.  When I stood up to go to the bathroom to clean up, a gush ran from me on the way there.  My first thought was that I had wet my pants!  After I cleaned up I called mmy mom to tell her my mortification that I was already losing bladder control.  While I was talking to her another gush came, and my heart sank.  I called the after hours care line and waited for their call back and called Jake in Saudi.  They called back while I was still on the phone with him and told me to call 911 and go to the hospital in an ambulance.  I was terrified, I had no one to watch the children.  I called the nice neighbor across the street, and fortunately he was good enough to come and care for them until I could make other arrangements.  I cried the whole ride to the hospital.  Either I lost all bladder function, or my water was broken.  My worst fears were confirmed after a swab test in the Labor and Delivery.  Dr. Doom informed me that my water was indeed broken, 90% of people go into labor within 72 hours, and at 22 weeks, Daniel was not viable.  They would do nothing to stop labor, they would do nothing to save him when he came.  I called my husband and let him know the situation.  He arranged for care for the children for the rest of the day, his mother arranged a flight to come down and Jake got emergency leave.  My mother would come down in a week, as she needed time to make arrangements.  Jake arrived about 24 hours later, and I was still pregnant.  I was on complete bedrest.  I couldn't get up for anything, not even to use the bathroom.  My bed was tilted backwards to take pressure off my cervix.  48 hours, still pregnant.  72 hours, still pregnant, and they moved me from l&d to antepartem.  Dr. Doom was pretty sure I would go into labor before the week was out, but they started me on a course of antibiotics just in case.  She said there was a very slim chance that if infection didn't set in I might not go into labor and I might make it to 24 weeks.  If i did, they would transfer me to MUSC where they had a level III NICU.  The remainder of the two weeks was uncomfortable, and scary, but all the nurses were lovely.  On the first of June, we made the big move to MUSC.  We had beaten the odds and made it to viability.  Upon arrival at MUSC I had another large gush and lost most of the fluid I still had.  I was given the nightmare statistics of all the things that could go wrong if Daniel was born in the next few days.  Then other people gave the nightmare statistics of still more horrible things that could go wrong even if I held him in until 34 weeks (which was as long as they would let me go), like limb deformities, birth injuries, and of course lack of lung development.  The bedrest was loosened up a bit at MUSC.  I could use the bathroom and I had wheelchair priveleges.  Their thinking being I would leak anyway, the bedrest was really for my cervix, to prevent labor.  Over the next 7 weeks I had a couple of bouts of bleeding, but no infection or contractions.  Daniel continued to look good on the monitors, but always with the warning that they would not know anything until he was born.  I could go all the way, but he could still have no lung development and not make it.  On Friday the 15th of July I had a birthday party at the hospital for Derrick and Meghan who turned 7 and 4  on the 15th and 20th respectively.  Daniel also chose that day to turn from head down (good) to feet down (bad).  He began to pummel my bladder which for some reason made me feel really awful.  I began to worry that I would have him that night, but I woke up Saturday feeling fine.  By Sunday I was feeling poorly again, I thought it just might be bathroom trouble, but by 8 pm I suspected I was having contractions.  The nurse hooked me up to the monitors, and sure enough they were true contractions, and they were 2 minutes apart.  I was wheeled to L&D and given magnesium to protect the baby's brain, but I was told it might also stop the contractions.  6 hours later the contractions were just getting stronger, I was dialating, and Daniel appeared stressed so they prepared me for a c-section.  No one was willing to deliver him breech.  My mom held my hand during the surgery, while neighbors watched Derrick and Meghan.  aT 3:16 AM, Daniel Benjamin David Sanchez was born via c-section.  He was not breathing and had to be intubated.  He was 5lbs 8oz, 18 inches, 31 weeks gestation.  Our NICU stay was 1 week.  The first 24 hours were rough.  He had to have 3 doses of surfactant.  He was extubated after 12 hours and was on CPAP for 4 days.  He was on nasal cannula for 2 days when they decided they could move him to Trident's Level II nursery to learn to eat and get off oxygen.  He recieved my milk via nasal gastral tube for the first 3 weeks of life.  I started putting him to an empty breast at 32 weeks.  At 34 weeks he started getting two feeds at the breast and the rest by tube, and a few days later he was getting all his feeds at the breast and I had to sleep at the hospital to prevent the use of bottles.  At 36 weeks he started pulmicort and got off oxygen.  He was allowed to go home at 37 weeks or 6 weeks old.  He is now 8 weeks old, over 10 lbs and a true miracle.  Where there is life there is hope!