PPROM - My Pregnancy Journey with Beau

March 27 is the 3-year anniversary of my water breaking early with my son, Beau.

In honor of that, I wanted to share his delivery in hopes that it will give anyone who has been through a complicated pregnancy, c-section, or postpartum experience some hope. I know that when I was going through IVF, and in the hospital after my water broke, I spent hours looking for someone with a story like mine...so I hope this finds someone!

Note: if you are pregnant right now this story can be triggering - so please don't read if it will be stressful for you.

March 27, 2019:

On March 27 2019 I came home from work, made Bailey Dinner, sat on the couch, and my water broke everywhere. I was 27 weeks pregnant.

Up until this point, I had been having an extremely active, healthy pregnancy until that point. PPROM (official name) is very rare, and in my case, we don't have any idea why it happened/

March 27- May 3rd:

I lived in the hospital on bed rest. 

My temp was checked 6 times a day for the infection

Beau's heartbeat was checked 2x a day on the monitor 

We had 2 ultrasounds a week to check he was ok and my amniotic fluid wasn't going below a 2. 

When my water broke I lost almost all of my fluid - he hovered at a 4 but every time I moved I leaked more fluid.

April and May:

When my water broke I was told Beau would be in the NICU no matter what and I would need a c-section because of his position. 

I desperately didn't want to recover from a c-section and convinced a high-risk DR. to try a version to flip him. 

They would only agree if we tried to version on the operating room table after I had a full spinal tap.

May 3rd:

Above all odds - I managed to stay pregnant until Beau had to be delivered at 34 weeks. At this point, the risk of infection becomes too high. 

This was such a different experience from my first birth. I remember being in my hospital bed doing my hair for the first time in months.

May 3rd:

 We prepped for a c-section (just in case), performed a spinal tap, and started the version. 

 Two full-grown men manually tried to flip Beau for 45 minutes. While I was completely numb this is the closest I've ever seen kent to vomiting.

May 3rd:

Unfortunately, the version wasn't successful. You can see from the look on my face I was starting to get really nervous and bummed out.

May 3rd:

we moved on to the c-section. 24+ people were in the operating room for Beau's birth between Kent, The high-risk delivery team, my OB, and the NICU team. Because I had been in the hospital so long I was also really close with the residents on my floor. They all came to cheer us on.

The c-section itself was so quick. I was able to touch Beau for a second before the NICU team took over and he was rushed downstairs. Kent followed and I was sewn back up.

May/June: 

Perhaps the weirdest time. I was able to go home after 4 days while Beau stayed in the NICU. I entered the hospital in some of the best shapes of my life - I left in a wheelchair is by far the worst.

May/June: 

Physically I was extremely weak, swollen, and oh so frustrated. My body felt like a different person. I was desperately trying to pump 9 times a day to feed my premie. In addition, while I was sitting in the NICU during the week Beau was there I passed 4 fist-sized blood clots. 

I remember staring at them in the hospital bathroom, wrapping them in a paper towel, and showing them to the NICU nurses. I kept promptly being whisked upstairs to the ICU where no one could figure out why I was passing them.

Summer 2019:

Eventually, our little Beau grew, thrived, and came home. Physically I continued to improve but emotionally was so down on myself.

After my first pregnancy, I was able to truly bounce back. I lost all my baby weight within a month of delivery and was running a week after my daughter was born. NOT the case this time. 

Not only did I have ab separation, was out of shape, but physically looked and felt like someone I didn't know.

I loved beau so much....but I hated my body.

Summer 2019:

This experience caused me to reach out for all the support I could get in the postpartum world from personal trainers to pelvic floor Drs. to acupuncturists. 

It was insanely hard, painful work, but by four months of training, I was able to start feeling like myself again. 

This photo was taken in Oct after spending 4 months diving deep into my own postnatal training.

Today

The experience changed me forever. It taught me how much was needed to support women in the postnatal space and how much was needed.

I had always been in the fitness space and wanted to leave my job - but this gave me the push. When Beau was four months old I went back to school full time. I then went on to get additional certifications in pre and postnatal. In 2020 I opened my own business - Method!!

Today I help women of all pregnancy experiences get in the best shape of their lives.