By Michele, Texas USA
PROM at 19 weeks + 1 days. Delivery at 21 weeks + 4 days.
Story added: 2008-12-12

Hope was the only thing I had at 19+1 when I was rushed to the Emergency Room and told my membranes had ruptured. My doctor was on vacation and yet stayed on the phone with me throughout the early hours of the morning to help assess the situation and set my expectations: "nothing positive will come of this." She further prepared me by saying that I would probably go into labor within 24 hours. The next day I was discharged and met with the perinatologist who also said I had less than 5% chance of making it to 24 weeks (when the baby would be viable). He suggested terminating the pregnancy, but my regular doctor did not and my husband and I decided to let nature take its course.

For more than 2 weeks my baby held on with a strong heartbeat and absolutely no fluid. I spent each day in bed drinking as much water as I could stand, keeping gallon jugs next to the bed to make sure I didn't miss even one ounce. We had 2 Dr visits during this time and there was never any fluid. He looked so trapped, but that heart kept going at 150 bpm.

Then at 21+4 he was gone. Two days earlier I felt something inside me - it kind of felt like a tampon. I thought it was the cord and called the Dr; she said to come to the office first thing in the morning. The sonogram showed his heart still beating at 50 bpm... it wasn't the cord; rather it was his legs. He was lying on his back in the womb and both legs had slipped through my cervix (I had actually touched his toe the night before thinking it was the cord). I was devastated and the Dr checked me into a hospital room knowing that I would go into labor very soon. For two days, his heart continued at 150 bpm and the night before he passed I asked the nurse to bring the doppler to my room so I could listen to his heartbeat, still strong, and I went to sleep on my head with legs in the air since the only force I could count on was gravity. The next morning his heart had stopped and later that day I gave birth to my son.

I remember that one of the strongest emotions I felt in the following weeks was anger at myself for being "so naive". As I reflected on everything that had happened I felt like a complete idiot to have believed that I could beat the odds in such an impossible situation. But the thing I want to share with anyone that experiences such pain and heartache is that HOPE is absolutely what gets you through it. Without it, I never would have tried so hard and bonded so strongly with my son before I lost him. I got to see his personality and realized that he was quiet yet determined, just like his mommy. I am so thankful for that time with him. Even my Dr was amazed at how far we made it given the situation.

One final note: be very careful about infection that follows rupturing of membranes. I was completely asymptomatic, but when my placenta was sent to pathology the results showed it was full of infection. My Dr said I was dangerously close to needing a hysterectomy.