My pPROM Journey
pPROM - or preterm premature rupture of membranes - is when your water bag breaks and you leak amniotic fluid. While this is a scary situation, there is nothing that can really be done about it. As I have experienced this, I have had time to join support groups and learn more about what exactly pPROM is. Though I am not a doctor or even in the medical field, I have reached out to other ladies around the world via these support groups and collected some of my own data based on their experiences.
If this happens to you, please visit your doctor or the hospital right away to be seen immediately. Always seek medical advice when in doubt.
Every day was stressful and we were always unsure the outcome. Finally, we reached 24 weeks and were admitted into the hospital for bed rest until the baby came or 34 weeks. We were informed of all the things that could go wrong like cord prolapse or placental abruption. We had a consult with the neonatologist who talked about the issues and things that can happen with a preemie. It was very hard to hear but we didn't give up hope. We had our families support and friends as well.
The farther we made it, the more hopeful we became to reach weeks. Minor issues here and there but nothing major really arose. It was hard to occupy my time and I missed my family, husband, son, dogs, freedom, basically everything. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so my comfort foods were no longer something I could enjoy. Luckily, I was able to still have some outside food and my Diet Coke.
Everyday I was on the NST (non-stress test) monitor and my temperature/blood pressure was measure every 4 hours. I had an ultrasound every Monday when I hit a new week to check where the baby's fluid levels and what the baby's position was.
Being in the hospital I learned a lot as well. Certain things that you might think are alarming during pregnancy, become more "normal" during pPROM such as leaking and light bleeding. I was always on edge any time something changed but neither my nurse or doctor were overly concerned. Which eventually made me become more at ease.
I ended up having contractions early Thursday morning at 31 weeks and 3 days where I was given magnesium for neuro protection. In which they also stopped the contractions I was having. Then I had a little more painful contractions the next morning and I was given magnesium again. This time they helped with my contractions but some still came here and there. Eventually settling down. Early on Saturday morning at 31 weeks 5 days I had cramping and more scattered contractions. At 3am I called my husband told him what was going on and that if anything changed I would let him know. Our daughter was born just about 30 minutes later via emergency c-section due to I was completely dilated and was in active labor.
The second poll was "After you had one pPROM pregnancy, did you pPROM in an additional pregnancy?" This poll had only 56 participants. The results were favored 30-26 with "yes" being majority.
I know that these polls are just a sliver of actual research studies done, but to me, this was something I could control. As in these were ladies that recently had gone through the same issues and these were their results. They meant more to me than googling statistics of unknown ladies.
If this happens to you, please visit your doctor or the hospital right away to be seen immediately. Always seek medical advice when in doubt.
My Story
I had ruptured at 18 weeks and 4 days. It was hard to hear that my water had broken and the baby might not make it. When we finally went to see a perinatologist, or high risk doctor, he was optimistic on the outcome. He though we would be able to continue the pregnancy and make it hopefully past 28 weeks. He did give us hope which was good since a lot of women have been told to terminate because the baby will not make it. So we had decided to continue on and see where we got.Every day was stressful and we were always unsure the outcome. Finally, we reached 24 weeks and were admitted into the hospital for bed rest until the baby came or 34 weeks. We were informed of all the things that could go wrong like cord prolapse or placental abruption. We had a consult with the neonatologist who talked about the issues and things that can happen with a preemie. It was very hard to hear but we didn't give up hope. We had our families support and friends as well.
The farther we made it, the more hopeful we became to reach weeks. Minor issues here and there but nothing major really arose. It was hard to occupy my time and I missed my family, husband, son, dogs, freedom, basically everything. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes so my comfort foods were no longer something I could enjoy. Luckily, I was able to still have some outside food and my Diet Coke.
Everyday I was on the NST (non-stress test) monitor and my temperature/blood pressure was measure every 4 hours. I had an ultrasound every Monday when I hit a new week to check where the baby's fluid levels and what the baby's position was.
Being in the hospital I learned a lot as well. Certain things that you might think are alarming during pregnancy, become more "normal" during pPROM such as leaking and light bleeding. I was always on edge any time something changed but neither my nurse or doctor were overly concerned. Which eventually made me become more at ease.
I ended up having contractions early Thursday morning at 31 weeks and 3 days where I was given magnesium for neuro protection. In which they also stopped the contractions I was having. Then I had a little more painful contractions the next morning and I was given magnesium again. This time they helped with my contractions but some still came here and there. Eventually settling down. Early on Saturday morning at 31 weeks 5 days I had cramping and more scattered contractions. At 3am I called my husband told him what was going on and that if anything changed I would let him know. Our daughter was born just about 30 minutes later via emergency c-section due to I was completely dilated and was in active labor.
Polls
I did some polls in the pPROM support groups I joined during my stay.
The first one was "After you ruptured, when did you deliver?" 225 ladies participated in this poll. The results favored before 24 weeks and 27 weeks gestation when the baby was born. Once I past 24 weeks, I had a lot of hope to make t to 27 weeks as that was the next most common gestational age ladies were delivering.
The second poll was "After you had one pPROM pregnancy, did you pPROM in an additional pregnancy?" This poll had only 56 participants. The results were favored 30-26 with "yes" being majority.
I know that these polls are just a sliver of actual research studies done, but to me, this was something I could control. As in these were ladies that recently had gone through the same issues and these were their results. They meant more to me than googling statistics of unknown ladies.
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