The Story of our Girls

Little did I know that at my 33 week checkup we would be rushed into an emergency c-section and delivering our girls. Here is how the day went (as I can remember):

We had a doctors appointment at 9:00 on Tuesday morning. I have felt terrible this past weekend with lower back pain and an urge to push. I called the clinic on Monday and they told me to mention it at my appointment the next day. DH wasn't able to come along to the appointment, so my dad ended up riding with. Monday we had another one of these annoying April snow storms, so we left bright and early in order to get there in time in case the roads were bad.

We arrived at my appointment about 20 minutes early, and they saw us early as well. That never happens! I first talked to the nurse and told her my symptoms and she suspected possible preterm labor as well and suggested I get checked to see if I am dialated.

Shortly after this we went in for my ultrasound. They were doing a biophysical profile. This was different than the usual ultrasounds as they look for heart rates, fluid, and movement. It was a strange ultrasound especially considering how much they looked at the hearts and especially movement on Baby B. I said to my dad that Baby B wasn't moving much. The ultrasound tech never said anything that would be concerning so I just thought Baby B was sleeping. Shortly thereafter, my Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor came in and did the ultrasound himself. This was a red flag to me since he has never scanned me before.

As he was scanning me, I heard him say, "This is the recipient twin?" And my heart stopped. He then asked me if I felt decreased movement and I said, "yes, but I would do a kick count and it would be okay." Apparently I was only feeling Baby A move, and he responded by saying, "Baby B is very sick and she needs to come out now." I asked him if this was Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and he said, "unfortunately, yes." I asked if I could call my husband and if he would make it for their birth. When I told him he was about 1 hour 20 minutes out, he said he might make it.

What happened next was a whirlwind of emotions and not knowing what was happening. They rushed me over to triage to prep me for my c-section. I arrived at 10:07. They were checking for heart rates and it was then a nurse said, "We need to go. Baby B is in heart failure." My heart sunk again. I didn't really know how serious it was because I JUST saw her heartbeat of 150 bpm about 10 minutes prior. They prepped me so fast and got me to the OR, numbed, and started the c-section. 

At 10:34 (a mere 27 minutes later), Baby A, Kamryn, came out crying. I kept waiting to hear Baby B, Laityn. I never heard her, I never saw her. I didn't even know she was born. My dad was in the OR with me and I asked him and he said, "they are working on her." It wasn't until a few minutes later when we heard a doctor say, "I have a heartbeat."

I saw Kamryn for a very short while and never saw Laityn. They wheeled me into recovery where they told me just how grim it looked for Laityn. She was born with no heartbeat. The instant they took her out they began chest compressions, gave her some epi, and put her on a ventilator. She was gone for about 3 minutes. She even scored a zero on the Apgar rating scale. It wasn't until then I realized how serious this TTTS was. I essentially gave birth to a stillborn, and they revived her. Eventually they had to put Kamryn on a ventilator as well.

After sitting in recovery for 2-3 hours, Josh then arriving, they brought me down to the NICU to see my girls for the first time. It wasn't a pretty sight, but all I wanted was to see my girls. The girls each had two nurses and a doctor assigned to each. They were in extremely critical condition. Laityn had to have blood transfusions and platelets. Kamryn needed to have her blood removed and replaced with saline since she had too much.

Seeing the girls for the first time

After looking back, there were so many God moments that worked out perfectly, or else the end result would have been tragically different. God's timing is perfect:
• Snow storms - had it not been for the storm we would have never have left early, and never been seen early
• Morning appointment - the doctor told me if it would have been later, she would have been gone.
• Miracle workers (doctors) - he had the right 30 people in the OR at the right time. 27 minutes to have a c-section delivery is unheard of....in fact, people were still talking about it a few days later
• Location - the fact I was in Sioux Falls. If I would have been at my local hospital I would have never made it in time to have the girls
• Stage IV TTTS: Stage IV is heart failure and has a 60%-100% mortality rate in the donor twin (Laityn). Stage V is death.
• My Doctor: He said he has never seen TTTS develop this severely this quickly. 32 weeks there was no sign. 33 weeks we almost lost one of our girls

Tons of prayers answered in the unknown times. I didnt know what to pray for while laying on the table. All I prayed was that my girls would be okay and not taken from me. I don't remember what words I prayed, but I just prayed for the girls. Somehow through the tears he hear our calls and blessed us with two beautiful daughters:

Kamryn Grace: 5lbs 14oz, 18.5" long, 10:34 AM

 Laityn Hope: 4lbs 14oz, 18.25" long, 10:35 AM

(I plan on updating more - they are doing much better! I will try update soon)

30-33 Weeks

30 Weeks (left), 32 Weeks (right)

I have been slacking on getting updates in a reasonable amount of time. I am back to the extreme tiredness that I had during the 1st trimester. Add that along with getting up 6+ times per night due to pain, bathroom breaks, and heartburn = one exhausted mama. So, as a result, blogging has taken a back burner.

We have had a couple of more "eventful" things happen these past few weeks. First, at my 30 week appointment I was experiencing low blood pressure. 108/66 to be exact. I even got sick and light headed during my ultrasound. We decided to alter a couple of meds to see if we could get it back up so I had to monitor it for a week.

