They are here!

Over whelming! That's the word I would use to describe the past few weeks! We have been overwhelmed with both happiness and stress. So sorry it has taken me a while to do the final post but I have had a really hard time finding the words to describe everything. It was like the beginning of their birth was a fairy tale and then reality hit.  So for those that don't know the story I will start at the beginning of the day the babies were born.

We were so excited for the day (January 16th) to finally be here that they babies were coming! We were so anxious that we ended up getting ready about 2 hours to early and then we had to just sit at the house and wait. So finally it was time to go to the hospital! It was a very surreal moment to drive through the area where we were driving when we found out that we were pregnant 9 months earlier. We got to the hospital and they started getting me all prepared for the c section. Luckily the wait to be taken back to the operating room flew by because we had a lot of our family there with us waiting on the babies to come.

I really was not nervous at all until they came back and told me it was time to go to the operating room and Zack had to wait to come back until everything was ready. So they took me back and did my spinal which I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't hurt at all. And within no time Zack was back there with me and it was time for them to start. 

I have to say that a c section is a very different feeling from any procedure I have ever had done because of all the tugging and pulling you can feel when there trying to get the babies out. But first out was Eli and he came out no problem weighing 7lbs 2 ounces! It was the best feeling in the world to hear him coming out screaming! Next was Aly to come out weighing 6lbs 11 ounces and they had a hard time getting her out because of the way she was laying. When she came out we really didn't hear anything and it took her a few seconds to start crying. And even once she started crying she was very "floppy", as they called her, which they said meant she was very slow responsively they said probably because how hard it was on her getting her out. But she finally came around and started responding well. They let us hold them both for a few minutes which is a moment we never will forget! Then they sent Zack out with them both to the nursery to get cleaned up while they put me back together. And then for about 2 hours we got to live out our dream of holding both of our babies and celebrating with our family the excitement of our two little miracles!

Then reality hit...I noticed that Eli was making grunting noises and at first everyone thought I was just being paranoid. And then the noises got louder and my cousin, who is a respiratory therapist, decided she better check him out to make sure everything was ok. When she checked him he was pulling really hard trying to breathe. She rushed him back to the nursery for them to check his oxygen. So Zack went back with her to make sure he was ok and his oxygen was in the low 80's. At that point I didn't really understand the severity of the situation but as the day went on he just kept getting worse. They ended up having to put him on the C pap to force his lungs to stay open to get the oxygen. But once they put him on the C pap at SOMC they were only allowed to keep him there on it for an hour without having to send him off. So that night Dr. Cook from SOMC pediatrics came in and told me that they were going to have to fly Eli out to Childrens hospital. I have never had as much respect for a doctor as I do for her now because of how genuinly concerned she was for Eli having to been sent out. But that was when I knew it was serious and it was so hard because I had not been able to see him for hours since they had taken him to the nursery. I wasn't allowed to get up from my bed because I still had to have the catheter in from the c section. Thankfully since the helicopter was going to be a couple of hours they were willing to remover my catheter early so I could see him before they sent him off. They took pictures of him first and gave them to me to prepare me for what he looked like. And once we got in there they wanted to take a family picture of us before we all had to be separated. I'm not going to lie though at this point I was on some IV pain medication so I was a little out of it when they were sending him out so I was a little delirious. But on a side note I at least was providing my family with some humor and I randomly woke up while waiting on the helicopter and told both my parents and Zacks how nifty my disposable underwear was lol Once the helicopter loaded him up, Zack took off to Children's with his parents and my dad to go be with Eli but me and Aly had to stay at the hospital because I couldn't be released yet. This really was one of my biggest fears come true with having twins.

I really handled being stuck at the hospital the next day pretty well until that evening when Zack called me and said that the Cpap had caused a partial pneumothorax. He told me they were going to have to stick a needle into his chest to release the air. After they got the air out his oxygen stats all started improving for a few hours so I thought everything was finally getting better but that night he had the pneumothorax again and they were going to have to stick a needle into his chest again. They also decided that they were going to have to put him on the vent to give his body a rest. This was when I finally reached a breaking point and within an hour Zack had it worked out to where me, my mom, and Aly could come stay at the Ronald McDonald house across the street from Children's and I had it set up with the nurses for me to leave early the following morning. But before I go on with the story I want to mention how great SOMC's nurses were that night. They were all so supportive and encouraging and one of the nurses even prayed with all of us after I found out the news. 

