By Brooke, Queensland Australia
PROM at 15 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 34 weeks + 4 days.
Story added: 2007-10-31

I really don't know where to start my story. My husband and I got married in November 2006 and then set off overseas 4 days later on the last of our travels for awhile. Honeymooned in the U.S then off to the U.K to work until May. In February, we decided we had had enough and changed our flights to come home early. I had stopped taking the pill on the 6th of March. We were hoping to have a baby but didn’t mind if it took a little while. It only took me 9 days, if my original due date was correct. I had to do 3 pregnancy tests before getting a positive one back but I just knew that I was. The 2 negative ones just made my heart sink, even though we weren’t in any rush. I found out the good news at 5 weeks and 6 days, and confirmed with the doctor the next day.

At 6 weeks/2days I ended up in the emergency ward at 2am with bleeding. Because it was so early, the only way to pick up a heart beat was by ultrasound, which couldn’t be done till 12:30pm. So I was sent home. Ultrasound came back fine. Went to Brisbane for my brother’s engagement party and broke the news to the family.

At 7 weeks/3days I had more bleeding but stayed away from the hospital this time. I then left the Gold Cost to spend the winter season working in Perisher. I had more bleeding from 11 weeks/6days - 12 weeks/2 days. Visited the doctor to get a referral for my 18 week scan at 15 weeks/2 days. All appeared to be fine,

At 15 weeks/4days, my day started out like any other. I woke up at 8am, ate breakfast, grabbed a cup of tea and walked to the office. My winter job involved living in the hotel I worked, so I was 30m from my room to work. At about 4pm, I thought maybe I had bled again and went out to the toilet. There was no blood, just looked like I had wet myself. I cleaned up and went back to work. Before finishing work at 6pm, I made 2 more trips to the toilet. I wasn’t really sure what was wrong but as I had never heard of someone’s waters breaking so early, I didn’t even suspect it. I thought I had a weak bladder.

I mentioned it to my husband when I got up to our room and we decided to keep an eye on it. It happened twice more before he started work at 9pm. I went to bed around 10:30pm and woke up drenched at 11pm. Still no idea but thought nothing of it. Jayson got back around 2am and I told him how it was still happening. He decided we should call the hospital, even if we just ask a few questions. Because it was the middle of the night, the ski tube wasn’t running so we couldn’t get to our car and it would take at least an hour for an ambulance to get to us, and a further hour and a half to the hospital. The nurse said I either had a weak bladder or I was miscarrying. That there was no reason to come straight in because there is nothing I could do about it. I should just see how it is in the morning and visit a doctor.

I started getting real worried. Couldn’t really sleep much. Had to wait till at least 7am to leave and take our car. Decided we weren’t going to see a doctor, went straight to the hospital. I think we got there around 9-9:30am. Didn’t get seen by a doctor till 11:30. They booked me in for an ultrasound at 12:30. I knew that was when they went to lunch because I called them the day before to book my 18 week scan. We were assured they were going to see me, even when it was 1pm and they hadn’t come to get me. They were running late but eventually saw me. My fluid level was down below 2 but I still had a heartbeat. My due date showed up as Christmas day, rather than the 21st. I was also given an internal scan to make sure my cervix was closed.

I then went back to emergency to wait and see the doc again. They wanted me to see the FMU in Canberra and had to arrange an appointment. I wasn’t able to get in until 2pm the next day so they decided it would be best for me to stay overnight. Between my scan and 3pm, I lost the remainder of my fluid.

They were so nice to me up in the ward. My husband went back up to Perisher to get me some spare clothes, computer to watch movies etc. They even let him stay with me for the night. The lounge chair next to my bed turned into a single sofa bed. My only issue that night was sharing a room with a mum and her 9 week old son who had bronchial problems. All I needed when I had been told I would lose my baby was sharing a room with one.
The next day I had packed all my stuff and got ready to go to Canberra. I was transported by ambulance and Jayson followed in the car. I felt like a real idiot getting wheeled in on a trolley while all the mums waiting to have scans and see their doctors just looked at me. At 15 weeks, I didn’t even look pregnant. I had another scan that showed no fluid around the baby. The head professor told me that I had to prepare myself to lose my baby. He said, ‘You will lose your baby. But don’t worry, you are young. You can try again.’ We kept asking him what outcomes we had if I didn’t miscarry. He just said, in the 1 in 20 chance you have of not miscarrying, you might make it to 18 weeks but not have enough fluid for the lungs to develop. Then if you do make it to term, the baby won’t be able to breath.

