By Leslie Sell, Plymouth, MN USAIn July 2002, my husband and I found out we were pregnant. Because we had been taking fertility medicine, we knew there was an increased chance of multiples, so we did an early ultrasound to see how many babies there were. At 6 weeks, we were told there was one embryo and one heartbeat. Well at 11 weeks, I experienced a sudden gush of fluid, which, after checking, turned out to be blood. We went to the emergency room expecting the worst (that we had lost the baby) but instead were told that things looked fine and that instead of just one heartbeat.... there were two! And while twin A looked just fine, twin B was measuring about 2 weeks behind in size. They thought the bleeding was something called a subchorionic hemorrhage and that I should just rest for a couple of days until the bleeding stopped. When we discussed this with my OB, she thought the outlook was pretty grim and that chances were good that twin B wouldn't even make it until week 20. At such an early stage in my pregnancy, there was nothing that could be done to help twin B along. But my husband and I didn't want to think that way and decided that we were just going to stay positive, follow the doctor's orders, and wish and hope for the best.
PROM at 15 weeks + 4 days. Delivery at 32 weeks + 6 days.
Story added: 2003-10-07
I continued to have intermittent bleeding from that point until the morning of 15 weeks 4 days when I woke up with another big gush. I of course thought it was blood, but went to check and saw just clear fluid. When I went to the doctor, they checked to see if it was amniotic fluid and it tested negative. So at the time, I was told that one of the babies probably kicked my bladder and released its contents. I was sent home to rest and to limit my activity to about 4-5 hours a day. This continued (as did the intermittent bleeding and leaking of fluid) until week 20 when I went to see a perinatologist and had a Level II ultrasound done. At this point, the doctor looked back on my pregnancy and for the first time diagnosed that I had PROM on twin B. Lucky for us, twin B was located on the top of my uterus and was being protected by twin A on the bottom.
The hard part though was that there was still nothing to do but wait things out. Our doctor told us he was "cautiously optimistic" about the outcome since we had already made it this far. But his plan for me at that point was to stay on complete bedrest at home until week 23 at which point I was to be admitted to the hospital until delivery. The reason for the hospital stay was to keep a close tab on the babies' development and to watch for any signs of infection, which could mean imminent delivery.
So I stayed in the hospital for 10 weeks and had the babies monitored daily. Twin B started to catch up in size but stayed between 1 and 2 weeks behind twin A. We always looked for things to keep us positive......weight gains, good scores on the biophysical tests, reaching another week. The doctors couldn't guarantee what our outcome would be, but we all knew that the longer I stayed pregnant, the better off my babies would be. The hardest part however, was due to the low level of fluid around twin B. We were told that it was the amniotic fluid that developed the baby’s lungs and we wouldn’t know until birth whether or not twin B had enough lung development to breath on its own once born. Even though our test always showed that there was some fluid, nobody could know whether or not this baby would make it outside the womb (even if my pregnancy went to term, because the issue was with how early I ruptured and began to lose fluid).
We had decided to plan for a C-section as twin B was transverse in my uterus and had already been in distress for so long, we didn’t want to subject that baby to the trauma of going through the birth canal. So on the morning of February 3, 2003 when I was 32 weeks and 6 days pregnant, I began to go into labor. I was prepped for the C-section pretty quickly and brought to the OR. My babies were taken out at 7 minutes and 8 minutes into the surgery. Twin A was our little girl, Molly Anne, who was born at 4lbs, 5 oz and breathing fine on her own. Twin B, our little boy Griffin Mark, was born at 3 lbs 8oz and was whisked away to the NICU pretty quickly. After assessing him for several hours, they decided to intubate him with a breathing tube. He had less viable lung tissue than a healthy newborn, but he did have some and we had to wait to see how he was going to do.
The first several days (even weeks) were a blur, with both of our babies in the hospital nurseries (Molly in the Level II nursery and Griffin about a block and a half away in the Level III nursery). Molly had the typical preemie issues to overcome: regulating her body temperature and coordinating her sucking/swallowing/ breathing enough so that she could eat on her own without a feeding tube. She ended up coming home with us after 4 weeks in the hospital.
Griffin on the other hand was on a ventilator for 9 days, and then weaned to a CPAP for a day and then put on standard oxygen. He was then moved to be with his sister in the Level II nursery when they were about 2 ½ weeks old. Griffin also had some contractures in his arms and one clubfoot from being so cramped in the womb with such little amniotic fluid. His arm contractures were dealt with through occupational therapy and exercises and he now has full range. His clubfoot was addressed with serial casting and a minor laser procedure called a tenotomy. He now has full and accurate range with that foot as well and just wears a foot brace at night to retain its position. And just days before we thought we were to bring Griffin home too (when he was about 5 weeks old) we found out that he had another obstacle to overcome. He was aspirating when he swallowed and therefore breast milk was getting into his lungs when he was being fed orally. So to our demise, we were told that he would have to continue to be fed through a feeding tube and would have to stay in the hospital for another month. Apparently, this was not related to the PROM or even to his prematurity. But it was another obstacle that we had to work through. So for the next 4 weeks, I took Molly to the hospital every morning and we spent the day with Griffin. Every evening we would come back to the hospital with my husband as well and have our family time. This went on until Griffin was 10 weeks old at which point it was determined that we could finally bring him home……with oxygen and a feeding tube and a casted foot. But home was where we wanted him, so it didn’t matter what needed to be done to care for him. We knew we would do whatever it took.
Well it is now the end of September and our beautiful twins are almost 8 months old. They are both healthy, strong, happy and playful. They are the light of our lives and worth every tear shed, every day in the hospital, every scare, and every doctor appointment, every procedure, every worried moment. Griffin is off of his oxygen, he doesn’t use a feeding tube anymore, and his foot looks beautiful. He is a joyful, happy baby who is an absolute miracle to us and to all those who were familiar with our situation.
And to all those who had doubt, I say: never give up, never stop believing and never stop loving. My husband and I would go through it all again if we had to. Having Molly and Griffin is the greatest gift we could have ever asked for and one (or two!) that we cherish more than words could ever explain.
So if you are reading this and are dealing with a difficult pregnancy, PLEASE have hope. PLEASE have faith. And PLEASE stay positive. I spent a total of 12 weeks on modified bedrest at home, 10 weeks on bedrest at the hospital and then another 10 weeks at the hospital with our babies. And what got us through was our positive attitude, the mountains of love and support we received from family and friends and our hope and belief that our babies would make it through.
I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you too have a story with a happy ending to post on this site in the future.
Leslie, happy mommy to Molly and Griffin