The second trimester started just as good as the first. (Read about the first trimester here). I felt good, my energy was up and my mood had improved. Plus, we couldn’t wait until the day we could find out the genders of our babies!
With twins, you have more ultrasounds than normal. I’m not sure which ultrasound it was, but we found out we were having TWO BOYS! At the time, we were hopeful for a boy and girl. However, once we were told we were having boys, we just couldn’t wait to meet them!!
I instantly felt great about being a boy mom. 🙂 My husband of course, was thrilled it wasn’t two girls. 😉
21 weeks pregnant-
At 21 weeks, my family threw a baby shower. Since we live out of state, we chose to throw the shower earlier than normal. With twins, we weren’t sure how early they would arrive, so travel was a concern to ensure we never put the babies at risk while still being able to make it home to be with our families.
On my way home to Michigan, I got a call from the doctors office. I had gone in for an ultrasound the previous day and everything looked great. So we thought…
The nurse informed me that one of the babies’ amniotic fluid was low and that I was now an “at-risk” pregnancy. She told me to rest, drink tons of fluids and schedule an appointment with a Fetal Medicine Doctor, who could monitor our pregnancy more closely. My heard sank, y’all. I was SOOO scared of losing our babies.
We worked very closely with the Fetal Medicine Doctors, having Doppler ultrasounds every other week, then weekly, then eventually multiple times per week. The doctors needed to keep an eye on the blood flow of each baby.
My boys had whats called “intermittent absent diastolic flow” and my smaller twin had Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction (sIUGR). Basically, this all means that my Baby B, the smaller baby, was not receiving enough nourishment from the placenta to grow at a normal rate.
With the boys being mono-di twins (identical, sharing the placenta), they shared the blood supply from the placenta. Our smaller baby was not getting as much blood flow as our larger baby, which is why he wasn’t receiving the required nutrients which resulted in a slower growth rate.
The problem with this, is that if something happened to our smaller baby, it would also become dangerous for our larger baby. Thus, the requirement of constant supervision with the Fetal Medicine Doctor and TONS of Doppler Ultrasounds (where they monitor the blood flow and oxygen each baby was receiving).
Was I scared and a little paranoid about our babies having so many ultrasounds? Absolutely. But at this point, we chose to put our trust in the doctors recommendation that they were necessary to monitor the boys. In the end, I believe its what saved their lives.
24 weeks pregnant-
At 24 weeks pregnant, we went in for our routine ultrasound. Unfortunately the Doppler didn’t look great, so we were admitted to the hospital. There I received 2 steroid shots to help speed up the process of the boys developing lungs. The doctor wasn’t sure if I would be delivering this early or not, so they wanted to take precautions.
My gracious husband stayed with me at the hospital, every night while I as there. The babies heartbeats were monitored daily., receiving a few Doppler ultrasounds while we were there. Finally the Doppler looked good enough for me to be released from the hospital, 4 days later.
25 weeks pregnant-
At this point, I stepped away from teaching and stayed home to rest and keep up with the recommended fluid intake. The doctor didn’t want the stress of my job to effect the babies. It was REALLY hard leaving my class just two months before summer break, but I needed to do what was best for me and our boys.
26 weeks pregnant-
I was home for just about a week before being re-admitted to the hospital. Again, the Doppler showed cause for concern and appeared as if Baby B, our little baby, wasn’t receiving adequate blood flow from the placenta. With this, the doctors were unsure how much oxygen he was getting. So, we packed up and returned to the hospital.
While at the hospital, I was given magnesium sulfate, which they hooked up through an IV. They were trying to slow preterm labor and protect the babies brains. When babies are born prematurely, there is a chance of them having cerebral palsy, so the mag drip was supposed to help prevent that. I’m not going to lie…it hurt like hell and burned going through my body. I thought I was going to puke, so they brought me a puke bucket. The feeling passed after a while, and I started to feel better. Not fun.
For the next week, the babies were monitored, doctors were in and out and I continued to be monitored and have ultrasounds. I thought we were here for the long run, until the babies arrived. I was scared.
We were told that the babies would be coming early, they just didn’t know how early. We took a tour of the NICU to start to prepare ourselves for our future. WOW. This was eye opening for me. There were little babies just over a pound, fighting for their lives. My little twin weighed 1.13 pounds and my bigger twin weighed 2.14 pounds at this point. Some of the babies in the NICU were around the same weight, so it was incredible to see them. I was thankful my babies were still inside of me, growing a little more each day.
We stayed at the hospital for 7 days this time around. On day 7, the Doppler Ultrasound looked good, the twins blood flow was elevated (which is good) and their heartbeats were strong. They released us from the hospital and I was on “low impact bed rest.” Basically, I needed to rest, couldn’t do anything to strain my body, and needed to drink TONS of fluids.
29 weeks pregnant-
12 days later, we were readmitted back to the hospital for our third and final time.
The babies were monitored multiple times per day. Luckily, I wasn’t on complete bed rest and was able to walk around the hospital as I pleased, and enjoy walks outside. Getting outside saved me. Mama’s who are on full bed rest at the hospital, I’m SO SORRY! I can’t even imagine…I was going crazy as it was, just not being able to leave.
31 weeks pregnant-
The day I turned 31 weeks, our little baby was not receiving enough blood flow (the Doppler showed reverse blood flow) and an emergency C-section was scheduled. I got another steroid shot and another magnesium drip to help the babies lungs and brains.
Y’all, I had gone into this pregnancy wanting a home birth. When I found out it was twins, I was okay with a hospital birth, but wanted it to be completely natural. Things do not always turn out how you plan. Give yourself grace and know everything happens for a reason.
Our babies were born on May 11. Our smaller baby was born at 2 pounds 8 ounces, and my “bigger” baby was born at 3 pounds 5 ounces. They were my little, HEALTHY, miracle babies. The C-section went well, BOTH babies were ALIVE, and now we just needed to wait for them to grow.
Read about our NICU stay here!
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