By Sara Winstanley, Nottingham England
PROM at 14 weeks + 1 days. Delivery at 28 weeks + 2 days.
Story added: 2008-07-31

My story started on 10th December 2007 when I was just over 14 weeks pregnant. I was at work walking to the canteen when I felt a gush of fluid in my trousers. I thought it must be blood and dashed to the toilet. I could see that it was clear fluid that had soaked through my underwear. Not normally being an alarmist, I mopped up and went back to work, searching the internet for pregnancy discharges. There were a few things it could be which were not likely to be a problem but of course I also found that it could be loss of amniotic fluid, which I did not think for a minute it could be. During the afternoon there were another couple of gushes so I went home and phoned the midwife. The midwife told me to go to the hospital the following day which I did, when our worst fears were confirmed. I had a scan and there was no amniotic fluid around the baby, although it was confirmed that the cervical plug was still in place. The sonographer and doctor gave us the bad news and expected me to have a miscarriage. I was kept in for a night but then went home the following day still waiting to miscarry. . At that point the message from the doctor was that a) I would probably miscarry in the next few days, b) if they found any sign of infection I would probably have to have drugs to induce a miscarriage and c) in a very small amount of cases, with the right conditions the sack may mend but this was very unlikely. Their primary concern was if infection set in as the womb is now very vulnerable and I could end up losing the baby and my womb. So, all in all, not a great list of options. I had swabs for infection but nothing was found. The only conclusion as to how it could have happened was that the sac had a weak spot when it was formed.

It was just so frustrating as I was fine, the baby was fine, it was just this stupid sack and with no means of mending it. You just keep thinking surely there must be something – a plaster, glue or anything! The baby & placenta make the fluid and this gets replenished every 24 hours so all I need is the sack to keep the fluid in!

Over the next couple of days, I had blood spotting and my temperature rose so I was convinced this was the start of a miscarriage and returned back to hospital after a few days. I stayed in overnight and all vital signs returned to normal. I had another scan before coming out of the hospital which showed that the baby was still there with a strong heartbeat, still growing and there was a tiny pool of fluid around the baby’s head which the Sonographer could see the baby was ingesting…. So a little ray of light was ignited. I came out of hospital that day and my husband and I spent hours searching for information on the net, when we found the PROM site which gave us all the information about drinking lots, taking supplements, lying horizontal as much as possible etc.. and continued to follow this to the letter for the next 14 weeks. I stayed at home during this time as we only live a couple of minutes from the hospital. I took my temperature 4 times a day for any early signs of infection and each week I went to hospital to have a detailed scan to check on progress of the baby, have swabs for infection, blood tests and to get the usual "doom and gloom" story from the Consultant. Up until 21 weeks, the strongest recommendation from the Consultant was to terminate but we could not do that. We had tried for 2 years to have a baby, we were not going to give up so easily. The only thing the Consultant could ever find was Group B Strepp which I had antibiotics to keep the level down. I also have O Rh negative blood group so had to have Anti D on a regular basis. Throughout the next 14 weeks following my waters breaking, even though we could not see the baby, the Consultant was skilled at looking at detail and could see the kidneys working, a strong heartbeat and was able to measure the baby, which continued to grow, up until around 23 weeks where he had 2-3 weeks not really growing. During this time, I hardly ever had any fluid at all. Due to the lack of growth and keeping an eye on my cervix length, the Consultant put off giving me steroids until 27W when I had a couple of shots. These caused flushes on my face and body. In the early hours of Tuesday 18th March 2008 (couple of days after having the steriod shots), I had been having minor contractions which I could hardly feel but got out of bed to go to the toilet thinking I needed a bowel movement, then realised the baby was bearing down. We rushed to the hospital where Thomas Peter was born within half an hour at 28+2 weeks gestation. He weighed 1lb 7oz (660g) and measured 11 inches and let out a couple of cries so we knew his lungs were semi-developed.

The Paedetrician got him ready and took him straight to the NICU. We were certainly on a journey of grabbing hold of Tarzan ropes as I had just had my steroid shots on Friday and Saturday so we were right in the window of maximum effect, just finished Penicillin so GBS was under control and as I delivered so quickly, the NICU at the hospital had to take Thomas and there is only 20 cots and usually babies are getting turned away from here to other hospitals but Thomas gave them no choice! Thomas had a lot of ups and downs during the next 3 days, including his lung getting punctured by the ventilator and having to have a chest drain. The doctors told us he had Hypoplasia but he had a chance as his lungs were semi- developed. Apart from that, his legs were diagnosed with congenital knees (knee joints that bent the wrong way) which would have required work later on. He really fought through everything but his little body just could not fight any longer and he passed away on the morning of the 21st March... Good Friday!!! This certainly was not a good Friday. It is ironic as my hospital appointments were always on a Friday as well so I will hate Friday's forever more. . I remembered from this site not to let anyone rush me into leaving him that day and spent over 6 hours cuddling him, washing him, dressing him and just examining every little part of his body as this was the first time we had really been able to see him as his bonnet attached to the ventilator had been covering his little head and he had so many attachments, it had been difficult to see him. I just kept stroking him and massaging his little head. It was the most peaceful he had looked in 3 days. When I was examining him, the pain got worse as I realised he wasn't just a baby that belonged to the doctors in the NICU, he was our Son with many features from both my husband and myself. As painful as this is, at least we got to meet our little boy and spend some time with him. He will be forever with us in our hearts.