By Julie, Tumwater, WA USAAfter trying to get pregnant for a year my husband and I decided to just go for it and give IVF a shot. We were exstatic to find out we were pregnant the first try. A few weeks later we were even more exstatic to find out we were expecting twins!
PROM at 18 weeksDelivery at 32 weeks + 1 days.
Story added: 2008-12-11
The first few months of pregnancy were wonderful, everything looking normal except for getting fat a little sooner than I had anticipated. On Labor Day when I was 18 weeks pregnant I was camping with family when I felt a gush of fluid while using the bathroom. Since I was going to the bathroom at the time I didnt know what to think and assumed my bladder was playing a mean trick on me. I didnt even know that it was possible to have your water break so early so I didnt worry that much. I gave my Dr. a call anyway and he said he thought it was fine but he would see me anyway.
The next morning we casually went to our OB and discovered that Twin A's water had broken and he had nearly no amniotic fluid. We didnt know what this ment but the Dr. confirmed that the outlook was grim for both babies. We were sent to see a specialist at U of Washington Labor and Delivery and he agreed that we had about a 75% to 90% chance of loosing both babies within the week. He mentioned that a lot of parents decide to terminate the pregnancy at this point due to risk of infection and my husband and I both knew without a doubt that we were not ready to give up yet.
We were devestated and were sent home to "wait it out" After two days of crying and worrying I discovered a prolapsed cord. This time I knew exactly what was happening and went to the hospital right away. After hours in the hospital Baby A's Heartrate had dropped beyond dangerous levels from the cord protruding and getting the blood supply cut. We made the hard decision to cut the cord and hope that Baby B could hold out for us. After that we waited for 3 days in the hospital until I went into labor. The Dr.s all said they would not stop labor but my husband and I were secretly hoping to deliver baby A and hold onto Babay B.
So after a minimal amount of labor Baby A, our first son, was still born on Sept 7. We did not get to hold him but we did have time to pray for him and say our goodbyes.
Soon after my labor seemed to stop on its own and our Dr.s felt that it was time to finally look into Delayed Interval Delivery. This is what we were hoping for but we had not realized that it came with so many risks and this is why the Dr.s are reserved about taking it on.
After a couple Days I was sent home still pregnant with our second son, (they finally told us it was a boy!) We waited patiently and hoped for the best but were aware of the worst.
We went to see a perinatologist a week later that determined this was most likely caused by incompetant cervix... and we needed to get a cerclage to sew my cervix shut. We did this later that week. The Perinatolgist gave us hope with his positive attitude that we had a perfect little boy growing in there. He was a great support system for my husband and I and I truly counted down the days inbetween visits with him. He also had a great 4D ultrasound machine that confirmed our babies amazing growth for the following 15 weeks.
I spent 99 days on strict bedrest. Thankfully my mother spent everyday at our house cooking and cleaning and hoping for the best with us. This is only bathroom breaks and a daily shower. I cleaned with wipes and drank a gallon of water a day. I also drank cranberry juice and ate a lot of yogurt. This is the time that I found this site and spent countless hours on the internet trying to find anything about our situation.
On 32 weeks to the day I woke up feeling pretty crappy. I knew in the back of my mind what was happening. I was on an at home monitoring system and they confirmed that I was having 5 contractions an hour. We were headed to our local hospital. We got there and I was given 4 g of Magnesium Sulfate... this is awful stuff. I was also given 2-3 shots of terbutaline... also not the best feeling stuff. With very little success they decided to transfer me via ambulance to Tacoma General, a hospital nearby with a level 3 NICU.
Upon arrival that night, after a lot of testing they decided that my risk for infection outweighed the possibility of holding on for a few days longer. They decided to cut my Cerclage and see what happened.
After being so eager to join us he sure seemed to take his sweet time after that. They discovered that I had a "unfavorable pelvis for vaginal delivery" but they assumed I would be ok because the baby would be so small at 32 weeks.
Well that wasnt really the case. He entered the world at 5 lbs and 2 oz after some pretty intense pushing and a big bruise on his noggin for proof.
He was quickly wisked away by the waiting NICU team. It was a couple hours before we were able to see him. He looked so small but bigger than we had been anticipating. He was on a CPAP and they feared he would need to go on the ventilator.
He improved a bit overnight and was put on a room air nasal canula. But after a couple hours of breathing a little too hard he was moved back to a CPAP.
He is now almost 4 days old and seems to get stronger every time we see him.
This has definately been the hardest and scariest journey of our lives but now looking back we still feel like the luckiest parents in the world. It is amazing how beautiful and perfect they can look even with all those tubes and monitors.
We named him Bennett. It means
"little blessed one" in latin and starts with a B, as in Baby B.
It is so hard to see the twins in the NICU and think that we could be there but my husband and I just have to remember that Bennett was meant to be here with us and that is the only reason he made it this far... a strong little guy forsure :)