Our story actually
begins back in August of 2010, after 3 long years of battling IF my husband and
I decided we were ready to move forward with IVF. According to our RE it was
the "safest" way to hopefully have a viable pregnancy with the least
risk of mutiples. When the time came for our Egg Transfer, we were down to two
A quality embryos with two more that were B quality to be hopefully frozen for
later use. We made the choice to put those two A quality embryos back and two
weeks later we found out that our 1st IVF attempt worked! We were elated. We
also found out the other two embryos did not make it to freeze. It was another
4 weeks before our first ultrasound and I thought for sure I was going to have
to scoop my husband off the floor the first time, not one but TWO heartbeats
flickered on the screen and the doctor excitedly confirmed "IT'S
TWINS!"
With each passing week
and each passing ultrasound we became more and more excited. Close family and
friends already knew our BIG news, and we breathed a huge sigh of relief at 12
weeks (typically when miscarriage rates decline). At 13 weeks our world started
to flip upside down. I was at work one evening and on a call with a customer
and I remember feeling this gush almost like I had gotten a period. I remember
putting the customer on hold and rushing to the bathroom. I didn't even have to
look down, I was sobbing hysterically. I couldn't even get the words out to
tell my supervisor that I had to leave. A coworker drove me to the closest ER
where my husband met me and we waited, and waited, and waited. Finally the PA
came in and relieved our fears...both babies looked amazing and my blood levels
were where they belonged for now. The PA said it could have just been a SCH and
in hind sight I remember mention of this being visualized on our first
sonogram, but no mention on an sono after that...Not that that makes it any
less scary.
I was sent home on
bedrest and told to follow up with my OB in a few days.
I ended up switching
OB's by week 14 because the OB we first went too was less the compassionate to
our situation and lacked bedside manners. It was around this time that we made
the decision for me to quit working as well. I remember always being to
exhausted (I must have slept 18 hours a day). Things stayed calm for a few
weeks until I got an alarming call from the OB just days before Christmas...my
AFI came back higher the normal (not uncommon in twins, but alarming
nonetheless). The day before Christmas Eve I was scheduled for an appointment
with a Peri, after finding out that all "appeared" well, they
revealed the gender of the twins... A BOY AND A GIRL... !!!! We were over joyed
and excited. I remember when we found out Twin A was a girl, hubby was holding
his breath until the tech revealed Twin B was a boy. He was covered in sweat
and pale. When he spoke he said, "I thought for sure we were having two
girls and I was going to spend a lifetime worry and cleaning my shot gun, at least
this way she'll have a brother to help me keep an eye on her." We all
breathed a sigh of relief.
And then the Braxton
Hicks contractions started, they were weird and unexplainable but nothing I
couldn't handle. The OB checked us and I had been to the Peri many times, all
was well, until Jan 12th. Something was off. I remember laying down for a nap
and feeling like I wet myself. For the most part I could have sworn there was a
baby on my bladder and I felt pressure and urgency. This caused my first visit
to L & D...after a 4 hour wait only giving a urine sample I was told
everything was fine and sent home, no sono, exam, nothing. This went on for 4
days and it was sporadic but uncontrollable. After another visit to L & D
and begging the on call to hear me out, they were convinced that I was
"leaking" amniotic fluid, but each baby's fluid level measured well
so I was sent home. the next day I saw the Peri again and Twin A's fluid was
very minimal. I remember the ultrasound tech leaving the room and the long long
wait for the Peri to come in.
Everything came to a
screeching halt.......words were flying around, "Micrognathia",
"ASD", "Possible VSD", "Not compatible with life if
born prematurely," "Risk for infection" and then
"Termination." The following words will forever echo in my mind, the
Peri (not our normal doc, but his covering doc) said, "I am sure this
pregnancy is very desired considering the route you took to become pregnant
however I am telling you that it would be safest to allow us to terminate Twin
A and give Twin B a fighting chance. And then we can test the other twin and
determine what caused all this." Thank God for my husband (who is often
quiet and reserved), he fought back when I was speechless and numb, I remembering
him saying, "Do you see that little girl on that screen? Do you see her
heart beating? That's OUR little girl, and not a chance in hell we'll
terminate. As long as her hearts beating we'll fight for her. She's not a
science fair project and she'd not a statistic for one of your textbooks. She's
a human being, and our child."
