By Stefanie, Collierville, TN USAMy husband and I tried for four years to become pregnant. Finally after IVF/ICSI, I became pregnant. We were both so thrilled. I read several pregnancy books and even kept track of everything I was eating to make sure that I was getting in all the necessary nutrients for the baby. The first 11 weeks went by fine. I felt great and was excited to finally begin to tell people our good news. Then, after traveling by plane, I started bleeding. I saw my doctor as soon as I returned home and he said not to worry. An ultrasound showed a perfectly healthy baby. I bled off and on for about 7 weeks, but usually it was quite light and a brownish color.
PROM at 19 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 29 weeks + 2 days.
Story added: 2002-05-23
At 18 weeks, I had a level 2 ultrsound done since I opted not to do the triple test. The baby looked great and was growing normally. The bleeding had completely stopped by now and I thought the rest of the pregnancy would go normally. During this ultrasound, we found out we were having a boy. We left feeling so happy and relieved to know that our baby boy was perfectly healthy.
A week and a half later, at 19 weeks 4 days, I woke up on a Sunday morning, but halfway to the bathroom, I noticed a pink tinged fluid leaking down my legs. I yelled to my husband that something was wrong. We went to the hospital where they confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid. They also told me that my cervix was open a bit. The doctors said that I could either be induced and give birth to a baby that could not survive, or go home taking antibiotics and be on bedrest until I was 24 weeks. Our doctor gave me a 10% chance of getting to 24 weeks. After all that we had been through to get pregnant, we could not believe that we may lose our baby.
We went home and for a couple of weeks, I didn't think I was leaking fluid. My husband and I remained very strong and prayed hard that our baby would be OK. At 24 weeks, I went back to the hospital. I had only 4 cm of fluid left. I was admitted to the hospital that day. I leaked fluid and bled quite regularly during my hospitalization. The high risk doctors suspected that the bleeding was coming from the placenta, but they couldn't be sure about that. There were several days that I woke up with bad contractions and thought that I would deliver. I wanted to at least make it past New Year's. I would then be 28 weeks.
I had another level 2 ultrasound done at 28 weeks. There was very little fluid; only about 2 cm; but the baby looked great. He was even big for his gestational age. We could see him making breathing movements and fluid moving around his diaphragm. His bladder was full and he was urinating; creating more fluid for him. Everything we saw during this ultrasound were signs of good lung development. We felt like everything was going to be OK and that he would come out crying.
At 12:30 am on the night of January 11, I woke up with contractions as I had before. I managed to get a little sleep, but when I woke up later that morning, the contractions had not gone away. My husband, who slept on a cot every night during my hospitalization, decided not to go to work until the contractions went away. Well, they never did. At 8:30 pm, I gave birth to our son, Hunter Christian, but he did not cry. He did turn his head toward me and open his eyes as I talked to him.
My husband went to the NICU with him and I went to see him an hour later. The doctors were hopeful that he would be OK. They were even able to turn down the oxygen level. But, then he took a turn for the worse and they could not pull him out of it. Our beautiful son, Hunter, died in our arms just 9 hours after being born from pulmonary hypoplasia.
It's been four months since Hunter died. I miss him so much every day, yet, I am thankful for the time that my husband and I had with him. I really developed a relationship with my baby during all those weeks of bedrest.
I still have no good answers as to why my membranes ruptured so early. I suspect I had some kind of infection. I had vaginal swelling and itching, but my doctor said not to worry, so I didn't. I don't know if the leaking caused my cervix to open, or if my cervix opened first and then my membranes ruptured. I also wonder if I had gone on bedrest when I first started to bleed if my beautiful baby would be here with me now.
Stefanie
Mom to Hunter Christian, born 1-11-02, went to Heaven 1-12-02