By Amanda Hayward-Draper, Manitoba Canada
PROM at 28 weeksDelivery at 33 weeks.
Story added: 2008-06-29

Hello, I am new to this site and wanted to introduce myself and share my son's story.

We found out we were expecting our second child in August of 2004. Things started out ok, but then at 12 weeks I had major bleeding and thought I was having a miscarriage. Things were not looking very good that first night but I got in for an u/s the next day and the baby seemed to be doing ok. I had a subchorionic hemotoma causing the bleeding.

Things would go alright for a few days and then there would be major bleeding again, only to settle down after a day or so. This continued from 12 weeks until about 26 weeks. We were so happy when it finally stopped, and I was told I no longer needed to be on bedrest. Nothing showed on the placenta on the u/s and the baby was doing great!

But only 2 weeks later, on January 3/05, at 28 weeks my water broke. I went to the ER at the small hospital where I live and told them what I suspected (it was a small leak, not a gush) and was told that I likely was dealing with incontinence and to go home. We weren't comfortable with that and 2 hours later decided to drive to the larger centre where they do deliveries about an hour away. I was immediately diagnosed as pProm and put on an ambulance to go to the NICU another 2 hours away from home.

I was in hospital for the first 3 days with no contractions, so once I had the steriod shot I was told I could leave (not to return home of course but I could leave the hospital and stay in the city). I was in and out for the next five weeks with some returning bleeding. However I had a high hind leak and fluid levels were always very promising.

At 31 weeks I had an amnio done with a sterile speculum, but the surfactant levels were only around 33, so the doctors wanted to wait two more weeks and repeat the test, then hopefully deliver at 33 weeks because they were concerned about the bleeding. I was to be having the test repeated on Feburary 8th.

About 2am Feb 8th, I got up through the night with a very large bleed and we went to hospital. I was having contractions without feeling them and baby's heartbeat was dropping down into the 50s with each contraction. It was decided I would have a section right away. But the NICU was full, as was the other hospital's NICU in Winnipeg (the only two in the city)... the center where I would normally have delivered wasn't equipped incase there were issues... Regina (600 km away) was also full, they were preping me to go by air ambulance to Saskatoon (800 km) when a spot opened in the hospital I was at. This was about 3:30am.

Callum Douglas Edward Draper was born at 4 am in Winnipeg Manitoba at 33 weeks exactly, weighing 3 lbs 11 oz. He did not cry and needed to be ventilated. His lungs were stiff - even though I had very high fluid levels after being pProm - and they ended up bursting and he needed chest tubes. It took a long time for them to get his breathing stabalized on the vent.

On the second day after his birth, the doctors told us he had suffered too much brain damage from lack of oxygen, either from the partial placental abruption before birth, or during the time when he was being ventilated after birth. We were told we would have to remove life support.

Callum was 40 hours old when he died in my arms. He is missed and loved so very much... we think of him every single day. In his short time, he changed our lives forever, we only wish he could have stayed.