by Lee Cordon, Dallas Blogger, DoSayGive

In our modern medical era, I naively thought that there was a treatment or cure for most high risk pregnancy conditions. When my water broke at 14 weeks gestation, a condition known as Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes or PPROM, I found out the hard way that this wasn’t the case. I’ll never forget looking at the bouncing figure on the hazy ultrasound screen (hazy because these machines see through water and I didn’t have any) and not believing my ears when the specialist advised us to terminate the pregnancy.
You see, medical professionals, particularly those trained in the high risk field, are taught that there is little hope – and definitely no “fix”- when a woman’s amniotic sac breaks before viability (23 weeks). Their main priority is the woman’s health and once an amniotic sac ruptures the woman is at risk for infection, bleeding, and death.

My eyes glazed over as I listened to the grim statistics my MFM doctor shared: the chances of a baby surviving to viability without me contracting an infection were very slim. The chances of my baby developing enough lung tissue to breathe on her own were even slimmer. And the fact that I also had a partial placental abruption and bleeding made everything even worse. “Even if for some reason you made it to viability,” she said, “this baby would be severely disabled, both mentally and physically.”

When my husband and I begged for any trial or alternative treatments around the country we could try, we were told that none of them had proven effective. Most just introduced infection, which is what we were trying to avoid. There was nothing we could do except go home, get in the bed, and “pray for a miracle.”

So that’s what we did.

For the first few days, though, I sobbed under my covers, lost in my own hopelessness. But every time I cried more fluid leaked out (pregnant women are always producing fluid, but when your amniotic sac is ruptured, it would just leak out). It made me want to be still and never move or laugh. The stress of it all was almost too much.

Then my sister forwarded me a website she found about PPROM. I searched desperately for stories of hope on the page. Most of the PPROM stories had sad endings. But then I stumbled upon a story of a baby boy whose mother PPROM’d about the same time. And he survived! I read the story over and over again, looking for any similarities and gleaning any tips as to what this mother did to help avoid infection and keep her baby inside.
After a week I started having a bit more hope. My mom pretty much moved in with us to help with our two-year-old. I started a website to keep friends and family up to date. My sweet OB was encouraging and hopeful at my next appointment. The fact that I hadn’t miscarried that first week was a huge turning point.

During my time on bed rest at home, I filled the days with reading and writing and praying. I couldn’t watch tv because it seemed so trivial in such a serious time. I only got up to use the bathroom and took a shower every few days. And, based on the advice from the mothers in the PPROM group board, I drank a ton of water. Not only to help avoid infection but to aid in the development of amniotic fluid. There is no scientific proof for this, but I was desperate to try anything.

Nine weeks passed. At 23 weeks gestation, I was admitted to the hospital since the baby was considered “viable.” I thought things would be so much easier in the hospital where they could monitor the baby often and get her out quickly if possible. But I found the opposite to be true. The six weeks I spent on the antepartum floor were extremely difficult. I’ve never felt more alone in my life. Not only was I away from my family, but sleep was impossible with the constant interruptions (and the bed was just awful!). And I was routinely reminded of the probable ending of all this bed rest: our baby probably wouldn’t be able to breathe when she was born and would pass away within a few minutes.

At 29 weeks gestation things took a turn for the worse. I was raced in for an emergency C-section. It was like out of a movie. They were able to get her out so quickly. The whole time I was praying she would cry when she was born. Crying might mean she had enough lung tissue to breathe. When they pulled her out we heard a little whimper. And instead of putting her on my chest to take her first and final breaths, they raced her up to the NICU. I only saw a glimpse of her as they raced by, but I was not upset. I was praising God that they were doing just that. It meant she had enough lung tissue to be intubated.

Our 29 weeker spent three months in the NICU. The first few days were touch and go and there were several times we almost had to say our goodbyes. But she prevailed. We prevailed. Don’t get me wrong, the journey has not been easy. The first four years of her life were filled with surgeries, buttons, and therapy almost every day, but it has all been worth it. The 15 weeks on bed rest were worth it.

Our preemie is nearly nine years old now. She goes to a rigorous academic school, plays soccer and basketball, and not surprisingly, is the most determined child I know.

She also gave us hope when I PPROM’d at 23 weeks with my fourth child. You can read her story here.

You can learn more about Lee on her blog, DoSayGive, and more about PPROM support at Little Heartbeats.

By Brittany Elise Anderson RN-NICU, CLC

As a NICU nurse, newborn photographer, lactation consultant, and mother of two I have always been an advocate for mother and baby connections. The act of producing and providing breastmilk to our new little babies is one of our most precious roles as moms. It is often our first “challenge” as new mothers (and yes, it is a huge challenge) and many of us enter into it with fears, anxiety, questions, and doubts. It is my hope, that after reading this post, you will feel educated, but also empowered, as we are uniquely built for this task and opportunity in our babies’ lives.

