When I found out I was pregnant for
the
second time, I was so excited! My
husband and I had been trying for
about
5 months. Due to some infertility
problems, we had to use IUI to
conceive.
At 11 weeks, I had some bleeding and
horrible cramping. I went to the
emergency room of the local hospital
and
thankfully, and ultrasound showed that
my baby was healthy and happy inside
of
me.
The bleeding stopped by the next day,
and I was sure that the rest of my
pregnancy would go smoothly.
On December 9, 2002, my whole world
changed. I was taking a nap with my
son, and I woke up and realised that I
was very wet. I assumed that maybe
(to
my embarrasment) I had wet my pants.
I
changed my clothes and went back to
bed.
About 1/2 hour later, I woke up again
and I was once again soaked. I called
my doctor and asked if it was possible
for my water to have broken that
early.
They told me that it was very possible
and to go to the emergency room of the
hospital I planned to deliver at.
My husband was at work, and I was home
alone with my then 19mo son. I called
my mom and she came down to get me.
We
left my son with his grandfather and
went to the hospital. To my surprise,
we were not taken up to the labor and
delivery floor, we were seen in the
ER.
After about 3 hours of waiting, we
finally got to see a doctor. They did
a
fern test, which was negative. Then
they did an ultrasound. The
ultrasound
showed a reduced amount of amniotic
fluid. The doctor sent me home with
the
instructions to go see my doctor the
following day for a more in depth
ultrasound.
When I saw my doctor the next day, the
ultrasound showed that I had NO fluid
around my baby. When I spoke with the
doctor, she told me that I should
terminate my pregnancy because most
babies deliver within 2 weeks of a
PROM
anyway. And, my fluid would not
reseal
and without fluid, my baby's lungs
would
not develop, so even if I did carry to
viability, my baby would still die due
to not having working lungs (pulmonary
hypoplasia). The ultrasound also
showed
indicators of cystic fibrosis and
downs
syndrome. She decided to send me to a
perinatologist for a followup to make
sure that she was giving me the
correct
diagnosis.
2 Days later, I had another ultrasound
with the Perinatologist. I still had
no
fluid, however, the tech did not see
the
signs of cystic fibrosis or downs
syndrome. At the consult with the
Peri,
he told me exactly what my doctor had
said. He thought I should terminate.
I
was devastated. I asked him what my
odds were of resealing (>5%). I asked
if laying down with my legs in the air
would help (no). I asked about an
amnioinfusion (too experimental). I
asked how long I had to make my
decision
and he told me that I could wait as
long
as I wanted, but if I made it to 24
weeks, my baby would be considered
viable and they would have to try to
save it. I also asked if my baby was
in
pain, and he told me no.
I went home and did a ton of
research.
I found this website which gave me so
much hope. I decided to keep my baby
and let God lead the way.
I saw my ob the next day, and I told
her
about my decision. She was not happy
about the decision, but she was
supportive and willing to try. I had
to
see her every week and take my temp 3x
a
day to check for infection.
The following week, I had my 'weekly'
appointment my OB. She was happy that
I
did not have an infection and told me
to
keep up what I was doing. Of course,
I
was not allowed to work. She asked me
if I had any questions, and I asked
for
an ultrasound just to see how my baby
was doing. She squeezed me in for the
u/s and to my utter joy and amazement,
my baby had some amniotic fluid around
it!
As the weeks passed, my fluid level
continued to climb. My doctor was
amazed, and kept calling my baby a
miracle. She did tell me that even if
my baby made it to term, I could still
lose her cause her lungs may not be
developed.
On march 6th, 2003, my water rebroke.
I
was admitted to the hospital on March
7th at exactly 31 weeks. I was
contracting, so I was given magnesium
to
stop the contractions. Then I was
given
steroids to help my baby's lungs
along.
Two weeks later, I was still
pregnant.
Again my doctors were amazed because
they expected me to go into labor
immediately.
On March 17th, (1 week after being
admitted to the hospital) my baby
started having heartbeat decels. My
doctor decided she would induce me at
33.1 weeks on March 22nd, 2003. After
a
very hard labor and a very difficult
deliver involving failed vaccum and a
forceps delivery, my daughter came
into
the world.
She was not breathing at first, her
apgar at 1 minute was 2. At 5 minutes
it was a 4 and at 10 minutes it was a
7.
Kyra weighed in at 4lbs 14.6oz and was
18 inches long. She didn't need
oxygen
after they got her breathing.
She is 2 weeks old, and still in the
NICU. She should be home within the
week. She has no lung problems and is
doing amazing for a 33 weeker.
I think about if I had listened to my
doctor and terminated her. I wouldn't
have such an amazing baby. Please
don't
give up hope.
My first Prom
pregnancy
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