Finding Out That We Were Having Twins:
It was an interesting experience for us. I was diagnosed at 23 with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). My Husband and I were already trying at this point to start a family, and it wasn’t working, due to the PCOS. After talking it over we decided, well we are young and the odds are in our favor at this point, let’s go to the next step. After discussing it at length we decided to go with the lowest dosage of Clomid to start. Well, that’s all it took. After a couple weeks of horrible mood swings (thank you Clomid) we had our positive pregnancy test at the Midwife’s office. We had no idea what we were in for at the first ultrasound. We went in at 5 weeks, turns out they made a scheduling error and that’s too early to see much. The tech told me she thought she saw two babies but it was just too hard to tell, so home I went and we waited 2 more weeks to go back in. The next ultrasound she informs us that she doesn’t see twins, there appears to be just one baby. She proceeds to zoom in on the “one” baby and then things get really quiet. She went out to grab a doctor and at this point I’m freaking out wondering what’s wrong with my baby. Doctor comes in and they inform us that we are indeed having twins, but they are identical and look to be mono mono twins (twins in the same amniotic sac sharing one placenta). I said good bye to my midwife at this point and hello to my new OB who specialized in fetal maternal medicine. I can’t remember my husband really saying anything during the appointment, it was shocking and terrifying all at the same time.
The Pregnancy:
After the 2nd ultrasound we went home and started doing some reading up on twins and mono mono in particular. Best piece of advice if you are pregnant, Stay Away From the Internet! I panicked. Thank goodness my new doctor called me back and told me not to freak out just yet, the babies could be mono di (babies in separate sacs sharing one placenta) and they would check again at 12 weeks to verify that there was or wasn’t a membrane separating my babies. I calmed down and then bam, the “morning sickness” hit. I had read that this was a good sign that things were progressing normally so I embraced it like a trophy. I was so excited to be pregnant.After not being able to hold water down though for an entire 24 hours I went in and was given Zofran and Phenergan- best stuff ever! I managed to get the morning sickness under control (vomiting only once an hour) and thought everything would be ok now. Well I woke up at the end of week 7 and had horrible pain in my stomach. I thought for sure I was having a miscarriage and was so upset, I then felt a huge gush. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. My husband raced me back to the OBs and yet another Ultrasound. This one I didn’t even want to look at the screen. Well turns out I had a huge Sub chorionic Hemorrhage, both babies were just fine. This was when the day bed rest began for me.
Bed rest was not something I had planned for this early in the pregnancy. I knew there was a possibility later on, but 7 weeks, never! I went in and filled out my leave papers for work, and went home to begin my indent on the couch. I went back in at 15 weeks and the hemorrhage had healed and the babies looked great, best ultrasound yet! We also found out at this point that we were having girls and there was indeed a membrane. I was ecstatic; I think my husband went further into shock. Went back home on light bed rest (I was able to walk around for several hours at a time). I called my work back told them the good news that I was cleared to go back in soon and they put me on the schedule for the following month when I was off complete bed rest. I went back in to work, and I was feeling good. I had the big growth and development ultrasound in three days. Life was good!
I went in at 19 weeks and well, back to being scared. The tech discovered that the girls had a 19% difference in weight. Too much and the words TTTS (Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome) started being mumbled around. I was scheduled for an Ultrasound at NW Perinatologists in two days to confirm or rule TTTS out. I tried not to freak out, I had made it this far, I could handle this. I didn’t even do any reading yet, didn’t want to scare myself if there wasn’t a problem. I went in hoping for the best and walked out in tears, with TTTS (when mono di twins share a blood supply through the placenta, can cause fetal death from lack of nutrients (donor) and heart attacks in the over nourished (recipient) twin) confirmed and back to strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. I was told I needed to lie on my left side and start drinking protein drinks to help with the development of my babies, I was only allowed up to use the bath room and shower every other day. Thank goodness my husband worked from home. He was able to cook for me and if he did have to leave he just piled food up next to the couch.
