After
two years of infertility, multiple methods of advanced reproductive technology
(ART), my fourth medicated cycle which was a converted one from IUI to IVF was
successful. At my six week ultrasound, I
found out I was carrying twins!
My
pregnancy had some concerns. At seven
weeks, they were concerned with Baby A’s yolk sac and its viability. However, a viability ultrasound at eight
weeks showed this to be a non-issue.
Then, at nine weeks, I started bleeding.
I was diagnosed with a subplacental tear / subchorionic
hematoma. I continued to bleed for eight weeks and it
was a long, stressful time during my pregnancy.
Finally, at week 17, it stopped and I breathed a sigh of relief. From that point on I was glowing! I felt like a million bucks, everything
looked excellent with the babies on my ultrasounds, and I was so excited to be
pregnant and enjoying my pregnancy to the fullest.
On
Thursday, January 19, 2012, I was lying in bed watching the news and I thought
I peed my pants. I literally got out of bed laughing because I couldn’t
believe I was doing that kind of stuff at only 25 weeks. I took my pants
off and noticed it was more than just a dribble – and then I went into the
bathroom and I was gushing fluid. I knew right then and there that this
wasn’t urine and that my water had broke.
I
called down to my husband and told him we had to go to the hospital. He
came running upstairs and couldn’t believe his eyes. I was hysterical but
he grabbed me my phone so I could call the OB office and they told me to get to
the hospital as soon as possible. My husband was literally frozen with
fear – he was walking in circles and trying to secure the house and the dogs
and I just lost it, grabbed my keys, and got into my car with him chasing
behind me. I couldn’t wait one more second and just HAD to get to the
hospital.
So, yes, I drove myself the 37 miles to our regional hospital
all while on the phone with my mom, grandmother, and best friend (and fellow
preemie mom) Julie. I made it in 30 minutes. My mom met me there
and my husband soon followed. When I pulled into the hospital, I saw what
I thought was the valet guy and literally hopped out of my car and handed him
my keys. I didn’t care whether he was actually a valet or if I just gave
my new car to some random guy in a red coat. I walked as fast as I could
with a towel between my legs and made it to the birthing center where my mom
was waiting. Note: it was a valet and I still have my car.
They
started me on monitors for both babies heartbeats and contractions and they did
a test that confirmed it was, in fact, amniotic fluid. I had suffered
from preterm
premature rupture of membrane (pPROM). The OB came in and did an ultrasound which
did little more than confirm both babies were still breech and she did a physical
exam and found that my cervix was still closed. I was apparently
contracting, but didn’t feel them at all – I was 3-4 minutes apart when I came
in! I was immediately given a steroid shot (the first in a two shot
series) and they started me on magnesium sulfate to stop the labor. A
neonatologist came in to talk with us and we were essentially told that at
25w4d gestation, the babies had a 50/50 chance of survival. We were
heartbroken. But, the team of doctors (OBs, MFMs, etc…) were going to
work as hard as possible to keep me pregnant for as long as they could.
I was
then moved to a room in the birthing unit where I was monitored very
closely. I was given an ultrasound Friday morning that confirmed it was
Baby Girl’s sac that had broken and it was a full rupture. Her fluid
level was considered “low”, but she wasn’t showing any signs of distress.
In addition to the magnesium, I was given two antibiotics to ward off infection
and because I tested positive for group B strep earlier in my pregnancy.
That first night / morning is a blur to me – I wasn’t allow to sit up at
all, had to urinate in a bed pan, and was literally left to lie in bed and do
nothing. I was given three goals to try and make and they were:
- Goal
#1: second steroid shot (Saturday at 1:30am)
- Goal
#2: steroid series considered complete (Sunday at 1:30am)
- Goal
#3: 26 weeks gestation (Monday)
I was
moved to a new room in the birthing unit on Friday and I stayed there until
Sunday morning. Again, I was closely monitored and completed the
magnesium and steroid series successfully where I stopped contractions and it
looked like labor was held at bay for the time being.
Sunday
morning I was stable enough that they moved me to the maternity special care
unit where I would stay until I delivered the babies. We didn’t know if
that would be a few days or a few weeks, but we were hoping for the
latter. I was allowed to finally get up, only to use the bathroom,
and I could shower for five minutes a day. It was a lot of freedom compared
to how I was monitored at the birthing unit. So many friends and family
visited with me throughout the days I was in the hospital and on Monday night
my mom came to watch the Bachelor with me…the last show I would watch
before becoming a mom.
Before
my mom left the hospital for the night, at around 10:00pm, the amniotic fluid
that was leaking turned pink. The nurse came in and checked the babies
and they sounded good and they hooked me up to the TOCO to check for
contractions and there was nothing. The nurse spoke with my OB and they
said that it can happen where the fluid changes colors and it was considered
“normal”. At around 2:30am, I was having these lower abdominal pains –
almost like I needed to have a bowel movement. I got up to try
and go a few times but nothing happened. I finally called in the
nurse and she checked the babies and both sounded good. She put me on the
TOCO and it wasn’t registering anything. Then I was getting those
lower abdominal pains more severely and I finally asked her to move the
TOCO lower. Well, I was registering large, sustained contractions
and so she called my OB once again. The OB came down to my room prior to
her next c-section and did a “digital exam” to see if I was dilated and
guess what? She looked up at me and said, “I can say I feel two little
feet”. I about died. I was approximately 6cm dilated and Baby Girl
had essentially kicked her feet through my cervix!
It was
then like a scene from a movie – while they were rounding people into my room,
I called my husband and we both knew he’d never make it. They made one attempt
at an IV in my room and my OB finally said something along the lines of “we
don’t have time for this – she’s got to go NOW”. I was then flying through the
hallways – I was so scared that I was physically trembling. I went right into
the OR and there wasn’t even time to give me a spinal so I was put under
general anesthesia and that’s the last I remember before waking up in
excruciating pain in recovery.
On
Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 3:19am I gave birth to two beautiful preemies:
-
Colton Christopher weighed 1lb, 13 oz and was 13 inches long
-
Keltie Grace weighed 1lb, 9oz and was 13 inches long
Both
struggled mostly with breathing issues throughout their NICU stay. Other challenges presented themselves such as
a pneumothorax (Keltie), nephrocalcinosis and hypertension (Keltie), bilateral
hernia repairs (Keltie), severe reflux (Colton), aspiration of thin liquids
(Colton), and retinopathy of prematurity or ROP (both babies). Keltie was discharged from the NICU at 100
days. Colton remained there an
additional six weeks because of his spells which were related to his severe
reflux – he was discharged at 142 days.
So –
that is the birth story of our twins…or, as we refer to it, Keltie deciding
to break her sac and then sticking her feet where they don’t belong. I
can’t even begin to explain the amount of love I feel for these two
peanuts. It actually overwhelms me at some points. They’re
absolutely beautiful and fought long and hard to get to where they are today.
I’ve learned to appreciate the small things – things that “normal”
parents likely take for granted such as seeing their faces for the
first time, touching them for the first time, their first poop, their first
1ml of breast milk feeding, overcoming breathing issues, etc… We are
lucky to have them home with us – it’s wonderful to have our family together
under one roof. More information about
their NICU experience can be found at: http://project26weekpreemies.wordpress.com.
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