By Robyn, Long Island, NY United States
PROM at 24 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 35 weeks + 1 days.
Story added: 2004-09-18

My pregnancy was achieved through In Vitro Fertilization in January 2004. I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hematoma/bleed at 11 weeks. I bled on and off for about 5 weeks, and had to stay at home on bed rest during this time. The hematoma resolved itself at 16 weeks.

At 24 weeks and 6 days along, I was returning home from work when I felt a small gush of fluid. I thought maybe it was urine or something. About 3 hours later while sitting down I felt a big gush of fluid that went through my clothing. This scared me enough to call my OB.

My OB said that it sounded like my water broke and that I should go to the labor and delivery department of the hospital and be prepared to be admitted. I was so scared of losing my baby. I had a previous miscarriage at 18 weeks, but the cause was never known.

I got to the hospital where they did a fern test and one other test (can't remember the name of it) to make sure that it was amniotic fluid I was leaking. They both tested positive. I did not have any contractions at this time. I was told that there was a 90% chance that I would deliver within 48-72 hours and that the chances of the baby surviving without major problems were grim. My amniotic fluid index (AFI) was around 8.5 at this point. I received 2 steroid shots within a 24 hour period to help with fetal lung maturity.

I was admitted to the hospital in the anti-partem unit where I remained on bed rest for the next 11 weeks. I was allowed to get up only to use the bathroom daily and to shower about once a week in a shower chair. I had ultrasounds done daily which including measuring the AFI and daily Biophysical profiles (BPP). They also did non stress tests daily to check for accelerations/decelerations and contractions. My AFI's ranged from a low of 5 to a high of 7 during the rest of my stay in the hospital. There was always a pocket of fluid which measured at least 2 cm, which I was told (and researched) was good. I had 3 liters of fluid pumped into me daily through an IV which I believe helped to replenish and maintain my amniotic fluid levels.

At around 33 weeks, my OB started testing my amniotic fluid for fetal lung maturity, which I was able to catch samples of in a cup due to the constant leaking. This was checked at leat 3 times up until 35 weeks, and always came back negative, which scared me.

On September 2nd I started having some pink spotting. My OB said that this was probably due to chenges in the cervix and that meant that I would probably be delivering soon. The baby was faced head down all along so I was expecting a vaginal delivery.

On September 7th at 2:00am I started having contractions. I also felt several big gushes of fluid.The contractions came fast and furious and within an hour I was in active labor. The non stress test showed my baby' heartbeat was not tolerating labor very well so my OB opted to do an emergency C-section. I was also told that I had a fever of 102 degrees and that an infection was probably what caused me to go into labor.

My miracle son Matthew Ryan was born on September 7th weighing 4 pounds 13oz. He came out crying and was breathing room air right from the start. He spent 7 days in the NICU before coming home on September 13th. He was placed on a medication called Zantac for acid reflux, but other than that he is doing great! He has been home for 5 days now and weighs 5 lbs 3oz.

I know my story is a bit uncommon in that I lasted 10 weeks with PROM, but I wanted others to know there is hope. I prayed a lot while in that hospital and luckily had access to a lap top and this website where I read all of your PROM stories daily. Your stories gave me inspiration. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or would like to chat. I did a lot of reserach on PROM while in the hospital and realize that I was extremely lucky to have lasted so long with PROM. Even my doctors said they were amazed at my progress. I feel so blessed.