December 5, 2017
As we get closer to Elias and Evelyn's 2nd birthday, I can't help but think back to this time two years ago. So, I decided to write a few posts where I talk about what led up to their premature birth. More therapy for me than anything else. But I also didn't realize how many people still don't really know our story. I had a friend at school tell me that they had no idea when I brought up a couple of things that had happened while in the hospital. That time was so raw - and often still is - but it deserves to be told.
2017
My doctor told me I was going to be put on medical bed rest starting the week after Thanksgiving 2017, when I would be 27 weeks pregnant. He mentioned this fairly early in my pregnancy and I admit that I inwardly scoffed. At that point, I was planning to teach right up until I gave birth. That was the plan. However, I never got the second trimester boost of energy that I had heard so much about. I was still throwing up every day and I just hurt at the end of of each day of teaching. Like, really, really HURT. By a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I had fully embraced the bed rest. Of course, my idea of bed rest was probably still a little too ambitious - I was thinking work an hour on organizing stuff around the house, sit an hour, go to Target for an hour, sit an hour, etc.
We were originally supposed to have an ultrasound and doctor's appointment the Tuesday after Thanksgiving - November 28th, 2017. But, by what I absolutely believe was God's providence, our ultrasound tech was out of town, so we bumped it back to the the next Tuesday, December 5th.
December 5, 2017
Blake and I went in that day for my 8:15 appointment and they did the normal routine - took my blood pressure, weighed me in, and then we headed back for the ultrasound. It's so wonderful to see your babies, but the ultrasounds from 20 weeks on were uncomfortable. I was almost constantly on the verge of passing out from the pressure of being on my back or about to throw up (because that was just life). Our ultrasound tech was taking measurements of Elias and Evelyn and there were almost immediately concerns with Evie. She wasn't growing at the rate she should have been growing. I had read up on so many aspects of twin pregnancy and the term IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) almost immediately popped into my head. We went back to talk with Dr Mason (who is the BEST!) and he, as always, was honest and calm. He told us that my blood pressure was too high, which was a new thing. Other than one slightly higher than normal reading, my blood pressure had been completely fine up until this point. Then he asked how I was feeling. Honestly, at this point, I didn't really feel like I had any weird symptoms because of the blood pressure. Dr. Mason told us that we were going to head directly over to the hospital for monitoring and that they were also going to set up an appointment with the maternal-fetal medicine specialist (MFM) there at the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, they put all of the monitoring machinery on me - for Eli and Evie's heart rates and for my blood pressure. They also got the IV port set up just in case. I know we have many of my other blood pressure readings written down for later days, but we didn't write down those taken in the first few hours of monitoring. I do know that my blood pressure was consistently very high. My diastolic rarely inched below 100 and my systolic was also frighteningly high - at one scary point it went over 200. They kept asking me how I felt, but other than being uncomfortable from the hospital bed, nauseatingly hungry (I hadn't eaten that morning, because we were going to go get breakfast after the appointment), and really needing to go to the bathroom, I didn't feel bad. This is why I believe that the week's delay in our appointment was God providing for us. It's frightening to think how bad it could have been before I did start feeling the effects of the high blood pressure. I know Blake brought that up several times in the next couple of days - what if I'd been home by myself with my blood pressure continually shooting up and not knowing it.
Needless to say, I was admitted to the hospital. At this point, we hadn't met with the MFM yet, so we didn't have an official diagnosis for Evie. But that IUGR idea wouldn't stop going through my head. I knew what that meant. I knew what preeclampsia could possibly mean. There was still a small hope in my heart that this was all a fluke and I would be discharged and get to go home the next day. Or, slightly less ideal, I would be on hospitalized bed rest until a few weeks before Eli and Evie's due date. But deep inside, I knew that my babies weren't going to make it even that close to their late February due date - and my prayer became mid-January.
