By Kristie, Fort Worth,TX United States
PROM at 23 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 32 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2011-12-05

I woke up in the middle of night wet and thought like many others do that I had pee'd on myself in my sleep. I got up went to the bathroom, and changed clothes and tried to go back to sleep. Trying to ignore what had just happened I laid there and laid there and then felt again and felt like I was just a tad bit wet again but not much. I changed clothes again and put a pad on this time as I knew I had not just pee'd my pants. I decided to hop online and look up how to know if your water breaks early. When I sat down in the recliner with my laptop I felt a big gush and was soaked. I completly freaked out because I knew in my heart what was happening and I knew the baby had very little chance to make it. I knew I was only 23wks and I use to be a nicu nurse so I knew the outcome probably would be bad. Looking back for several weeks prior to this event I had to wear a pad because everytime I coughed or sneezed or did much movement I would be just a slight bit wet. Now I question if my water had not been leaking for weeks and then finally just gave out all together. I arrived at the hospital a total basket case and they did the testing and said that yes indeed my water had broken. They tested for infection and gave me steriods right away. My ob dr came in to see me and never ever mentioned terminating. She said she knew of one other lady who held on for 2-4wks(cant remember for sure) and that would just pray and hope for the best. I had to be transferred by ambulance to another hospital in the city with a level 3 nicu that also had a perinatoligist dr. I was given the stats that 75% of people will go into labor within 24hrs. Neeless to say I think I spent most of my awake time the next 48hrs crying my eyes out. Those 24hrs past, then a week had passed and I had no signs of labor or infection. I received 7 days of antibiotics and 2 steriod shots and was told I could only get up to the bathroom and then back to bed. I continued to leak pretty much every day until I delivered. At 26wks when I woke up I went to the bathroom and the toilet was full of blood. I again completly freaked out but the baby looked good on my monitoring so they said we would just watch the bleeding. I had some pink spotting but the bleeding stopped. I would then do the same thing about every 2weeks where I would have a big bleed and baby would be fine, then it would just go back to pink spotting. I made friends with the girl in the room next to mine who was there for the same reason I was. It was so nice to have someone to visit with and encourage you going through the same thing. If you are at a larger hospital you might ask the nurse if there is another person there in your situation you might could visit with. They are not techincally suppose to be able to tell you why someone else is there, but if you give them permission to share your details they can let the other person know about your situation. I have stayed in touch with this girl and its so fun now to get together with our little miracles. At 29wks when I had another big bleed I began having pretty regular contractions every 2 minutes or so. They checked my cervix(first time since pprom) and I was not dilated at all I was sent down to labor and delivery and placed on magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions. It took a very high dose but the contractions and the bleeding finally slowed down. I think the night I spent in L&D I soaked 6 towells with fluid and blood. I pretty much thought I was going to give birth and was so scared. The magnesium was the worst stuff and made me feel horrible. I was allowed to go back to my room on antepartum where I bled off/on until the day I delivered. I would have so many contractions each day that by the end of the day I felt like I had done 1000 situps. I was told that I had partial placental abruption and the blood was irritating the uterus and causing me to contract. At apx 30wks I developed a fever and they thought maybe I was getting a infection. I also recieved a 2nd set of steriod shots since it had been so long since my first set. I had a amnio to see if the infection was in my uterus and it was not so I was allowed to continue the pregnancy. At 32wks and 3 days in the evening it felt like my contractions were getting stronger and by the time I knew for sure I was in labor I gave birth 30 minutes later. My son came out SCREAMING his head off. He was just perfect in every way. When I heard him screaming I could not stop the tears, I could not believe my little miracle was born so healthy and those were the best sounds I had ever heard in my life. I had done so much research and full expected his lungs to be barely developed since I pprom'd so early. He was placed on cpap for less than 24 hrs and then was put to room air and never needed any supplemental oxygen. He stayed in the isolette for just a couple days to regulate his temperature and then was placed in a open crib. He was pretty much a feeder grower after that and never even had one A&B(apnea and bradycardia). He came home after a 30 day nicu stay and has been perfectly healthy since then, he will be 6 months old in a few days and he is hitting all his milestones for his adjusted age perfectly. Here are some things that I believed helped me to make it to 32wks. I followed drs orders and kept strict bed rest to a T. I was very very aware of infection prevention issues. I changed my pad every single time I went to the bathroom. I would always use a paper towell to flush the toilet with and even for doing things like turning the water off/on. I would put down a pad on the seat in shower to sit on when I showered. They supposedly cleaned my room each day but how clean could they possibly get it in the 2seconds they were in there. When I would go on my daily wheel chair rides I never used another bathroom in the hospital besides my own and I would never touch anything when I was out of my own room. I was not taking any chances at all of getting a infection from anyone/anywhere. I also had lots and lots and lots of people praying for me and baby and I believe thats the #1 reason that I was able to hold on for so many weeks. When doing your research online just know that everyone has a different story and every outcome is different. Just be hopefully and pray that the Lord would protect your sweet baby until its his/her time be born.