Barb's Story (0Sept04Bride)

About Me...

I met my husband on a blind date, while I was in nursing school in Dec. 2000. I was 19 and he was 29. Despite the age difference, we hit it off right away and have been inseparable ever since. We said our vows on Sept 24, 2004 in front of 80 of our closest friends and family. I had always wanted to make traveling a priority before having kids, so we set off to explore the world.

"Are You Taking Fertility Medication?"

After a few trips to Europe and some home renovations we thought that it might be a good time to start our family. Three weeks later, I was pregnant. Although I'm thankful that we didn't have any difficulties getting pregnant, I wasn't expecting to have it happen so soon. A couple of days after finding out, I was getting ready for work, and announced to my husband that we were having twins. He told me that I was crazy and that I should be grateful that I was having a one baby. He also said, "Besides, twins are weird."

A day or two later, I developed abdominal pain and spotting. I called my OB and I went in for an ultrasound. I was 5w5d pregnant. I knew something was up, when the U/S tech asked me if I was taking fertility medication. She then announced that we were having twins. Our initial reaction was laughter. Our laughter soon turned to tears of joy.

And So Our Journey Began...

Thankfully, my pregnancy was pretty uneventful. On Feb 21,2008 we welcomed Trent Stevan and Natalie Ruth into our lives. Although we had some difficult moments during our first year as a family, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I once thought that people who had singletons were lucky because they had it easier than I did. Now, I realize that I'm the lucky one-I have two sets of arms that hug me, two sets of lips that kiss me, and two little hearts that will always be mine.

A Dream Come True Times Two! by Lindsey (dreamcometrueX2)

A little background…..

My husband, Matt and I met each other 28 years ago. We were babies together, we played in the kiddie pool together, and we played road hockey together. Matt’s family moved away when we were about 9 years old. When I went away to University at 19, we reconnected and here we are today!!!

We were married in 2005 and right away I knew I wanted a family. After 6 months of trying I was diagnosed with severe Endometriosis. Here started my journey with infertility treatments. This was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to endure in my life so far. After 2 years of infertility treatments, and 7 IUI’s later we decided that this was our last attempt. Every month I would go in for my blood work and wait for the phone call telling me it was negative. Why was I to think this month would be any different.

I will NEVER forget the phone call that was different….it was positive! I was shaking so hard I could barely dial my husbands number to tell him the news! We were beyond happy.
Our first ultrasound at 6 weeks, and when they told us we were having twins I was in shock. I couldn’t believe that I was pregnant let alone pregnant with two babies! My dream had finally come true….times two!

At 20 weeks we found out we were having two girls. It was the greatest feeling to be able to put two names to the sweet little faces on the ultrasound pictures.

Looking back, I had a really great pregnancy. The first four months I had really bad morning sickness but otherwise I felt great, and I never had to go on bedrest…I was really lucky.
At my 36 week appointment, I remember waddling into the doctors office ready to strike a deal with the him. One more week and then maybe could we start talking induction???? I was so ready to have these babies! After my check up, the doctor informed me that Baby A’s amniotic fluid was lower than he wanted to see it and I was going to be induced the following day! Once again, I was in complete shock….I couldn’t believe I was going to meet my babies the next day.
After 11 hours of labour and 45 minutes of pushing….Olivia Grace, and Ella Georgia were born weighing 5,2 and 5,6. They were born on November 28, 2008 at 36 weeks and 2 days and were healthy and strong and the most beautiful little tiny girls I had ever seen.

Olivia and Ella are 4 months old now and every day is different, and crazy, and amazing all in one. There are so many things that I love about being a Mom. I love their smiles, I love their giggles, I love seeing my husband interact with his daughters, I love that they are starting to notice each other…it melts my heart to see that! I love the smell of their heads when I’m feeding them, I love when they hold my hand when we’re snuggling, I love that sometimes I am the only person they want to console them, and I love to see their little personalities coming through more and more every day. Every bedtime when I kiss them goodnight I think of how lucky I am to be their Mommy, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

March 2009 Update From Pam (Pea-Kay)

Wow, it's been half a lifetime since I wrote my entry. Literally, in the boys' case. They are now nearly 16 months old and have just started to walk. Life has gotten more and more fun with these guys. They've started to talk a little too. Every animal is a "cat", every sound is a "quack", and every food is a "cracker." We've discovered where they're ticklish and what they like to eat. We know their favorite books and how they dance. It's been such a joy getting to know these three little guys.

Linus is my big boy who loves to laugh. Oliver is my sweet, sensitive soul. And Miles will be your best friend within minutes of meeting you (especially if you have some cake!)

It's really amazing. Right now, they change so much every day. Every afternoon when I pick them up from daycare, I wonder what new trick they've learned. Or what new bruise they've acquired because of their wobbly gait. They've just started giving kisses and hugs, which makes the temper tantrums a little easier to bear, too.

I'm so proud to be the mama of these sweet boys - and I'm also proud to say I am getting much better at telling them apart!

