Louise Adams and her husband Jakk were anxious to welcome a new baby into their family when the doctor delivered four words they refused to accept. The couple was crushed with the prognosis of her pregnancy, but they wouldn’t listen to the obstetrician’s warning. In fact, Louise began drinking, but it was to help her baby. Little did she know the effect that it would have…
At 22 weeks into her pregnancy, Louise‘s water broke. When this happens so early in a pregnancy, the outlook for the baby isn’t good. In fact, her doctors told the couple that their baby–a boy–only had a five percent chance of surviving. If her water had broke at or after 24 weeks, the pregnancy would have been considered more viable.
They were told by the doctors to prepare for the worst.”Your baby won’t survive.”
But there was no way Louise, 28, and Jakk were going to simply wait for her to miscarry, which is what the medical team told her would happen within a few days. She was to be monitored in the hospital until that devastating moment.
“But I could feel Joseph kicking. I couldn’t just sit around doing nothing to save him.”
So instead of giving in to defeat, the couple researched how they could save their unborn baby boy’s life. They discovered all-natural options that mothers around the world attested to. These remedies saved their babies when they endured preterm premature membrane ruptures, the couple learned.
What was this lifesaving trick that no doctor had told them about? It was drinking water. A lot of water. Seven pints of water each day minimum, to be exact. That much water helps replenish the amniotic fluid that has been lost, which encourages the baby to remain in utero and continue growing instead of miscarrying.
“The more the mother drinks the more the baby drinks and urinates. As excretion of the urine by the unborn baby is the major source of amniotic fluid production in the second half of pregnancy, it made sense that increasing my fluid intake could make a difference.”
Not only did Louise down extra gallons of water every day for 13 weeks, she drank cranberry juice and ate raw cloves. She learned that those two food items help stave off infections that can occur due to her water breaking early. She focused on her baby, which they planned to name Joseph, and helping him fight the odds. Still, the doctors were skeptical.
“I shut myself off from the world. It wasn’t easy but I drank around seven pints (of water) a day. They (the doctors) told me there was little research and it was unlikely to make a difference. But I had nothing to lose.”
Thanks to a lot of water, cranberry juice, garlic and bedrest, the family received the miracle they were hoping for. Louise was able to nourish Baby Joseph enough past the 24-week mark that the doctors gave her steroids to help mature the baby’s lungs and antibiotics to prevent infection. He was born via cesarean section weighing five pounds, 10 ounces. Tiny, but alive.
Even Baby Joseph‘s older brother Isaac never gave up hope that his little brother would enter the world. After his birth, Baby Joseph remained in the hospital for just one week before being discharged to go home. After being told he wouldn’t survive, Baby Joseph is truly a fighter.
“I’m convinced he survived such low odds because when my waters broke, I replaced them by ensuring I was well hydrated.“
