Water Broke at 16 Weeks- Baby Fighting for Life

This video is the 16 week ultrasound of our baby. Notice how you can hardly make out what your looking at.  This is what it looks like when the water has leaked out. Oligohydramnios is when the amniotic fluid is low. PPROM (Preterm premature rupture of membrane) is when the amniotic fluid leaks out or the water breaks early)

At first, we had a flawless pregnancy to begin. No morning sickness, no drastic weight gain, no concerns. We did reciprocal In Vitro Fertilization (RIVF).
After all the hard work towards getting pregnant (including months of injections and hormone treatment, 2 weeks for me, 12 weeks for Shamesia) we successfully tested positive for pregnancy on our first transfer! 


At about 16 weeks we went in for an ultrasound and were informed the amniotic fluid was low. We were not told that it was critical but referred to a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) Specialist. They treat any high risk pregnancy. The Dr simply said to drink more water and return in 10 days. He did touch on the worst outcome but, did not indent any real concern. Shamesia began by drinking 10 bottles of 16.8 fl oz of water every day. He was  professional but very insensitive. We came back in ten days and were told nothing had changed and that now we should know our baby has no chance of surviving.

The problem is that between week 16-20 weeks the babies lungs develop. The fluid is critical for that. He elaborated that even if she maintained the pregnancy, the baby would ultimately pass away  because it wouldn't be able to breath. He told us we could wait for her to miscarry, or wait for her to get an infection (which would be sepsis and life threatening). The state of Texas does not terminate pregnancies anymore so if we didn't want to wait for her body to miscarry, he encouraged us to go out of state to terminate the pregnancy. He was very cold and we had already agreed we wanted another opinion.

Our regular OB also was not alarmed by the information but he did deem her to bed rest until delivery. We remained hopeful and worked tirelessly to get someone to take a second look because we were at the end of 18 weeks. The clock was ticking. We got a highly rated specialist at Texas Children to take a look. The experience was much more personable and we felt cared about and respected, however, the Dr confirmed the same outcome. This time, she indented that there would be lifelong breathing problems and deformities if the baby did survive. Devastated, we decided we would go out of state instead of wait for her to miscarry or develop an infection. 

She began bleeding that night and while we were at the ER, we prayed and prayed. The Dr's and nurse staff at Houston Methodist West were very pleasant. They treated us very well. They told us that her water had been broken since 16 weeks and her body should be going into labor anytime now. They checked her for signs of labor, which there were none, and baby still seemed fine, just low fluid. They kept her on IV and antibiotics to protect her body. They spoke to us about inducing her while infection was legally brewing and asked if we wanted to see the baby as it passed away after delivery. (At the time we had a gender reveal scheduled, but since everything changed, we went ahead and learned the gender. We wanted to give her her name to talk to her by as she passed away. Yes, it's a girl!


The thought of stopping her heart beat was awful, but even worse watching her pass away.  We needed to know with our entire being that we did all that we could and without a doubt, inducing was the right decision. 

We cried and prayed some more. Many things came up that assured us we should seek a 3rd opinion and not terminate. By the graces of God we found another highly qualified, experienced and educated Dr to take a look just 2 days later. He gave us hope back and knows of new evidence that our baby stands a chance and that there is actually no reason to terminate. He  said that at 23 weeks, the baby is considered viable and that is when they will do more to help her grow stronger along with monitoring her closely etc. For now, we must monitor Shamesia and made sure she doesn't develop an infection, checking her temperature every hour, staying off of her feet, taking antibiotics, monitoring gestational diabetes, and resting.

We are now 22 weeks and as long as we make it to 23 weeks, she will be admitted into the the medical center of Houston and the baby will be given all the help she can get. The plan would be to support her pregnancy while staying at the hospital until 34 weeks, when they would deliver, unless there is a need to deliver before. There is still a chance her body will go into labor at anytime but the baby now has the ability to respond to the aid they are giving for survival.

We still can hardly see our baby because the fluid is what helps us see her.

We still have a long road ahead of us, especially if she comes very early. Once in the hospital, all attempts will be to get baby strong and healthy and of course keep her inside as long as possible.

Reasons we have hope:

Heartbeat is great,

size is great,

organs functioning and developing properly,

mom has no signs of infection,

mom has no signs of labor ( VERY RARE).
from what dr can tell, no deformities and baby is developing normal
Chest capacity is the right size which would allow the lungs to grow as needed.
Baby girl is clearly a fighter
We seem to be already defying the odds

 

In other words the baby and mom are perfectly healthy, we simply lost our fluid.

We already have a $2,000 bill form the emergency room visit and stay for 2 days. We anticipate a rather large bill after all of this An 11 weeks stay is anticipated if delivery is on time (34 weeks) , then premature treatment for baby in the hospital for another month or two.

We are hanging onto our faith and having much hope that we are in the right hands. We trust whatever God makes of this. But we truly  believe we are already a living testimony and that our baby is one of the miracles we can soon encourage others by.

If your a praying person, at the very least pray for us. Pray for our peace and encouragement, Shamesias comfort, safety, and health (she is very uncomfortable right now), babies comfort and health, and our overall courage.

Our babies name is Brielle Grace (pronounced Bre-elle).

 

Should anything unexpected come from this or we raise more funds than needed for the baby and moms stay at the hospital, we will donate the funds to either march or dimes or a charitable organization for research to help the other moms and families save their unborn babies life.

We have cancelled the gender reveal gathering and postponed the baby shower till after birth.

Thank you,
God Bless!