Well, it did jump up quite a bit from that level. It is now consistently in the 140s-150s/ 75-85. I wasn't sure if this was too high, so I was required to do a 24 hour urine protein test. I passed so no pre eclampsia for now. I still monitor my blood pressure daily to make sure it isn't getting too high.

I will also be starting weekly appointments. We took a tour of the birth center at my 32 week one and its definitely getting more real. Hard to believe in less than 4 weeks we will have two more people in our family! Macyn asks daily if today is "the day" and I always have to tell her no. I just hope she adjusts well once they are here! The babies continue to grow like weeds, and here are the latest stats:

30 Weeks: Baby A 4lbs 4oz, Baby B 4lbs 7oz

32 Weeks: Baby A 4lbs 15oz, Baby B 4lbs 13oz

Little miss chubby cheeks :)

And I am starting to feel miserable. I have been doing so well thus far and I am definitely starting to feel it. I just keep telling myself - 3 more weeks! And to those of you wondering, yes, I am still working full time. And yes, I am huge. Today in church someone told me that, "I thought you were going to head to the hospital any time this morning!"

And I have had kids in Macyn's daycare room run up to me and ask what is wrong with my stomach. I also had another boy comment that "you need to go to the hospital now and get popped!"

I know they are just kids, but yes, I know I'm huge. You don't have to always point it out :)

Snowman Family

The other night while DH & I were at Bible study, my parents came over to watch Macyn. She really wanted to play in the snow so Macyn decided she wanted to make a "snowman family like hers." They all had to hold hands too. Its cute how she realizes we will soon be a family of five!

Kid's Carnival

Our church held a kid's carnival along with a soup supper. This is always a fun time to play games, win tickets, and exchange them for prizes. What were Macyn's favorite things?

Plinko!

And a manicure! She's definitely a girly girl!

Easter Weekend

Since I have been putting off blogging, here is a quick rundown of how our Easter weekend went:

Easter Egg Hunt: We brought Macyn to the local egg hunt and it was complete chaos! I think she was overwhelmed in the crows of people trying to find eggs, but she managed to find a gold one! She received a new kickball along with a bag full of candy. She also had her face painted and got to hold a baby chick.

Easter Morning: We had a little surprise for Macyn - a new wagon filled with presents! They were mostly practical things, like socks, underwear, etc. but she didn't seem to mind. Now if only the weather would cooperate and we could actually go outside with her new wagon!

She also wore her new dress that my mom sewed for her. She was pretty excited and she loves to twirl in it!

Easter Lunch: We held Easter at our house this year since my parent's kitchen was all torn up. It turned out to be a good time. Macyn and Caden and the boys played downstairs while the girls just chilled upstairs. Macyn also was able to pull Caden in her new wagon out to his car when it was time for them to leave.

We had a great Easter with my family. It was a nice, relaxing day!

28 - 29 Weeks

28 weeks (left), 29 weeks (right) - can you see Macyn hiding behind me?! :)

I have made it to 29 weeks! I am definitely starting to feel more pregnant everyday. At this point in twin pregnancy, I am as big as a full term person with a singleton! It really hit me after walking around the indoor fair last week. I was super tired…and stayed that way until I could catch up on napping this past weekend. Night time sleep is a different story. I feel like I don't sleep at all. All I do is toss and turn, which is painful due to achiness. I also still get up 5-6 times per night for bathroom breaks, heartburn, and leg cramps. I have tried to not drink so much at night, but it doesn't seem to help. I guess this is just how its going to be these last 7 weeks! I can't complain though, things could be worse – like bed rest or something! I still get more and more tired doing simple tasks. I have now resorted to sitting on a roller chair to wheel around the house and do chores like laundry, etc. We have dubbed this my "wheel chair." Literally.

We had our 28 week checkup last week and both babies are still head down. I don't have any good ultrasound pictures since they are running out of space it is hard to get some good ones! Here is how they are measuring.

Baby A: 2lbs 15oz

Baby B: 3lbs 5oz

I also had my diabetes test. I was not expecting a good outcome since I failed mine with Macyn, and passed the three hour. So I drank the stuff about 1/2 way through my ultrasound and then they drew my blood and hour later. That afternoon I received a phone call that I passed! I was super excited! I had to get below a 134 and I had an 84! I think with Macyn my score was like in the 170's. Its amazing how different pregnancies can be. My blood pressure is still continuing to be good as well.  I am still on no restrictions and will have another checkup in two weeks. I have gained 25 lbs so far, and I gained about 25-30 total with Macyn. So with 7 weeks left and twins, I can't complain!

Also, we scheduled my repeat c-section for May 15! That leaves about 50 days left. I will be 36 weeks 3 days at that point. If the babies are born at 35 weeks they will have to be in NICU. They won't go past 37 weeks because the mortality rate goes up. So 36 weeks it is! Lots to do, but we are getting more and more excited to meet our girls!

Easter Eggs

We decided to make some Easter Eggs this afternoon. We bought the same kit as last year, but Macyn didn't seem to mind!

Macyn with one of her eggs

 I forgot to buy some Easter grass, but then I remembered I at least had a basket in the closet. I found some old spring garland in there too and thought this would be a good place to put her eggs for the season. She must really like them - she even had to tell them "good night" before she went to bed!