Emma Bradbury
Arthur's Birthday
Fundraising for UCLH Charity
Story
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One year ago on the 18th March I was happily chilling on the sofa with Harry listening to Bob Marley and in an instant my world changed! Little did I know I had stepped onto a crazy rollercoaster ride that would test me to my mental limits!
My premature delivery was due to something call PPROM which stands for Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membrane (your amniotic fluid), the cause of mine was never determined, it could of been my tooth infection, my early bleed losing a twin sac or just one of those things.
PPROM is currently untreatable, misunderstood and so bloody scary! A major cause of prematurity is due to PPROM.
So back to the sofa, chilling to Bob Marley snuggled up with Harry when I have a small outlet of fluid.... I was shocked, hoping I wet myself but in my heart knowing what it was. Concerned and having changed I lay on my side for an hour and then stand up with a big amount of fluid (still not huge) but I was pretty sure I knew what it was. Eventually Adrian returned home and I explain what had happened he was conceived I have lost bladder control as at 25 weeks pregnant it would be way early for my waters to go! So fast forward a few hours and it's still happening so I call triage and they aren't convinced my waters have not gone but are happy to see me.
Off we trundle to our local hospital notes in one hand and an over night bag in the other "just in case"... not the perfect Sunday relaxation one was hoping for!
After some hanging around in the delivery room, having a giggle trying to distract my nervous mind, the midwife does the test on the fuild to see if it is in fact amniotic fluid, the test is simple and kinda like a pregnancy test, after a few minutes nervously waiting but being reassured that they still didn't believe it was my water, she says "its negative, it must of be loss of control of your bladder, you will be able to go home" I was so relieved and never would I imagine being so happy to of wet myself! Off she goes to get the test checked by a senior Midwife as I get myself fully dressed and joke about my incontinence.
The midwife comes back in the room, I can instantly tell by her face something was wrong! My stomach dropped and I was mortified! She explained it was in fact positive and my waters had gone and a doctor would be along to see me.
I was instantly scared, I was hoping the doctor would reassure me, I don't really remember much from that point. I know the reassurance I was hoping wasn't given, instead it was fear, sorrow and terror. They needed to move me hospitals ASAP as they liked to avoid delivering babies under 32 weeks due to the care they need, they said the likelihood of me going into labour within 48hrs was high! With the closest neonatal hospital having no beds or neonatal cots my closes option was a hospital 42 miles from home!
As I await for the ambulance to arrive my husband goes back home to be with our son. The ambulance could take hours.... so I am left in a dimly lit delivery room in the middle of the night on a delivery which are not designed for sleeping, scared, lonely and feeling like an utter failure. I cry, I drift in and out of sleep feeling like I was in a nightmare..... until 6am when the ambulance crew arrive to take me to my new home, I bust into tears as I realised this was all too real and although it was a nightmare it was one I couldn't wake up from.
Being away from home on your own when you are vulnerable and scared, unknown whether the life inside you will survive is an awful place to be, knowing at this early stage there is nothing that can be done but wait, monitor and see what happens!
Fast forward 2weeks having been told after many tests that I would make it to 34 weeks, very quickly and totally out of the blue my little Arthur bear decided to make an appearance. There I was not long arriving at my local hospital from home, with a totally shocked midwife and husband hitting the emergency button as this tiny 2lb baby lay crying on the bed, the doctor less then 30 minute previous ensured me my pain was from a UTI not because I was in labour.
My story has a happy ending with Arthur's birthday approaching, many peoples stories end differently. I have everything I could possibly need, as does Arthur, a life, family and love, so if you would like to give Arthur something to celebrate his life, then please donate to this wonderful charity. They are researching on how to repair the Membrane once it has broken, that could save so many lives and so much heartache.
No one really explained PPROM to me. There was no words of encouragement from the hospital staff, no mental support offered and I was just left to deal with it....broken and scared.
I found support from some great Facebook groups. Words of encouragement, success stories and ways to help PPROM, little heartbeats being one which is how I discovered this amazing research.
That is why I want to tell you my story, to help spread awareness about it. It could happen to anyone, you, your daughter, granddaughter, your neighbour or a friend.
Save a little life, keep a baby inside the womb longer, save a baby suffering life in the NICU, save a mother's sanity even if you can help being giving £1 every little bit helps.
Thank you in advance
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