I thought I was beginning to feel better, but........

Baily and Ally 5 weeks old

Once I settled in at home after the pulmonary edema and the stay in ICU after the babies were born I thought I was over the worst and all I had to do is heal from the c-section........WRONG!!

After being home for a few days I developed a cough and I was having a hard time breathing so I went to the emergency room to be looked out. Well, they ran x-rays and tests and said everything was fine. The doctor suspected the medication for my heart/high blood pressure was causing me to have asthmatic side effects. He then prescribed an albuterol inhaler. I used it a few times, but it didn't seem to help. My Mother has been with me almost non-stop since before the babies were born, thank the Lord for her help. We were talking about how I felt and she said it sounded like I was having anxiety attacks. I just wasn't feeling right, I cried about everything it seems. I couldn't breath well, especially at night, I couldn't sleep, I felt bad because I couldn't take care of my babies like I should have, you name it, I was feeling it. So, I believe she was right when she said I may be having mild to moderate anxiety attacks (my Dad suffers from anxiety). The cough I had seemed to be getting worse, so finally I went to see my doctor and she took tests and I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia. Well, let me tell you.....I've just been feeling plain lousy for about two months now.

The walking pneumonia is on it's last leg it seems, so that should be gone soon, but guess who decided to show up after all this time? I've been having migraines since last week. I can't believe after all I've gone through, now migraines, again!! No!...will this ever end. I just want to feel better and enjoy my babies while they are still babies. I spent all day yesterday in bed basically. I had a migraine in the early a.m. while feeding babies. About noon I got up after sleeping through my migraine and I began to take care of the babies when I got hit by a second migraine of the day, I went back to bed until 5 p.m. and stayed up for awhile, after all it was my birthday and I didn't want to spend it in bed.

So far today is going well. I have my first follow up appointment with my OB. I'm hoping I feel better soon.

The Rest Of My Birthing Story....

The day I was due to go home from the hospital with my babies, I started having difficulty breathing, so I was taken for x-rays, ekg, and a cat scan. It seems I had developed pulmonary edema. I was taken to ICU and stayed there for two days until they released me to the ICU ward in a private room. While I was in the postnatal ward, I had my babies with me as often as I wanted. Both babies were latching on so well and I was all geared up for breastfeeding, but that had to stop once I went to ICU. I only saw my babies at feeding time and they had to be accompanied by a nurse (to help of course), so I didn't get to be alone with them until I left the hospital. While in ICU I was pretty much out of it most of the time. My cardiologist put me on heart/high blood pressure medication, so I was only able to pump and dump my breast milk, mainly at first because of the dye they used during the cat scan. During my stay in ICU I was given a water pill to try and drain the fluid off my lungs and the rest of my body. By the time I left there, they said over 36 pounds of fluid was drained from my body. My OB was right when he kept telling me that I wasn't actually gaining weight, but it was mostly fluid. I didn't think that was possible until I saw how much weight I lost once I left the hospital. I hate to say how much I weighed in at, but I'll tell you that I've lost a total over 50 pounds since I had my babies 12 days ago. I still have about 35 pounds to lose to get to the weight I started at, and that was a little over 200 pounds. I was losing weight when I got pregnant with these two babies, I'm hoping I can keep losing.

My OB came in to check on me while I was in ICU and he told me it appears I did develop pre-eclampsia after I gave birth. He said they were concerned that I had developed cardiomyopathy, I'm still not sure if I did or did not, so I'll ask him about it when I have my next appointment with him. However, the medication I'm on is for the heart and high blood pressure and I was told my heart enlarged. I'm hoping whatever the case may be that it will resolve soon, as I was told it shouldn't last over 6 months at the most.

As for breastfeeding, I chose to give up on it because I didn't think the risk to their health was worth it. The medication I'm on now can cause them to have low blood pressure. I'm upset because I was looking forward to it, but it's the best for them. Anything to keep my babies healthy!!!

My Baby Girls Are In My Arms!!

