Ruptured Membrane (Water Broke)

I personally don't have any response my 1st DD my membranes ruptured at 34 weeks but I delivered, and she spent 9 days in the NICU. Please try the website:

www.shareyourstory.org

It is a March of Dimes website filled with women (and men) with good (and bad) stories of premature births, birth defects, and illness. I know when my 1st DD was born 6 weeks premaure and my niece 13 weeks premature it helped me condsiderably with all my questions and emotions. They truely are wonderful people there. I urge you and your friend to check it out. I'll say a prayer for your friend, babies, and family.

My niece was born at 27 weeks and termed "growth retarded" so she was actually smaller than a 27 week old should be. She spent 109 days in the NICU and is 14 mo old now. There are still challenges but really for all she has went through she is doing great.

My water broke and resealed at 30 weeks. It took two weeks to get the fluid levels back to the right level, but it all worked out great.
However, if her water is gone, I would be seeking a second opinion on the bed rest thing, because I didn't think it was safe to go more than 24 hours.

K.,

This can turn out well. I have known two people that this happened to and both gave birth to babies who ended up fine in the end. It's a long uphill battle, however. Infection is one of the biggest concerns now because the bag of waters is key to stopping that. She will probably spend the remainder of her pregnancy on bedrest and there is a very strong chance that she will finish her pregnancy in the hospital. If she is there a couple of weeks or a couple of months, I am sure she will appreciate your visits, calls and emails and gifts or loans like books, magazines, CDs and other time fillers.

What they usually do is just take the babies as soon as they are old enough to have a good chance at survival: 28-30 weeks. They start steroid treatments to speed up the babies lung development. They can give mom antibiotics to stop infection. Most likely she will have c-sections.

Here is a website that clearly explains the chances of survival based on how many weeks along the mom is...
http://www.spensershope.org/chances_for_survival.htm
There are other links to the website your friend might find helpful - emotional support and NICU information.

After the babies are born, they usually stay in the hospital for several weeks. Doctors say to expect them to be released about the time of their real due date, but most babies beat that timeline.

Hopefully your friend has good medical insurance. One of the people I knew in this situation didn't. She had to be life flighted to the hospital and stay there for over two months and the baby stayed for another 2 months. The bill was well over $1 million. I am not a big believer in government handouts, but this is a situation where it was well warranted. There are medicare programs and other government helps if this is her situation.

Have hope. These things can turn out well. Good wishes and prayers always help in these situations. I hope things turn out very well for your friend.

S.

Hi K.,

My water broke at 23 weeks. I was in the hospital on bedrest for nearly 10 weeks. My son was born 2 months premature at 4 lbs. 3.3 oz. He was in NICU for 4 1/2 weeks and progressed wonderfully.

He is now 16 months old and at a healthy 23 lbs. He is definitely our miracle baby.

During the time I was on bedrest I did a lot of reading and found that it is very common for women pregnant with twins to go on bedrest early and have premature ruputure of membranes. It is definitely a very emotional time, but getting support from friends and family is what gets you through.

Your friend is lucky to have a friend like you and continue to support her and share positive stories.

My water broke at 29 1/2 weeks with my second and I sat on bedrest in the hospital for 2 weeks before my daughter was born. I obviously was not as early as your friend, but everything turned out great. My daughter just turned 2 in Dec and is way above normal in her milestones. I continually leaked fluid and the doc's let me know that your body conitnues to produce amniotic fluid and actually triggers the developement of your baby. I'm sure she is good hands.......I will say a little prayer.

No personal stories... but I think I read about a miracle on-line.
Have you tried searching on the net for stories?
If I remember correctly the situation was dire, in trying to keep the babies in there, the mother ended up with other complications which made getting the babies out their best option!
Good luck. These days preemies as early as 22 weeks can survive!
Good thoughts and prayers your way.

My water broke at 32 weeks, which I know is later than your firend, but they told me that the water does regenerate some. It will not go back to what it was, but they say you can go weeks like that. She will have to remain on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy and they will probably do weekly ultrasounds to see how the fluid is maintaining. My little boy was delivered 2 days after my water broke and he is doing great at almost 4. It is a miracle though how modern medicine works. While they do not like to go more tahn 48hours with the water broken, they do what they have to do...keep those babies in. My guess is she will deliver early, only because there is a serious chance of infection, but hopefully all turns out well. Give her my best.

I had low amniotic fluid throughout my pregnancy with my daughter. My water broke at about 36 weeks. I gave birth to a 6 lb daughter who had to spend 10 days in the NICU. She is now a very happy and healthy 21 month old. Not exactly the same situation as your friend but the low amniotic fluid did not cause any problems.

Hi:
I have a wonderfully happy story to share that will definitely give your friend alot of hope! This same thing happened to my good friend at 21 weeks and her doc kept her in the hospital bedridden and kept measuring the fluid to make sure it didn't get too low. Then when her body was ready to go into labor (about 5 days later), she delivered both of her beautiful girls. They were both less than 2 lbs but they fully recovered and are now in 4th grade and fully thriving. So that was 8 years ago - they've come so much further medically now. Good luck to your friend and I'll keep her in my prayers!

This happened to my friend. I think the water broke for one (Baby M) at 23 or 24 weeks, and eventually both were born about 25 weeks. Interestingly, Baby M who had been in distress for so long was the stronger b/c she had been fighting for her life, whereas the other Baby (Baby B) was progressing normally, but not under stress and not ready to be born at 25 weeks. They were in NICU for quite some time. Baby M had some issues with her eyes, and she is currently developmentally delayed and small, but she is catching up and they expect her to be within range. She is regarded as the family miracle baby having survived all she's been through!

i was pregnant with twin boys and my water broke for both of my sacs at 17 weeks i stayed in the hospital for 2months and i had them at 25weeks and they were 1 lb 14oz each but they went through alot and they are 2years old now and they go to therapy but they are healthy and the doctors called them miracles.

Hi,
this happened to me last April 26. I was due June 25, and my membranes ruptured at 31 weeks. I was having contractions, but they stopped after about 24 hours. I spent 3 weeks in the hospital on complete bed rest in the antepartum unit. I drank a ton of water, leaked a lot of fluid, but kept the baby growing until 34 weeks. He spent 2 weeks in the NICU, but is now 10 months old and is completely caught up developmentally and is very healthy.
There is hope for your friend!

Hi K.,

I have a friend who this happened to. I think she was around 21 wks when she started leaking amniotic fluid. The doctors kept her on bedrest, and she had the baby about two months early. She had a little trouble with fluid in her ears but is otherwise totally healthy and actually bigger than my daughter who went full-term! I also have two other friends who had early babies - one at 28 wks and the other at 31 wks. You'd never be able to tell that either of those children were preemies, either! :D Tell your friend not to worry - the doctors know what they're doing, and it's amazing what miracles can happen!

C.

HI K.,
I just wanted to let you know that my water broke at 31 weeks with my 3rd child. I didn't go into labor, as they thought I would. I was in the hospital on bedrest for a couple of weeks. My placenta abrupted which led to an emergency c-section, but that isn't necessariily the case with your friend.

Tell you friend that for every day she remains pregnant that is 3 days her baby won't be in the NICU. She can remain pregnant for a long time with ruptured membranes. They just have to monitor her closely for infection and keep her in antibotics. I know this is a hard time for her. My daughter was born 7 weeks early, but she's a perfectly normal 6 year old now. Tell her to drink lots of water to help replenish the fluid.

My prayers are with her.