By Carrie, ND USAHere is my story, and I am writing this for all the women who have been told grim statistics and horror stories about PROM and babies of PROM.
PROM at 22 weeks + 5 days. Delivery at 28 weeks + 4 days.
Story added: 2004-04-22
I had bleeding from week 7 to week 15. I had a subchorionic hemmorage during that time, causing the bleeding. I was on bedrest on and off, for a total of about 3 weeks.
From week 15 to week 22 things went great. We found out we were having a boy and I felt awesome. No bleeding, nothing!
Sunday morning, Feb. 22, at 3am I got up to pee. I laid back down and as I was getting comfortable, I felt a huge gush. I instantly woke my husband up and said, "Oh my God, I think my water broke." I ran to the toilet and some more fluid gushed out, it was rust colored but didn't have an odor. I put a pad on to catch whatever else may come out. I was so scared. I called 911 and an ambulance brought me to the hospital.
There, the docs insisted that I didn't break my water because the litmus tests they did turned out negative. I insisted that it broke, they insisted I peed myself. One nurse actually listened to me and dug out my pad out of the garbage and tested that, which was positive. Each doc kept saying that my water wasn't broken, until finally over 24 hours later, my OB came in and did an u/s. She immediately sent me to a high-risk hospital in Minneapolis, 5 hours from home.
There I got many tests. First they did an amnio with what little fluid they could find in there. The fluid they pulled out was rust colored. Then they injected my sac with blue dye and had me wear a tampon. When I pulled the tampon out several hours later, it was blue, confirming that I did indeed break my water. I was admitted into the hospital there. I started antibiotics. At 24 weeks I got two shots of steroids, 12 hours apart. I sat there for 29 days. It was hell.
The whole time the docs kept saying that my child would probably not survive because my water broke before he was able to develop his lungs well enough. They also talked about things like contractures and Potter's facies, deformities basically that happens to many kids with no fluid. They worried about bleeds in his brain, severe disabilities, blindness, deafness, etc, etc...It was all horribly grim. They said his chance of survival was 30%.
At that point, I felt too far from home and decided to ask for a transfer closer to home. I found a hospital one hour from home that had a level III NICU and was there a few days after I requested to leave. I sat there for a week and a half. The neonatologists were even more grim there. The stats were horrible, I was so scared for my child and felt so guilty and ashamed at what my body had done to him.
OH YEAH...I forgot to mention that all the while, my baby had stopped growing! He remained about 600 grams on u/s and so that is another reason for the grim outlook. Also, his limbs were measuring very small on u/s making docs think he had dwarfism! Also, I never had any measurable fluid on u/s...every time he would make new fluid, I would leak it out. It was very distressing.
Finally, April 2, I went into labor. I had made it past my goal of 28 weeks, I was 28w4d. I labored all day, and finally when the contractions were 2 minutes apart, my baby couldn't handle it. His heart rate was dropping severely during each contraction. They did a c-section.
My c-section was horrible. They had to cut through my thick uterus several times and 18 days later, I am in pain...but I have a beautiful, perfect son!
He came out crying. He was only 612 grams, 1 lb 5 oz and 11 3/4 inches long. He was vented for fear he would stop breathing, but was off the vent and breathing on his own 6 days later. He is perfect in every way. And even though he is small, and stopped growing in me, he DID continue to DEVELOP, meaning, his organs and body matured even though it was small. He looks like a mini-baby! No dwarfism, he has LONG arms/legs/fingers/toes! No contractures or webbing of his skin, no potter's facies, no bleeds in his brain, no NOTHING! He is proving every skeptic wrong and is surviving and growing and thriving. Today, at 18 days of life, he is 1 lb. 12 oz. He is eating 15ccs of my breast milk every 3 hours, pooping like a champ and acting like a normal, healthy baby.
Of course, he has a long road ahead, but he is a survivor, a miracle and he is proving everyone wrong.
Please feel free to email me if you can relate to my story or need support. Isaiah's updates can be found at...
www.isaiahthemiraclebaby.aboutmybaby.co m
God bless you
Update July 2004
Isaiah is 104 days old today and getting ready to leave the hospital next week :o) He has been through so much. He is 6 lb 3 oz now! He nurses well (so don't let nurses/docs discourage you from trying)...we had to WORK hard at it. First he nursed using a nipple shield, but he would get mad when my milk wouldn't let down right away, so we had to drop milk into his mouth until let down...we tried a SNS (supplemental nursing system)...he hated it. Then one day I ditched the shield and everything else and he latched on without a problem and has been nursing well ever since!
Also, he had developed ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) but after *almost* needing laser surgery because he was stage 3, prethreshold...his eyes reversed themselves and he no longer has any signs of ROP!
Another big problem he had was with his liver. It was not functioning properly, making his direct bilirubin go up and up...at one point, after several HIDA scans of his liver, he was diagnosed with biliary atresia. This is a rare, horrible liver disease which would require major surgery, and within a few years a liver transplant! His surgery was scheduled for July 13, but the week before his surgery, his liver started working!!!!!!! They took back his diagnosis and think his liver was just sluggish due to prematurity! Praise God!
Lastly, he had developed 3 large hernias, 2 inguinal and 1 umbilical...his belly button was huge! He had surgery this week to correct it and will be coming home hopefully next week!
He is doing great, and I wanted to update to my story before. The docs would've placed bets against him when I was pregnant with him, they thought the lack of any fluid would destroy his body and brain...but it didn't, he is perfect in every way, and has TREMENDOUS spirit!
I hope this helps anyone in my situation...I remember reading the PROM stories while I was in the hospital for 6 weeks!
Isaiah's updates can be found at
www.isaiahthemiraclebaby.aboutmybaby.co m
Update Jan - 2005.
I just wanted to update again!
Isaiah is now almost 10 months old (7 months adjusted for when he was due).
He is 14 lbs, over 25 inches, crawling everywhere, pulling to stand, clapping, babbling, eating baby food, and doing wonderfully.
If you're reading this, there is hope!
Update August 2005
Isaiah is now 16 months old. He is walking, running, talking, and doing great!
His new site is http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/i/isa iahserna/
It is password protected so please email me for the password and I will email you back right away!!!
Don't give up!