Baby A on the left is Ally Rae

Baby B on the right is Baily Jae

(I know....one was supposed to be named Kiely, but that's a different story. You can read all about that at the end of my birth story if you are curious.)

My story began with going to the hospital on January 21st expecting to be induced around 8 a.m., instead I was informed at 9 a.m. that I had been scheduled for a c-section at 2 p.m. that afternoon. What?!! I started crying once the doctor began explaining the reason she and her colleagues came to that conclusion. Here's the factors that swayed them; risk of pre-eclampsia, group b strep, 2 vessel cord, 1 placenta, and my weight. With all these factors they didn't want to risk having to have an emergency c-section after delivering Baby A because the medication may not take affect as fast as they may need it to. I cried and cried. I didn't want a c-section, I was so afraid that was going to happen! That was my worse fear about delivering twins. By mid-day I realized that my worse fear was becoming a reality. I accepted my fate and started preparing myself mentally for what was to happen just a couple of hours away. At that time my nurse came in and told me I had been bumped to 4 p.m......what?!! Great more time to stew over this c-section. I was a little heartbroken that I was not going to be able to deliver my babies vaginally, but I realized it was for their safety along with my own.

By 4 p.m. I was prepped for surgery and administered a spinal. I lay on the operating table in anticipation of what was to come. My nerves were being calmed and I was feeling excitement over the fact that I would see my babies soon. The moment I heard Baby A cry, shortly after Baby B entered the world with a loud roaring cry. She was the bigger of the two, weighing in at 6 pounds 3 ounces and 18 and 3/4 inches long. Baby A weighed in at 5 pounds 10 ounces and 18 inches long. They didn't need any oxygen and were taken straight to NICU for all the testing that was needed. They needed to be warmed up, so they were under the heat lamps while tests were being run. It's taking Baby A a little longer to get her coloring than Baby B is. They were hardly wrinkled at all and of course they are beautiful.

I was so against having a c-section, I wanted to fight the doctors on that one, but I decided to let it go and trust that they knew what was best for all of us. I'm so grateful now that I had a c-section because unbeknownst to all of us, Baby A had the cord wrapped around her neck twice. I don't even want to think what could have happened had I insisted on trying to give birth vaginally. I know things work out for a reason, now I know what that reason was. I am so happy to have two healthy baby girls.

On the issue of one placenta, after about 30 weeks it was assumed the babies were mono/di so this was of deep concern for my doctors and OB. The babies were typed for blood and the placenta has been taken to the lab. When my OB came in to see me after the birth, he said they should have results on the placenta by my first appointment with him. So, we may know soon if they are identical or fraternal. One of the nurses that observed the c-section said they were definitely in two sacs, but that the placenta looked like it could be two. We shall see soon enough.

All in all the surgery went well, I'm tired though and it hurts to get up and walk, but I know I have to do it for my health. I've already lost at least 25 pounds since yesterday...imagine that!!

It looks like if all goes well, I will be able to go home this Saturday and my babies will be coming home with me. Yay!!

The next chapter of my life with twins has now begun. Let it be joyous!!

Name Story...
Everyone said Baby A should be Ally (because of the A). My brother said Baby B needs a B name and suggested Baily. One reason is that her Daddy was having a hard time pronouncing Kiely for some reason and didn't really like it that much anyway. I figured I should at least let him have one name since I came up with first and middle names and didn't want to budge on the names. The only thing is, Ally was a definite for me and Kiely was an okay. I had told him a few months ago that if he came up with a name that I liked also that I would consider using it. This morning I told him he could go ahead and choose between the name Kiely and Baily. Of course he went with Baily. My brother is his boss, but I don't think that had anything to do with his decision though. It sure made my brother's day, not only was he happy we chose the name Baily, but her middle name is Jae (which both of my brother's names begin with a J) but this brother's name is Jason and he's called Jay by some. In case you are wondering why I'm spelling Baby B's name Baily and not Bailey is because I wanted all my girls names to end in "ly", just a little FYI.