By Courtney, Ohio United StatesOn a Sunday night in early March, I was sitting at my computer, minutes after having had an orgasm. I had to pee, and was about to get up to go, when I felt the gush. It felt like I peed my pants, but I knew I didn't, because I still had to go. I remembered reading something on a pregnancy week-by-week website about this pee-your-pants sensation. It had said that it could be a sign of ruptured membranes, which was very rare this early in pregnancy, but very serious. This is my first pregnancy, so at that point, I didn't know that "ruptured membranes" was the same thing as "broken water." It was late, and I thought that maybe the fluid was a result of the orgasm. I decided to go to bed and call my doctor first thing in the morning.
PROM at 15 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 29 weeks.
Story added: 2008-06-17
I called as soon as the office opened, and had to leave a message with the receptionist because I was told it was busy. At 3:00, I still hadn't heard from anyone, so I called again. The woman told me that the gush was probably related to the intercourse, but if I was concerned to go to the emergency room. I was supposed to be at work at 5:00, but I couldn't imagine taking any chances with my baby's health. I called my workplace and explained what happened (minus the orgasm part!) and said that I was going to the emergency room and would be late for work.
My fiance and I went to the emergency room at the hospital closest to our hometown. I knew they didn't have a maternity ward there, but I assumed they'd still be able to help, and the next closest hospital was nearly an hour away. When I registered, the receptionist actually laughed at me, asking "why would you come here?" I said I was concerned about my baby and came to the closest hospital! When I was finally seen, the first thing they did was listen for the baby's heartbeat with the doppler. Boy was it a relief to hear that! Next, I had a catheter inserted to fill my bladder for an ultrasound. The u/s tech did not seem concerned as she was taking pictures of the baby. At this point, I still think everything is hunky- dory.
Around 9:00, my fiance had to leave to get ready for work, so my dad came to the ER to sit with me and then take me home. That's when a doctor came, and the first thing he said to me was "Well, I don't have any good news for you." He explained that he spoke to the doctor on-call at my OB's office and that, from the way he described it to her, she thought that my membranes ruptured (I still don't know what this means). He said that if this were the case, it would be bad news for my baby because it was not yet viable and I would go into labor and the baby would die. He advised me to go home and take it easy, and unless I had any bleeding or cramping, to go to my doctor's first thing in the morning.
I made it through the night just fine, and my fiance called off work so he could drive me to see my doctor. We got there right when the office opened and I was seen immediately for an ultrasound. This tech did tell me that there was very little fluid around the baby. My doctor did a pelvic exam and saw no fluid coming out. He explained that the rupture could have healed, or there could simply be nothing left to leak out. He gave me 3 options after he explained the situation to me. The first one was to go home and take it easy and hope everything returned to normal. The second was to be admitted to the hospital for 48 hours for monitoring and to be given fluid through an IV while on bed rest to try and replenish the fluid. The last was to set up an appointment with a maternal-fetal medicine doctor to terminate the pregnancy. Although I was never advised to terminate, the option was certainly mentioned a lot.
DF and I decided to have me admitted. An ultrasound after 2 days showed no increase in fluid, but I was sent home and told to stay in bed, only getting up to use the potty chair in my room. At 18 weeks, we saw a high-risk specialist in Columbus at an Ohio State University clinic. At this appointment I was told my AFI was around 2 or 3, which is where it stayed pretty much the whole pregnancy. We also found out we were having a boy. The doctor went over the huge list of risks and gave us a poor prognosis, but told us there was a chance. I told her that we were going to take that chance, and she told us that she believed we were wise not to give up!
The plan from there was to have a follow-up appointment at 22 weeks and then be admitted at 24 weeks-the point of viability-as a precaution because "a pregnancy like mine can turn on a dime." I actually had to reschedule my 22-week appointment because I had a poison ivy rash all over my belly (my fiance decided to lay down with me after clearing brush in the yard). At 23 weeks, two days before my appointment, I began to spot- -something that hadn't happened at all up until this point. I was originally told that I wouldn't be admitted to the hospital without having a follow- up appointment, but they made an exception, and I was admitted to OSU hospital on May 1st.
Being at the hospital was hard, because I was 3 hours from home and didn't have visitors often as a result. Most of my nurses were great, and very knowledgeable, as I was on a high-risk ward. Some of them were very pessimistic though and one actually said on the phone to another nurse that [mine] "wasn't even a viable pregnancy." The doctors also tended to give me all of the worst- case scenarios and none of the best.
At 28 weeks, I began to have bloody fluid again (I continually leaked large amounts of fluid once I got to about 24 weeks). I was given an IV as a precaution but was still 0cm dilated and the placenta looked in tact on the ultrasound. Not long after the fluid returned from pink/brown back to clear, I began having pink/red fluid again. At 28 weeks 5 days, I got up to go to the bathroom and a huge gush of something went into the toilet. I looked down to see deep-red water. I told my fiance (who just so happened to be visiting) that I thought I was having an abruption and to call the nurse and tell her I was bleeding a lot.
The nurse came and put me on the monitor and I heard my son's heartbeat going strong, which was relieving. An OB came to check me and saw that although I was still dilated, I was still gushing a good amount of blood. I was transferred to labor & delivery where a scan was done to check my placenta. The diagnosis was partial placental abruption and the recommendation was to be induced.
I was told that I could try for a vaginal birth as long as Eli did not become distressed and as long as my body would react to the pitocin. There was some concern that I wouldn't be able to be induced since I was only 29 weeks. I was given drugs to soften my cervix as I was only 50% effaced.
About 16 hours later, I was started on pitocin. At one point, the doctor actually broke my water. Although I was already ruptured, the tear was apparently high up in the sac, so she broke it at the bottom to try and speed things up. When she did, there was fluid that came out! Considering that my last ultrasound showed "no measurable pockets" of fluid, this gave me hope that he had enough fluid to help his lungs and it just didn't show up on the ultrasound. I also was given an amnioinfusion right before he was delivered, because the contractions were starting to cut off the flow of his umbilical cord. Nearly 11 hours after starting pitocin, it was time to push. Eli Richard was born at 12:53 a.m. on June 11, 2008. He weighed 2 lb. 12 oz. and was 15 inches long. He gave us a little cry when he was born, which meant the world to my fiance and I as one doctor told us that he would either come out crying, or come out gasping for breath and not make it.
He is now almost a week old and doing well in the NICU. His lungs developed past the point of a 15.5-weeker, but not as far as a 29-weeker. Our son is truly a miracle--they do happen! I hope our story inspires other who are in the position I was once in. Don't give up hope because the best thing you can do, and almost the only thing you can do, is remain optimistic and have faith. And to anyone who may be thinking of terminating: Remember that you might terminate your pregnancy and regret it for the rest of your life, wondering "What if?" but I can guarantee that whether the outcome is good or bad, you will never regret NOT giving up on your baby!
God Bless!
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