By Samantha, Carlsbad, Ca USA
PROM at 17 weeks + 6 days. Delivery at 18 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2010-01-08

I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter who was born at 37 weeks. It was a wonderful pregnancy and we conceived her within the first month of trying. When she was a year old we decided to try for a second child. It took us over a year to conceive and was done with the help of Clomid, IUI and acupuncture. This pregnancy also started off great and I was able to continue to be active and run around after my daughter. When I was 15 weeks I had very heavy bleeding one night that freaked me out. My doctor assured me that since it was thin red blood and I had no cramping to just rest and see him in the morning. The ultrasound that morning revealed a healthy, active boy. The red blood stopped and I was left with brown spotting for the next week or so. At 17w6d I was working from home and felt a gush of water. I stood up to see a pool of water in my chair. My initial thought was I wet myself, but when I looked at my skirt in the mirror, I knew immediately that my water broke (my water broke with my daughter at 37 weeks so I knew exactly what it felt like). I called my doctor's office and they had me come in immediately. The exam confirmed it was amniotic fluid and the ultrasound showed my little boy still floating around with a healthy heartbeat. My doctor, who was out of the office that day, was notified and told us to wait as he'd be right in. His first words to us were, "This pregnancy is not over." It was comforting to hear since I was expecting to go into labor any minute. I don't think we could have made it through all this without him. We were informed of multiple options available including the amniopatch. He wanted us to wait a week to confirm the pregnancy would continue before exploring any of these options. I was advised to go home, rest and drink lots of fluids and was prescribed antibiotics to combat any potential infection. Our doctor saw us everyday over the next 4 days. Each ultrasound showed a little more fluid (I never got below an AFI of 5) and a healthy heartbeat. Our last ultrasound on 12/6/09 revealed yet more fluid, but no heartbeat was found. Our doctor estimates that he died earlier in the day.
I elected to be induced and give my baby the birth I thought he deserved. It took 28 hours for the induction to work. In my vision of how all this would unfold, the idea of seeing my dead baby always made me think that was when I would lose it. Strangely, once he was born and I got to see him wrapped up in a blanket, I felt only peace. I did not have any regrets. I gave this baby all I had and unfortunately, nature had other plans.
4 weeks after his birth, all my results came back normal. There was no infection, no chromosomal abnormalities, no growth issues...nothing. It was tough to hear as I really wanted to know what I was up against if I am able to have another child.
I am trying to be as strong as I can for my daughter and my husband, but I just take one day at a time. Some days are better than others. I don't cry anymore, but I just feel sad for what could have been.
I am thankful for this website and the other courageous women who share their stories of hope and loss. I hope this is the last PROM story I have to write.