By Laura, Vermont USAPROM #3: Mark & Michelle
PROM at 20 weeksDelivery at 28 weeks.
Story added: 1998-02-24
My last pregnancy is one of those "I can't believe it happened to me" stories. I hadn't been able to convince my husband to have another one yet, but we hadn't ruled it out. I was on birth control, but we were going through a stressful time with the death of my mother-in-law. I didn't think it was unusual to have scant periods in times of stress. Until June, 1996, when I missed my period altogether. I did the home pregnancy test toward the end of the month, and it was positive! I called my OB for an appointment, and was not able to get in for the ob- workup until the end of July. I scheduled an ultrasound for the 5th of August, because I had no idea how far along I was.
Well, at that first ultrasound, I discovered that I was already 20 weeks pregnant, and with TWINS! I was so-o-o excited! I had a second ultrasound the next day, and discovered that they were in all probability boy/girl twins, but one was undoubtably a boy. (He was urinating while we were watching the ultrasound - no mistaking those male parts!) They said that my cervix was thinned out and I was 1cm dilated - not good news.
At this point, we have 5 children - our two girls, Becca (7) and Paige (5); plus my husband's brother's 3 children - Tina (13), Chris (12), and Jason (10). We decided to tell the kids about the twins when they were all together. They didn't even know I was pregnant, because I wanted to know my due date when we told them.
At the time the 2 boys were in Connecticut, who were visiting their Aunt and Uncle. My husband had plans to go to pick them up on Wednesday the 7th of August. He brought our two girls with him, and I was at home with Tina. Well, I was lying in bed that night, and my membranes broke with a pop-gush. I had to call my neighbor to bring me to the hospital. We left Tina with my father, so the two of them could milk the cows in the morning.
When I got to the hospital and they completed their tests to determine that I in fact had PROM, they had all sorts of discouraging things to say. They said the chance of me delivering a viable baby, with ruptured membranes at 20 weeks, was virtually zero. They would not do anything to stop labor, because the membranes break for a reason, usually infection. They said that I would either go into labor, and lose both babies, or I would develop a possibly life-threatening infection. The membranes were only ruptured for 1 baby, not both of them. Because of this, they mentioned the very slim possibility that I could deliver one of them and the other would stay in. I have to add that they said this was not really an option, because they would not stop labor with medication, and the possibility of it stopping on it's own was not even a statistical possibility. They said that without amniotic fluid, the one baby wouldn't have properly developed lungs, and would not survive anyway. The recommendation was that they induce labor.
Well, the more I thought about it, alone in my hospital room, the more I realized that was not an option for me. Not only did I have a nightmarish experience with Pitocin my first pregnancy, but I had 2 live babies in there!! I said that we would deal with it if and when I developed the infection they were talking about, and just wait and see what happened.
Well, 1 week after PROM, I went into labor. I had that "uneasy" feeling all day, and contractions started at about 10:00pm. I was brought over to L&D to see what would happen. My husband showed up around 12:30. My doctor told me that I would know when it was time to push, I would feel a lot of pressure. I told him I felt a little, but not a lot. In the meantime, my nurse gave me a hotpack for my abdomen, and my contractions stopped spontaneously!! I went into the bathroom, and reached down and touched the top of Michelle's head. I went back and told the nurse to get the doctor, and I pushed little Michelle out. She weighed 12 ounces and was 9 1/2 inches long, and she was born at around 3:00 AM 8-15-96. The doctor was sitting there, holding her cord, waiting to deliver the placenta, and I told him that I heard there was a chance we could tie the cord off, leave the placenta in there, and see if the other baby would stay in utero.
The next doctor who came in said "you have a chance, I think we should go for it!" She tied off the cord as high as she could, and left Michelle's placenta right in there. Now, at this point, they tell me they don't know what will happen to that placenta. It could come loose, and I would start to bleed; it could become reabsorbed, it could become infected and I would get sick, et cetera. So I spent the next 3 weeks in the hospital. I had an ultrasound or two, showing that my cervix had closed back up, and that Mark had moved up high in the uterus. I talked my doctors into letting me go home, not all of them thought it was a good idea, but I was ready. I went home the day after Labor Day.
For the next 4 weeks, I stayed at home, in a rented hospital bed, except for weekly trips to the OB/GYN. I received the beta-methasone shots to improve Mark's lung maturity, which I believe really helped him. On the night of October 1, 1996, I went into labor. I went to the hospital, and they tried to stop labor with mag. It didn't work. They checked my cervix, and I was already 6cm dilated! We were going to have a baby, ready or not.
It was a wonderful experience, this birth. Present, besides me and my husband, were the resident on duty that night, the resident who took care of me when I first came in with ruptured membranes 8 weeks before and was there when Michelle was born, the doctor who did the first ultrasound (where we discovered twins) and who was there to tie off Michelle's cord, the nurse who was there 8 weeks, and the nurse who was there 7 weeks before when I delivered Michelle. We talked, and joked through all my contractions, which were mild, by the way. It came time to push, and less than 10 minutes later, Mark was out, in his membrane sac, (intact!) and 2 placentas attached to the outside! I have heard that this means the baby is "blessed" and is going to do great things. He was born 10-2-96, and was due 12-25-96.
Mark had a 90 day NICU stay. He had RDS/BPD and came home with oxygen less than 25 ccs. He is now an active, happy little boy at 16 months, and walking all over the place!
I love the preemie-l support group! The first time I posted, I received many replies. They are a very interested, very supportive group of people!
End of Story
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