Background

This pregnancy had been difficult from the start. I got pregnant after months of fertility treatments. Our magic cocktail was Follistim, Clomid, and hCg. Before I even got a positive test back, I developed Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. This is a relatively rare disorder that can be caused by fertility treatments. The symptoms include enlarged ovaries, abdominal pain, and fluid leaks into the abdomen and chest cavity. It can also result in bloating, pressure, nausea, shortness of breath, increased abdominal measurement causing clothes to feel tight, thirst, and weight gain. I had almost all of these. It can last for up to 10 weeks, but mine only lasted for approximately two weeks. The pelvic ultrasound revealed that I was carrying triplets. Sadly, we lost one at 3 weeks and one at 10 weeks. In mid-June I had an episode of bleeding that my doctors felt was from the other sacs separating. I also had 4 raging UTIs (Urinary Tract Infections) during my second trimester. Throughout all this, the baby did just fine.

The next couple of weeks were relatively uneventful. Dr. Christmas and my OB, Dr. Davis, decided to put in a pessary to keep my cervix closed. Since I presented relatively late with an incompetent cervix, Dr. Christmas did not feel comfortable putting in a cerclage (a stitch that pulls the cervix shut, like a drawstring purse). There was a high risk of rupturing my membrane and the baby was not yet viable. The pessary was a good alternative. It is a device like a small foam ring that causes the cervix to point posteriorly as in a normal pregnancy (an incompetent cervix points anteriorly within the axis of the vagina). Direct pressure on the cervix is eliminated and premature dilation and membrane rupture may be prevented.

I didn’t have any more contractions after that first day. At one point, they were going to let me go home, but an ultrasound revealed that my cervix was funneling again. That was a disappointing day – I was thoroughly sick of being in the hospital and Andrew really wanted me home. Things were pretty stable until early Tuesday, August 30, 2005, when I started bleeding around midnight. I was uneasy, but not too upset because everything had been fine during my June episode. After an initial gush, the bleeding dwindled to nothing. Dr. Davis wasn’t excessively concerned, but she did order an ultrasound for me. It revealed that I wasn’t dilated and my membrane hadn’t ruptured. My placenta looked great, there was no blood in my uterus, and there was no previa (a condition whereby the placenta implants in the lower part of the uterus and obstructs the cervical opening to the birth canal). The doctors felt that I was probably bleeding from my cervix or it was another complication from the other sacs. I went back to my room and tried to relax. Then, at almost the exact same time on Wednesday August 31, 2005, I started bleeding again. We went through the same things and they were still unable to tell what was causing the bleeding. I was put on total bedrest, which meant that I couldn’t get out of bed for any reason. That was the end of showering, which was very hard for me. I’m somewhat obsessive-compulsive and tremendously fastidious about being clean. At that point, I was 24.5 weeks along.