Hanging on the hope
Today, I felt my stomach was bigger. Like the deflated balloon was starting to fill back up. I’ve been drinking a lot of water, and have had minimal leaking throughout the day. And now, the most incredible sign of hope just happened. The amazing nurses at Logan Hospital decided to do an ultrasound to check on baby A’s amniotic fluid. To our surprise, she had a significant amount more fluid than yesterday! This gives us such happiness and optimism that I can continue to create amniotic fluid. I feel so determined to keep filling up that “balloon” so that baby girl can grow. We even saw the babies wiggling around and waving their hands. Hang in there babies, we love you so much.
I’ve struggled to understand how this happened. Was it something I did? Something I could have prevented? I’m supposed to protect these babies. I’m trying to come to terms that this was out of my control, and something we most likely will never fully understand.
Here are the statistics we’re facing:
Mid-trimester preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), defined as rupture of fetal membranes prior to 28 weeks of gestation, complicates approximately 0.4%-0.7% of all pregnancies
Previable preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) between 14 and 24 weeks of gestation complicates < 1% of pregnancies.
Approximately 50% of women experiencing PPROM (<37 WG) give birth within 24–48 h after the rupture, and 70% to 90% within 7 days
PPROM occurs in only 2-4% of all single pregnancies (higher with multiples). ~50% of women will go into labor within 48 hours and 90% within 7 days. The three major concerns with PPROM are premature birth, intra-amniotic infection, and underdeveloped lungs.
The nurses at Logan Hospital in Kalispell, MT have been incredible. During the darkest moment of my life, as I lay in my hospital bed alone, absorbing all of the news…that our babies have a 1% chance of surviving…my nurse Julie came to my room with resources from the Pprom foundation, with stories of success. She told us to not give up hope. She brought a light in that moment and pushed me to keep going, to keep fighting, and to not give up. From that moment, I decided I would do everything in my power to advocate for my babies.
Sadie
