PROM #3: Mark & Michelle
My last pregnancy is one of those "I
can't believe it happened to me"
stories. I hadn't been able to
convince my husband to have another one
yet, but we hadn't ruled it out. I was
on birth control, but we were going
through a stressful time with the death
of my mother-in-law. I didn't think it
was unusual to have scant periods in
times of stress. Until June, 1996, when
I missed my period altogether. I did
the home pregnancy test toward the end
of the month, and it was positive! I
called my OB for an appointment, and
was not able to get in for the ob-
workup until the end of July. I
scheduled an ultrasound for the 5th of
August, because I had no idea how far
along I was.
Well, at that first ultrasound, I
discovered that I was already 20 weeks
pregnant, and with TWINS! I was so-o-o
excited! I had a second ultrasound the
next day, and discovered that they were
in all probability boy/girl twins, but
one was undoubtably a boy. (He was
urinating while we were watching the
ultrasound - no mistaking those male
parts!) They said that my cervix was
thinned out and I was 1cm dilated - not
good news.
At this point, we have 5 children - our
two girls, Becca (7) and Paige (5);
plus my husband's brother's 3
children - Tina (13), Chris (12), and
Jason (10). We decided to tell the kids
about the twins when they were all
together. They didn't even know I was
pregnant, because I wanted to know my
due date when we told them.
At the time the 2 boys were in
Connecticut, who were visiting their
Aunt and Uncle. My husband had plans to
go to pick them up on Wednesday the 7th
of August. He brought our two girls
with him, and I was at home with Tina.
Well, I was lying in bed that night,
and my membranes broke with a pop-gush.
I had to call my neighbor to bring me
to the hospital. We left Tina with my
father, so the two of them could milk
the cows in the morning.
When I got to the hospital and they
completed their tests to determine that
I in fact had PROM, they had all sorts
of discouraging things to say. They
said the chance of me delivering a
viable baby, with ruptured membranes at
20 weeks, was virtually zero. They
would not do anything to stop labor,
because the membranes break for a
reason, usually infection. They said
that I would either go into labor, and
lose both babies, or I would develop a
possibly life-threatening infection.
The membranes were only ruptured for 1
baby, not both of them. Because of
this, they mentioned the very slim
possibility that I could deliver one of
them and the other would stay in. I
have to add that they said this was not
really an option, because they would
not stop labor with medication, and the
possibility of it stopping on it's own
was not even a statistical possibility.
They said that without amniotic fluid,
the one baby wouldn't have properly
developed lungs, and would not survive
anyway. The recommendation was that
they induce labor.
Well, the more I thought about it,
alone in my hospital room, the more I
realized that was not an option for me.
Not only did I have a nightmarish
experience with Pitocin my first
pregnancy, but I had 2 live babies in
there!! I said that we would deal with
it if and when I developed the
infection they were talking about, and
just wait and see what happened.
Well, 1 week after PROM, I went into
labor. I had that "uneasy" feeling
all day, and contractions started at
about 10:00pm. I was brought over to
L&D to see what would happen. My
husband showed up around 12:30. My
doctor told me that I would know when
it was time to push, I would feel a lot
of pressure. I told him I felt a
little, but not a lot. In the meantime,
my nurse gave me a hotpack for my
abdomen, and my contractions stopped
spontaneously!! I went into the
bathroom, and reached down and touched
the top of Michelle's head. I went
back and told the nurse to get the
doctor, and I pushed little Michelle
out. She weighed 12 ounces and was 9
1/2 inches long, and she was born at
around 3:00 AM 8-15-96. The doctor was
sitting there, holding her cord,
waiting to deliver the placenta, and I
told him that I heard there was a
chance we could tie the cord off, leave
the placenta in there, and see if the
other baby would stay in utero.
The next doctor who came in said "you
have a chance, I think we should go for
it!" She tied off the cord as high as
she could, and left Michelle's
placenta right in there. Now, at this
point, they tell me they don't know
what will happen to that placenta. It
could come loose, and I would start to
bleed; it could become reabsorbed, it
could become infected and I would get
sick, et cetera. So I spent the next 3
weeks in the hospital. I had an
ultrasound or two, showing that my
cervix had closed back up, and that
Mark had moved up high in the uterus. I
talked my doctors into letting me go
home, not all of them thought it was a
good idea, but I was ready. I went home
the day after Labor Day.
For the next 4 weeks, I stayed at home,
in a rented hospital bed, except for
weekly trips to the OB/GYN. I received
the beta-methasone shots to improve
Mark's lung maturity, which I believe
really helped him. On the night of
October 1, 1996, I went into labor. I
went to the hospital, and they tried to
stop labor with mag. It didn't work.
They checked my cervix, and I was
already 6cm dilated! We were going to
have a baby, ready or not.
It was a wonderful experience, this
birth. Present, besides me and my
husband, were the resident on duty that
night, the resident who took care of me
when I first came in with ruptured
membranes 8 weeks before and was there
when Michelle was born, the doctor who
did the first ultrasound (where we
discovered twins) and who was there to
tie off Michelle's cord, the nurse who
was there 8 weeks, and the nurse who
was there 7 weeks before when I
delivered Michelle. We talked, and
joked through all my contractions,
which were mild, by the way. It came
time to push, and less than 10 minutes
later, Mark was out, in his membrane
sac, (intact!) and 2 placentas attached
to the outside! I have heard that this
means the baby is "blessed" and is
going to do great things. He was born
10-2-96, and was due 12-25-96.
Mark had a 90 day NICU stay. He had
RDS/BPD and came home with oxygen less
than 25 ccs. He is now an active, happy
little boy at 16 months, and walking
all over the place!
I love the preemie-l support group! The
first time I posted, I received many
replies. They are a very interested,
very supportive group of people!
End of Story
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Becca
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Paige
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