By the time I was 24 weeks pregnant I
was so happy to have made it to the
magic viability week. There had been
some problems with my twin pregnancy
from the start (bleeding and vastly
different sizes between the two
babies) and I was very relieved.
My husband and his parents wanted us
to return to his hometown, 7 hours
away for a baby shower. I wouldn't go
before my 24th week, just-in-case. On
the drive we ran into a terrible snow
storm and it took closer to 10 hours
to reach his parents house. At the
most stressful part of the drive, I
experienced some very severe pains
that I later found out were
contractions.
A couple of hours after reaching his
parents house, I ran to the bathroom
thinking I was having another bleeding
episode. Instead I found that my
membranes had ruptured. This resulted
in another snowy drive to the
emergency room followed by a snowy
ambulance ride to a hospital that
could handle 24 week preemies. They
told me the rupture was very large and
I was contracting.
I had Magnesium Sulfate pushed and
then went on a regular IV round of it.
The monitors were still showing
contractions. They came in and
explained all the complications that
our babies might face if they were
born that weekend, or any time soon.
They prepared us for the worst, but
told me to relax. My husband was
brought down to see a pair of 24 week
old twins they had in the NICU as I
set in for my second day in the high
risk delivery suite. A new dr came on
and decided to try another drug to
stop the contractions. Thankfully,
this one worked. I was moved up to the
high risk OB floor and was told I
would remain there until I delivered.
They would monitor the babies and
watch me for any signs of infection.
The goal was to keep me pregnant until
34 weeks (more than 9 weeks). I was
due back at work 8 hours away in
Boston the next day.
After a few scares and a Christmas and
New Years on contstant bedrest, my
hero dr (the same one who discovered I
had pneumonia, not and infection and
saved my babies once) got me
transferred to a hospital in Boston.
So I got to rid in an ambulance for
several hours, but at least I was
close to home so my babies could be in
a NICU close to where I lived. By now
I was 28 weeks along and feeling much
better about their chances.
I spent another 4 weeks in the
hospital. I experienced a placental
abruption, daily stress tests, bpp
profiles every other day, two courses
of steriods for their lungs all while
staying in bed.
When I reached 32 weeks we picked the
date for my c-section 2 weeks later. A
couple of hours later, I went into
labor. I didn't realize those pains
were contractions until around 4 pm.
They rushed me down to labor and
delivery at 4:30. My dh made to the
hospital quickly and I was in the or
getting my spinal block by 6pm. By
then I was fully dialated.
My daughter, who had been with very
low fluid for more than 9 weeks, was
born first. She weighed 3 lbs 12oz. My
son was born two minutes later and
weighed 4 lbs 7 oz. They were never
ventilated and came home in less than
one month. By the time they were 6
months old they had caught up with
their chronological age group. Now, at
14 months they are big for their ages.
My son was walking accros the room to
me the other day and I realized at
that moment that I had never allowed
myself to imagine them walking around.
I had prepared myself for special
needs, and physical therapy. I tell
them every day how lucky I am to have
such healthy babies. If I never win
anything the rest of my life, I will
be the luckiest Mommy in the
world.
If you're reading this while on bed
rest, it is worth every second.
Thanks,
Heather
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