By Liz McCarthy, San Francisco, CA USAHello everyone.
PROM at 16 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 26 weeks + 6 days.
Story added: 2008-07-17
My water broke at 16w6d weeks on my twin a from an amnio. I started leaking fluid that night and it totally broke the next morning. I never regained fluid. I was told to abort my pregnancy, as I would never make it.
I didn't listen to the doctors and decided to let nature take it's course. I was on STRICT bedrest for 10 weeks until I did get an infection and went into labor at 26 weeks. I leaked amniotic fluid the entire time and never went past a 1 level of AFI. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks (starting at 25 weeks when contractions started) on all sorts of horrible anti-labor drugs (mag, ter, etc). once my temperature started spiking, they took the babies via c- section. I of course was given steroid doses for my babies lungs while in the hospital. The prognosis still wasn't good. Critical lung development time is from weeks 18-22 and my water broke at 17 weeks. It's critical to have amniotic fluid to help the lungs develop.
AFter delivery I was very sick and almost died from becoming septic. I pumped breast milk like a banshee. My c-section incision also became infected and needed to be packed for 2 months.
My first born daughter, Corinne, my prom princess who grew just perfectely without fluid inside of me and in fact was a tiny bit bigger than her sister, was born weighin 1 lb 11 ounces. My 2nd born daughter, Kaitlyn, was born weighing 1 lb 10 ounces.
The doctors called my daughters more like 24 weekers as they weighed as much as a typical 24 weeker. They were very, very sick.
Neither cried. This was no joyous delivery. This was a nightmare. I was wheeled into recovery while the doctors worked on my daughters to save their lives. A few hours later the NICU doc came to tell us that our first born and prom princess wasn't saturating oxygen and wasn't going to make it. I was wheeled in and they disconnected her from the wires and vents and handed her to me while I lay on the gurney. She held on to my finger and passed a way an hour later. This was the hardest thing I could have ever imagined.
My 2nd born, Katilyn, was very, very sick. She needed heart surgery, was on a vent for over a month, I coudln't do anything more than barely touch her as she was too weak and her skin was too fragile.
She ended up staying in the NICU for 4 months, she's now 2 years old and is doing remarkably well for how sick she was but she still has a lot of issues. I won't sugar coat things. having a micro-preemie (weighin unger 2 pounds) doesn't stop once you leave the NICU. Our first year of life required 240 doctor visits. ---in 1 year.
She now has a feeding tube, has a paralyzed vocal chord (from her heart surgery) wears glasses (from her eye surgery), but is really doing remarkably well.
The picture in my avatar is from my surviving daughter a few days after she was born. She is wearing my husbands wedding ring on her foot. It was the first time I was able to see her as I was too sick after delivery and was being packed in ice to reduce my fever from sepsis (blood infection caused from the ruptured membrane).
I've chronicled my story from when I went on bed rest (after my water broke). I have pictures and my entire last 2 years on my blog for those on bedrest who are looking for something to read.
my story: www.aLizard.com
I'm a very different person now than when I was first on these boards with my first IVF. My life changed forever when my water broke from that amnio on 7.26.05. I've since started a support group for mothers of micro preemies and we have almost 200 members. I've started local preemies support group and am an avid supporter of March of Dimes in their role of prevention of premature birth.