By Karyn, Auckland New Zealand.
PROM at 31 weeks + 3 days. Delivery at 32 weeks.
Story added: 2003-05-09

My twins were conceived via IVF/ICSI May 2000.

From 7 weeks till the day I delivered I suffered from severe all day and night morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum) and from week 18, I also started to get braxton hicks (BH) contractions.

I spent a lot of my pregnancy in bed as I felt so incredibly awful, not quite the pregnancy I thought I'd have but hey I was still pregnant and very grateful.

My BH got tighter and tighter around 30 weeks and were becoming quite painful, but apart from this the twins (b/g) were doing really well and there were no other signs of PTL.

At 31w 2d I felt the best I'd felt since week 7 so I went on a shopping spree and brought my twins bouncy seats and a backpack. The next morning at 6am my waters broke.

We were met at hospital by my specialist and I was started on subutinol, to stop the contractions which had started and I had the first of 2 steroid shots for the twins lungs.

The next day I received my 2nd lung ripening steroid shot.

I was now at the hospital till delivery. If I hadn't delivered by 34 weeks then I would be induced.

2 days later Finn and Bree were delivered vaginally 6 minutes apart, 9th of December 2000. Finn received apgars of 9 and then a perfect 10, Bree an 8 (she was born a little blue) and then also a perfect 10.

They weighed Finn, 3lb6 and Bree, 3lb3.

Neither needed ventilation or CPAP

Finn stayed in NICU for 4 weeks with only a few little preemie probs of A's and B's.

Bree stayed for 8 weeks as she was also born with congenital heart defects and had her first of 2 heart ops when she was 3 weeks old.

My docs weren't able to discover the reason I had PPROM, tests for infection came back negative. I tend to put it down to a combo of BH, multiple pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum (severe morning sickness).

Today my twins are almost 2 1/2 years old, Finn is perfect as is Bree, although she is a little developmentally delayed and is a tiny dot.

You can read more of their story at the website http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/twinzland/ index17.entry.html

Thank you for reading.

Karyn.