By Inger-Anne Ehret, Oslo Norway
PROM at 16 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 23 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2012-10-10

This pregnancy had been a nightmare from start to finish. First my hcg levels didn´t increase as they should. We had been through that before, and were prepared to miscarry already then. First ultrasound at 6+4 weeks showed no heartbeat, but the doctor thought maybe the embryo had been dormant for a week, before it started developing. We came back a week later, and found a beautiful, beating heart! They also found a twin, but it was already vanishing, leaving a hematoma behind. A few days later I started bleeding. I have a divided uterus, and the doctor meant the blood came from the empty cavity of the uterus. The bleedings never stopped, continued all through the rest of the pregnancy. Sometimes we had huge scares with big amounts of blood, rushed to the doctor, but every time we found that the baby was developing normally, just always one week behind. So, on week 16+4 the unthinkable happened. My water broke, and I lost ALL the fluid within few hours. I went to the hospital, and they found no fluid around my baby... I was told that the prognosis was very poor, so poor that they advised me to terminate the pregnancy. Or I would get an infection within few days, or labour would start on its own. But days went by, and none of this happened. After a week the baby was still fine, no fluid, but with a strong heartbeat. We just couldn´t put an end to it as long as he/she was ok. We had been waiting so long for this baby, many years of trying, 5 IVF cycles, 6 miscarriages, finally we had gotten this far, we couldn´t give up! I came back for weekly scans, and the baby developed on schedule. Never did they find any fluid, not even a small pocket. Every week we were told that we wouldn´t get a live baby, we´d better end it now. But we kept going, couldn´t make the decision of life and death for our child. At 22+4 weeks I woke up soaked in blood. I was bleeding so heavily I hardly dared to stand up. We went straight to the hospital, where I was admitted. They couldn´t determine where all the blood came from, but the baby was fine, and there was no sign of me being in labour. I stayed in the hospital, and after a few days the bleedings again lightened up. It was decided I would stay in the hospital for the rest of the pregnancy. I was prepared to stick it out for a long time if needed! But after only a week in the hospital I started feeling sick. Pains in the abdomen, more blood, and a slight fever. Blood test confirmed that I had gotten an infection. 7 weeks I lasted, and then it happened anyway. They started me on IV antibiotics, but it was too little too late. During the day I started having contractions, and they just increased. By 8 o´clock that night the pain was unbearable, the infection in my uterus made the contraction pains so much worse. it was the scariest thing I have ever lived through, and mostly because I was so scared for my baby. It was too soon! My little boy Mikael was born at 2.32 that night. He was breeched, but since he was so small, he came out quite easily. He tried to catch a breath, so the doctors rushed him away to intubate him. They worked on him for about 15 minutes, but they couldn´t get the oxygen level up in his blood. The doctor came back and told me the devastating words: "This isn´t going to work!" They brought him back to me, and he lived for another 20 minutes before he fell alseep on my chest. He was 30 cm long and weighed 554 grams. We are completely heartbroken. I felt like I had ran a marathon race, only to collapse just in front of the finish line! I will never regret having given him a chance. I will always keep him with me, love him, remember him. I miss him so much it feels like I´m drowning! This is mye pprom story. I wish no one else would ever have to go through this!