By Sarah, London United Kingdom
PROM at 28 weeks + 5 days. Delivery at 29 weeks + 3 days.
Story added: 2010-02-01

My waters broke at 2am on Saturday morning. I was 28 +5 weeks pregnant. For some reason I knew straight away what had happened and that it wasn't good. It was probably due to the fact that it was a gush rather than a trickle, so no real danger of confusing it with anything else. I got out of bed to go to the bathroom to grab a towel, waking my husband up with the news "something's wrong". We were staying with his parents that night, but luckily were closer to the hospital than we would have been if we were at home. It wasn't great having to tell them what had happened. Sometimes it is easier to manage your own stress than other peoples. Oddly enough though, I felt strangely calm.

We went to the Accident and Emergency department who sent me straight up to the Maternity Assessment Unit. Despite it being the middle of the night it was busy - the waiting room full of women in various stages of labour. There seemed to be only one midwife who was dashing about between the waiting room, the examination rooms and other parts of the building, prioritising who needed her most. We sat patiently waiting until someone came to ask what was wrong. When they heard that I was 28 weeks and my waters had broken they looked a bit horrified and were very apologetic they hadn't seen to me sooner. They seemed to be a bit sceptical that my waters had broken, but after I showed them the now drenched towel that I had wrapped around myself like a nappy, they were soon in agreement.

The next few hours were a bit of a blur- I recall being hooked up to machine to monitor the baby's heart rate for what seemed like forever. I soon got used to these machines over the next few days, but the initial reaction to every little beep and momentary loss of rhythm was terrifying. I was then seen by the consultant on shift who explained what was going on. I was told I could go in to labour at any time, but it was possible that it could take weeks. They were certainly hoping the latter although there was an 80% chance it would happen in the next week. I was given my first steroid shot and was started on a course of erythromicin to try to hold off any infections.

They then dropped the bombshell that I wouldn't be able to stay at the hospital as there was no space in the neonatal ward for the baby once it was born. They told me they would ring around other hospitals to find room for me and the baby. We were told to wait in a nearby office while they made a few phone calls. 6 hours later we were still there and they had to concede they were having some problems finding me somewhere to go. I was admitted to a ward so I at least had a bed to lie on, and waited. It wasn't until lunch time the following day I got the news that I was to be transferred to a hospital on the other side of London. I was grateful that at least I would still be in London and not transferred to another part of the country.

The new hospital was much smaller and clearly not so well equipped, but the staff were friendly and seemed to know what they were doing. They told me that they would have to take me off the antibiotics as it was their hospital's policy not to give antibiotics in these siutations as some research they had done had shown it to be ineffective and possibly damaging to the baby long-term. This somewhat concerned me and I asked to see a copy of the research paper. After reading and re-reading it (and getting my husband to do the same) we couldn't quite understand their logic as the paper seemed to say the exact opposite - that in cases where waters had broken prior to the onset on labour, erythromicin was effective and not damaging to the baby. We therefore politely requested that I stay on the antibiotics which they agreed to.

I then waited. Every morning I woke up grateful for the fact I hadn't gone in to labour over night. Each day I texted my mother on the other side of the world and my sister in France to give them the update. Each time there was a shift change, a new doctor came and gave me the same speech about what had happened and what I could expect. Thankfully they always said the same thing, so I couldn't complain I didn't know what was happening or that I was getting mixed messages! It was at this time that I started to have lots of questions about what was happening - would the baby make it? Would she have disabilities? The problem with having too much time on your hands. I started googling and found this website. It was a huge reassurance to me that so many babies born at 28 weeks not only survive but thrive.

5 days after my waters broke I went in to labour. In a way it was a relief as the hospital and the waiting was sending me slightly mad. It turned out to be a straightforward vaginal delivery. I had always thought that I would have an epidural but it happened so quickly that all there was time for was gas and air. Baby Hannah was born at 29+3 weighing 3lbs. My husband and I got to give her a quick kiss before she was whisked away to the NICU.

Right from the start she proved to be a real fighter. The steroids had worked their magic on her lungs and she didn't require any ventilation. In fact she only needed 3 days of CPAP before she was breathing on her own. She spent a total of 5 weeks in hospital to grow bigger and learn how to feed. Once we had successfully established breastfeefding we were allowed home. It was strange to have 6 weeks at home with her before she was even due. On her due date we threw her a 0th birthday party!

Hannah is now 11 months old (8.5 months corrected) and is doing fantastically well. She hasn't had any health problems and is developmentally where she should be. She has an amazingly chilled out temperament that I think came from having so much thrown at her so early on. She just takes things in her stride.

I am now thinking about our next baby. I'm not in a massive hurry as I want to enjoy every minute with Hannah, but I'm not getting any younger. I don't know why this happened in the first place, so don't know whether it could happen again. I did have three occasions of bleeding in my second trimester which may explain it. I'm hoping I can find a doctor who can help me answer some of the questions I have.

Quite a long winded story but it has been therapeutic writing it all down. I hope that if someone else is lying in a hospital bed somewhere reading this, as I was 11 months ago, they will feel reassured that probably everything is going to be OK. Enjoy every minute with them as they do grow up so fast!