By Helen Barker, Knodishall UKThis was my first pregnancy and at 33 I guess I was rather late starting. I had been diagnosed with Endometreosis 4 or 5 years earlier which we were told would reduce the chances of being able to fall pregnant. As a result we were very surprised and delighted when I fell pregnant 2 months after starting to try.
PROM at 24 weeks + 1 days. Delivery at 32 weeks.
Story added: 2002-01-23
Everything went really well until I was 24 weeks pregnant. May 13th 2000 I got up from sitting in the garden and felt a gush of water. Being my first pregnancy it never occured to me that my waters had broken. I had no idea that PROM even existed it was not mentioned in any of the pregnancy manuals I had read! I had no pain or bleeding and the fluid was clear and odourless. We soon realised that something was wrong and were told to go straight to the Maternity Unit at our Hospital.
Once we arrived there an examination confirmed that my membranes had ruptured and we were told that there was a high chance that I could go into labour. We were advised that the prognosis for the baby was not good and that infection was also a high risk. We were asked how much intervention we wanted them to give should the baby be born. We were devasted as we had suddenly gone from being happily pregnant to making life threatening decisions about our baby. I was given a steroid injection to help the baby's lungs develop faster and told that if I made it through until the morning then I would receive another injection which would help the baby's lungs even more and give it a better chance of survival should it be born in the next 24 hours.
I made it through the night and after 16 days in hospital they decided I could come home on bedrest. This was a nerve racking time as no-one was sure what would happen. Being in the hospital was safe as there was always someone around but going home was very scarey for me and my family. The hospital is 40 mins drive from our home and we were terrified of something happening and not being able to get there quickly enough. I had to go to the hospital 2-3 times a week for swabs, blood tests, scans and CTG monitoring and this would take most of the day. My membranes did not re-seal which apparantly can sometimes happen. Fortunately there were a couple of pockets of fluid around the baby and they never managed to pick up any signs of infection. It was a complete nightmare for us as we couldn't plan for the birth. We didn't know whether we were going to come out of all this with a healthy baby and therefore I refused to buy anything for it. I felt as though my life was on hold and was unable to concentrate on anything. Because the fluid is constantly being produced I felt as though I was incontinent and had fluid leaking out continually. It was a very uncomforable and stressful period of waiting.
I was told that if I could make it through to 32 weeks the prognosis for the baby was so much better. Providing it didn't get distressed or too cramped they were happy to wait and see what would happen and not intervene. At 32 weeks my contractions started spontaneously. We had a mad rush to get my husband off the golf course to get me to the hospital. After 2 hours of labour I was not dilating fast enough and the baby's heartrate was dropping with each contraction so the decision was taken to deliver me by emergency Caesarian Section. Isabel was born weighing in at 3lbs and 13ozs. She was able to breathe on her own from the beginning and only had oxygen in the first few hours to help her.
She spent 3 weeks in the SCBU and I stayed with her. I only went home for 2 nights in the that time. I couldn't leave her. My husband and family were very supportive. We bought her home the day before my husband's birthday - she was the best present he has ever had.
She has gone from strength to strength and hasn't looked back. Last week at 18 months she has been officially discharged from the hospital. The Paediatrician said he wished that all 32 weekers did as well as her. Isabel is a little miracle and we are just so glad that everything worked out so well for us. Having read some of the other stories we realise just how lucky we are. Our thoughts go out to everyone else who has been through a similar situation.