“You are so lucky. I want to try for twins.” “Two kids in one shot, that must have been so nice.” Yes, I am lucky. I was blessed with the two greatest gifts God has ever given me. Two healthy children who bring me more joy than I ever thought possible. Of course, they almost killed me during the incubation period. I had a horrible pregnancy and ended up in the hospital a few times during my pregnancy for anything from kidney failure to dehydration to preterm labor. My babies were expected to come at 29 weeks. Every week I continued to carry them was nothing short of a miracle. It defied logic and mystified my doctors. I was so weak, so sick, and had almost nothing keeping them in (my cervix had shortened dramatically). Yet, by the grace of God, they held for 35 weeks and 6 days. They were tiny, they were healthy, and I was relieved.
My preemies were able to come home with me after 2 days in the hospital. I was lucky because so many of my friends who had just given birth to twins at the time were stuck visiting their little ones in the NICU. They had to endure seeing their tiny little babies with IVs in their heads and tubes up their noses.One of my friends lost her little ones to prematurity. They just came too soon. The grief that her family must feel on a daily basis is inconceivable.
So many of us with twins have children with problems that are attributed to prematurity. My son has a heart murmur and needed to have surgery at one year of age to correct it. He also has sensory issues, is on the Autism Spectrum and has mild cerebral palsy. I am not saying all of these things were caused strictly by prematurity but I think prematurity had alot to do with it. I know so many kids who are twins and have problems. Heart problems, tooth enamel problems, speech problems, sensory problems, muscular problems. The list goes on and on. Yet, we are the lucky ones. We brought our babies home. We get to see them overcome their disabilities. So many parents never get that chance.
Today the March of Dimes has asked us bloggers to raise awareness about the 543,000 babies that are born too soon in the US every year. In half of these cases, doctors have no idea why these little ones came so early. We need answers. We need funding. I don’t want my children to have to go through the fear and heartache of seeing their child in the NICU. I don’t want to have witness another friend lose their child to prematurity.
You can help. Click here to find out how. Together we can help these babies thrive.
6 comments:
Wow! 35 weeks. I was trying to get my babies to 35 weeks, I almost made it.
Prematurity is something that we need to get rid of. No babies should have to fight!
I'm all teary reading this... I so vividly remember all you (and I and everyone) went through back then. It's such a miracle how many of us managed to bring both of our babies home...
So glad you jumped on board and wrote about your beautiful babies :)
Sounds like you had a very tough pregnancy indeed. How wonderful that you were able to get to 35 weeks! Not that that's not worrisome but you know what I mean.
C & B were delivered at 32 wks and G & L were delivered at 34 weeks and just that extra 14 days that G & L had in the womb really made a huge difference. They didn't have the same serious issues that C & B had at 32 weeks.
My cervix shortened dramatically too with G & L around 30 weeks. There was nothing left to measure and my dr had me all freaked out because I had started to dilate very minimally. She said, "There's nothing preventing him from just coming out if you dilate any more than that so you need to stay horizontal at all times". I was so afraid every time I had to go to the bathroom that he was gonna literally fall out. Scary times.
So glad though that all our children arrived safely...they are all true miracles.
Oh and I'll work on the guest post for Tahoe! Sorry, I'm such a flake!
I too was lucky to make it 35 weeks with my twins. I was on bedrest from week 23 and prayed every day that I would get to 28 weeks to give them at least a chance for survival. They are now almost 10 months and so healthy and strong. Babies are so resilient.
Thank you so much for participating in our Fight for Preemies event and helping us raise awareness of the oft times long journey of premturity. You are one of the lucky ones-able to hold on and bring your babies home in only a few days. THAT is terrific!
Yeah, you were miserable, poor thing! You & your 0.001% chance of getting things! Ben & Mari were too stubborn to be kept in the hospital longer than normal... ;)
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