24 Weeks and 1 Day

By my very nature, I don’t like to make a fuss. I don’t like extra drama. I don’t like asking for help. But, late last week I had to put all that aside when our twins tried to make their grand arrival.

At 24 weeks and 1 day.

I woke up Friday morning not feeling right, and by 8:45 am I was in horrible pain. Like, worse than giving birth pain. Chris brought me to the hospital where it was determined that I was in early labor. We both cried as we pondered the what ifs.

24 weeks.

They are still so tiny.

Fortunately, we came to the hospital in time for the doctors to stop the labor. For three days we waited to be sure the girls were safe and snug and secure. After a 48 hour cocktail of magnesium sulfate, penicillin, saline and indomethacin, and round-the-clock monitoring of their heartbeats and my contractions, thankfully, miraculously, all seems well now. I left the hospital Sunday night with instructions to take it easy, drink lots of water and watch for signs of labor.

I returned home feeling nervous and overwhelmed. The doctors still aren’t certain what caused the early labor, and I want to do everything possible to hang on to this pregnancy until at least 36 weeks. As their mother, it is my duty – my God-given obligation! – to keep these tiny babies safe. Biology bestowed this privilege upon me 37 years ago when I was conceived. But, this weekend I was reminded that sometimes their safety is out of my control. I was so dependent upon the wisdom of doctors and nurses. And without the help of my parents it would have been a looooong weekend for Chris and the kids. I needed help. We needed help.

The good news? Much of the anxiety I had been feeling about delivering twins has subsided. During the past three days I met many of the super kind L&D nurses who will likely be caring for me and the girls when they are born (hopefully) three months from now. I took a tour of the maternity ward and even checked out the NICU should the girls come a little early. Evie and Vivian even spent a few hours with me in the hospital, and now they are more excited about welcoming their sisters to our family.

Life is good. Even when it is scary.

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8 Comments for this entry

  1. Naja says:

    Blessings to you 3! I’m so happy everyone is ok! Hugs xoxo

  2. Coriander says:

    Thanks to God that you and the babies are safe! Girls?! How exciting!

  3. Emiko says:

    Maureen, I read your article that caused my heart to pump hard..oh dear. I thankful for you and your babies are safe!!! ! Pls be relax, and take care of yourself. Emiko

  4. Erica says:

    I’m so glad you went to the hospital in time! A similar thing happened to us with our third. At 27 weeks I felt off and was having pains off and on. I now realize they were early contractions. In any event I went in for testing once I realized something was not quite right and sure enough I was in labor and admitted for mag sulfate and steroid shots. It really helped me realize I had to start taking more care of myself and him. I was running ragged taking care of everyone else (it was a week before Christmas too). I went back for monitoring every time I had contractions which was actually often. But he stayed put till 40 weeks. I was on modified bed rest which was not easy to do. But whenever I had a day of not resting I started contracting. So good luck to you and your twins! I hope you have lots of help and can get the rest you need!

    • Maureen says:

      You bring up a good point – sometimes we need BIG reminders like this to take care of ourselves. It can be easy to put our health to the side when we have all these little people to take care of. Glad to hear your pregnancy went full term!

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