By Carol Self, Harrisonville, Missouri USAOK here we go... On January 9, 2006 I had an amniocentesis due to maternal age...38. Let me preface this by saying I had had 2 other amnios with other pregnancies, this being my 5th, with no problem what so ever. That being said. My regular Perinatologist was not available so I opted for his younger less experienced partner. I knew as he was scraping back and forth on the bag of waters to pierce it that this was a bad idea.
PROM at 20 weeks + 3 days. Delivery at 32 weeks.
Story added: 2007-03-07
He did get through, took the sample, and removed the needle. Shortly after that I began leaking. Now, he just sent me home on bedrest for 2 days.
I still felt I was leaking so I went to my regular OB. He had me use the restroom clean up with a sanitary moist wipe and then he took a sample and .... suprise.... it was negative for amniotic fluid.
Over the next few weeks I went to my regular OB several times complaining that I was leaking fluid. He would pat me on the head, listen to the baby's heart rate and send me packing with the excuse that I must be wrong and it must be urine.
Finally, on February 5 at 4am I experienced a gush of fluid. I once again called my doc and he told me to go to bed until the next morning when he would meet me at the office. Once again, by the time I got off the phone I felt guilty for making the call.
The next morning I met him, first thing, at his office. I told him that he was going to have to convince me that I was not leaking so he took me to the sonogram room.
He laid the wand on my belly and within seconds turned white as a sheet. I said "Well!" and his reply was "Give me a minute." Then he said that I had been right all along and had 0 fluid. That's right ZERO.
We had a long tearful conversation in which he recommended immediate termination of the pregnancy. I told him I wanted another opinion. He sent me directly to the Perinatologist I had seen with my previous pregnancies (due to age only).
This doc told my husband, who had joined me, and I that his recommendation also was termination. He also came up with ZERO fluid. But the heart was so strong I just couldnt do it. My husband and I talked and decided to leave it in GOD'S hands. That didnt please the doc at all. He then told my husband that if I went home in this state that I would develope an infection overnight and be dead by morning. You can imagine my husband's reaction. He was just sick. I promised him that if I started to get chills or fever or any other symptom related to infection I would go immediately to the hospital. Again, this didnt please the doc so he left the room and asked his nurse to excuse us because he needed the room for his other patients and we could talk about this in the parking lot.
So, back to my regular OB I went. He put me in the hospital for "a couple of days" to monitor for infection. What this really turned out to be was a couple of days to convice me to terminate.
During the 1st and 2nd day in the hospital my friends buried me in literature about PPROM. I believed I could follow all the guidelines and asked my OB for a 3rd opinion from a specialist at another hospital. She came the next day.
I was lying in bed hooked to monitors talking to my physician and the Perinatologist (both trying to convince me this was foolish) when in walked Dr. Elizabeth Wickstrom. She was followed by a group of students and assistants. She firmly took charge of the room and her assistant began the sono. She found 3AFI and asked me what I wanted to do. I told her I wasnt ready to give up. She said "Great, I dont think you should." She asked my OB what antibiotics he had me on. He said "none" and asked her if she wanted to take over my care. At that moment my baby's future changed. She started commanding the staff and they were jumpin. She was a ROCK STAR!
I stayed in the hospital four more days on IV antibiotics. Went home with a RX for 10 more days worth. Stayed home on bed rest until February 28th.
Now, this is not a decision to be taken lightly. If you, like me, have several other young children running around then a few days on bedrest sounds pretty wonderful. But at about day 10, I had had all the wonderful I could stand. And it was just beginning.
My employer was gracious enough to set me up to work from bed. My husband footed the bill for a new laptop and recliner that would nearly stand me on my head.
During this time I also had the opportunity to negotiate benefits with my insurance carrier, who did not participate with the hospital I would be admitted to. That in it's self was traumatic.
Once in the hospital, I had a wonderful group of nurses that took excellent care of me. The other Pregnancy Complication Patients in the same ward would visit almost daily and again there was work.
My fluid levels went up and down. Never getting above about a 6 for more than a day or two. But the fact that I had any fluid at all was reassuring. I was fanatical about cleanliness. I would bleach my bathroom twice a day and every 3rd day I would get a shower and would use betadine from my knees to my belly button. I never used "pads" but instead used bleached white washcloths to soak up any leaking fluid and changed them often.
Also, I should say that during this time I developed bleeding. Later we learned that a portion of the placenta had pulled away from the uterus due to the lack of fluid pushing back on it. It was rather frightening but my doctors were reassuring and monitored both the baby and I constantly.
Now, on April 26 early in the morning I had a large rush of fluid and felt things were different. The doctor immediately took me down for a sono and sure enough ZERO fluid. We also could tell the cord wasnt looking quite right. We couldnt follow it's path with the doppler anymore. I immediately requested deliver. At 32 weeks.
The resident tried to convince me otherwise but I wasnt going to hear it and asked for the Perinatologist in charge. He came arrived and asked me what I wanted to do and once again I asked for delivery. He told me to get my family there and we would deliver in an hour.
My husband arrived as I was being wheeled into pre-op. They put me on the monitors and suprise contractions. I was so freaked out I hadnt noticed. The checked and I was dilated to 5 so into delivery I went. The doctor had convinced me to have a c-section with a splinal block. Something I had not had before and I was terrified but I have to say it wasnt bad at all.
My daughter was delivered with the cord wrapped 2 times around her neck and a 'TRUE KNOT' in the cord. It we had waited any longer she would have most likely died from a cord accident. Follow your intuition.
She was 4lbs 14oz and did really well for the first couple of hours then began to deteriorate. By the time I got back down to her room at 5am on the 27th her oxygen saturation was about 46. She was dying.
The staff was quick to act. They put her on an oscillator, pic line in, umbilical lines, and placed her in a drug induced coma for the next 3 weeks. It was such a sad time for us. But once again we placed the outcome in GOD'S hands and miraculously she began breathing on her own.
Over the next 2 months we had to overcome weaning from the oxygen, infections, feeding issues, and GERD but we came home from the hospital on July 24th with a completely healthly baby. No feeding tubes and no oxygen.
Emily is now 10 months old. She has been checked by the hospital premie center, her pediatrician, and our local PAT and she does everything a 12 month old can do. She eats regular food, plays normally, talks, walks, the whole nine yards.
This being said. I know in my heart the path we chose is not for all. The cost of our little miracle was about 2.4 million. After insurance it will still be tens of thousands. I did end up loosing my job when I was transferred to labor and delivery. So, my husband was left with the bills. We sold our cars, boat, anything that wasnt nailed down. My children at home were without a Mom for many months. I had to release the running of my household to family members and let them do it their way. And most of all I fought against the system - Physicians I trusted for many years before.
But the rewards were infinite!!!!!!