By Jenna, Stafford, Virginia USAI became pregnant for the second time in August of 2002 and was given a due date of May 12,2003. My previous pregancy ended in miscarriage at 5 weeks, 3 months earlier.
PROM at 22 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 28 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2003-05-08
My pregnancy was completely normal until my membranes ruptured at 22 weeks. I was sleeping and awoke to find myself all wet - I knew what had happened and called my OB's 24 hour line. I was told to go straight to the ER where they confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid. I was monitored in L&D for 2 days and I had no contractions or signs of infection. I was transferred to another hospital with a level III NICU.
I was in the High Risk Perinatal unit at Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Virginia for 6 weeks. I was given antibiotics for 10 days and I was monitored for infection and labor - my AFI was checked weekly and my baby's growth was checked every 3 weeks. I received 2 doses of steriod shots for my baby's lungs. My baby was very healthy and growing well. Every time his heartrate was monitored he performed very well and the nurses thought I was further along than I was based on his accels/decels. After a fairly uneventful 6 weeks I started to contract more than normally and began to bleed as well. They decided to deliver because I was probably going into labor because of an infection. I had a c-section because my baby was breech. Vincent Nicholas Briganti was born at 5:25pm on February 21, 2003 weighing 2lbs,10oz and 14 inches long. He came out screaming and I only got to see him for a second before he was rushed to the NICU.
Vincent did amazingly well in the NICU and, remarkably, was never placed on a ventilator. He was on room air from the start with no breathing assistance. He was in the NICU for 7 weeks before he came home on April 12, 2003. We really had no setbacks with him in the NICU - we only got good news. He did receive one blood transfusion due to anemia and he was eventually placed on oxygen via a nasal cannula, which he is still on - it is a very low flow and we expect him to outgrow the need for it soon. He is a miracle baby and we are so blessed to have him healthy and home with us. He's is sitting right here next to me in his bouncy chair with the hiccups! He is 10 weeks old and 6lbs,11oz. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful, healthy baby and I treasure every moment I have with him.