By Missy, Louisiana USAThis is a story that is so very hard to begin. Well it begins over 9 years ago. My husband and I married on December 1, 1990. We decided right away we wanted children and began "trying". After a year and no children, we got concerned. Initial testing showed slight problems with both of us but nothing that would prevent either of us individually from getting pregnant. However, the two of us together made it extremely difficult - we were classified as a sub- fertile couple. After 4 years of testing we decided to continue to a point with infertility treatment and also to adopt. Which ever proved successful first.
PROM at 18 weeks + 1 days. Delivery at 21 weeks + 6 days.
Story added: 2000-05-06
Well June 22, 1995, I received an emergency phone call while at the infertility clinic receiving a round of Clomid. It was my husband Jamie, the adoption agency had a newborn infant born the evening before on June 21, 1995 did we want her? Trinity Anne came into our lives at 4pm on June 22, 1995. She weighed 6 lbs 6 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. We began adoption steps and during the process we discovered she had a sibling brother just 16 months older than her that was also availible for adoption. Of course we took Aaron into our lives, he was 20 months old. Now we had our children and were complete.
Never using birth control we never expected to ever conceive. Some kind of miracle must have been in the air in August of 1999. Discovering that I was pregnant was a complete shock to the entire family. My mom bought a second pregnancy test and watched me take it to make sure. Initially we were scared, due to some scaring around my tubal area I'm at high risk for tubular pregnancies. Our doctor immediately scheduled an ultrasound at 6 weeks. Holding our breath we watched, there he was safe and sound in uterus. Just look at his strong heart beat. My doctor was so excited. Here comes the morning sickness. I suffered greatly with extreme vomiting. I lost 21 lbs, but was excited because I had a solid pregnancy. After the first 3 months, I relaxed. I lost a child to early miscarriage when I was 19 years old. Now at 32 and wiser, I was scared but hopeful. We made it through the danger zone (or so I thought).
We spent an uneventful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Making plans for the baby's nursery. After returning home from an exhausting week of visits we decided that Christmas would be at our home. On November 30, 1999 at 18 weeks 1 day, I sat down at my computer and felt a gush of fluid. I called my doctor right away, expecting that my bladder was leaking. He sent me to the hospital to be checked out. So off to the hospital I went, Jamie and the kids stayed at home. I didn't expect it to be anything much, no reason to wake the kids. I continued to leak fluid on my way to the hospital, but no cramps no pain. The nurses checked me out and I tested negative for amonic fluid but it definitely was not my bladder. My doctor arrived shortly, same results. I remained overnight for observation and referral. I called my husband. The next day I began to bleed and thought this was it I'm losing my baby. We didn't even know what he was yet. My specialist arrived the next day ordered an ultrasound to check the fluid level. So after 20 hours of gushing we had our second ultrasound. Hey fluid looks great, no visible rupture, and placenta looks fine - by the way it's a boy. No doubt, he was peeing. Well my specialist was happy and wanted to compete a fern test to confirm that it was indeed NOT amonic fluid. Well when testing me he saw the gushing fluid, immediate concern. The fluid looked exactly like amonic fluid, the fern test - well it was negative also. I had both doctors scratching their heads. My specialist decided to play it safe and treat me as if my water broke. Strict bed rest, weekly follow ups until I reached 24 weeks. He did advise me that with a full bag of water I had a good chance of resealing if it was a rupture.
The next week, I ended up in the hospital again. Heavy bleeding, my doctor checked my cervix - closed. After 2 hours the bleeding stopped, and I never experienced any cramping or pain. They orderd another ultrasound, no water. I had continued to leak all week but nothing like the first two nights. After consultation they decided that I ruptured on November 30th and was only leaking out the fluid the baby was making. Well when I remained stable I was sent home again. Cody and I hung on with bleeding off and on but no labor until December 25, 1999.
On Christmas day I woke up with dull lower back pains. I was aware that it was probably labor but I was hoping no. The doctors would not stop labor or delivery due to the high risk of infection. Once labor started Cody's time was up he would be born too early or not. I kept my mouth shut, I didn't want to ruin everyones Christmas. By 10pm that evening it was obvious labor. I still did not tell anyone I just prayed to God to hold off until tomorrow, not Christmas day. At midnight I woke everyone up. My contractions were 3 mins apart. Off to the hospital we went. At the hospital my cervix was still closed. Hopes were that I would take at least two weeks to open. Our luck had ran out, labor began to speed up around noon. Cody was born at 4:32pm, at 21 weeks 6 days. He lived until approximately 8:30pm. I was allowed to hold him for a few moments after his birth before I had to leave for an emergency D & C. His father remained with him until his death. I woke up in recovery and my angel was gone. He blessed our lives with his presence.
Cody, mommy and daddy love you so very much. We will hold you safe in our hearts until we can hold you in our arms again.
Love,
Mommy & Dadd
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