By Rachel Turiel, Durango, CO USAMy first child was born at 25 wks 4 days, after PROM at 24 wks 4 days. He survived and is doing wonderfully, though has had his fair share of preemie issues.
. Delivery at 40 weeks.
Story added: 2007-07-04
I got pregnant about 20 months after my son was born and was of course very nervous. There was no known reason for the PROM with my son. I started vaginal U/S to check cervical length at 14 weeks and stopped at 32 weeks. Cervix was always 4-5 centimeters. (don't rely on manual checks - one manual check showed my cervix at 2 centimeters, which was off). I got the 17P shots weekly from 17 weeks through 34 weeks. I got the shot in my butt, which wasn't bad, much less sore than the one I had in my arm. And what I think was most helpful was vaginal cultures every 3 weeks. I had bacterial vaginosis 4 times during this pregnancy and took flagyl antibiotic for it each time. That's a lot of antibiotics, which I don't feel good about, but it felt like the risk was worth it. The flagyl cleared up the BV only the first 2 times and after that I think it kept it at bay. By the time I was 34 weeks I stopped getting cultures and stopped all antibiotics. BV is strongly correlated with PROM, however, many pregnant women will have BV with no symptoms and no problems without ever taking any antibiotics. Because of this some doctors don't test for BV. I wasn't tested in my first pregnancy and now I feel strongly that BV caused PROM with my son. 2 times I had early contractions with the BV, the other 2 times, no symptoms at all.
I also took 1 tsp fish oil daily, lots of pro-biotics, Vit C for membrane strength, and swam a lot.
The weeks between 22 - 27 were the scariest. Once I hit 28 I felt a calm come over me. Week 30 was jubilation and disbelief and by the time I was 35 weeks, total confidence. I had sex/orgasm a lot during this pregnancy and felt it only had a positive impact.
My labor started in the evening the day before my due date and at 2:25am I was holding a gorgeous, 8 pound, 4 ounce baby girl. My amniotic sac stayed in tact up until it was time to push and my midwife had to use force to break it (how's that for irony). I had a wonderful doula, which was a great help and never considered asking for drugs. My daughter, Rose Raven, is 8 weeks old, 12 1/2 pounds and a total joy. It has been a blessing to experience a newborn w/o oxygen, medications, therapies, hospital stay, etc..
Best of luck to anyone attempting a PAP. The odds are in your favor!
Rachel
sanjuandrive@frontier.net