By Emily Lindley, Madison,WI USA
PROM at 14 weeks + 2 days. Delivery at 27 weeks.
Story added: 2008-11-25

I woke the morning of June 20th, 2008 and I was soaking wet! I've had two other full-term babies so I was well aware from the smell and the amount of the fluid that my membranes had ruptured. I was only 14 weeks along. I rushed to the ER only to have them tell me that I had wet the bed and to go home. They did several tests and not one came back positive for amniotic fluid. After sitting at home for an hour or so, I sat up and felt another gush of fluid. I was convinced that there was trouble. Only a few weeks earlier, my cervix had prolapsed (came out) but my doc said that it shouldn't affect my pregnancy. I called my ob/gyn and he saw me right away. He also did not get a positive result with a ferning test but sent me home for an ultrasound and bedrest. The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid was dangerously low. I had another ultrasound the following Monday that again proved no fluid around baby. I was put on bedrest for that week but the doctors were not giving me any hope for the life of our baby. My husband and I were devastated to say the least. We were advised to terminate -which of course we refused to do. We waited, and week after week, our baby girl's heart was beating strong and loud. To make a long story short, I was admitted to the hospital for bedrest on 8/27/08 at the day of viability (24 weeks)and began steroids and continuous monitoring. On September 17, 2008 our little girl, Anna Joy, was born at 7:52 pm via urgent c-section (she was compressing her cord) and weighed 1 pound 11 ozs. She squeaked a few times because her lungs had not developed. She was 27 weeks along. Our story is long. Now, 10 weeks later, Anna is doing so well and fighting hard in the NICU. To see more about her story go to our website. Thanks for listening and never ever give up on your baby! We've had so much support from family, friends, and our community. With the grace of God's love and healing powers, our Anna Joy is proving EVERYONE wrong and maybe, just maybe, will be home for Christmas! God's blessings to you!
~Emily
www.caringbridge.org
site: annajoylindley
password: september17