By Inkan, Jönköping Sweden
PROM at 23 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 30 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 1997-01-16

This was my first pregnancy. I was due march 21 1997.

In september my grandpa Jim died, and I went home to my parents for his funeral. Only an hour before I was about to get to the airport for the trip home, I started to bleed. I thought I was about to miscarry, but my aunt who is a midwife told me that as long as I felt no pain it could be ok. I blead heavily on the flight home, and hoped that the baby would still be safe in there. This was just past 12 weeks, and I remember thinking that the worst fears were over by now.

As we didn't know if the baby was on its way out, I had an ultrasound examination that showed that the baby was fine. I didn't get any answers why I blead so heavily, and I continued to bleed for about 4 weeks, but the first week was the most. I wasn´t put on bedrest but were adviced to take it very easy and was home from work for 2 weeks.

The ultrasound at 17 weeks showed no problems either. All was fine until november 30, 23 weeks and 5 days along.

I was in a hurry that morning, and didn´t have much time wondering why I suddenly started to have problems holding my bladder. I went to work but soon realized this could not be normal - it was too much and I leaked even if I had recently peed. I called my midwife to ask what to do.

Magnus was in Stockholm this day, so when my midwife told me to go to L&D to check it up I had to get help from a friend at work, John.

I'll never forget that drive. It was a beautiful sunny and snowy day. John dropped me off and I went into a room where they tested the liquid with a lackmus strip. It turned blue - which meant amniotic fluid. By then I was turning into a state where everything that happened felt so unreal. I didn´t understand what this meant, I never heard of it.

They told me to stay put, and not leave the chair where I was sitting. I was rolled in a wheelchair into the room at the end of the hall in the delivery corridor. Every 30 minutes a nurse stuck her head in and asked me if I felt any contractions yet. I couldn´t believe she thought I was having the baby because I wasn´t at all ready for that. Also, the dr told me that they would try to save the baby this early. I called Magnus cellphone and left a message that I was admitted and that my water broke. He took the first flight he could back home, and came to my terribly lonely room that evening. I could hear other women screaming while having their baby and I felt like hope was up for us as they put us in this special "forgotten room".

In the evening they moved me to the womens clinic as I wasn´t contracting yet. I was in shock and have very hard to remember this time. First week at hospital was worst. The situation was unacceptable and I felt like someone put me in a prison and killed my baby. I cried and still as another day went by I gained some hope.

The docs told me that if I went to 25+0 weeks they would drive me to Linköping (1,5 hours away) if I started to deliver. Before that we should let nature have its will. When I was almost 25 weeks I got a fever, and almost panicked as fever was a sign of infection and infection would mean the end of pregnancy. Magnus was called in from work, and I had a "crash-course" how to deliver a baby. I was dead scared - but nothing happened and the fever was gone.

I spent 3 weeks at the hospital with daily checking of heartbeat, temp 3 times a day and only bathroom priveligies. Weekly ultrasounds. Christmas was coming up, and they let me come home, still at bedrest.



Magnus was terrific during this time. He had to do everything at home, work, take care of me and the home. We spent Christmas and New Years Eve in bed. New Years I walked 10 steps to a window where I could look at some firework. I also went into the hospital a couple of times for ultrasound checkups, blood tests etc. At one occation the AFI had raised alittle and was almost within the normal range but very low. I was leaking all the time, and sometimes I could se small stains of blood. As soon as there was blood I called the hospital even if it was very little.

After a total of 7 weeks at bedrest Anton was born with emergency C-section early in the morning january 16 1997 at 30+5 weeks weighing 4 lbs (1820 grams). He kicked a foot out. 3 days before I felt a couple of contractions (probably) that calmed down. Maybe I started to dilate by then, I dont know. I didnt even know that contractions didn't even hurt as much as when having a period. But I do felt when Anton kicked his leg out, that was more like what I thought contractions should feel like.

We went in by car after midnight, and after about an hour trying to measure CTG and contractions an internal exam showed that Anton decided to enter the world by foot. Then again I got that feeling that things happened that were unreal. 30 minutes after his foot were discovered, I was in the operating room surrounded by people dressed in white and green with covered mouths. One of them was Magnus.

I never heard Anton cry, and I couldn´t tell when he was taken out of me. I was tied to a bed with head down and feet up, leaning at my left side. It was uncomfortable and I was very numb and had truble breating, feeling ill. I was so scared.

Someone said that the baby looked fine. A little later someone came by very hasty with a very small package where a tiny face could be seen. The nurse said "Hello mommy" and let the baby kiss my cheek before they ran off to the NICU. Magnus went with them.



Anton was a healthy preemie, and was on CPAP for 2 days, and came out of the incubator after a week. He gained weight well and didn´t get any infections. I spent all my "should-have-been-pregnant-time" by Anton at the hospital trying to catch up with the things that had happened. It took us over a week to find out a proper name for him.

During this time I had found Preemie-friends all over the world through a mailing list called Preemie-l. They were a great support and I am still writing several of them.

Anton came home when he was 6 weeks old - 4 weeks before his due date. He got asthma at 6 months old and outgrew it at 3½ years old. He has been throwing up very easily, but it never affected his weight gain and it seems to be better with age too. This january he celebrated his fourth birthday, and I can now say that he is bright, smart, funny and adorable boy. We are so lucky to have him with us! I am kissing him many times extra every night thinking of those of us that didn´t get a chanse to keep their baby.

I would love to have another baby now, and hope that I will soon however Magnus does not want more kids. This is a problem for me now, as I have overcome the fears of getting pregnant again I am having a hard time accepting some kind of "unwilling-husband-infertility". He think it is too late, but I feel like I needed this time to get settled after the PROM experience with Anton.

Hugs to all miracle babies - every one is!
/Inkan



Born at 35 weeks myself
The story has been updated since I first wrote it down. Here are the longer version:
/hem.passagen.se/inkan /

My Pregnant After PROM - Pregnancy