By Kristen, Pace, FL Usa
PROM at 24 weeksDelivery at 28 weeks + 2 days.
Story added: 2008-11-18

At 24 weeks 2 days pregnant I went to the hospital for bleeding. I was sent home diagnosed with an inflamed cervix. This was not the first time bleeding had occured. Infact, my first trimester was pretty eventful. I had already been to the emergency room twice and had a colposcopy done.

At 24 weeks 5 days I headed back to the hospital for what I thought were cramps. This time they did an ultrasound and found out the baby had no amniotic fluid. I was immediatly rushed to the local hospital because they had a level 3 NICU in case the baby came that night. When I arrived at the hospital they treated me like they were delivering the baby that night. They put me in a labor and delivery room and ran a bunch of tests. I was not allowed to eat or get up to do anything. They gave medicine to stop labor. Thankfully the contractions stopped and they told me the plan.

I would remain at the hospital on complete bed rest until the baby came. I would also be given 2 rounds of steroids to mature her lungs (which made all the difference in the world when she was born). If everything went well they would induce me at 34 weeks. But there were a number of things that could cause me to go into labor or need an emergency c-section. Since there was no amniotic fluid to protect her in the womb, infection would be a big problem. She could also lay against her cord and cut off oxygen since the cord could not float freely in the fluid. At 25 weeks the average amount of days for someone to hold off labor is 10 days. We managed to last four weeks on bed rest.

I started contracting on August 15th. I was given two injections to stop the contractions and had bloodwork done. It was negative for infection. On the 16th I counted contractions every 7-10 minutes all day long. A doctor examined me and said I was 2cm dialated but I was not in active labor.

On the morning of the 17th I had bloodwork done again and it was postive for infection. Since I was 28 weeks along they decided to let me have her. I was taken to a labor and delivery room. I was then started on pitocin to induce labor.

After only 3 pushes out came a lb 14oz gurgling little girl. My husband cut the umbillical cord and she was immediatly given to the NICU staff. About 5 seconds later she was crying. They said she was doing fine and breathing on her own. Her apgars were 7 and 8. I got to see her through an incubator and she was taken to the NICU.

I was discharged 2 days later feeling happy and sad at the same time. The hospital was kind of like my home for 4 weeks and I had to be away from my little girl. However, I was ready to go home and get back to normal. I recovered from giving birth quickly which shouldn't be too surprising (she was only about 2lbs). The only thing that was painful was where my epidural was and that only lasted about 2 days.

Kylee spent a total of 67 days in the NICU. She was on CPAP for 2 days and only used a nasal canula once or twice from then on. We battled NEC (an intestinal infection), anemia, MRSA, and bottle feeding problems. Like every preemie she definatly had her good days and bad days. As I look back on it now I feel blessed. She never had to be put on a ventilator and all of her illnesses were minor. She never had to have any surgeries and was always one step ahead in her development.

She is now home and thriving. If you want to follow her progress or see pictures of when she was first born visit http://babyfoushee.blogspot.com.
Also feel free to contact me if you have ANY questions.