The Peri went on to call
us selfish and stated that "Clearly we didn't understand the risk, and I
could get an infection or worse. And we were risking loosing both babies."
At that point I found my voice and asked this Peri to leave. The ultrasound
tech was in tears with us, and paged my OB. Luckily for us he was in the same
location that day, and had me come in for an appointment. He explained all the
risks to us in a much more civil way and promised to support our choice. He
also helped us set up for a second opinion at another high risk center. I was
only 20 weeks along, babies born at 20 weeks don't survive. I was given a round
of antibiotics and sent home. Prepped for the worst...most pPROM (Preterm
Premature Rupture of Membranes) cases delivery within 24-48 hours.
Weekly appointments and
strict bedrest for the next 4 weeks...every day I prayed and cheered these
babies on. Pleading that they stay put. At 25 weeks I was admitted to L&D
for steroids, after they were complete I begged the docs to let me go home, the
thought of staying in the hospital was too overwhelming. The doctors understood
and sympathized but I would have to sign out AMA. In a bold move (that some
strong disagreed with), and with hubby's support I signed out. I came home on a
Friday. Saturday I felt ok, anxious but ok. Sunday I felt like I was coming
down with the flu. I couldn't get comfy and I felt like baby B was under my
chest and I was just plain miserable. By Monday morning (26 weeks) I knew
something was wrong. Before my husband went to work I attempted a shower, but
it didn't help. I was convinced this was it. Hubby called his boss and we
headed to the hospital. By the time they got the monitor hooked up right I was
contracting 3 minutes apart.
My OB walked in and did
an exam. Not dilated, but the look on his face told it all... Baby A
(Addison's) heartrate was dipping and the sky rocketing. My OB looked at me and
said, "Well Happy Valentine's Day! Your babies will be here by
lunch," he turned to the nurse, "Start prepping the OR." At 1:10
Addison made her debut and Blake arrived at 1:11. It took another 45 minutes to
stop my bleeding and stitch me up. The NICU team brought Addison by in her
"carriage", aka mobile isolette, and said "Hi Mommy," then
swoosh, gone. I don't even remember what she looked like. Blake was taken to a separate
OR with a separate NICU team, hubby was the only one who got to see him.
I "met" both
my babies for the first time around 6pm that night. It was then we were told
that Blake was stable, but Addison needed to be Baptized if we so desired (the
hospital only does them in life or death situations). It was all a blur I
nodded yes and the Pastor performed her bedside Baptism. I sobbed, the nurses cried
and then I was whisked off to my room in Mother/Baby to recover. I didn't make
it back to the NICU until much later when I was finally able to walk. By that
point the Neo had already paid us a visit and asked just how far we wanted him
to go with Addison... Without a doubt our answer was, "All that you can
do."
We later learned a lot
of things that we didn't know in the beginning. Addison left us for a period of
time once she arrived in the NICU, the doctors were sure she wasn't going to
make it. In the first 48 hours of life she had several chest tubes, was on the
Oscillator and we were warned that we might be faced with some tough choices in
the coming days. Blake was such a rockstart and did fairly well. He remained
stable most of his NICU stay. Once the dust settled, we learned that Addison
did not have Mircrognathia, she did have a PDA but no ASD or VSD. (How wrong
the Peri was). Genetically speaking all of her bloodwork was normal at this
point. Both of our babies continued to defy the odds every day.
They are both now 9
months old, we've had some rough times but we've all survive. Addison does have
a cleft palate that wasn't found until probably 35 weeks adjusted, and she had
surgery for a Nissin Fundo and G-Tube. Most of her nutrition comes from the
G-Tube, however we are working daily on increasing her oral feeds. Our goal is
to have her ready to transition away from the G-Tube after her cleft
palate repair in April/May 2012, so closer to her 2nd birthday. Blake came home
from the NICU on oxygen for feeds only and a monitor for about a month but is
otherwise doing well. He loves, loves, loves to eat solids and is undeniably a
Momma's boy.
I am a NICU mom, a twin mom, and an AMA mom. (that last one is Advanced Maternal age). I was 39 when I was blessed with my twin pr...
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