Previous Premature Birth

If anyone had any advice to me as what to ask my doctor about preventing this one from being premature please let me know. I had my daughter at 23 wks and she is now 4 months old and doing good so far. I am so scared to have this early as well. Theres is nothing that describes the pain and heartbreak you go through dealing with the NICU. They also did not now the exact reason why my daughter was born that early only that my membranes had ruptured. Please if anyone has any advice please write me.

Hi Kailee's Mom, welcome to Share!

From what I have heard PROM is not like other things that can be predicted to repeat (IC, pre-E, etc). I would ask your dr about consulting with a perinatologist (high-risk OB) if you would feel more comfortable. They are used to dealing with complex pregnancies and might be able to answer some of the questions you are concerned about - and give you a second opinion. I consulted with a peri in my 2nd pregnancy but he gave me the same plan as my OB so I stuck with my OB as I was comfortable with him. Do what feels right for you.

Good Luck!
Jackie

Hi Kailee's Mom.
Congratulations are in order for your little one on the way and your 4 month old!

As Jackie said I would definitely check with a Peri to see what he/her plan of action would be. Since they don't know what happened it might be a matter of watching you closely or looking at preventative measure...like a cerclage or 17P injections.

Wishing you all of the best!
Kristyn

My son was born at 33 weeks due to PROM also. He spent 7 weeks in the NICU so I know you are nervous. Wow 23 weeks, she truly is a miracle! At my last OB appointment I told him I wanted to TTC again but I wanted to know the odds of this happening again. He said there is a 10% chance since I had a pre-term baby. He said he would give me 17p shots and do a preventative cerclage at around 14wks. I plan on getting a second opinion from a perinatologist when I am pregnant. I wish you all of the best and I hope this helped.

Sherrey

Yea you have given me some great advice and i appreciate it. All i need now is to get medicaid and get to my ob and i believe he will probably refern to a peri. I am just so scared for the miscarriage factor as well. But i am keeping my hopes up and going to get this medicaid thing straight so i can get it there and see whats going to happen thank you so much.

I am glad ur son is doing good. Yes she is a miracle and she is so tiny. Yea when i went for my last check up and was talking about getting pregnant again he had mentioned some sort of shots as well as a cerclage. So i believe the 17P shots is what he was talking about. Because everyone i talk to on here as said the same thing about the shots and the 17P shots. As far as a peri i believe he will refer to one of those as well because of me being high risk. Thank you so much and it did help.

HELLO
MY NAME IS ERICKA........ ON 12/15/09 I LOST MY SON DUE TO IMCOMPETENT CERVIX...... MY SON DIDNT LIVE LONG.... I HELD HIM IN MY HANDS AS HE WAS SLOWLY DYING.... I WAS 22.5 WEEKS...
LET TELL YOU MY STORY..... I HAD A HARD TIME GETTING PREGNANT I HAD ECTOPIC PREG.....THEN 3 YEARS AFTER THAT I HAD A BLIGHTED OVUM.... THEN 3 YEARS WENT BY AND JUST COULD'T SEEM TO GET PREGNANT... SO I WENT TO FERTILITY DOCTOR THEY SAID AFTER HAVING ECTOPIC PREGNANCY MY TUBES WILL NEVER WORK THE SAME.... SO I WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING PREGNANT...SO THATS WHEN THEY HELPED ME.... I HAD MY FIRST CHILD THROUGH VITRO WITH ONE SHOT I HAD MY DAUGHTER I HAD 5 EGGS AND ONLY ONE SURVIVED..... SHE IS MY MIRACLE CHILD..... I KNEW THAT WITHOUT VITRO I COULD NOT HAVE ANY MORE KIDS.... BUT I WANTED TO HAVE ONE MORE SO WE WERE GOING TO WAIT A YEAR OR SO AND TRY AGAIN.... I DIDNT GET ON BIRTHCONTROL BECAUSE I DIDNT THINK I WAS GOING TO GET PREGNANT ON MY OWN...WELL 6 MONTHS LATER I GOT PREGNANT..... WE COULD NOT BELIEVE IT... THEY I WENT FOR MY FOLLOW UP CHECK UPS AND THEY SAID I WAS GREAT HEART BEAT WAS GREAT....AND LATER ON THEY FOUND OUT I WAS HAVING A BOY.... AND MY DUE DATE WAS ON MY BIRTHDAY..... IT JUST COULDNT GET BETTER THAN THAT.....WE WERE SO HAPPY...UNTIL 20 WEEKS THEY FOUND OUT I HAD SHORT CERVIX......TOLD ME I MIGHT NEED CERCLAGE BUT THEY WILL MONITOR ME CLOSE AND I WOULD HAVE TO BE ON BEDREST.... WE JUST KNEW THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE OUR SON...BUT 20.5 WEEKS CAME AND I WENT TO LABOR....WE WERE DEVASTED...AND THEY TOLD ME THEY COULDNT SAVE BABY BECAUSE HE WAS TO PREMMIE...AND IT WAS TO LATE FOR CERCLAGE........ THIS WAS SO HARD....MY CHILD DIED IN MY ARMS.....HE WAS SO HANDSOME.....I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO RAISING HIM..WITH HIS SIS........ WE LUV HIM AND THINK ABOUT HIM EVERYDAY.....WISH HE WAS STILL IN MY STOMACHE.........

