By Erin, Littleton, CO US
PROM at 12 weeks + 1 days. Delivery at 27 weeks.
Story added: 2012-08-18

I was 12 weeks pregnant with B/G twins when my water broke following a minor auto accident. I went in for a "peace of mind" ultrasound and it was confirmed that all of the fluid for baby B was gone. We were told to watch and wait. I was not prescribed bed rest as it was too early in the pregnancy to do anything, but I took my temperature often and followed the pprom vitamin & fluid regimen and pelvic rest. At 17 weeks, I experienced a bleeding episode due to placental abruption; luckily both babies were fine and I went on bed rest immediately. I took bed rest very seriously though I did not leak much and my ultrasounds revealed little fluid with the exception of in the stomach and bladder. My doctor and nurses were cautiously optimistic; I stayed determined for a positive outcome, and I tried to keep my stress and anxiety at a bare minimum. As the babies got bigger I experienced more bleeding and started to go on antibiotics at each instance just in case. Around 22 weeks I started leaking more and at ultrasound I had 1.78 cm of fluid! The fluid continued to accumulate for the next few weeks but I never had more than a few cm's at most. I had bleeds at 23, 25, and 26 weeks due to placental abruption. We received steroid shots at 24 and 26 weeks. Due to carrying twins we decided to go into the hospital at 26 weeks for best viability of both babies. My last bout with abuption caused uterine irratibility and cramping, and my bleeding was more significant than before. This led to my labor at 27 weeks. I was in labor for 22 hours and had a very difficult time convincing anyone I was truly in labor because they wouldn't check my cervix and I had back labor. Eventually a suspicious urine analysis test resulted in me going in for an emergency amniocentesis for baby B, in which they withdrew the only pocket of fluid left and it was all bloody. After the amnio the nurse checked me and I was 5 cms dilated and fully effaced - I was having the babies that night. I went on antibiotics and magnesium sulfate, and the doctor and I decided to do a c-section in case of decels or other complications related to pprom for so long. At delivery, baby A had apgars of 5 & 7 and baby B (our pprom baby) had 7 & 8. He came out screaming! It was the best sound ever and a huge weight lifted off our shoulders. However, baby B's lungs were stiff due to loss of fluid for 15 weeks and needed to be transported to another hospital for 40% nitric oxide treatment and high frequency jet ventilation within three hours of birth. This saved his life. Our pprom baby B has better developed lungs than expected; no joint contractures or physical malformities, and is doing quite well given the circumstances. He continues to prove doctors and nurses wrong each and every day; they often say they've never seen anything like him. Following the pprom tips are essential - we never got an infection. Vitamins, fluid replacement (1 gallon a day), bed rest, disinfection, pelvic rest, etc are all extremely important. But even more important is your mental state of mind - you must keep your stress level down because your babies can feel it. You can control your determination and your stress, and you must be "in it to win it". We were. No one knows the outcome, but demand positivity and support from your healthcare providers and family/friends to help protect against undue stress and anxiety.