We left his room with me barely being able to stand up. Went back out to the waiting room and again I was stared at by all the other women. Here I was crying my heart out. The ambulance driver and nurse came up to me and I told them I was not going back to the hospital in the ambulance. That if I didn’t have a chance anyway, I was going to drive back in our own car. We got back to Cooma hospital and found they had wanted me to see the doc again. I was moved into a single room. The doc was too busy so they asked me to stay overnight and he could see me in the morning. A nurse even ‘borrowed’ a tv from an old lady so we could watch the state of origin decider. Her daughter came in to get it back in the morning, not very happy. We explained that we had thought it belonged to the hospital, not her mother.

I was given antibiotics to prevent any infection. I was told I could leave but I would just be turning around and coming back again within the week. I wanted to get out of the hospital though. I needed to be somewhere else. I was ordered to bedrest, only to get up for the toilet and a shower every 2nd day, which I had to have while sitting on a stool. I had my original 18 week scan date moved to the day I was actually 18 weeks, the day after my 23rd birthday. So I went home and stayed in bed for another 2 weeks. Spent Jayson’s 30th and my 23rd birthdays in bed, except for a short walk down to the staff room for our chocolate cakes.

On the Thursday, I didn’t know what to expect. I had been warned that if the fluid hadn’t built up, I would be best off terminating the pregnancy. I had decided however that if my baby had pulled through, that was not my decision to make. When we got to the hospital, the lady doing my ultrasound was the original lady who gave me the bad news. She had told me on the day that she had seen people pull through this. She was the only person able to give me hope. She asked if she was the bearer of good or bad news. We told her that she was and she admitted that was the part of her job she hated. Asked us what we wanted to know before she got started. I told her fluid and a heart beat. It took her less than 15 seconds to tell us it was ok. My fluid had built back up to almost 14. Then I asked her the sex. She joked about last bets before she looked for us and told us it was a girl. We just had this feeling it was because the name we picked out years before was Brianna. While on bedrest with nothing better to do, I looked up the meaning. Brianna means ‘the strong one’. I have also found out since her birth that girls seem to pull through a lot better than boys do.

With this news, we headed back to Perisher. I had planned on returning to work. All I did was sit at a desk and answer phones. My boss didn’t feel the same. She didn’t want the responsibility or guilt if something happened at work (again). So we packed up and came back to the Gold Coast via Sydney to visit friends. I let Gold Coast Hospital know I had come home early so I could move my October appointment forward to august. My GP decided I needed to be under hospital care, not shared care anymore. I went to my first appointment and sat around for 3 ½ hours before seeing the midwife and the doctor. Was booked in for a scan and another appointment in a month. Before this next appointment, we had moved back in with family in Brisbane to save money. I went to my scan and appointment and asked to be transferred to Brisbane as I had moved. The doctor said they were running late but she would have the paperwork sent to the hospital within 2 days. After 2 weeks of chasing I was transferred.

I called Brisbane hospital to make sure they had received the paperwork and they booked me in for that afternoon. I went in, got checked out, had my diabetes test and a blood test to check for infection. Was also booked in for a scan, which they did that day. I came home happy, but also a little freaked out because they actually worried about my condition. I was 28 weeks by this stage and my blood had never been tested for infection. I was to see the doctor every week, with weekly blood tests and fortnightly scans.

At 31 weeks/6days the doctor decided I was doing really well and that I only had to come in every 2 weeks and no more blood tests were needed. At 33 weeks, I started to lose larger amounts of fluid and the baby’s movements had decreased. Went to the hospital and they said I lost about 2mL of fluid and the baby was moving again so I went home. Had my baby shower 2 days later and I was still losing fluid. At 33 weeks/5days I was back at the hospital again. This time they did a scan and said my baby was small and they would speak to the doc. I had to come the next day for an appointment anyway. On the Wednesday we went in for the antenatal class then to the clinic for the appointment. The said that Brianna had stopped growing and my fluid was down to 5. It was time to get her out. As my c-section was ‘elective’, I had to wait until Monday morning, 5 days later. I was given a steroid injection that afternoon and 24 hours later. I was also monitored for 20 minutes on the Thursday. Got home from the hospital and 1 hour later we were driving back because I had started bleeding. More monitoring and sent home. Back on the Saturday for more monitoring.

I was told that Brianna would be 1700g or 3lb 14oz from the last scan. That at this weight she would go into intensive care until various times. Some said until 2500g, others said her due date. I was given a tour of intensive care, shown a baby that weighed 1700g and was given explanations of all the machines, wires and tubes.

Brianna Jayde was born at 10:28am on the 13th of November 2006. She weighed 2110g, 4lb 10 ozs and came out screaming. She only had to go into special care. 24 hours in a humidity crib with only 12 hours of oxygen. A drip for 24 hours of antibiotics for infection. Feeding tube for 2 weeks for feeds while I wasn’t there. She came home at 2 weeks old (36 weeks/4days corrected), weighing 2190g.

If anyone reads my story and needs any questions answered, please email me. I am more than happy to help you through your tough times.