By Lorna, Ireland
PROM at 20 weeksDelivery at 31 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2008-06-15

this pregnancy was my second. my first baby was stillborn at 28 weeks. naturally we were devastated. we decided that we would try for another baby within weeks after having our little girl. all was fine until 20 weeks when all of a sudden i was soaked, i rang the hospital and they told me to come in. we were given a scan and were told my waters hadn't broken and sent us home no other reason was given. for two more days i was soaked when i got up, if i moved anything i did i was soaked in water. i was losing my mind. we went back to the hospital again and they repeated the scan and it showed that i had hardly any water around my baby. we were admitted straight away and i was put on antibiotics. at 22 weeks my doctor came to see me and told me not to be positive as my baby was going to die and there is nothing i can do about it. all my hopes and positive thinking crushed in seconds. we were sent home later that week and to come back at 24 weeks and if the baby was still ok we would be sent to a hospital that had a nicu. 24 wks came and happiness which again was short lived we were sent home after getting the steroid injections and told to come back at 28wks. we were shocked we didn't say anything we just left. the next evening i started getting back pain so we went back to the hospital where we came across an excellent midwife who spoke to a different Dr and she said that i should be sent to another hospital asap as she believed i was in labour. she knew i wasn't but she also knew i wasn't getting the treatment and support that i needed. so i ended up in holles street hospital, Dublin where i received the best care anyone could want. my baby's heartbeat was checked numerous times a day, i was given plenty of scans and i could speak to someone when i was worried that something was wrong. my baby exceeded their expectations and was born at 31 wks. i went into labour but had to have a section as my baby was breech. our wonderful son weighed 3lbs 10.5ozs. he spent 5 weeks in both hospitals and he was 5lbs 5ozs when he came home. he has just turned 3 and is the most active child ever. he goes to playschool 3 days a week and so far so good. he is checked out by the most wonderful children's doctor every six months or so. the apps are getting more spaced out and he goes to speech and language but other than that he is like any other 3 year old. so what i want to say to anyone in this situation is don't give up you can cope with whatever comes your way