By Jenny, Charlotte, NC USAMonday, October 1st I was 18wks and 1 day pregnant with my twins, I had had a completely normal and uneventful pregnancy. That day we went to the Perinatologist for our ultrasound and to find out what we were having. We found out we were having twin boys, we already had a 18 month old little boy but we were thrilled to have two more.
PROM at 18 weeks + 2 days. Delivery at 27 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2008-03-23
Tuesday October 2nd I woke up and was having a normal morning. I actually said to my husband “I feel so content right now” about half an hour later I was getting my son off the changing table and I started having intense pain that wouldn’t ease up. I sat on the couch and my husband asked me if I was alright. The pain never wained but it did start to have moments where it was more intense. I had a planned c- section with Parker so I had never experienced labor pains. We dropped Parker at daycare and headed to the hospital. The Dr told us I was having contractions but not labor that my uterus was just irritable from growing. They gave me a shot of terbutaline (a medicine that stops contractions) along with a prescription for it and told us they would keep a close eye on the pregnancy from there on out but that they wouldn’t do anything to stop active labor until I hit 24weeks and that they wouldn’t help the babies until 24 weeks as well.
I went home and layed on the couch and I felt a huge gush of fluid, I screamed for my husband and he came running, I told him my water had broken as I stood there with fluid running out of me. I kept saying “we are going to lose the babies” because at that point I thought that if your water broke you had to deliver right away. All he could say was “Oh my God”. We went to the Dr’s office this time b/c my Dr had gone from the hospital to the office and she did a strip test for amniotic fluid and it came back negative, we then had an ultrasound and Baby A had a conservative 7 for fluid. They called the Perinatologist’s office we had been to the day before and they said that the day before it had been more than 7 and we made an appt to see the Peri that Thursday.
That night I spent a good amount of time on the internet researching what I found to be called PPROM meaning Preterm Premature Rupture Of Membranes. I read a ton of stories on http://www.kanalen.org/prom/index.php and they filled me with a mixture of dread, horror and hope. I also got some great support from the women on http://boards.babycenter.com/n/pfx/foru m.aspx?webtag=bcus1202046 Needless to say I was starved for information and I got inspiration from both places. I lost more fluid that night so we went back to my OB on Wednesday and Baby A had a 3.4 for fluid. The Dr (not mine but one in the practice) told us that Baby A wouldn’t make it and that if I didn’t get an infection or go into labor (which I surely would) that Baby A would die and calcify in my body and that I would then absorb him. He also said there was a slight chance that the leak would seal itself off but that it needed to happen soon, keep in mind he only said this when I said “isn’t there a chance that the leak with heal itself?” Brian looked terrified when we left the office and I had to tell him all about what I had read online and how I didn’t care what the Dr’s said that we were going to make it and everything was going to be ok. From then on that is what both of us kept in our minds no matter what we heard from the “authorities” on the situation. I kept thinking, these babies haven’t given up why would we give up on them!? I just felt that if I didn’t keep thinking positive then I wasn’t giving them the support they needed to get thru what could be the most precarious situation they could have possibly have been in.
Thursday we went to the Perinatologist and there was no fluid around Baby A, he did have fluid around the cord but they don’t count that. She asked if we wanted to terminate (something we would hear a couple more times) and we said absolutely not. I had read online about women who had successfully made it thru this ordeal and had healthy babies. She then said “well, maybe the women who didn’t have success aren’t posting their stories” I had to explain that there were plenty of those stories out there too but that it wasn’t as hopeless a situation as I had been lead to believe. (This was the type of conversation I would have with Dr’s for the remainder of my pregnancy, me saying that we would make it and the babies would be ok and Dr’s telling me we didn’t stand a chance or very little of one) We were told that if we made it to 24 weeks I would go on bedrest, we would get steroid shots for the babies lungs and that the babies would have a 50/50 shot at life and a pretty good shot at Baby A having Pulmanary Hypertension in short, meaning that his lungs wouldn’t function. She then suggested I go into the hospital that day for monitoring b/c she felt labor was immenent. I said I was just going to go home and she advised against it. I was admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. After an uneventful stay I asked for an ultrasound before we were discharged and there was a tiny bit of fluid in Baby A’s sack, we were thrilled!
I was sent home and told to continue with life as normal. I stayed home from work for a week and stayed off my feet. I drank about two gallons of Crystal Light Lemonade a day for the remainer of my pregnancy and every time we had an ultra sound both boys had full bladders, which was my goal. I drank as much as I could stand b/c I knew that if I had a leak then if I could keep them urinating then they would be making amniotic fluid and hopefully some would make it to Baby A’s lungs. I did return to work part time. I still picked up my 2 year old a little but I just took it easy in general.
I continued to have weekly appointments at my Dr’s office along with ultrasounds where both babies continued to grow and have strong heartbeats, as a matter of fact Baby A always measured ahead of his brother and ahead of his gestational age but there was never ANY fluid in Baby A’s sack except around his cord. We also had many trips to the hospital for random episodes of bleeding, each time thinking “but we are only (insert amount of days) from being 24 weeks this can’t be it. Fortunately it wasn’t.
Sunday November 11th I hit 24 weeks and I was admitted to the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy.
The babies were monitored twice a day and always had strong heartbeats, I was asymptomatic for most of my stay. When I did show symptoms I was treated to stop my discomfort. Friday November 30th I was 26wks 6days I started having Severe cramping (not like contractions) for about two hours that would’t let up then it was gone
Saturday- Two losses of Serious amounts of blood. Speculum exam that was excrutiating, no dialation.
