Here is a brief overview of everything that happened during my pregnancy before pPROM. I am not sure if the complications I had were the cause of it or not; but it never hurts to include some background information.
At first my husband and I had no idea we were pregnant, I got my period right on time and we just figured we would try again the next month. Fortunately, I had been charting and even though I thought I was on my period the chart clearly showed I was pregnant (one of the many great reasons to chart your cycles). After getting a positive result on a home pregnancy test we made an appointment with a doctor that also had midwives on staff (the Boojum Center). I told her I had been spotting, but assumed nothing of it since that is common in early pregnancy. She told me I got a negative result from their urine test and that it was likely I had an early miscarriage. We were more confused than sad because I knew what my chart said and to me a little spotting didn't seem enough to be evidence of a miscarriage. I tried to explain why I thought she was wrong but she just continued to advise me on how to "mourn the loss of my baby" and to wait three months and try again. We left extremely defeated but got a blood test just in case she was wrong.
The next morning I still had a temperature above my cover line (i.e. the chart said DEFINITELY PREGNANT). So I decided to wing it and took another HPT, and what do you know it was positive. Shortly there after, the blood results came back positive and confirmed that the first doctor I saw was an idiot. At this point I was just pissed for being dismissed so quickly. After all, the urine test I had taken in their office had been late in the afternoon (when they are most accurate first thing in the morning). Why put anyone through all that turmoil unless you are 100% sure? Needless to say we did not go back there and instead went to another practice (MomDoc Midwives) that was far superior.
My complications started around 8 weeks when the occasional spotting I had turned into heavy bleeding. I passed a large clot (3-4 inches across) and immediately assumed I had miscarried. I knew all that blood couldn't be a good sign. It was too late to go see the midwives, and I didn't see any reason to rush to the ER. If it was a miscarriage, I was only 8 weeks a long and figured there was nothing they could do about it. I stayed in bed, tried to get some sleep and decided to make an appointment for the morning.
The next morning the midwives got me in for an ultra sound, and we were relieved to see a tiny flickering heart beat. The only strange thing was that my uterus was surrounded with blood. I was diagnosed with Subchorionic Hematoma (SCH), but typically they are just a small collection of blood between the membranes of the placenta and the uterus. We just had to wait and see how things progressed and hoped it would resolve itself. I continued to bleed heavily over the next few days (as well as passing a few more large clots) but at my next ultra sound the blood was gone. We were relieved but only for a short while, since the blood came back a week or so later (not as much but still a pocket of it). Periodic bleeds were now common place and I went in every week or so just to make sure everything was still ok.
The bleeding finally stopped about 2-3 weeks before my water broke. I thought I was in the clear and that it had all gone away for good. However, during my ultrasound (to confirm my water had broken) they did see a good sized clot of old blood. The doctors suggested this could have been the reason for the rupture, but there was no way to say for certain. To me this seemed to be the most logical cause. I can imagine the sac being very weak from all those bleeds, and if there was still a clot of old blood I can also imagine the friction between the sac and the clot being enough to rupture the membranes (this is purely based on my own speculation).
Since every woman's experience with pPROM is so different, it is so important to do your own research. Look into what options you have and don't just assume the worst based on a statistic. Reach out to other women through forums; I found the most support through the forums on www.tcoyf.com. This site is a companion to the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It is an amazing book with so much information on the female body and our reproductive system. It also teaches the basics of charting your cycles, which is beneficial to any women whether or not you are trying to conceive.
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