My Twin's Premature Birth Story...

3:24 PM

I wanted to share my twin boy's premature birth story, not only to document the events for memory purposes, but to also enlighten or help anyone that may be facing the same thing.

Twin's 7 week ultrasound!

I was 32 weeks pregnant and the pregnancy had had a lot of ups and downs. Finding out I was pregnant with twins was quite a shock to both my husband and myself. There is only one set in my family and they are distant relatives. So, seeing the two tiny peanuts on the ultrasound was exciting and scary all at the same time. My pregnancy with my daughter had been pretty uneventful (and wonderful). Aside from some slight bleeding throughout, not much happened during my pregnancy with her. I carried her to 41 weeks and was induced due to some high blood pressure. After 14 hours of labor and almost 3 hours of pushing, Izabelle arrived. She was a beautiful 7 lbs 2 oz of pure perfection. Three weeks after her arrival I started hemorrhaging and that went off and on for 3 weeks. I finally found a hospital that would help me, and come to find out I had what they called "retained placenta" and was bleeding profusely. Traumatic..very. I had anxiety for a few years after that due to the fear I experienced. But I had an emergency surgery, called a D&C, and all was well. So, the pregnancy itself was wonderful. Izzy was a very active baby and I was calm and happy throughout the entire 41 weeks. We even moved when I was 39 weeks along (I still don't know how I did that). And now on to my twins story...

32 weeks

Early on in my pregnancy with the boys I started noticing my heart rate was staying in the 150's all of the time. It frightened me. So I called my OB and was set up with a cardiologist. I had many tests run and it was concluded that, in fact, my heart rate was staying in the 150-170 range all of the time. But my heart was healthy and only having to adjust to all the extra blood I was pumping to nourish 2 babies! What a relief! Nonetheless, my OB decided that my job where I was on my feet all day was going to be too much, and I was taken off work. Even though I was filled with apprehension about not working, I only wanted my babies to be okay and healthy. It seemed to be the best decision, and I was able to keep Izzy home with me and bond with her before the babies came. Everything seemed to be coming together.

Mama's sweet baby girl

Mama and Izzy

The rest of my pregnancy went pretty smoothly. I craved home cooked meals every night, so I was doing a lot of cooking. Any kind of junk food made me sick. I knew then my boys were going to be good eaters, and I had a strange need to smell Pine-Sol and Febreeze all the time. It's an ongoing joke between my husband and I. He always pokes fun at me about how I was poisoning the family with all the chemical sprays. I read it is a form of Pica. Odd I know. Anyway...other than that, I was feeling pretty good and getting bigger by the day.

Since I was carrying multiples, I was considered high risk, so every 1-2 weeks I would go have an ultrasound. I always got a good report and left feeling so relieved. Plus, all the cute photos they gave me were a great added bonus! I reached 32 weeks and was feeling pretty good, until a few days later. I woke up and just felt very tired, more so than normal. I tried to stay pretty active during my pregnancy, playing with my daughter and keeping up with the house work. But this day, I just couldn't muster the strength to do anything. I stayed in the recliner that entire day, only getting up when I absolutely had to. I'm very blessed with a little independent child that would go to the refrigerator to get her own snacks. I sent my husband a message while he was at work later that afternoon informing him I was absolutely not going to cook dinner. We decided on Wendy's and I couldn't wait for him to get home. Once he arrived, we put in the movie Bad Boys II and ate dinner. After we finished, I got up to go use the restroom and while in there I felt a sensation that felt like one of my babies had punched me in the nether regions. A large gush came and I called my husband in for help. He started laughing saying I probably just lost control of my bladder. "I don't think so, pretty sure my water just broke!" I called to him. I got up and decided to wait and see what came of it, and every step I took more water gushed out. We decided to call the on call OB. She informed us to get to the ER immediately.

I'm the type of woman that worries about everyday things, but is somehow able to remain calm when the big things happen. So I wasn't too worked up yet. The back pain started and it was uncomfortable. I was pretty sure this was it. I called my mom and told her and I could hear her on the other end of the phone scampering trying to hurry and get ready. I told her to wait, that it might be a false alarm, and I didn't want her and my dad driving up for no reason. She reluctantly said OK and we hung up. Once I arrived at the hospital the back pain was almost so unbearable that I could barely ride in the wheelchair to my room. I changed into the oh-so-fashionable hospital gown and waited for the nurse. She came in and checked me and after a while (It felt like 5 hours but I think it was about 45 minutes) she came back in and confirmed that my water had indeed broken. My wonderful OB was on his way in to deliver the babies. By this time my contractions were in full swing and I was in so much pain. Another girl came to do an ultrasound, which I could barely sit still through, and baby B (Zachary) was still breech. My parents arrived at that time and I was so happy to see them!

My husband and I knew that I was probably going to have to have a c-section, but I still had a glimmer of hope that I might be able to do this natural. After the ultrasound showed Zachary still breech, I was off to the OR to be cut open (lovely huh?)

I'm just going to be brutally honest here. The c-section went great, but it was the most traumatic thing I have ever gone through in my life. During my pregnancy, I had women telling me left and right that c-sections are a piece of cake. I disagree. I would have MUCH rather had a vaginal delivery. But you do what you have to do. I remember my doctor saying I was already 8 centimeters before he even began the surgery. My labor had gone quickly. I shook through the entire procedure. Not just small trembling, but full blown seizure shaking. And of course, throughout the entire night, I was so sick worrying about my babies and if they were going to be okay. My doctor delivered Lucas first at 1:20 am, I didn't hear anything, but kept being told he was crying. Then one minute later, my Zachary was delivered. I could hear him crying a little. I was reassured that they were doing okay, and they were whisked away to the NICU. I didn't even get to see them.

Lucas 4 lbs. 1.6 oz.

Zachary 4 lbs. 5.4 oz.

Once in recovery, I was doing a lot better. My mom got to come in and so did my husband. He had gone to the NICU with the boys and took some pictures for me. Lucas had a true knot in his umbilical cord when he was born, and was on a ventilator for a few hours then went to C-PAP. Zachary was just on a C-PAP machine, but they both had a good prognosis and were doing well for 32 weekers! This mama praised God and was so thankful.

Lucas

Zachary

I was taken to my hospital room, and once I was able to stand alone, I was allowed to go to the NICU to see my boys. So many emotions went through me when I finally saw them; joy, sadness, fear, anxiety, pride. You name it, I probably felt it. They were beautiful and perfect. I spent 5 days in the hospital, the most my insurance allowed, and when the day came to leave, I broke. How was I supposed to leave my precious angels in that hospital and go home without them? This was not normal. I was so glad they were in a good and safe place, but they were supposed to be with me. I know it was what was best for them. They could give them the care that I couldn't, but it was such a heartbreaking moment. My OB had told me they would probably have to stay at least 2 weeks to get some weight on them. I know so many mommies have to leave their babies for months and months, and then some don't ever get to take their babies home at all. So I know how blessed I am. It was still a gut wrenching thing to do. My husband had to go back to work that day, so my parents came to get me and I was so happy to see my little girl again, I had missed her so much.

After 21 days away from their mommy and daddy, my baby boys were both home with me. They are thriving and doing wonderfully. My heart is full. For any of you getting ready to give birth, my advice to you would be to try and remain calm and pray. It really does help. I know that can feel impossible, but just take deep breaths and know when it's all over you will be holding the greatest gift(s) in your arms. YOU can do this and you will be stronger in the end. I promise you will feel like you can do anything once it's all over. It gives you a sense of power that you didn't have before.