Sunday AM-Contractions that started out as irritablility then went to every 3 minutes. Trip to Labor and Delivery for observation and more monitoring, Terbutaline to stop the contractions and back upstairs.
Sunday PM- Contractions that started as irritablitly and then went to every 3 minutes. Spent the night in labor and delivery for more monitoring. Terbutaline to stop contractions back upstairs to my room.
Monday- Contracted in my room all day by that night I was out of my mind b/c I hadn’t slept at this point since Friday night b/c my contractions would wake me up all night like at least one every 30 minutes. After a speculum exam (no dilation) and a fight with my nurse she gave me morphine to sleep, I contracted thru the morphine and woke up about every 15-30 minutes all night again.
Tuesday-Contracted all day no meds helped, they were irregular so they didn’t do anything. Morphine allowed me to sleep I think four hours that night.
Wednesday-Woke up at 3:45AM with contractions, tried terbutaline, didn’t help, took a shower (I hadn’t showered since Sat AM b/c I had been in so much constant pain and discomfort) About 8:30 AM they sent me back down to labor and delivery. We didn’t think I was in labor (me or the Dr). Speculum exam, no dilation. Terbutaline, no change in contractions. About 12 PM I called Brian and said “You need to come b/c something just changed with that last contraction) By the time he got there I was crying and begging God to help me. As the day goes on the contractions get worse and worse, they were one right on top of another I was begging for help, begging God to help me, I was grabbing Brian by the shirt and asking why he wouldn’t help me, I was out of my mind with exhaustion and pain. They decide to give me dopamine, no change in pain level. They decide the babies are coming that night or in the morning so they order an epi so I can stop being a freak and so they can get another round of steriods in me before I delivered. The anesthesist came and I told him how my last spinal didn’t work, he says, and I quote “Don’t you worry about that, it’s not going to happen this time, I will take care of you” So, I am in hard labor, and he does an epi, I keep saying that is shooting pain down my spine into my bottom and he keeps saying “is it pressure or pain” and I keep saying “PAIN” so he says OK and does another epi, no pain this time (well other than the second needle in my back!) They lay me down and say you should notice a change in the next 4-5 contractions. No Change!!!! They decide to give me a speculum exam (I begged him to do a digital) he said he had to do a speculum, did one and said “I can’t see, there is too much blood, I have to do a digital” I wanted to kill him! So he does a digital, I am 90% effaced and 2 cm dialated. We already knew I was to have a c-section so they wheeled me across the hall and guess what, they did a SPINAL! Thank GOD it worked! Do you understand I had 2 epi’s and a spinal in like 30 minutes?????
Birth: They start the surgery and they say “here comes the first one” I just start praying out loud “Lord, Please let them be ok” I just said it over and over. They get Abram out first (Baby A), he comes out crying and breathing on his own. His APGAR scores are a 7 and 8 (this is the child they told us would die in the womb or be born with no lungs) he weighs 2.6lbs, Brian and I cry! They take him into the hall and Brian goes out with him (He asked if he could and I said OF COURSE) He comes back in and here, comes Nathan crying! He is breathing on his own! His APGAR scores were 8 and 9 he weighed 2lbs.
I get a glimpse at Nathan on his way out, he is perfect. They had a hat on him and I said “what color is his hair?” They said it was dark like mine. They had to make “multiple incissions in my uterus b/c Nathan was stuck” They look at the placentas and Abram’s had a blood clot (which may explain the water breaking) and by the clot the corner of the placenta had torn from the uterus which does explain all my unexplained bleeding. The reason they couldn’t figure out what was up with my contractions was b/c they were just irritability caused by the blood leaking from the placenta, filling up my uterus and then my uterus contracting to get rid of the blood.
Recovery: They took us to the recovery room and after a while the neonatologist came in and said “Abram is not looking good. He was at 90% oxygen saturation on his own but we have had to put him on a ventilator and he is on 100% oxygen to keep his saturation level where it needs to be. (you and I breathe 21% oxygen to keep our saturation levels where they need to be so he was 79% behind where he needed to be) He has pulminary hypertension which means his blood vessels in his lungs have tightened up and won’t allow his lungs to open, we have started him on Nitrous to help releave those blood vessles but we have him on a high level ( I think it was like 50% or something crazy). He then said the fact is he has done it on his own before we are just hoping he can do it again, we know he has the ability” He left the room and Brian looked crushed, we both were but I said “Honey, we knew this was going to happen, it is going to be a roller coaster ride for the next few months, he did breathe on his own and he will do it again!” about 20 minutes later I see the Dr walking down the hall, I said “Oh, No” out loud and right as I did he gave me a thumbs up. He came in and said “Abram is responding great to the drugs we have him back on (I think it was 34% oxygen) and we have turned the nitrous way down. We cried!
Abram came home on January 26th with no monitors and no problems. Nathan came home on January 31st on no monitors and with no problems. Both boys are amazing and perfect! Nathan did have PDA surgery and hernia surgery but other than that they are completely perfect! The are now 3 and a half months old and Abram weighs almost 8 and a half lbs and Nathan is 7lbs!
We are so blessed and I truly believe that we were lucky but there is hope, don’t ever give up hope, your babies need you to believe in them. Good Luck and if you need to talk you can email me at jennyc@carolina.rr.com May God Bless you and your babies!