WE WILL TRY AGAIN....... AND DO ALOT OF RESEARCH ON CERCLAGE........I WANT TO GET THE RIGHT ONE....

IF ANYONE KNOWS A GOOD DOCTOR IN NEWYORK THAT DOES ABDOMINAL CERCLAGE........PLEASE TELL ME

IF ANYONE HAS ANY CERCLAGE STORIES.......PLEASE TELL ME I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR TO GET INSPIRATION........THANK YOU SO MUCH

Hi Ericka, Welcome to Share.

I am so sorry about the loss of your son. It's just not fair for a parent to have to say goodbye to their child. I had my daughter at 25 weeks 6 years ago and thankfully she survived and is a healthy little girl, but I know the feeling of wanting them back in your stomach. I remember waking up every day for weeks and grabbing my stomach, hoping it was all a bad dream.

Regarding cerclages, I had a cervical cerclage in my 2nd pregnancy and it worked well. I carried my son until 38.5 weeks. My understanding is that most drs won't do an abdominal cerclage unless you have had a failed cervical cerclage. The abdominal cerclages are much more invasive and are placed prior to pregnancy and remain there permentantly - unlike a cervical one that is removed when you go into labor. There are a couple kinds of cervical stitches but I honestly don't know that one is better than the other. And cerclages generally tend to be successful, so chances are that a cervical one would work fine for you, but obviously you would have to talk to your dr to discuss it. They are most effective when placed between 12 and 14 weeks into the pregnancy because it lowers the chance of infection.

I wish you the best of luck in getting pregnant again and carrying it full term. Big hugs!
-Jackie

I am very sorry for the loss of your precious boy. I hope that getting pregnant is easy for you when the time is right.

As Jackie stated abdominal cerclages are typically not done unless cervical cerclages have not worked. I have had 3 cervical cerclages. I have two full term babies and one on the way. There may be bedrest with it and extra appointments or you might get a cerclage and have it very easy. As Jackie stated most cerclages are placed between 12 and 14 weeks (after the first trimester). I recommend talking with your regular OB and possibly seeing a Perinatologist as well. Some OB's handle everything and some work along side high risk doctors.

Wishing you the best.
Kristyn

Hi,
 My name is Luanna,living in UK and I'm new to the site.It's fantastic to be able to share stories with other people in similar life situations.
 My daughter was born at 25 weeks+3days and I've been through the most difficult time of my life.Fortunately,she is a healthy little girl now,at the age of 3 and half.Prematurity is any mother's nightmare.I'll tell you my story.
 I've been always a fit,healthy woman.I use to have a socializing smoke or drink,but nothing heavy;always watched my weight and eat healthily.When I found out I was pregnant I quit smoking and I stopped everything that would be nocive for the pregnancy.I use to work in a care home for elderly,but my OB and GP didn't interdict physical activity.On contrary,they told me keeping active is a good thing.
 My placenta was a bit low at the beggining,but with the 20 weeks scan,everything showed normal.I was very happy and confident.Prematurity never crossed my mind,as I've always been a strong woman.
 Everything started a short while, after my 20 weeks scan.The pain was so atypical,very sharp,imitating hemorrhoids pain.I applied some cream in the area and went back to bed.The next day,I went to work feeling ok,but the pain started again in front,so I had to leave straight to the hospital.I spent three days in hospital,with unbelievable "hemorrhoids pain".The doctor checked me,but I've been told that my hemorrhoids were not very bad at all,so I lived on paracetamol and caffeine tablets.Everyone thought I am one of those fussy pregnant women.I haven't been given another scan or any detailed check and I was sent home,even my pain in the dorsal region was pretty severe.After 2 hours home,I started bleeding and having proper abdominal contractions.Going back to the hospital,I've been seen by my OB assistant,I had the steroid injection and I was transferred in emergency,by ambulance,in a different hospital of a bigger city.After another 2 days I gave birth to my little girl who is so amazing.My waters didn't break,I was just fully dilated and I had an important loss of blood during birth.Nobody could give me a certain reason for my prematurity labour.
 After birth,I hardly tried to contact the OB from my town,hoping to get an explanation for what had happened.I've been simply refused to get an appointment,being told to get the information from the hospital where I gave birth.The lack of information and no interest from the medical provider was even more nerve wracking than the premature birth itself.
 I hardly try to put everything behind,especially now,that my husband and I are thinking of having another baby.I am really scared and no confident in the medical provider,whether or not,he will make all the efforts to prevent another premature birth.
 I have recently seen the medical practitioner and asked about medicines to prevent a premature birth,but I've been told they do not exist.Maybe in USA the things are a bit more advanced,because here in UK,my GP didn't hear about the progesterone shots.
 I'd be glad to hear from some other women trying for another baby after having the experience of a premature birth.
 All the best to you all!xxx

Wow, I am happy to hear your little girl is now a happy and healthy 3 year old! I'm also saddened to hear that you were blown off by medical professionals as a cranky pregnant women. I had that experience myself and it is very irritating.

I would definitely look for another doctor and maybe consider seeing a high risk doctor at least once. Sounds like your first doctor wasn't too involved anyway and I'm sure there is one near you that will care and do all he/she can to help you along with better bedside manner!

Good luck,
Kristyn

Hello and welcome to Share. Thank you for sharing your story with us. I wish you a uneventful 40 weeks during your next pregnancy.

Take good care,
Yolonda