By Angela Giddens, Valdosta, GA usa
PROM at 17 weeks + 2 days. Delivery at 19 weeks.
Story added: 2003-06-28

I had just been to the doctor and had an ultrasound. Everything was normal and we found out we were having a boy. Then everything went down hill. When I was at 17 weeks I started to feel not so good. I was very tired and cranky and aching all the time. One Sunday night I noticed a large amount of discharge as I was urinating. I was alarmed by this so, I took out my What to Expect When Your're Expecting book and read about it. From what I read in the book and on the Internet I found that heavy discharge around that time is normal, so I did not go to the doctor. That was the biggest mistake I ever made in my Life. For the rest of the next week the heavy discharge continued and even some dampness. On Thursday of that week again I was on the toilet having a bowel movement. I felt a wierd sense of pressure in my vagina. The first time I thought I was crazy. Then, I felt it again. I reached down to feel myself and what I felt scared me to death. I felt a buldge. I yelled for my husband to get in there as I jumped off the toilet. I ran to the bed and laid down. I called my mother to tell her I was going to the Hospital and my Husband drove me to the ER. When I got there I was an emotional reck. I ended up having to wait for an hour and a half before being seen. Finally I was checked and the doc said that my cervix was closed and that he didn't know what I felt because there was no buldge. He said that I had an infection and that I must have felt a puss ball. He told me to check in with the doc the next day and sent me home. Well the next day was good Friday and so the docs office was closed. On Monday morning i went to the doctor's office to be checked out. I had felt even worse through the weekend. As the midwife examined me she quickly ended the exam and got real seriuos. She said that I was dilated 3-4 centimeters and that the membranes were ruptured. (She thought this because when she did the exame I gushed a little bit.) Then she got the doc and they called me an ambulance to take me straight to the hospital. When i got to the hospital i was placed in the trendlenburg position and the nurses took cultures to check for infection. For the next few days I was struggling to remain calm. I found thhat I ws having small contractions without feeling them. I neverstopped leaking filud and as the week went on I had to ask for more meds to stop the comtractions everday. Finally on Friday, The day I was 19 weeks, the nurse came in at 5am to check my vitals. Since i was on a bed pan I told her that I felt like I needed to pee first. She pulled down my underpants and there was some blood on the pad. She immediately went and called tha doc. When she came back she put me in a wheel chair and took me to labor and delivery. I was given pitocin and citotec. The nurses also gave me dem. for pain. (the Dem. was a big mistake. I never asked for anything, they just gave it to me.) Finally at 12:59 p.m. I delivered our son. I asked the doc to hold him. My husband and I held him in our arms. All of our families were they. They all came into the room and held him too. We took pictures. Through all of this I was so drugged that I could hardly even open my eyes. I was not able to enjoy the time I had to spend with him. The nurses took him to the nursery and I was discharged from the hospital. That weekend was hard. We planned a funeral service. My milk came in and I became engorged. I spent the next week in excrutiating pain. The doctors diagnosed me with Incompetent Cervix. Next time i will have a cerclage placed at 12 weeks and be on mandatory bedrest for 6 weeks. Then as needed.

If there are any women out there suffering from an IC, please email me. I feel like I could have saved my last (andfirst) preg. if I had only been more cautious and knowledgeable. This was my first preg and I did not know what ws normal and how aggressive to be with my care.