By Mary, Sacramento, CA USA
PROM at 25 weeks + 2 days. Delivery at 30 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2021-06-07

I had a lot of trouble achieving pregnancy (years of trying + fertility specialists) so I was elated when I became pregnant. Even though I was pushing 40, I just wanted one baby. My first 25 weeks of pregnancy were so easy! I felt good, I was able to exercise, eat well, and generally take great care of myself. I hoped that all the hard parts of my pregnancy were behind me in the conception phase. When my water broke at 25 weeks, it was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. It was an explosion of water - there was zero doubt about what was happening, other than knowing it was WAY too early. I feared what sort of massive developmental issues my baby boy would have, and I felt incredibly guilty, as if I had inflicted these on him. I landed in the hospital in the middle of COVID (no visitors except my husband) and was told I would be on bedrest for 9 weeks, with labor induced at 34 weeks - if I was lucky. It was so, so hard to hope for 9 weeks in the hospital as a best case scenario. This website and these stories were a lifeline for me. I counted down the days on my whiteboard, and managed to work part-time on my laptop, which helped me mentally escape the hospital for a few hours every day. My nurses were wonderful, even though I couldn't see their smiles under their masks, they helped me in every way possible. I went into labor for the first time at 28 weeks. They put me on magnesium to help the baby's brain, but it definitely arrested my contractions, which had been growing steadily stronger. I asked my Dr to keep the magnesium on drip for another day or two. He did. When the new, younger doctor came for her week on duty, she took me off the Mag. Luckily the ~48 hours on magnesium was enough to quiet my uterus down and the contractions stayed away. I lasted another 2 weeks before it was apparent that an infection was slowly settling in. There was no doubt when we started to see the baby's meconium in my discharge. I had labor induced. The contractions got stronger, until they put me on magnesium again...at which point the contractions grew very dull. With 2 different drugs telling my body opposite things (Labor hard now! No stop, don't labor!) it was apparent vaginal birth wasn't an option. I had a C-section. My baby boy spent 6 weeks in the NICU. It was harder than I expected, especially while recovering from a C-section. But he is now 6 months old and is the happiest, healthiest, CHUNKIEST little baby I could have imagined. I feel so very, very lucky and thankful. Stay strong, dear mama. Talk to your baby and know that you aren't alone in this. I'm sending you love.