By Paula Whittaker, England
PROM at 18 weeks + 3 days. Delivery at 29 weeks + 1 days.
Story added: 2008-06-13

We were so happy to find out we were going to have a baby after 7months of trying and fertility treatment, especially as my first pregnancy (also conceived after treatment) had ended in miscarriage at 8 weeks. However it wasn't easy from the start, and I had several small bleeds, which thankfully hadn't harmed the baby.
Thing were just starting to settle down when at around 17 weeks I started to get a watery discharge. I was very worried about this but the 3 midwives I spoke to said it was normal,so I tried to put it to the back of my mind.
Then a week later I got up in the night to go to the bathroom when my waters broke with a gush. We were told at the hospital that all the fluid was gone, and given the devastating fact that the baby probably wouldn't survive, as I would go into labour or get an infection. We were offered a termination, but as the baby was so healthy and lively on the scans despite the lack of fluid,we felt we couldn't do this-we had to give the baby a chance.
I was discharged home until I reached 26 weeks,at which point I was admitted to hospital for steroids. I spent 11 weeks on bed rest,only getting up to go to the bathroom & shower. I stayed free from infection, and our baby continued to grow and fight back- literally! He would move all the time and kick hell out of the Dr's who scanned him or tried to listen to his heartbeat! He had avery determined little spirit from the start! But my fluid levels were only ever between 0 - 2.5cm's, despite all the bedrest & fluids- I continued to make lots of fluid but it leaked constantly.
When I reached 29 weeks, on Easter Sunday, i was in a lot of pain around my pubic bone. I had had this pain all week & the Dr's thought I was getting SPD, but as the pain was worse they decided to examine me. Nobody thought I was in labour,not even me, as it didn't feel that bad, but it turned out I was 5cm dilated and hte baby's bottom was there. I was taken to delivery suite and had progressed to 9cm in 1/2 hour,still with minimal pain and the contractions not registering on the monitors. However i stopped progressing and as baby's heartbeat kept dipping, I was taken for an emergency c-section.
At 03.45 on 24th March 2008, Easter Monday, baby Evan Thomas Whittaker was born weighing 2lb 9oz, at 29 weeks 1 day. He was absolutely beautiful, and continued to fight as hard as before. Evan had several ups and downs in NICU that day, and when he was only 2hours old we were advised to have him baptised. But he fought back and by that evening he was doing really well. We were so hopeful he would make it- he had come this far, surely we couldn't lose him now?
However at 22.15pm that night little Evan lost his brave fight. His little lungs were just too small& were putting too much pressure on his heart- his body couldn't take any more. As I sat and stroked his head and told him that I loved him and was so proud of him,his blood pressure plummeted and the NICU team started to rescusitate him. But he was already taking the maximum amount of meds possible and the CPR wasn't working. After 15 minutes we asked if they could do anymore. The Dr said no so we told them to stop-we couldn't bear to see them doing that to his small body for no reason, when it just wasn't working. They removed all his tubes and gave him to me to hold for the 1st time, then his heart stopped beating moments later and he fell asleep in his mummy's arms.
We are devastated by our beautiful boys' loss & miss him so much. We will never get over losing him,and we will never forget him. Reading the stories on this site helped me stay positive throughout my time on bedrest, & I hope sharing my story can help me, and others, somehow now. I wouldn't change any of the decisions we made and am glad we decided to give Evan the chance of life. His 18 1/2 hours on this earth were the best of my life and so worth it. I wish all those going through this terrible time now the best of luck and would urge you to keep positive-miracles do happen and I hope&pray they will for all of you x

Please light a candle for Evan at http://evan-thomas- whittaker.gonetoosoon.co.uk