So less than 48 hours after my c section me, mom, and Aly left the hospital and went home to pack our stuff to go to Columbus. Leaving the hospital was such an emotional experience because I never imagined leaving the hospital without Zack and Eli. When we got to Ronald McDonald house I unloaded my stuff and then went straight over to the hospital. Nothing could have prepared me for seeing my 3 day old son on a vent. Even now as I sit here holding him while writing this the image is so burned into my mind that it makes me cry thinking about how helpless he looked. But something I never really shared with anyone was how much of a failure I felt like as a mother because I couldn't even get myself to talk to him. Even when we was alone I would try and I would just start sobbing. So I would just sit there and stare at his oxygen stats for hours and listen to the alarms going off because his numbers would drop to low. I think I literally was starting to have a mental breakdown during that first week of him being in the NICU. I felt so pulled between Aly being at the Ronald MacDonald house(she was the hit of the place with mom showing her off all week. She even got her picture with Ronald McDonald) since she wasn't allowed at the hospital and Eli in the NICU. I even started to feel sorry for Zack because not only was he also having to go back and forth between kids but he also was having to deal with me crying every time I saw him. We both realized that it was to much for me at this point so my doctor decided to prescribe me anxiety medication. I normally wouldn't take something like this but I knew when I had pretty much stopped eating, started having panic attacks, was breaking out in a stress rash, and I was disconnecting from the babies that it was more than just the typical baby blues women get after having kids. 

Once they had determined that Eli had Respiratory distress they decided to give him surfactant because his lungs were just not fully mature since they were born at 37 weeks. They waited to late to give it to him so he didn't respond as fast as they had hoped he would. But after a few days of being on the vent they were able to take him back to the C pap and then down to just the cannula for oxygen. Then began our next problem of getting him to eat by mouth and not by the feeding tube. We spent about 5 days in the NICU with just trying to get him to take enough of the bottle. We would get him to drink an ounce or so and if we would get him to take more most of the time he would vomit it back up. So after talking to the doctors they decided to transfer him back to our local hospital where we could work on feeds.

As soon as we got back to SOMC it was like something clicked and Eli decided to finally start eating. He still would occasionally vomit but we figured out if we would have him take breaks while drinking then it wouldn't happen. So due to him being in the nursery and not having a room for the first time in 11 days we had decided we would take Aly home and come back the next morning. But within about 2 hours the nursery called and said that his oxygen was staying in the high 80's so they were going to have to put him back on oxygen. I couldn't handle knowing that we were not with him so I went back down to the hospital and slept in a rocking chair all night in the nursery. Thankfully the next morning they were able to get him right back off of the oxygen. So at this point we thought we had finally turned a corner and he was going to be released in the next few days. For the first time since they were both born we were able to spend time together as a family and Aly and Eli were able to actually be in the same room together.

Then began the heart problem. We were sitting in the little room they had off the side of the nursery that they were letting us sit in during the day and all the sudden his heart monitors started going off. This happened quite often in the NICU but normally it was because his leads had come off or were not reading right. But for the first time it was actually reading right and his heart rate was in the 230's for about 3 minutes. After that multiple times for just a few second spurts his heart rate would shoot back up. The hospital knew that was not normal and for the 2nd time in 2 weeks they decided that he would have to be sent back to Children's hospital where they could figure out his issue faster and get him the medicine he would need. Thankfully this time he was stable so he was able to ride in the ambulance back to Children's. The next morning based on the readings SOMC had on his heart they already knew he had SVT (supraventricular tachycardia).  They decided that he would need to take propanolol every 6 hours. He only had 1 more episode after he started the medicine but they made him wait an additional 24 hours after that episode before he could be released. Before they could for sure release him he did have to pass the car seat test which is where they put them in there car seat for the length of your drive home and make sure their oxygen stays good. Thankfully he passed it the first time and after 15 days in the hospital he was finally being released! Here is each of them in their coming home outfit!

I really thought that after the whole experience we would be a nervous wreck taking him home. But it was like after they found the heart issue we both knew that everything was all right. 

