In the words of their mother…

The birth of my children was not what I had planned. From the second I had thought about being a mother I had planned to have a very natural birth. I am not the type of person who liked even taking Tylenol. I guess that is where all my learning began. I found out I was pregnant two weeks after my husband returned from a year deployment. We were very excited and I was very nervous. I was a first year in veterinary school in Raleigh and my husband, a Marine, was stationed at Camp Lejeune – 2.5 hours away. I was going to have to go through this pregnancy mostly on my own- I was mentally prepared for that. I was not, however, mentally prepared the news at my first ultrasound- two heartbeats!
Twins.

How were we going to pull it off? How was I going to be able to take care of myself alone pregnant with twins? What was I going to do when they got here? My husband was elated- there have been several sets of twins in his family. He was even joking about triplets in the waiting room before the ultrasounds. No birthing center would take me because of the risk and I was left with the realty that I would have to have medicated birth. I felt it in my bones when I had talked to my doctors. I was told that if both were head down I could try for a vaginal birth. I continued going to school and my pregnancy was very uneventful. I didn’t get a lot of support from people. Most people seemed to think I should take a year off. I was told in so many different ways that I wanted to do the impossible, but I tried to remain optimistic.
At my 18 week ultrasound, I found out I would be having a little boy and a sweet girl. One of each- perfect is what everyone would say when I told them. My favorite thing was when people would ask me if I was having a boy or a girl and I would get to say “both.”
It was amazing being pregnant. I could feel my daughter move as my son was pushed down into my pelvis I barely felt him. I could only feel his hiccups. I loved the feeling of carrying my children and they made me feel like I was the luckiest woman in the world. What a blessing! The babies both remained head down- that is until my daughter flipped at 32 weeks.
As we were nearing viability (33w6d) I went into what I thought was false labor. No pain just what I thought were Braxton Hicks contraction. I had developed a UTI that weekend and was planning on seeing the doctor on Monday. It was Sunday. We were having my brother in laws birthday party and I had 30 Braxton Hicks in an hour. I decided to call and they told me to come in and get checked. We got in the car (without hospital bags, phone chargers, or a camera) and went to be checked. We just did not feel it was time. When we got to the doctors they told me to get undressed and strapped 3 monitors on my belly- one for each baby and me. My daughter was being the difficult baby she was kept moving away from the monitor. I didn’t feel anymore tightening and I was afraid they would think I was lying. About an hour later my doctor told me that I was having contractions every two minutes. She checked my cervix I was not dilated but my cervix were soft. It was hospital policy that they were not allowed to stop labor after 34 weeks. So that mean they had 6 hours to try to stop mine! I would be 34 weeks the next day. So the race was on. I was hooked up to fluids and had to take a bunch of medication including first steroids shot out of two shot series to help with the babies’ lungs (takes 12 hours to help their lungs). All to no avail.
I was checked at midnight. I had dilated to 3, without a single bit of pain. We did an ultrasound to check the babies. My daughter was still breech and estimated to be more than a pound bigger. They told me that they would be willing to do a breech extraction if the size gap wasn’t that big. Having a bigger second baby puts you at risk of dystocia.
The doctors told me to go to sleep and we would check progress in a few hours. My husband slept well – haha. I was up to the bathroom what felt like every 5 minutes because of the fluids. I was hungry and thirsty but because of the situation they would not let me eat or drink. I woke up and called my sister. I wanted to see if she would bring my notes so I could study for my test that week (she was 7 weeks behind me in her pregnancy).
I was checked- at 5. The morning doctor said it is time to make a choice because the babies would be there today. That was actually the first moment that I actually realized this was it. My sister arrived and my husband told her to call everyone and let them know we would be having babies today. So much for my studying. They had a team of neonatologist come and talk to me about the possible complications of having two premature babies especially since my steroid shot did not have long enough to work. I was scared out of my mind. I just wanted them out and safe. I was scared of my daughter getting stuck.
This is the part of my story where I realize how useful education is.
Since having my children I have learned that a vaginal birth with a breech baby b is possible. At the time I just did not know and made a decision out of fear (and misrepresented facts). So I went with a c. section. Within 30 minutes of finding out that it was going to be their birthday they were here. I heard a few gurgles then I heard my son come into the world. Screaming!
They told me they probably would not cry. I broke down. My sweet boy was here. They ran him by but I didn’t have my glasses on so I didn’t actually see him. I could hear him screaming in the next room over. He had great lungs. Then I heard my daughter. If I thought my son was screaming loud- I was wrong! My daughter came into the world hollering! She was a spitfire from the beginning. I could tell when they ran her by me.

On October 10, 2011 I became the mommy to 4lb 4oz Richard Elijah at 10:17am and 4lb 7oz Alexa Neveah at 10:18 am. Only 3-ounce difference! I could have had a vaginal birth. They allowed my husband to bring me the babies but then they were rushed to the NICU before I could even kiss them. I went to recovery then to my room. They wheeled me through the NICU on the way so I could see my babies. They were so small. I was scared to even touch them. My whole family was waiting in my room for me. It was nice. I hadn’t even called and they were there because of my sister. I didn’t have any pictures to share as we did not bring a camera. The lactation consultant came in and taught me how to use the breast pump. I didn’t get to really see the babies until 12 hours after I had them. I didn’t pick them up just watched and they watched me. They slept a lot better with me there. It was a relief they recognized me after the lack of bonding directly after delivery. The next morning the NICU called my room and let me know it was okay to try to breastfeed. Both babies got it on the first try (it was also the first time I held them)! The babies continued to do well. They got their IVs taken out on day 2 and needed no additional treatment just needed to grow. They had never even needed oxygen!
After 5 days my time at the hospital had expired. I had to leave them. It was the worst day of my life. I broke down that morning setting out the preemie clothes my sister had picked out for the babies. Leaving was even harder. All logic pointed to them being home soon but I was worried they would feel scared and abandoned. I cried all the way home. I continued pumping when I couldn’t make it to the hospital, as it was 30 minutes away. I would bring my milk everyday. We got to the point that they told me to stop bringing milk because I was taking up the whole freezer. The babies were doing so well they were termed the “rockstar babies”.
On their 9th day of life they came home! We shortly mastered breastfeeding and life with twins. Two weeks after I had my children I returned to school. My husband had leave saved up from his deployment and he was able to stay home with the babies for 8 weeks. It has really has been a dream. My life is forever changed. They are now 16 months old and I am getting ready to start my final year of vet school. My husband is no longer in the Marines and has been living with us for a month now. I can’t believe we did it but most importantly I can’t believe I did it. I love the look on the faces of those who doubted me when they see I have persevered. Being a mom has taught me many things but most importantly
I have the strength to do anything that I set my mind to. I am, as everyone at school puts it, a superwoman!