As I mentioned last week I never would have imagined becoming a mommy of multiples. Alex and I had started talking about the possibility of getting pregnant in the fall of 2010 but hadn't really started trying yet. I had been off the pill though for a few months because I wanted to give my body plently of time off of it before I tried to concieve. We began trying in December that year. I casually tracked my ovulation time using an online calculator and we decided to go for it. The next year, a few weeks later in January of 2011 we were both stuck at home for a week due to an ice storm that hit the Atlanta area. It was during that week that I knew I should be getting my period any day and I began to wonder if maybe our first time trying had worked. I got anxious and had my poor husband walk to the story in the ice (at the time we lived in an apartment at the bottom of a large hill and about 2 miles from the closet drug store). He was happy to get out of the house though. He came back with a test and I took it. We saw a faint pink line and I really thought that meant I wasn't pregnant. I was bummed but knew we had just started trying. Our upstairs neighbors came over that night to play cards (we were all bored) and we casually mentioned that we had taken a pregnancy test that day but it just had a faint pink line. My sweet friend/neighbor looked at me and said, "Ashley, that means your pregnant!" I think hubby about fainted because we were both convinced I wasn't. She told me to take another one the next day and see what I got but she was pretty sure there was no such thing as false positives, faint or not. The next day I made hubby walk to the store again and get a digital pregnancy test. He got back, I took it, and it said PREGNANT! Wowzer! We were excited and also very nervous. I called the doc the next day and got an appointment for the following week.
We went into the office the next week and met with the P.A. for an initial ultrasound. I was so nervous that maybe we weren't really pregnant or that something had happened in the last week. The doc was so sweet and gave us a transvaginal ultrasound. She explained that sometimes early in pregnacy (I was about 4-5 weeks along) that we wouldn't really be able to see much yet. She turned the screen towards her and said if she saw something she would turn the screen so we could see it to. She found what she was looking for and asked us if we saw the little black dot on the screen. We said yes. She said that was the sac the baby grows in. She then moved the "stick" a little more. She said oh wow. She then said do you see the other black dot there on the screen. We again said yes. Not having any clue what that meant. She said I don't want you to get your hopes up just yet but we are probably looking a multiples here. I was silent. I started to cry and squeeze hubbys hand. I didn't know what to say, I was in such shock. Alex finally said so when you say multiples you just mean two right, not any more right? I laughed and the doc said no sir just two babies. She scheduled us to come back in the next week to see if we could see heartbeats.
The apt was in the morning and we both had to go back to work. We really didn't have time to process but were both really excited and shocked but in a good way. Again, never thinking we could have twins we felt this was a crazy, awesome gift from God. I called my mom on the way back to school as she was waiting to hear from me on how the apt went. I very nonchalantly acted as if everything went wonderfully then I said that the doc did tell us something rather interesting. I told her that I had emailed her a pic of the ultrasound and for her to open it. She opened it right away and I asked her if she noticed anything unusual about it. She said no I just see two black dots. I said oh you see "two" do you. She still didn't quite get it and so finally I said mom, they think were having twins. Her reaction was priceless. She couldn't believe it at all. Her reaction was so very similar to everyone we told. We had a hard time keeping it a secret we were so excited. Plus, we had never really discussed not telling people until a certain time because we knew we would need support and prayers if anything did happen to our babies.
We went in the following week and saw the heartbeats and thus began our crazy pregnancy journey. The first trimesester I was very lucky. No real sickness, just major fatigue. I mean major fatigue. It was all I could do to get through the school day. I would come home and fall on the couch and not leave until I went to bed. Alex was a trooper though and took good care of me. The second trimester I felt much better, we moved into a new house, decorated the nursery, and went on many out of town trips (including 3 wonderful baby showers). Like most of you, I went to my ob once a month and my high risk ob once a month. I enjoyed the high risk ob apts the most because of the 3d/4d pics I got at every visit. We found out a 16 weeks that we were having two girls and I was over the moon. Everything in my life then became pink, pink, pink!
I made sure to schedule everything that I wanted/needed to do before my third trimester started because most of the research I had done on twin pregnancies indicated bed rest or at least taking it very easy during those last few months. The last few events I attended were in June including my best friends wedding and a baby shower in my hometown. The end of June/ beginning of July began to get very uncomfortable as I was getting very large and it was hard to do much of anything for very long. I might get out once a day but that was pretty much it. It was also the dead of summer in Georgia so I didn't want to go outside much. A warm/hot bath became my best friend. It was hard to sleep with all the peeing and constantly switching from side to side when I felt pain in my hips from the pressure.