Since being home life has been great! We couldn't imagine life without them and they already have us wrapped! Thank you to all of you that have prayed for us and donated money to make our dream of having a family possible! We appreciate all of your support and encouragement that you have given us over the past year! This has been one of the longest struggles we have dealt with and at the time through each set back we can see that God had his hand on every situation. We know now looking back that each time it looked like we were alone in the situation God was working it out in a special way for us! We're thankful for the previous 5 years of unanswered prayers or we would not have the even better blessing that God has given us with Eli and Aly! It was hard to understand at the time when God said no but now we can truly see that everything was for a reason and we couldn't be more blessed!

                                                      

                         

Weeks 31 - 34 Pregnancy Update!

Its hard to believe that this is my last pregnancy update before the twins come! I really didn't think I would make it as far as I have without going on bed rest or going into preterm labor but God has really blessed us! I am getting a lot more uncomfortable now but definitely manageable, mainly they are just getting really heavy. 

The beginning of this month I had an appointment at OSU and they were both doing great! It was the first time we seen them practice breathing on ultrasound. Eli weighed 4lbs 1 ounce and Aly weighed 4 pounds! 

This past month each week I also started having Non Stress Tests(NST) at SOMC triage and the Bio Physical Profiles(BPP) done at Dr. Roberts office, which I explained what they were in the last blog. Of the 3 BPPs I had the babies passed all of them with no problem! The NST have been a little harder for the babies to pass. They normally should take 20 minutes or so but they have been taking around 2 hours each time for them to pass. I have had 3 scheduled NST but one of them Aly failed due to a short deceleration in her heart rate and we repeated the test the next morning and everything was fine. Usually it just takes so long because its hard to keep Eli on the heart rate monitor for long enough for them to get the readings they need due to his position.

The babies have had a pretty good growth spurt this past month. At week 32 my stomach measured 36 weeks and when measured this past week 34 weeks(almost 35) my stomach was measuring 42 weeks. So while I had been so proud that I hadn't gotten any stretch marks that unfortunately is no longer the case lol

Also I had another great and final appointment at OSU this week!! The belly measurements going up so much made sense when we found out that Eli weighs 6lbs 14 ounces and Aly weighs 6lbs 1 ounce!! Eli's head is in the 99% and his belly is in the 90th% as well so he is going to be a big boy and Aly's head was also in the 96% and her belly was in the 70th%. The weights they come up with are based off of measurements so they can be off a little but even still if they are off some that is great weights for twins especially at 35 weeks.  Here are some ultrasound pictures we got this past month. 

We think this is of Eli with Aly's spine in his face.
The ultrasound tech got a bit mixed up with who was who

Eli's hair

The best news of all is that I found out when the babies are going to be coming!! So unless they come earlier they are doing a C section on January 16th at SOMC!! They have to do a C section because the babies are both still laying side ways almost as if they were laying in bunk beds. But we are so excited! We have everything already packed so now we just wait!

Here are the pictures from this month of my belly growth (as you can tell I have to repeat the same clothes a lot since a lot of the maternity shirts I have won't cover the bottom of my belly anymore). Also the side ways pictures don't really show how much it has grown very well because my stomach is now going more wide than out because of the way they are positioned:

    

So for the final time before the babies are born I ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers over the next 15 days that the babies will stay in until the c section, the c section goes well, and that they are both healthy! These babies are such little miracles and we can't wait for everyone to meet them! I will do a final blog sometime(hopefully not to long) after they are born!

Weeks 26 - 30 Pregnancy update!

This has been a really great month for us! We have had great doctors appointments, baby showers, and we got the nursery done! And I have finally reached the third trimester!!

At the beginning of this month we had an appointment at OSU MFM that went great! Eli did not have a spot at all this time on his bowel praise God! Eli weighed 2 lbs 8oz and Aly weighed 2 lbs 3oz (these weights are at 27 weeks)! They checked my cervix which is still really long which is great news! We thought that this would have been our last appointment there but they are going to continue to see me once a month until they are born.

