By Cathy, Farmington Hills, MI USAWe found out that I was pregnant in October of 2002. At 43, I had figured that my conceiving days were over. So we were surprised but very happy. Our son Chris, who is now 8, was thrilled when we found out in late November that we were having a boy! We had CVS done because of my age. About a week after the procedure, I started bleeding. They checked via ultrasound and found that I had a subchorionic hematoma, which reaborbed within a couple of weeks. However, I was still bleeding on and off. My AFP test came back positive, so I had a Level III ultrasound at the beginning of January 2003. It showed that everything was fine and the baby was growing well.
PROM at 19 weeksDelivery at 24 weeks + 5 days.
Story added: 2003-04-16
Life changed forever on January 13. I was standing at the stove making dinner when I felt the gush. I knew what had happened and called the doctor right away. She sent me to the hospital, where they did tests to determine if this was indeed a membrane rupture. I was told that it definitely was NOT and sent home. In my heart, I knew better, so I called the doctor again the next morning and got an appointment right away. As I'd had an ultrasound the day before, she decided to do a comparison that day. Proof positive - where there had been fluid 24 hours before, there was no longer fluid. Apparently the bleeding can negate the tests.
I was admitted to the hospital that day and given IV antibiotics, then sent home on bedrest at the end of the week. During the 5+ weeks I was on bedrest, I continued to bleed and leak fluid. The baby was doing well, but whatever fluid he generated leaked out of me. At 24 weeks, I started to feel what I thought were contractions. Off we went to the hospital, where they monitored me in L&D for 2 days. The contractions subsided, I was given a series of 4 steroid shots and settled into my same antepartum room to continue growing this baby as long as possible.
On February 21, I had a backache all day. I was dealing with constipation and figured that this was all a part of that problem. I went to sleep that night and awoke at 2:45 AM with the feeling that all was not right. I had them come in and check me - sure enough, the resident saw fetal parts. By this time the baby's heartrate had disappeared. They searched for 45 minutes and finally found it via transvaginal ultrasound - it was in the 60's. Things went into overdrive at that point. I was whisked off to the OR, got general anesthetic and had an emergency c-section, where our son Jeffrey Daniel was born at 4:24 AM on Feb. 22. He weighed 1 lb. 7 oz. and was 11 1/2 inches long. My husband went to the NICU and was with him when he was baptized. They took me to see him after I awoke in recovery, then called a couple of hours later and told us his heart rate was dropping. I managed to get into a wheelchair and we went to hold him. He was so precious. Jeffrey died that day at 10:55 AM. I'll always be grateful for the time we were able to spend with him here on earth. God is good and is cradling our precious boy in his arms until we meet again.