Twin stories born 2018

Vicki's Story of PPROM

at 26 weeks with Twins

I was pregnant with DCDA twins. It hadn’t been the easiest pregnancy. Bleeding from 6-15 weeks. Threatened miscarriage at 8-10 weeks. Then all of a sudden at 26 weeks, whilst at work (in a hospital, luckily) my waters broke. I initially felt something wet. Thought I’d go to the ladies and check out what it was.

As soon as I sat down, the floodgates opened. It was like a tap and wouldn’t stop. Panicked I called a couple colleague. We headed straight over to the pregnancy assessment unit.

They did the usual tests and confirmed that it was amniotic fluid. Me and my husband were told to expect both babies to arrive in 48 hours. I had a couple of swans sent off, looking for infection. I had a positive result for thrush.

That wasn’t pinned on the PPROM. Just an incidental finding. I was in hospital for a week. I had regular scans, given prophylactic antibiotics. Regular checks on both babies heartbeats. After the week in hospital and no labour emerging I was discharged home. I was told to take my temperature every 4 hours. Keep on with the tablets and rest where possible.

I had a nice week at home, prepping the nursery. I then noticed after the 2nd week post pprom my loss was increasing and so was the blood loss with it. We went to the unit again at the hospital. The following day I was examined. I was 4cm dilated. About an hour later I was examined again.

My little boy’s hand was poking out of my cervix. The physician popped it back. I was told I would stay in until the babies arrived. The following 2 nights, natural labour ensued. Although not recognised because the contractions were not getting closer together. I wasn’t examined because the team didn’t want to promote labour.

On the morning of 24/1/2018 I was examined once again to find I was fully dilated, with my son’s head ready to emerge. However the doctor could feels his feet by his head. So it was decided to go for an emergency c-section, this would mean they would arrive the safest way possible.

They arrived at 12:01 and 12:02. Gestation - 29+1. Both breathing on their own. Crying. It was truly the best sound in the world. We both cried.

So ensued 10/11 weeks on the fantastic NICU, where they were born. There discharge letter makes for an interesting read now. Both left when they would have been 39/40 weeks. No oxygen requirements.

On full feeds. Half EBM / half prescribed formula. They did have fortifier add to my milk in the middle of their stay to boost their weight. I was a worrying time but once we got a routine going, it was a great. I have fond memories of our NICU stay.

They have no long-standing issues. They did have delays in walking (started 2 months before their 2nd birthday). We have just been discharged from paediatric care.

They are now 2 and a half. Overall, it was scary at the time. The unknown.

But it all worked out in the end. I took each day as it came.

I think I found this site after I had given birth. But I know all the good work they do. It was so helpful knowing other people’s stories. I had never even heard of pprom prior to my experience. You just get told as soon as your waters break, the baby is on its way. Obviously not the case.