By Rachel, Arlington, VA USA
PROM at 15 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 26 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2015-02-18

At 15 weeks and 6 days pregnant, while taking a nap, my water broke. Up until this point, I had experienced 2 bleeds, but each ultrasound at the high risk perinatal doctor showed the baby looked fine and was not low, indicating a possible miscarriage to come. So, when my water broke I did not expect it or have a clue how that day for forever change me and my husband lives. We rushed to the hospital, where our doctor met us and did some tests confirming, indeed, it was my amniotic fluid leaking. We never figured out why my water broke and I did not have infection, but it must have been a significant tear in my amiotic sack because I lost all of the water in the first several hours. By the next day, they couldn't see much of the baby via ultrasound. I was told to prepare to deliver the baby in the next 2 weeks and that it would be a complete miracle if the baby survived and even if the baby did survive, he/she would have severe defects and long term problems from no amniotic fluid. The biggest risk when my water broke was getting an infection, which would kill the baby, and put me at high risk, and possible loss of my uterus. I demanded to be put on antibiotics and I'm glad I did, because in the months after, I found research showing that the earlier you PPROM the longer your baby hangs in there, and if you can get antibiotics and get through the first 2 weeks without infection, that's a good sign you'll hold on longer before having to deliver for various reasons. So I was put on 2 antibiotics for 2 weeks. They were very heavy, so I recommend to all women who rupture, TAKE PROBIOTICS (and the good ones, that are refrigerated at a health food store). You and your child will need these positive bacteria to fight off all infection and help their GI system since you won't have amniotic fluid going through their mouth, through their GI system etc. I was told I could go back to work because it was only a matter of time for the baby to be born. I talked to several doctors and decided to go on TOTAL bed rest and do all I could to fight for my child's life. I bought a bunch of chucks (disposable bedliners), and did everything I could to prevent negative bacterial growth since my uterus was open now. I was told to not wear underwear and lay on the bedliners and just let your amniotic fluid drain out and change them periodically. You can elevate your pelvis, and depending on where and how large your tear is, you can keep some amniotic fluid in. It didn't make much of a difference how I laid, my fluid drained day and night. I drank 1 gallon of water a day so that I would keep making amniotic fluid and that it would keep washing over my baby, and praying the baby would drink what they could. I cut out EVERYTHING that could stress me out and tried to stay very positive. You can't listen to any of the doctors because you will hear nothing but scary horrible news. I found 1 doctor who was very supportive during this time and he advised me over the phone on how to sustain my baby's life and keep hopeful. I drank pure cranberry juice and took cranberry pills to keep from getting a UTI (another infection that could send you into labor), and I took calcium, magnesium, probiotic, prenatal vitamin, vitamin D. I knew I needed to pass along any support I could to my baby because they were going to be in for a major fight. I took a quick shower once a day and showered with antibacterial soap. I started to get light headed in the shower after a month of bedrest, so I recommend taking cool showers and getting a shower seat. I went to the doctor once a week, for very depressing ultrasounds where they would act like we were already having a funeral, and they couldn't see much of anything because I had no fluid. About half way through, I woke up one night bleeding profusely. Turned out to be that the baby must have tried to move and torn my placenta. That was the hardest part of bedrest because things looked even worse and I was just bleeding all the time, so it was messy and discouraging. Miracles started early, and my placenta healed after about 2 weeks. (it was about 10% torn, so not a major tear). At 23.5 weeks I asked to be admitted to the hospital to the high risk perinatal wing because I wanted to be in the hospital if anything went wrong, and I knew the baby was finally "viable". I had a pretty uneventful 3.5 weeks (very hard still) until 26.5 weeks, I woke up one morning and my baby had their merconium poop. I knew what it was when it all came out, but I was in shock. The doctors came up to my room and confirmed, and I was told we needed to deliver the baby in the next hour. So I called my family (and my husband had been sleeping in the room with me for 3 weeks, so he was just about to leave for work when it all went down). I had a classical C-section within the hour and my 1 lb 9 oz, son was born. I think I was able to stay in a place of partial denial up until the moment he was born. When they took him out you could hear a pin drop, and when they wheeled him out of the room to rush to the NICU, I remember yelling at him, "I love you and you're doing to be FINE!". I'm not going to share all the details of my son's NICU journey on here, but it was a hellish time of our lives, and he was in the NICU for 6.5 months. His pulmonary situation was very severe and in the first days of his life a lot of critical moments went the right way for him. I spent a lot of time crying and screaming in the shower, and the world came to a complete halt for those 6.5 months. He came home in January of 2014 on oxygen and with a g-tube, which we used to feed him. Flash forward one year from that, he is OFF oxygen and we are weaning him OFF the g-tube. It has been the hardest 2 years of my life, but my son is a very happy, smiley, smart and energetic little boy, and although we have had a very challenging journey, we are forever grateful for his life and that our story had a hopeful ending. Please be encouraged if you're reading this story. My son defied all odds and all the doctors and nurses who took care of me before he was born and the ones who took care of my son after he was born, are amazed how well he is doing and that he is in fact thriving and living a happy, healthy life now. (There are lots of books out there that are guidebooks for premature babies, so my husband read a lot of that before our son was born. If anyone has more questions, please feel free to email me. I'd be happy to support you. Rachelforshee@gmail.com) God Bless you and your little one/s!