Oct. 24, 2006 - Happy Birthday Ethan and Zach!
Today is Ethan and Zach's
6th birthday!
When Ray and I went in for my first prenatal appointment, I was sharing with my doctor how sick I was, and she commented that I was quite large for only being 9 weeks pregnant. She decided to do an ultrasound, even though they typically would have waited until my next appointment. Well, to the doctor's surprise there was not only one baby on the screen, but TWO! "No wonder you're so sick," she said as she moved the screen so we could see our two little babies. Imagine our surprise!! We were shocked by the news. We had sort of gotten used to the idea of being parents, but now we were going to be parents of twins! Double wow!!
I was sick, very sick, throughout my entire pregnancy - Sick in the morning, sick in the afternoon, sick in the evening, sick during the night. I couldn't do much of anything. And I certainly couldn't eat much of anything - nothing that I could keep down, anyway.
I was 30 weeks along in my pregnancy and I began to retain alot of water. My ankles became huge and my face started swelling too. I called my doctor and immediately went to see him (different doc now). After taking my blood pressure and asking me a few questions, he told me that I had preeclampsia (also known as toxemia) and that I needed to check myself into the hospital that night. My blood pressure was dangerously high and my liver and kidneys were beginning to shut down.
They put me on all sorts of drugs - drugs that kept my blood pressure down and drugs to prevent seizures. The babies were even given steroids to speed up the development of their lungs. I was monitored closely for 4 days. I looked much like the Michelin Man as I gained almost 75 pounds of water! On the fifth day I got such a severe headache that they could not get rid of with any pain medication and they decided to induce me.
After 12 hours of labor my baby boys were born just two minutes apart. Ethan was born first and weighed a mere 2.5 pounds. Zach was not much bigger weighing only 3.3 pounds.
I barely got to kiss my babies before they were wisked away to the NICU. They were so tiny and looked so fragile! They were hooked up to monitors and tubes and were gavage fed (a tube was placed through their noses and down their asophagus).
Three days after my babies were born, I went home. Oh, the agony of going home without my babies!! I cried the entire way home. I went to the hospital to see my babies every day. I held them and rocked them, prayed over them and talked to them. They were the most precious little things I had ever seen and they were mine!
Ethan and Zach were healthy from the start and became stronger every day. After 5 weeks in the NICU, Zach got to come home and 2 weeks later, Ethan came home! I can not express the joy and excitement I felt when I finally got to bring my babies home!!
Now, six years later, my little miracle babies are
handsome, intelligent, adventerous little men!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!!
Mommy loves you!
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