Breastmilk is quite possibly the most powerful medicine a baby can receive while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It is one of the most calorically dense liquids produced in the human body. In the first few days following birth, the milk produced by mom is extremely thick and rich. Not only is breastmilk a rich nutritional staple, but also the first line of defense for a new little one. More important than nutrition, are breastmilk’s germ-fighting antibodies, helping to build babies’ immune systems. This is the main reason why it is so important for moms to try and produce milk early post-partum and why those first few drops are called “liquid gold” by NICU staff.

At birth, a premature baby’s immune system is undeveloped and extremely vulnerable. They haven’t had the exposure to bacteria, viruses, and fungi necessary for developing their own immunity, but a mom’s exposure to these “bugs” over her lifetime has left her body packed full of immensely powerful immune cells. To use a simple analogy, it is almost like a mom giving her child a cheatsheet of every test she ever took in school so they have a head start in life. Breastmilk can serve as a baby’s first round of immunizations and gives them a substantial head start in the immunity department. But the more amazing part of this whole process is the uniquely created antibodies that are custom built exclusively for her baby. When a mother touches and exposes her body to the same germs and bacteria that her baby is being exposed to, she begins to produce “custom-made” milk just for her baby!

Not only is the immune system underdeveloped in premature babies, but the respiratory, gastric and intestinal systems (GI) are too. When a baby has immature lungs they will frequently drop their blood oxygen levels. When this happens the body shunts blood to the most important organs including the brain. Even just a few drops of a mothers breastmilk can help to coat and protect the lining of the GI system and reduce the occurrence of these problems.

In extreme prematurity (less than 28 weeks) a baby may not be able to even digest food. Doctors will begin to introduce milk by swabbing the babies mouth with the mother’s breast milk. This allows for the body to begin receiving those amazing germ-fighting antibodies and also “prime” the GI tract for digestion. Breastmilk helps with GI motility and digestion and data shows that very premature babies have better outcomes when breastmilk is introduced early on, specifically outcomes related to nutrition and GI function.

I know this is a ton of science but hopefully, this helps you to better understand just how amazing breastmilk is and why it is so important for a premature baby or ANY baby for that matter.

Therapy animals have always had a big impact in my life. It began when I was 2 years old and my mom was in the hospital with my brother Hill. I visited her every day, but Wednesday was the day the therapy dog came. It was always the highlight of my day! It was an amazing experience because I had a connection with animals, especially when I was little. The dog made me feel better in tough times.

About a year and a half ago I decided I wanted to do the same when we got our pigs, Thunder and Bolt. One day I heard about a therapy pig on the news and I thought, “We could do this with the pigs.” I researched pigs and found out they are much smarter than dogs. I began preparing them for their certification test. After they passed we started visiting the kids and adults receiving treatment at Tampa General Hospital. There are so many amazing things about therapy animals, but here are 5 reasons why therapy animals make the world a better place.

1. They brighten people’s day

To me, nothing is better than seeing a patient smile when they see the pigs. When we visit Tampa General Hospital the patients and nurses have these huge smiles on their faces as soon as they see the pigs! Therapy animals have a positive impact on people. They make people smile even when they have not smiled in a while. Thunder and Bolt have made people smile around the world. On their Instagram @Thunderboltpigs, we receive direct messages from people that are struggling. They say stuff like, “I have been going through a hard time and when I see your pigs my whole day turns around!” And those types of messages make me smile!!

2. They bring a positive impact for hospital visits

When I was little I used to dread going to the hospital because it just reminded me of how sick my mom was, but when the therapy dog started to come I loved it! He made me feel better during those tough times. Thunder and Bolt have had that impact on people too. I remember one time we were visiting with the pigs this little kid came up to me and said, “I wish they could come every day!” That’s when I knew they were bringing a positive impact on kids.

3. They make the hospital a less scary place for kids

The hospital can be a scary place, especially for kids. Tampa General Hospital has done many things to help kids feel better about their stay. Many kids have a love for animals like I do. When a therapy animal comes they light up. Frowns turn to smiles, and they run to them. There are many different types of therapy animals that kids connect to. The little girls connect with the “unicorn” and the boys love the dogs. It makes them feel happy during a hard time.

4. They teach people compassion for animals.

When you think of a pig the first thing that may come to mind is bacon. Many people think that before meeting the pigs. After they meet them and play with them for a little it’s hard to for them to eat bacon. It teaches a lot of people that pigs are friends, not food. I have one friend that stopped eating pork products because of the pigs.

5. They inspire people.

Therapy animals are an inspiration to everyone. They show people that an ordinary dog or horse can make a difference and that inspires people to do their own type of good. Even though it’s hard to train a therapy animal, people are taking what therapy animals do and doing it themselves. Which I think is amazing!

Therapy animals are so amazing in many ways! They make people smile and they inspire others! Those are my top 5 reasons therapy animals make the world a better place.