We started bi-monthly ultrasounds after the diagnosis. Everything remained unchanged for the next couple of weeks, the girls stayed between 19 and 20% weight difference, but then at 24 weeks things started changing again. The babies were doing well, but my body started to fail on me. My cervix went down to 2 cm and my blood pressure shot up and I was having contractions. I was seriously at this point wondering how all this can happen in one pregnancy. I had to now add lying with my hips slightly elevated and no salt to the growing list of things I had to do while on bed rest. The salt killed me, it was all I was craving, I couldn’t believe I had to say good bye (a blessing in disguise-now I can’t stand the stuff).
I stayed in this routine for another 6 weeks and at 30 weeks I went in for another ultrasound and stress test and discovered I had some serious issues with my blood pressure. I was sent to the hospital for a 24 hour monitored collection. That was good times-my body freaked out and went into labor. Welcome Terbutalin (a drug used to stop contractions) into the mix. They gave me a shot of that stuff along with steroid injections for the babies. Let me tell you this- steroid shots, OUCH! After 72 hours they got everything back under control and on track and I was allowed to go back home to my comfy bed with the terbutalin and blood pressure medication on hand.
The next five weeks were filled with ultrasounds, and non-stress tests. It was clearly better for the babies to still be on the inside. At 34 weeks my body had had enough and my OB said we were just trying to trick it into staying pregnant for a little while longer. At 35 weeks exactly I went in for my last ultrasound and discovered that the weight difference had grown significantly in the last two weeks. Also much to my surprise I had gained 22lbs of water weight in two weeks. My blood pressure went up again and my OB scheduled me for a c-section for the following week. She was hoping we’d make it. Well I went in 3 days later feeling like I had the flu, having contractions like no other, and just in bad shape. She looked at me and sent me to the hospital.
Delivery:I had to wait around a few hours for the c-section thanks to the bagel I had to have earlier in the day, delicious but not worth the additional 8 hours of pregnancy I had to endure because of it. I was brought to the OR and the girls were born 2 min apart. Brooklyn, my recipient twin of the TTTS was red as a lobster and almost 2 lbs heavier than her sister at 7lb 1oz, Ella weighed in at 5lb 6oz. Ella did great from the start which is typical of the donor twin, and Brooklyn had to go on C-Pap in the NICU for a week. I wish I could say that after the girls were born my body returned to normal but I’ll be darned if my blood pressure didn’t sky rocket after the C-section. I couldn’t even get out of bed for 2 days and I was on blood pressure medication for an entire month afterwards.
I’m so thankful that I really got the brunt of the discomfort and issues during the pregnancy. The girls did great. Brooklyn, in the scope of things did really well; one week of NICU was not that bad. Ella came home with us after 4 days and Brooklyn followed 4 days later. All three of us are healthy and have had no long lasting effects due to any of the complications of the pregnancy. It was just an insanely crazy roller-coaster ride that I was happy to get off of at the end.
Life after Babies:
Fantastic! I love being a MoM. The first year was rough. A good chunk of it I don’t even remember, but I was so happy that we had a positive outcome to the scariest situation I’ve ever experienced in my life. I actually went on to have another baby two years later believe it or not. It was a picture perfect pregnancy and I welcomed a baby boy, Evan, to our family. I’ve been told I’m crazy, but I really wanted to know what a normal pregnancy was like. I hope my story gives hope to MoMs who are in similar predicaments in their own pregnancies. Good outcomes happen! Advice to New Moms:
Don’t forget to take care of yourself; A happy mommy equals happy babies. Forget the house work. If they are sleeping, take a nap. Realize that there will be days that you won’t be able to comfort both babies at the same time and don’t feel guilty about it. Get out of the house with the babies, even if it’s just to run an errand. Meet up with other MoMS. I would go out 3 times a week with another MoM and we would walk the malls. We are great friends now and so are our children. Last, but not least, do what you have to do to survive that first year.
Julie N.
2011 FHM Co-President
Wow! What a ride! It's so fun to get to read about your families here! What an adorable family!
ReplyDelete