Day 31

Quick Update: Not much new to share…mostly a clarification of our current status.

Mom and dad are back in town –yeah! With daily help from them, everything is so much easier – well as easy as can be given the circumstances.

I am using this update to answer many of the questions that have been posed in recent days…

What is your due date? Originally, the doctors settled on July 9 as the estimated birth date, but given the pPROM complication, we will be extremely lucky to get to 30 weeks, let alone 40.

What is pPROM? Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes. In my case, the bag that holds the amniotic fluid which protects the baby and allows growth burst at 17 weeks 2 days gestation. A woman’s “water breaks” generally signals the beginning of labor and delivery.

Why did this happen? It was probably caused by an infection; however, doctors cannot answer this question definitively.

What is the difference between “sealing over” or “continuing to leak”? Medical science tells us that Baby Wittenberg needs amniotic fluid to develop properly; without it our baby will likely be born with severe abnormalities of the lungs, brain and/or limbs and survival would be unlikely. As long as I continue to leak the amount of fluid available to the baby is limited and thus chance for survival decreases.

Also, leaking indicates the amniotic bag is still torn/open. These means there continues to be an open pathway for infection between the outsi de world and my womb and child. An infection would put my life as well as our child’s in serious danger.

Bottom line is that sealing over is a game changer and is extremely rare. It would substantially lower the risks to the baby and to me as we move forward.

Can the doctors tell if the baby will be born ok? Medical science can tell us a lot, but there is no way to definitively know the impact of pPROM on the lungs or brain until birth. Between 17 and 19 weeks, when our child was without much fluid is when the lungs begin to form. The baby could grow perfectly in every other way, but be born without lungs to breathe. At a later date closer to viability, the doctors may choose to give me steroids to strengthen baby Wittenberg’s lungs in order to survive an premature birth. This is only effective if the lungs have actually formed.

What are doctors doing now? Truthfully, not much. Until I reach about 24 weeks, which is the earliest the doctors say the baby can survive outside the womb, they take a “wait-and-see” approach.

What happens at 24 weeks? Again, we are in a holding pattern. It is likely that at some point after that date they will put me in the hospital in order to monitor the baby and I 24/7.

Are you feeling OK? By and large yes. My biggest challenge is lying at no more than a 45 degree angle most of the day…Needless to say, after about 3 days my back was aching and at this point my whole body feels stiff.

We go back to the doctor on Thursday for my weekly blood work.

Thanks for the concern and prayers.

Carie Anne