By Christine, Mansfield. CT USA
PROM at 34 weeks + 5 days. Delivery at 34 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2006-09-12

This was my second pregnancy ... the first ending with PPROM @ 13 weeks and termination @ 16 weeks (see other story) ... I became pregnant 4 months after my first pregnancy - (the earliest they recommened - the first month we tried) ... we kept it a secret until 16 weeks ... during that time I visited my doctor weekly starting at 5 weeks ... insisted on seeing high risk doctor and early unltrasounds at the high risk clinic (not just the ones at the regular OB office)... everything seemed fine ... cultures were done ... all came back fine ... even took an anitbiotic once for suspected urinary tract infection (ended up I did not have one, but the doctors office forgot to call me) ... avoided internal exams/ultrasounds and sex ... also avoided excessive lifting, stairs and bending ... switched OB's around 16 weeks b/c doc got into an arguement with me about my due date (long story) ... new doc was very nice ... listened to my concerns ... scheduled all my follow-ups with high-risk clinic ... explained (for the billionth time) how PPROM was unlikely to happen again ... but his job was to do whatever made me feel comfortable, even if he thought it to be excessive/unnecessary ... at 26 weeks I began to feel condifent in the pregnancy and even had "normal" complications (gestational diabetes) ... at 32 weeks I asked the doctor to see me because I felt like something was not right ... baby felt low and I just felt uneasy ... he saw me right away and scheduled an ultrasound and pre-scheduled a weekly ultrasound for the next 9 weeks (optimist!) ... he made it clear that he felt that there was nothing wrong, but to make me feel better he would do them ... at the ultrasound the tech looked a little concerned and asked if she could do an internal ultrasound ... I explained to her that I was uncomfortable due to last pregnancy ... we reviewed risks vs. benefits and she convinced me ... the tech sent the results over to the doc who she said would call me if he was concerned (by now I have probably had 50 ultrasounds so I could tell she was concerned and measuring the cervix)... did not hear from doc ... it was a busy day at work and I had kind of lost track of time until the office was closed ... called the next day and they assured me that the doc had reviewed the results and he would see me at me scheduled appointment Thursday (6 days from now) ... showed up for Thursday appointment (with husband) ... and was told doc could not see me b/c he was leaving (I could see doc through the window) ... I started crying saying that I really needed to see the doc ... was told no ... asked to make sure doc had read the results of the ultrasound and was told yes he had ... they rescheduled my appt. for Monday ... weekly ultrasound was scheudled for tommorrow (Friday) ... the tech at the ultrasound was horrified when she found out that I had not seen the doctor since the last ultrasound ... she called the office and insisted that I be seen today ... office saw me right away ... saw different doc (who had just returned from her own maternity leave)... she was very concerned cervix appeared unstable/possibly open... scheduled me for non-stress test, fFN and steroid shots ... and said no more work (bedrest) ... tests showed no signs of labor today (Friday) or Saturday ... Monday morning 7am got up to use bathroom, bent down to pick up laundry to put in washer and water began running down my legs ... at first thought maybe it was urine left from not completely emptying bladder ... but when it did not stop called doc ... who said to come right in ... woke husband who thought he was going to sleep in b/c of holiday (Columbus Day) ... at hospital confirmed rupture ... doc examined and felt the baby was developed enough for delivery ... induced at 10am and delivered at 10pm (during labor the doc said by the way your fFN test was positive) ... Thomas Robert was born 5 lbs 6oz and 13 1/2 inches long ... very healthy breathing on his own ... never admitted to NICU ... given one finger feed from dad of sugar water to stablize bloodsugar (probably due to gestational diabetes) ... continued with finger feeds and extra blankets until day 4 when he had jaundice ... 6 days of lights ... and home ... finger fed and special bottle fed (breast milk) until well in to second month ... never really did get the breast thing (pumped for 6 mnths) ... everything else normal development ... he will be 2 in October ... am pregnant again ... doc very concerned about PPROM this time ... will let you know ... just a note about the transvaginal ultrasound ... both pregnancies ended with membrane rupture 11 days following the ultrasound ... doc says he does not believe in coincidence and has theory that somehow the ultrasound triggers a hormone (I forgot exactly what he said) that triggers the rupture ...