preemie-l Having a second preemie
Anne Turner (aturner@nla.gov.au)
Fri, 14 Jun 96 15:57:00 PDT
I wish I could have seen this list before I made my decision.
I talked to every one I knew who might even vaguely be an authority,
including the three doctors among my siblings, my GP etc. (and the women at
work naturally)
It took me six years to risk another preemie birth.
AFTER I got pregnant my GP refered me to a local doctor who had a very good
reputation for managing pregnant women. I left this second doctors surgery
in tears as he basically told me I had very little chance of completing the
pregnancy without complications, and implied that I was very irresponsible
for even contemplating another pregnancy. He refered me to an obstetrician.
The obstetrician was very reassuring and positive. I saw him a grand total
of three times, before I had my second preemie at 28 weeks, which was worse
than the first time when I had lasted til 32 weeks.
(Just a note: the doctor who delivered my second preemie practically offered
to tie my tubes on the spot, in order to encourage me not to have any more
children. He was only joking, but I got the point)
Moral of this story: Ask every one, they will all have an opinion, and
often helpful useful advice. Know that there is a chance things will go
wrong and be prepared.
My secret fear was that I would get a different complication the second
time, or equally the same one. I did all the reading I could and
successfully got myself to hospital in time when I developed preeclampsia
almost overnight.
Anne Turner