We were so blessed to be able to have our baby shower with our family and gift card shower at church this month! This is something we have thought about for 5 years how exciting it would be to get to have a baby shower! So it meant a lot more to us than most would realize! But everyone was so generous to us! We were able to get everything we needed for the babies! Zack has worked extremely hard to get the room done. So while I may have picked the stuff out I didn't put one thing together. Here are some pictures from the baby shower and of the completed nursery (we still have some finishing touches with the changing tables, hanging monitors, and covering the tv cord)

I had an appointment with Dr. Roberts last week and the babies are still growing perfectly! We got some great pictures of Eli face and Aly's foot but she wouldn't let us get any of her face. Dr. Roberts said that starting at 32 weeks I will start having weekly appoinments at her office to keep a close eye on everything and then I will also go every weekend, if I understood correctly, to have a Biophysical Profile done at the hospital. They said this is standard procedure for twins. Here is a chart from the American Pregnancy Association to show what a Biophysical Profile is looking for:

Usually, five specific fetal attributes are studied and “scored” during the BPP:

Biophysical Attribute	Normal	Abnormal
Breathing	1 breathing episode within 30 minutes	No breathing episodes within 30 minutes
Movement	2 or more movements within 30 minutes	less than 2 movements within 30 minutes
Muscle Tone	1 or more episodes of active extension/flexion of limbs, etc. (i.e. opening and closing a hand).	Slow extension/flexion of limbs, partially open fetal hand, etc
Heart Rate	2 or more episodes of reactive heart rate acceleration within 20 min	1 or more episodes of unreactive heart rate acceleration
Amniotic Fluid	1 or more adequate pockets of fluid	Either no pockets or inadequate pockets of fluid

The total score will help decide the overall health and well being of the baby and help the doctor determine if the baby should be born sooner than planned.

Dr. Roberts also said that probably around my 32 week appointment or soon after we could start discussing my labor options. Right now Eli is head down but Aly is transverse and has been like that for a long time. But Dr. Roberts is sounding a lot more positive that I will be able to have the babies at SOMC as long as its after 36 weeks. I'm not really sure how many weeks they will let me go till yet but hopefully I will find out soon. Here are a few of the ultrasound pictures we got this month:

Aly's profile

Eli with Aly kicking him under the chin

Eli with Aly's foot in his face

Also this month I finally reached the third trimester and it is surprising how I can really tell the difference in how I have felt the past few weeks. On the fun side I can see/feel the babies moving a lot more and I have also got to feel one of them have hiccups which was pretty neat. But I'm also beginning to experience the third trimester discomforts. I have been a lot more exhausted yet can't hardly sleep for very long because I get uncomfortable and I have been having a lot more braxton hicks contractions especially when I am more active. Zack has been really great to help me though. I can no longer reach my feet so he had been helping me get my shoes on until he talked me into getting some different shoes. And even sweeter is every night he pretty much puts me to bed on the couch since I always fall asleep there (I can't breath laying flat in bed so I have to sleep semi sitting up). But last night I woke up and he had set a snack by me in case I was hungry in the middle of the night so I wouldn't have to get up!

Also here are some pictures from the past month:

 It's really hard to believe that the weeks are now in the single digits until the babies come! Hopefully I will have one more update at the end of December before they come. So over the next month just really pray that I will be able to hold out and not go into labor early. And just pray that the babies continue to grow perfectly! Thank you all for your support during this entire journey! A lot of people have thanked us for letting them be a part of our journey but I want to thank you guys for joining us in this journey! It's an awesome feeling to know how many people we have standing behind us and praying for us and to know that our babies are going to come into the world having so many people that love them already! 

Weeks 22-25 Pregnancy Update!

Well thankfully I can finally say we have not really had an eventful month! In the last blog I had mentioned that at our level 2 ultrasound that they found a bright spot on Eli's bowel, also known as echogenic bowel. We had our follow up appointment to have another level 2 ultrasound the beginning of this month. Everything measured great on both babies. They checked the spot on Eli's bowel again and it was so much smaller that if they hadn't of seen the first ultrasound then they never would have even mentioned it then. So they said they would not classify it as echogenic bowel. Since they already had the orders in for me to get the full CF gene sequencing and the MaterniT21 tests done we went ahead and had those done. The results came back negative on both which is great! So they were able to rule out CF, down syndrome, and the other trisomys! We go back for our last level 2 ultrasound the beginning of next month and then we hopefully shouldn't have to go back to OSU MFM anymore!

