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I found out that I was pregnant almost exactly a year ago, on Labor Day |
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I found out that I was pregnant almost exactly a year ago, on Labor Day of 2006. My husband and I found out that we were pregnant with twins a few weeks later. I remember being so excited for all that we had ahead. After we got through the first trimester, I relaxed. I felt good, and my OB seemed confident that things would continue to go well. At our 20-week ultrasound, we found out that we were having boys. We spent Christmas talking about their names, and just thinking about what they would be like. On the morning of January 17, 2007, I woke up and felt very nauseous. The night before, I'd felt very uncomfortable, and my face and legs were very swollen. I also had a sharp pain in my shoulder, and felt like I had heartburn. I was 22 weeks, 6 days pregnant. I had never heard of preeclampsia, so I thought that all of these symptoms were merely symptoms of being pregnant with twins. That morning, I began vomiting and had severe diarrhea, and the heartburn pain worsened. My husband and I thought I had the flu. I called my OB around 10 that morning, and thank God, she recommended I go to Labor/Delivery, because she was worried that if I was dehydrated, I may start contracting with the twins. I felt so sick. My husband came home from work, and we drove to the hospital. I remember vomiting on the way to the hospital. Later, my husband told me that I was a pale, yellowish color. When we arrived in Labor/Delivery, we just thought I'd get an IV of fluids, and then I'd feel better. They asked me to do a urine sample, and when I went to urinate, hardly anything came out, and my urine was a brownish color. Later, I would learn that I had a ton of protein in my urine. I thought at the time that it was because I was dehydrated. Everyone was very calm until they read my blood pressure. I can't remember how high it was, but I know it was 210 over something. The nurse thought she'd made a mistake. Before we knew it, a high-risk OB was meeting with us, telling us that he suspected I had HELLP_ syndrome, and that they would probably have to deliver our babies. He was so compassionate with us, he even cried with us. My husband and I were totally in shock. I'd taken such good care of myself; how could this have happened? Apparently, it's very rare to have HELLP so early in a pregancy (22 weeks, 6 days), but I had it, and my boys were delivered by c-section that afternoon. Miraculously, both were born alive. Sean Francis lived for 3 days, and Kyle Nicholas lived for 12 days. They were beautiful and strong, just too little to be outside the womb. I held each one of them as they died, and feel lucky to have been their mother. I remained in the ICU for almost a week; it took a while for my bp to go down. I am now doing well, physically, 7 and a half months later. I miss my babies every day. I had an inverted-T c-section, so we need to wait a few more months before we try again, but I am scared. I know I will be super high-risk, and followed by a lot of doctors who became very invested in us when we lost our twins, but it's still scary. All I can do is trust in God, and try to trust my body again. The doctors did find that I have a heterozygote-Factor V thrombophilia, so I'll probably be on blood thinners next time around. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. |
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