Bon Voyage pre Viability

I don’t remember most of the first four days after Taylor’s water broke back in November of 2005. I remember being told that I should induce and “get it over with”, I remember taking sleeping pills, I remember being really uncomfortable in that labor bed, and little else. Once four days past, we were moved up to the post partum floor since it seemed that we would be around for a while. It was then that I obtained a calendar, where I circled December 15th, a date I will never forget. On that date, we reached the gestational age of 24 weeks. Prior to November 20th, 2005, I would have been very annoyed with anyone obsessing about viability and 24 weeks… Of course being told that 90 some percent of women who rupture prematurely, deliver within 48 hours, and that our babies being only 20 weeks, they would not do anything to stop labor, they would not do anything to save the babies, and they would die, sort of changes perspective.

The birth of neonatal medicine, and the advances that have been made in the past several decades, have allowed for some babies as early as 22 weeks to survive. These babies generally suffer very significant life long medical (physical and mental) handicaps as a result of their prematurity and the measures needed to keep them alive, still they survive. At 24 weeks, generally the gestation accepted as viability, babies survival rates begin to steadily increase, and the risk of these severe consequences begin to diminish with each week in utero. Therefore, it is 24 weeks gestation that many hospitals and doctors believe and begin to take lifesaving measures with regard to premature infants. We were told that nothing life saving would be done until after 24 weeks, and if labor seemed immanent for any reason (mainly infection) the course of action taken would have been induction regardless of gestation. Prior to 24 weeks, at our hospital, measures were taken only to consider the mother’s health.

Thankfully, nothing happened prior to 24 weeks, and at 24 weeks, they began to take more interest in the babies. They monitored them differently, treated me for an inevitable premature delivery, and monitored for signs of labor.

The reason for this little trip down memory lane, of course, is that we have now reached the milestone of 24 weeks gestation in this pregnancy. From here out, each weeks gives our new babies a better chance of survival, better chances of life without mental and physical hadicaps, increased likelihood of not suffering any of the consequences that Taylor and Alivya have had to survive.

This pregnancy is by no means "out of the woods", however, this milestone marks the fact that our doctor's will now do anything in their power to stop labor if it were to start, and save our babies, if labor cannot be stopped. Today we know that our babies will be born, we are now parents of four children.