At my 28 week apt with my high risk OB they were a little worried about baby A (Addie's) weight compared to baby B (Allie). They were a little more than 20% discordant and they don't like to see that. I began to have BPP's? tests each week from that point on. That meant going to the doc twice a week, three times if I was scheduled to see my regular OB as well. Luckily, school was out for the summer so pretty much all I did was go to the doctor (and stop at Moe's on the way home for a yummy burrito)! These apts consisted of on Tuesdays having the babys heart rates monitored for 30 min and then on Friday having an ultrasound to check their blood flow, growth, and oxygen levels. Everything always looked great.
At 32 weeks, I was hanging out on the couch watching TV on a Monday morning and I started to feel like I feel when I get my period. Really crampy. I didn't think much of it until it didn't go away after about an hour and seemed to be getting worse. I called the doc just to be in the clear (I didn't call hubby or my mom because I didn't want to worry them if it was nothing). The doctor asked me what I was experiencing, told me to drink a glass of water and lay down for an hour. If they didn't go away, to call back and come into labor and delivery. I did what she said but they were only getting worse. I called her back and drove over to l & d. My hubby met me there (I finally called him). We didn't really know what we were in for. I didn't feel like I was in labor but I knew something was going on. When they finally got me hooked up to the monitors I was having contractions 2 to 4 minutes apart. Holy manoly! I was given 3 shots of turbutiline and this did nothing to calm them down. I also had the hormone test to see if I was going into labor in the next two weeks. That came back negative thank goodness. The doc also checked to see if I was dialated and luckily I was not. I was given the shots to mature the babys lungs and then started on a drug called procardia to take every 3 hours for the duration of my pregnancy to keep the contractions down. I spent the night in the hosptial and was released the next day with strict bedrest instructions.
My mom and grandma flew from NC the next day to help take care of me. We were so blessed that they could come. It was 5 weeks from the date I was scheduled to have my c-section so we really didn't know what we were in for. I continued taking the medicine and going to my doctor apts. At 33 weeks, on my birthday I started to feel the cramping pain again. I didn't think much of it this time but after several hours of it I called the doctor and again was sent to l & d. I was given more shots and discharged later that night.
During my 33 week doc apt my blood pressure was a little high. I was sent home with the 24 hour urine test and given lots of blood work. Everything came back fine so they said they would just continue to monitor it and I was to make sure I stayed in the bed. This was really hard for me but I did the best I could.
At my 34 week BPP test, on a Friday the nurse noted that once again my blood pressure was slightly high. I then went in for the ultrasound where I was told that baby A's kidney had a slight issue. Nothing to be too concerned about but something they would continue to monitor. For me, it was scary finding out that my baby could potentially have something wrong with her. They wanted to take my blood pressure again before I left to see if it had gone down since I had gotten there. It hadn't, it had gone up. My mom and I were convinced this was because they had just told me about the kidney issue but the doc insisted that I be checked into l & d for testing since it was the weekend and she couldn't get any results from her office until Monday. They wheeled me to l & d (our doc office is connected to the hospital). It was my third time there and honestly I was mostly annoyed because I thought for sure I would be going home again without my babies. I ended up spending the night there along because hubby had to go let my mom and gma in the house due to a key mix-up. I told him I would be fine by myself and the nurses would take good care of me. They did!
The next morning I was feeling good. I had several rounds of blood work done and thought I would be all in the clear to go home later that afternoon (I still had to wait on the 24 hour urine test to be complete). My mom, gma, and hubby arrived to the hosptial about 10 AM and hubby asked if he could go mow the grass since my mom and gma were there. I said sure and he left. About lunchtime my mom and gma went to the cafeteria and gift shop just to walk around and eat. I was tired and told them I was going to take a nap while they were gone. I drifted off and about that time heard a knock at the door. My high risk ob came in. She said that my blood platlets were steadily going down and my blood pressure had not decreased. She said she still needed to consult with my OB but it might be possible that the babies would need to be delivered sooner rather than later. Being the positive thinker I am I thought that meant maybe at 35 or 36 weeks instead of the 38 weeks we had planned for. She left and I settled into watching tv. A few minutes later the on call ob knocked at the door. She explained that since my blood platlet level was rapidly declining that I had to deliever within a few hours if I wanted to be awake for the procedure (they were afraid I might bleed out).