I also had another appointment with Dr. Roberts, my OB, last week. Everything went great there too! She measured my fundal height last week and at the time I was 24 weeks measuring 30 weeks when compared to a singleton pregnancy. I am still having the spotting on and off but my cervix is still staying long so no worries about preterm labor right now. I'm still on the limited activity but I can handle that much better than bed rest. She had be get my glucose test and another lab done to check to make sure I'm not anemic. The 1 hour glucose test came back great at 103 but my iron did come back low so I have to add in an iron supplement. I will gladly take that over gestational diabetes!

Something new we have experienced this month for the first time this pregnancy is Zack being admitted into the hospital. I must say its a lot harder when your 6 1/2 months pregnant to get comfortable while being here for a couple of days a long with everything else him being on IVs entails! But I am glad that he is getting a good clean out before I get closer to delivery and the babies being here!

Sorry we don't have any ultrasound pictures for you this month. They did take some at our level 2 ultrasound but they were very blurry. But hopefully we will get some good pictures at our next ultrasound! Also next month we have our Child Birth Education class so I'm sure that will be interesting for us!

Here is the pregnancy bump pictures we have taken throughout the month!

  

I am able to feel the babies move and kick regularly now which is awesome, and it gets stronger each week! Recently Aly has started liking it pretty well under my ribs while Eli likes to kick my bladder. I know it may get uncomfortable now, and will only get worse, but I know I will miss it once they are here! But thank you everyone for your prayers! As you can see God is taking care of everything! Next month when I update I will be in the 3rd trimester so not to much longer!

Weeks 18-21 Pregnancy update!

Well once again it has been an eventful month which is starting to seem pretty normal now. As I mentioned in the previous blog we had our Level 2 ultrasound at OSU MFM the first week of this month. It was really awesome to see that many pictures of the babies! All the measurements were great and the babies were both 10oz! However after we thought everything was fine the doctor came in and told us that they found the bowel to be brighter than it should be, known as echogenic bowel. This could be nothing at all, the baby could have swallowed blood during one of my episodes, a soft marker for Cystic Fibrosis, or a soft marker for Down syndrome. They said they would not think it to be downs as none of the other markers were present that they checked for and also with us being younger its not as common. But what they are wanting to check more into is the Cystic Fibrosis. I did have genetic testing done when I was in high school but what we found out that none of the doctors ever pointed out was that I only had the basic screening done to check for the cystic fibrosis gene, I think I was tested for the 23 most common and 47 others. But there are over 1600 different CF genes that I can be tested for. We have to go back the beginning of next month to see if the echogenic bowel is still showing up and if it is then I will have the full CF gene sequencing done. They told us we could do an amniocentesis but we do not feel comfortable doing this especially with the miscarriage risk being higher with this procedure when your having twins. Below are some of the pictures we got during this ultrasound! (baby A is Eli and baby B is Aly)

We also got started on our nursery! We have both the cribs and changing tables up! Zack did an awesome job putting them together by himself! It was funny though that while he was putting the first crib together he did it in the living room. He didn't realize till it was already put together that it would not fit through the nursery door lol but thankfully he didn't have to take it completely apart though to get it through. Of course we still have all the decorating to do and need to get our gliders but at least that's a big step out of the way!

Now onto this week. On Monday I started spotting, which was not like it was the other times as far as gushing, but it has been happening a couple times a day. I talked to Dr. Roberts on Monday and since it wasn't heavy or getting worse they decided to wait to see me until my regular appointment I had scheduled today. They did an ultrasound and the babies heart rates were good and once again looked great! I did figure out I am not crazy and Aly is laying parallel near/at times under my ribs. She said with twins they can get higher earlier than with singletons. The women performing our ultrasound did ask how our OSU visit was and we told her about them seeing the echogenic bowel. And she acted like its nothing to worry about and said that a lot of times it goes away and doesn't show up again! They also measured my cervix to make sure its not shortening and it is still really long with being over 4cm. WARNING! THIS COULD BE TO MUCH INFORMATION FOR SOME READERS: But Dr. Roberts decided to do a pelvic exam and check my cervix. She used a q-tip to touch my cervix to see if it would do anything. When she took it out it was bloody which indicated that my cervix is irritated. So now that pretty much means I am not on modified bed rest yet but its probably coming in the near future. She told me as of now I can't lift hardly anything, stand up to long, or walk very long distances. Here is the 3D picture they got of Eli today but Aly would not cooperate and had her face in my back the whole time so we didn't get a picture of her.