What started off as the most terrifying day of my life, turned out to be the most miraculous

Getting these babies was not as easy as it should be, and after our first failed round of invitro we had almost given up hope of ever having a baby of our own when I decided to give invitro a try once more. A couple days before my Dr Appointment to see if the invitro worked I decided to sneak and take a test at home. I was all by myself just staring at the test. It took the full 3 minutes until a tiny thin 2nd pink line appeared. It was not convincing enough so I jumped in the car drove to the store and bought 5 more tests, all different brands. One by one every test was positive. I was in total shock. I grabbed a shirt from the back of my closet that I had bought for invitro round one and almost threw away. It said BABY on it with an arrow pointing to my belly. I waited patiently for Jason to come home. If the invitro is successful, you do 2 more weeks of injections. If it is not, then you can stop the injections. When Jason got home I said "I have bad news..., I am going to have to do the injections for 2 more weeks." Then I unzipped my jacket to reveal the "Baby" shirt. He picked me up and swung me around. We were screaming!

2 days later, already knowing I was pregnant, I went to the Dr to get the official blood test taken. You want the test result Beta number to be 100. I got the call from the nurse while I was at work. She said "Jessica, are you sitting down, and are you ready for what your number is?" "I'm ready". "It is 1536!!!!" “What does that mean? Am I pregnant with 1500 babies?” She said, "you are definitely having AT LEAST two!" So now comes freak out mode. I was so worried. I always wanted twins, but I knew all the risks involved with having multiples.

At 33 weeks pregnant, and after 5 weeks of being confined to bed rest, I had a strong nesting instinct. Jason helped carry me into the nursery. I was sitting in a rocker folding their baby clothes. I stood up, lost my balance and fell. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach, but didn't think anything of it. Turns out, it caused a placenta abruption 7 hours later. It was Monday Oct 1st 12:30 I was asleep when suddenly Jason heard me yell "my water just broke!" He jumped out of bed and turned on the light. I knew something was wrong when I saw his face. He said “that's not water, that's blood!” I jumped up and ran to the bathroom where I continued to hemorrhage - A LOT! Jason called 911 and within a few minutes paramedics were rushing in my room. I was hemorrhaging so bad that the paramedics were putting large IV's in my arm preparing for a blood transfusion. I was panicked and scared to death thinking I was losing my two babies. What started off as the most terrifying day of my life, turned out to be the most miraculous.

When we got to the hospital the nurse said they would try to slow down my contractions and there was “no way” I would be delivering that night and I would be bed ridden at the hospital for at least 3 or 4 more days if not weeks. We decided it would be best if Jason went home so he could pick up some things to bring back to the hospital. It was 5:45am by now. Everyone left and I decided I would try to get some rest. About 15 minutes later I started to feel contractions. They were coming hard and fast. Pretty soon they were so strong I couldn't even talk or breathe. I looked at my contractions monitor and each contraction was hitting the 100 mark (the highest mark on the graph!) It was one right after the next bam bam bam. I was still gushing blood. I pushed the nurse button and the same nurse that told me there was "No way we would be having these babies tonight" came in to check me and yelled out "Call her Dr at home and tell him to get here right now!" It was 6:45am and she told me my Dr lives 10 minutes away, and he will be here in 10 minutes- We are having these babies at 7:00 am in 15 minutes!The nurse said "where's dad?" I cried "He's at HOME!" I called Jason who was already on his way back and said "Get here right now we are having these babies in 15 minutes!!!" He slammed on the gas. Within 10 minutes the Dr was there, the Anesthesiologist was there, all the nurses, interns, neonatologists, were all there ready to wheel me into the operating room for my emergency C- Section everyone was just waiting for Jason!!6:55am Jason comes running down the hall. The nurses throw a white jumpsuit, hat, mask, and booties at him and say "put this on now." I look at jason and say "It's baby time", he looks back at me out of breath and panicked still and says "it's baby time babe".7:00 am I get the epidural I am numb a few minutes later. At 7:37am we here the Dr say "Baby!" We hear a tiny weak yelp, yelp without even showing her to us they pass baby Josselyn right thru the window into the waiting NICU. 1 minute later Dr says "Baby!" again and a little louder baby squeal, as they pass Jaxon threw to the NICU window, this time Jason glanced over just in time to see them passing Jaxon. So he got a quick glimpse. As soon as we heard their first little yelps we both let the tears roll down our faces, looked at each other and smiled.Jason asked for a baby update and they said they were still working on them. They were getting them hooked up to all the monitors still. A few minutes later they came in and said both babies are on oxygen but are doing well. They let Jason go in to see them, and wheeled me into recovery. I still hadn't seen my babies. About 45 min later Jason came in my room and showed me pictures on the digital camera and told me they were the tiniest, most beautiful perfect babies he had ever seen.

There is nothing like holding two precious tiny babies to make 5 weeks of bed rest, and a total of 240 thick viscous shots worth it. I would have done those shots while standing on my head if I knew what the outcome would bring. I am so grateful for my precious angels. They are two miracles I will never take for granted. I have loved every minute of being a mother. I will take the good with the bad. The 4 weeks they were in the NICU and the 15 hour days I spend there, the exhausting days and nights of nursing every 2 hours. The 12 diaper changes a day, Jaxon screaming with colic for hours at a time, and the hundreds of sleepless nights.
I love you with all my heart Jaxon and Josselyn. We are one happy little family and I wouldn't trade this life for anything in the world.

Jessarella