I then started freaking out. I tried my mom on the phone but her reception wasn't working in the hospital. I called my hubby but he was mowing the grass and his phone was inside. I called a slew of other people in the meantime and finally my mom and gma came back. I didn't get in touch with hubby for another hour and he literally had to race to get to the hospital in time. He finally made it about the time I was getting my epidural. Holy cow! I think we were all in shock and racing on aderenline. We couldn't believe how fast everything was happening. My OB had told me that it would be up to the anestelogist if I could be awake for the c-section and luckily she gave the okay. Within 3 hours we were in the operating room waiting on the babies. I couldn't believe the number of people in the room but I have to admit I was feeling great after the epidural kicked in. I literally joked with my OB throughout the procedure. When she held up my two girls and I heard their crys I have never been happier in my life. They were 5.1 lbs and 5.5 lbs which were great weights for 34.5 weeks. Hubs got lots of great pics and it seemed like it was over in a flash. The girls both had to have c-packs to assist with their breathing and were carted off to the NICU rather quickly. Hubby went with them and I was wheeled to recovery. It all really felt like a daze but thankfully due to the medicine I wasn't as worried as I probably would have been otherwise. The nurses kept reassuring me that the babies were doing well. Finally after about an hour hubby found me and told me that the babies were great and then he was off again to see them. They had a hard time finding me a room and I was left in recovery for almost 3 hours. I evenutally got really annoyed because I was all alone and hadn't seen my family, babies, or husband in a long time.
I got to my room about 8:30 that night, we had the girls at 5:28 and 5:29. I finally saw my parents and grandparents. I still had not seen my babies and kept asking when I could. My nurse told me that my cathedar and hosptial bed were not allowed to be wheeled into what they call the transition NICU. (It was basically the high risk NICU) and so I would not be allowed to see my babies until the cathedar came out the next day and I could sit up in my wheel chair. I was devastated. My family went down and took lots of pictures but that was not good enough. I cried and cried all night. I called the NICU several times to check on them and each time cried on the phone with the NICU nurse. Apparently they are very used to this because they tried to be so comforting to me. The only good thing I found out during that night was that both babies were now breathing on their own. Such a tremendous blessing.
My nurse finally gave me something to help me sleep and I woke up at about 9 am the next morning. She said the cathedar would come out at 11 and I could try to sit in the wheelchair then. I tried but as soon as I lifted my head up, I became very nauseous and got sick. It was decided that I had to wait a little longer. After taking more pain medicine, I was finally wheeled to see my babies at about 1 PM on Sunday afternoon (It had been 15 of the longest hours of my life). I was so nervous- how would they look? Were they okay? They were on opposite sides of the room from each other and I remember having a really difficult time deciding which to go to first. I just cried when I saw them, they were so precious. I was the first one that got to hold them (besides the nurses of course) even though my family had seen them the night before. I sat there for hours holding them until my eyes were literally closing and the NICU nurses told me I had to go back to my room. I went again later that night after getting some rest and we were then briefed by the NICU peditrician for what we could expect. The girls had to stay in the transition NICU until they were strong enough to go to what they called the feeders and growers NICU. That meant that they had to be at least taking 2-3 bottles per day on their own out of 8 feedings. When they finally got to the feeders and growers NICU they had to make it to 8/8 feedings on their own before they would be released home. It was very hard to hear that we could have a long road ahead of us but I felt relieved that they were in such good care. They also told me to begin pumping immediatley as breast milk worked wonders for NICU babies. I met with a lactation consultant that afternoon and began doing what I felt was the only thing I could do for my girls at the time. My milk came in the next day and we took every drop to the NICU. The girls did awesome and were transfered to the feeders and growers section 3 days later. I was discharged home and kept up my strict pumping schedule. My mom, gma, and I would go see the babies every morning, come home and I would rest, and hubby and I would go when he got home from work at night. I tried breastfeeding at every visit but it was very difficult for the girls to latch. I kept up the pumping though and though they had to supplement for added calories they never went without breast milk. We got to learn how to change their itty, bitty, tiny diapers, give them baths, and feed preemies (which is quite a challenge). It was so difficult to go through but looking back I needed the time to heal and so did they!
We brought them home 13 days later! It was predicted they would have to stay until at least their due date and they made it home an entire week before. My prayers were answered. It was so nice to have them at home and not have to make the trip to the hospital twice a day anymore. My mom and gma were still here with us and were the best help in the world. We had quite the journey ahead of us but we were so blessed with two beautiful little girls!
And that's our story- yes it's a long one!