On a slightly more humorous note, Blake would have nothing to do with going home to sleep that first night. My 6'5" husband "slept" on the fold down couch. We also got a taste of Evelyn's independence as she would not cooperate with those monitoring sessions where they needed to have 20 minutes of continuous heart rate monitoring for each baby. She kept hiding behind Eli.
2017
My doctor told me I was going to be put on medical bed rest starting the week after Thanksgiving 2017, when I would be 27 weeks pregnant. He mentioned this fairly early in my pregnancy and I admit that I inwardly scoffed. At that point, I was planning to teach right up until I gave birth. That was the plan. However, I never got the second trimester boost of energy that I had heard so much about. I was still throwing up every day and I just hurt at the end of of each day of teaching. Like, really, really HURT. By a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I had fully embraced the bed rest. Of course, my idea of bed rest was probably still a little too ambitious - I was thinking work an hour on organizing stuff around the house, sit an hour, go to Target for an hour, sit an hour, etc.
We were originally supposed to have an ultrasound and doctor's appointment the Tuesday after Thanksgiving - November 28th, 2017. But, by what I absolutely believe was God's providence, our ultrasound tech was out of town, so we bumped it back to the the next Tuesday, December 5th.
December 5, 2017
Blake and I went in that day for my 8:15 appointment and they did the normal routine - took my blood pressure, weighed me in, and then we headed back for the ultrasound. It's so wonderful to see your babies, but the ultrasounds from 20 weeks on were uncomfortable. I was almost constantly on the verge of passing out from the pressure of being on my back or about to throw up (because that was just life). Our ultrasound tech was taking measurements of Elias and Evelyn and there were almost immediately concerns with Evie. She wasn't growing at the rate she should have been growing. I had read up on so many aspects of twin pregnancy and the term IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) almost immediately popped into my head. We went back to talk with Dr Mason (who is the BEST!) and he, as always, was honest and calm. He told us that my blood pressure was too high, which was a new thing. Other than one slightly higher than normal reading, my blood pressure had been completely fine up until this point. Then he asked how I was feeling. Honestly, at this point, I didn't really feel like I had any weird symptoms because of the blood pressure. Dr. Mason told us that we were going to head directly over to the hospital for monitoring and that they were also going to set up an appointment with the maternal-fetal medicine specialist (MFM) there at the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, they put all of the monitoring machinery on me - for Eli and Evie's heart rates and for my blood pressure. They also got the IV port set up just in case. I know we have many of my other blood pressure readings written down for later days, but we didn't write down those taken in the first few hours of monitoring. I do know that my blood pressure was consistently very high. My diastolic rarely inched below 100 and my systolic was also frighteningly high - at one scary point it went over 200. They kept asking me how I felt, but other than being uncomfortable from the hospital bed, nauseatingly hungry (I hadn't eaten that morning, because we were going to go get breakfast after the appointment), and really needing to go to the bathroom, I didn't feel bad. This is why I believe that the week's delay in our appointment was God providing for us. It's frightening to think how bad it could have been before I did start feeling the effects of the high blood pressure. I know Blake brought that up several times in the next couple of days - what if I'd been home by myself with my blood pressure continually shooting up and not knowing it.
Needless to say, I was admitted to the hospital. At this point, we hadn't met with the MFM yet, so we didn't have an official diagnosis for Evie. But that IUGR idea wouldn't stop going through my head. I knew what that meant. I knew what preeclampsia could possibly mean. There was still a small hope in my heart that this was all a fluke and I would be discharged and get to go home the next day. Or, slightly less ideal, I would be on hospitalized bed rest until a few weeks before Eli and Evie's due date. But deep inside, I knew that my babies weren't going to make it even that close to their late February due date - and my prayer became mid-January.
On a slightly more humorous note, Blake would have nothing to do with going home to sleep that first night. My 6'5" husband "slept" on the fold down couch. We also got a taste of Evelyn's independence as she would not cooperate with those monitoring sessions where they needed to have 20 minutes of continuous heart rate monitoring for each baby. She kept hiding behind Eli.
Love you Sis. So thankful for you and your sweet little family. Prayers for you guys always.
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