For those of you that don't see me regularly here is the progression of the pregnancy bump this month with the last picture being from today!

So if you could keep us in prayers once again over the next month for the echogenic bowel not to show up again, my spotting to stop, and the babies to continue growing like they should! We just always remember no matter what the doctors tell us God's got this!

Weeks 14-17 pregnancy update!

Seems like it has been a long time since we have updated the blog! This has been a very exciting and once again scary month! We had an appointment at Dr. Roberts office the beginning off August and we got a half gender reveal! We found out that one of the babies is a BOY! But both babies were once again looked great and are growing very well!

Then a week later I had just got to work and started getting a lot of pain in my right lower abdomen that started going around to my side and back. I tried to lay down to see if it got better but it only made the pain worse and it got so bad that I was getting extremely nauseous. I called Dr. Roberts office and they told me to go to the ER. By the time I got there I don't think I had ever been in such bad pain in my life. Sitting down, standing up, laying down nothing made it any better. While I was there for about 4 hours they had to give me Zofran, Morphine twice, and Dilaudid once. They checked my appendix, blood work to see if there were any signs of kidney stones, and did the longest ultrasound I have had so far. I must say that the ultrasound was very painful to have them pushing right where the pain had started but it was worth it! During the ultrasound they measured almost everything they possibly could on the babies and we got to find out the other baby is a GIRL! Also we got to see that all there measurements were right on with where they should be and they were even ahead in growth! The doctors never found out what was wrong and sent me home with instructions to take Tylenol for the pain. It was a miserable evening but around 3am the pain finally got tolerable enough to fall asleep and once I woke up the pain was gone! We are figuring that what had happened was I had an ovarian cyst rupture because after the IVF I had multiple follicles fill back up with fluid and they hadn't gone away last time we seen them. But they can't see my my ovaries anymore because the babies are getting to big and covering them. Also some of  you may have read Zack's facebook post about all of this but I wanted to share some of what he put with those of you that haven't read it and I also just wanted to say that I have to thank God for giving me such a strong Christian for a husband! Below is the post:

"since we have had so much problems in the fertility dept. this stuff brings back awful, horrible memories....but as i was crying like a baby driving in to meet brit at the ER....me and the enemy (devil, the flesh, evil principalities...etc.) had alil chat...and i have declared in the name of Jesus Christ that the enemy has no place, no stronghold, and no footing over me, my wife, or my children! These kids are God's and He has his hand over them, putting a hedge of Protection around them, even in the womb! (1 Samuel 1:27)....And, what the enemy meant for bad.....God meant for Good! through the day we ended up finding out the sex of the other baby....its a GIRL.....SOOO we have a boy and girl!!!....God has blessed us so much.....we have been in the Valley and Battle of Infertility for almost 5yrs now but God has brought us out completely....you see, all sunshine and no rain makes a desert.....we need our rainy days spiritually to help us grow our faith in God....only when you receive a good mix of rain and sunshine can you grow into your full potential!"

Boy Name: Elijah "Eli" Matthew Stephens
Girl Name: Alyssa "Aly" Rose Stephens

Today I had another appointment at Dr. Roberts office we didn't get an ultrasound but they did listen to the heartbeats and they are both perfect! They were 144 and 147 beats per minute. Also today we ordered both cribs and two changing tables for the twins room! We are really excited to start decorating their room! Hopefully next month we can post a picture of what we have done so far!

Also for those of you that haven't got to see me in person here are some pictures of the progression! I will try and post a new picture each month when I update! Also I included week 4 to show what I was like before and I haven't taken one this weeks yet so the last one I have is week 16.

I will update again at the end of next month. We do have our level 2 ultrasound on September 8th at OSU so please keep us in your prayers that everything is developing exactly as it should be and we will also have an appointment with Dr. Roberts on the 25th!