*** This is really long but I wanted to write it down, mostly for myself so I could remember!
We found out we were pregnant just a few weeks after we moved to Texas in August. We were really excited and really anxious as we were already making a huge transition in our lives. Because I had a miscarriage the previous spring, my new OB decided we should do an early ultrasound and bloodwork to make sure everything was ok. First we did the bloodwork. We were looking for the hcg levels to double every two days, and there were doing that and more! Then came the ultrasound. We had one at what we thought would be 6-7 weeks. The tech found the baby and we were so elated we saw a heart beat already!!! The tech dated the pregnancy to be 5 weeks 5 days. Then she went on to finish up the ultrasound and check out my ovaries, as she went across we saw a second baby!!! We both were totally shocked and when the tech told me I sat up and accidently kicked her! Now we were really excited and really scared and overwhelmed.
Picture: Ultrasound at 5 wks 5 days ... It's Twins!
It wasn’t long and I was in the throws of morning sickness. I was put on medicine to help me keep fluids and food down and my life just became about managing the sickness.
Picture: The Boys 8 weeks
Picture: The boys 11 weeks
URINARY RETENTION Oh BOY!
The pregnancy progressed well until the 12th week. I ended up in the hospital with some back pain we thought to be kidney pain. They admitted me to the hospital and while I was there I lost my ability to pee! The dr. said it was because my uterus was expanding so rapidly and soon it would move up into my abdomen and I would be able to pee again. So I was sent home with a urinary catheder for a week. Let me tell you that was a lot of fun! Another interesting factoid about this hospital stay is that after about a dozen attempts to start an IV they ended up putting one in my neck, it was scary and disgusting!
Pictures: Baby A & Baby B at 12 weeks
Picture: Jerra at 14 weeks
WE’RE HAVING BOYS!!!
At 16 weeks I was due for an ultrasound and the tech loudly pronounced, “I see 2 wieners, you’re having boys!!” Matt was VERY excited and I was pretty scared, never done boys before and they certainly are an anomaly in my family!
Picture: Both boys at 16 weeks.
I then just had the morning sickness to deal with until about the 24th week. Then I started feeling pretty good, but it didn’t last long. Soon began to feel super uncomfortable, heartburn, all that normal pregnant with twins stuff!
Pictures: Boys at 24 weeks
Picture: Baby B 26 weeks
Picture: Baby A 26 weeks with Baby B sticking his hand in there!
Picture: Baby A & B 26 weeks
Picture: Jerra at 27 weeks
Pictures: Boys at 28 weeks
THE SEIZURES START …
On March 17th at 33 weeks I started getting a headache and just not feeling well. I don’t remember much after that but I had a seizure. I awoke and we weren’t really sure what was going on so we sort of waiting out a bit, then I had a very big seizure in the afternoon and Matt couldn’t get me to wake up. So we went to the ER and they sent me over to labor and delivery. They tested me for pre-eclampsia, which includes protein in the urine and high blood pressure. But those things were ok and the boys were doing great still. So they sent me back to the ER and did a cat scan. Everything was fine. So they referred me to a neurologist.
I then spent the next 5 days calling all the neuros in the area and either they didn’t take my insurance or they didn’t want to a new patient who was 33 weeks pregnant with twins. My OB insisted this wasn’t pregnancy related and there wasn’t much they could do for me. It was so frustrating! I was just getting bounced around and meanwhile the seizures continued and I had 1 – 3 a day for an entire week which included multiple falls every time I had one. They also completely wiped me out. I was pretty much just resting all the time as not to have a seizure and fall and hurt the babies.
THE BIG EVENT
On Friday March 25th at 34 weeks 1 day, I again had another seizure in the morning and then about 1pm I had another one. This time I had a bunch of plates in my hands it crashed all over the floor. Matt was freaking out because he couldn’t get me to wake up and there was blood on the floor. When he got me awake we discovered it was just a small scratch from the broken plates but we were done with this business. We decided to go the hospital and were not leaving until we had figured something out!
So we went to the ER again and they sent me straight over to labor and delivery. I thought oh great, here we go getting bounced around again. But when I got back to L&D and they took my blood pressure it was high – 154/90. Still no protein in the urine though. So I thought I was in for some more monitoring. They kept taking my blood pressure every few minutes and it just kept creeping up. Next it was 170/90. At that point the nurse left to go call Dr. Maunder and see what he wanted to do. She came back and said that he was coming to the hospital to talk to me. We were relieved that someone was taking up serious and the dr. was coming. I had another nurse come in and want to start an IV, for what I didn’t know. My blood pressure was checked and it was 190/something.
Then Dr. Maunder arrived. He said, “at this point we have to treat this as full fledged eclampsia, so we are going to have to deliver the babies.” I said, “like later this evening or … “No, right now” was his response. I was shocked and asked if there was something else we could do like a med or more monitoring. Blood pressure goes off again – 208/something. At this point I was beginning to feel really yucky with a bad headache. Matt just kept saying, “we can do this Jerra, we are delivering today.” I felt sick to my stomach and so incredibly scared and overwhelmed. I then asked the Dr. if we could wait long enough to have Matt go home and get the camera … I got a resounding “NO” from everyone in the room, which at this point had grown to a whole team of nurses and drs. getting me ready for surgery.
As my blood pressure kept going up I began to be convinced the dr. was right but I was still so scared and feeling disappointed I had failed my babies. The got me prepped for surgery and wheeled me in. Everything was happening so quickly I felt really sick and completely overwhelmed. I got the OR and the dr. started the spinal. I had two csections before and knew how a spinal felt, however this time the spinal seemed to be working much slower and my I could still wiggle my toes, so I was so scared that I was going to feel everything!! But shortly after, Matt arrived and they began the csection. Baby A came out at 3:38pm and wasn’t crying but I could see them working on him in the crib to my right and he was wiggling and moving around. Then I started feeling a lot of tugging. Matt was watching the whole thing and said the dr’s assistant was pushing on my belly so hard that her feet came off the ground. After much more tugging Baby B came out at 3:40pm and was crying and screaming right away, he sounded like a little kitten!
They brought the babies to my head and allowed me to look at them and give them kisses. Then they were off to the NICU to be assessed and I went back to a private labor and delivery room. The nurses continued to monitor my blood pressure and I was started on magnesium sulfate. The “mag” as they called it is horrible, it makes you feel really hot and like you have the flu, really really nauseous. I did pretty good on it though and it continued until 4pm the next day and my pressures were under control.
Throughout my time in recovery and the post-partum unit I had a ton of swelling and my pressures were all over the place. They ended up putting me on a blood pressure pill and a diuretic to help with the swelling and discharged me on the 28th.
The next day I had an episode that took me back to the ER. I was swelling up where my feet didn’t even look like feet. The swelling was so bad it was in my back, my legs looked like tree trucks and I could feel it in my eyes, lips and ears. Then my muscles started shaking uncontrollably but it wasn’t really like a seizure, more like you get from being weak from overuse. By the time I got the ER my pressure was 162/80. They took me back to a triage room and started an IV. She took my pressure one more time and it was 113/72. We were all so confused, but I was ok and was sent home. I have been dealing with the swelling and some headaches but overall seem to be getting better everyday. Thankful we are all ok ….
***If you want to hear the story from Matt's perspective go here:
http://arkeochurch.com/archives/85
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