November 17th was World Prematurity Day. In Honor of this, I would like to share my story. Last week, I told you the story of how I lost my first child because she was born 4 months early. I was young and healthy, so no one thought I would have any complications. But unfortunately I went into labor and my precious little girl died in my arms. It took a long time to even consider getting pregnant again because the loss was so painful. People kept telling my husband and I “You’re young, you’ll have more children,” but to us that was a slap in the face because no one could ever replace the child we lost.
After the loss, I underwent many tests and found out that I have an incompetent cervix and a tilted uterus, but other than that no other abnormalities that would cause preterm labor. However three years later we were ready to try again and because of the incompetent cervix I was considered a high risk pregnancy which afforded me better care than the average woman. This time around, I was allowed to get sonograms every 2 weeks- which ended up being a lifesaver. I had a nurse come to my home every week to give me Progestogen shots which are hormones supposed to help maintain a healthy pregnancy. I was also referred to a Peri-natologist who examined the sonograms in detail to look for any further abnormalities. It was at one such visit that we were able to catch my cervix opening 1 week earlier than it had in the previous pregnancy. Since the Peri-natologist saw the cervix opening before it got too far, we were able to do an emergency cerclage and have the cervix temporarily sewn shut, so my little girl would have more time to grow. For the next 3 months, I resided at the hospital on very strict bedrest.
The next 3 months were full of highs and lows. I was blessed to have great doctors and nurses who utilized all the latest technology. Every 4 hours I had to take a tocolytic pill and once a week I continued to receive progestogen shots. On top of that I had non-stop monitors to make sure that everything was ok. Every day was a roller-coaster of emotions. On one hand I was happy to have my baby alive and closer to viability (the ability to survive outside of the uterus). On the other hand, every morning I wondered if today was going to be the day that I was going to lose my second child. I was only 23 years old and the idea of having a second child die in my arms was just too much to handle so I sought help. Also, being stuck in a hospital room and not able to leave my bed for 3 months was hard and lonely. I missed my own bed, my husband, even my dog. My psychiatrist prescribed a very low dose of anti-depressants and we had weekly phone appointments to make it through the hard times.
Eventually I did end up going into labor early again. And again because of my tilted uterus it was my backaches that cued us. Even the monitors strapped to me didn’t pick up the contractions for over a day! Because of the knowledge of what to look out for and the amazing care of the hospital staff, I was able to make it to 33 weeks before giving birth (a normal pregnancy is at 40 weeks). They gave me a big dose of steroids during labor as a last ditch effort to get my baby’s lungs to mature quickly and it seemed to help. Claudia was born weighing 4 lbs, 15 oz and 17 inches long. The scariest moment of the entire pregnancy had to be the moment she was born… Another silent birth. The precious little girl I fought so hard to keep alive couldn’t breathe when she was born, so she didn’t cry. I only got to hold her for a split second before she was whisked away to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to start emergency procedures. God was so good, instead of staying in the NICU for 7 weeks as the doctors predicted, Claudia got healthy so fast that she was out of the NICU in 8 short days and home with her family. The joy we had at finally having our baby girl home with us was immeasurable.
After it was all over, the doctors examined my placenta for abnormalities and realized that I had a short umbilical cord, which could have contributed to the complications. Later I had some tests done on my uterus to see if there were any other abnormalities that could be causing the issues, but all the results said everything was fine. Now Claudia is 11 years old and perfectly healthy. She does wear glasses and had some bad asthma when she was younger but other than that she’s in perfect health. She’s even got an incredibly high IQ and is very tall and mature for her age- no one would ever suspect that she was such a tiny little preemie.
To help reduce the risk of premature births, know the signs: Contractions (tightening and releasing feeling in your belly or back at regular intervals), low dull backache, change in vaginal discharge (fluid or blood), any sort of cramping, pelvic pressure. Everyone is different. For you, even just 1 of these signs could be what signifies you are in labor. Contact your healthcare provider right away. Also, before you or your loved ones get pregnant, please get tested to see if there are any abnormalities such as tilted uterus, incompetent cervix, scar tissue or cysts in the uterus, or any others. The march of dimes has a pretty comprehensive list on their website. http://www.marchofdimes.org/pregnancy/uterine-and-ovarian-abnormalities.aspx
To read part 1 of this series go to: World Prematurity Day Part 1: Silent Loss