How the twins came to be...

This might be long...so you better read it all! ;) J/K.

Ok, after having Kendall, we always knew we wanted more children. So we decided after Kendall turned 2, we would start trying, thinking it would be easy. Well, it wasn't. We tried for about a year and a half. Then I sought help. I went to my regular doctor on base, who sent me for an ultrasound of my uterus and ovaries. She said everything was normal. So she referred me out into town, to what I thought was just a regular gynecologist. Nope, she sent me to a reproductive endocrinologist. My first meeting with Dr. Chang was interesting. She did an ultrasound also of my ovaries and told me that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I still don't really know too much about it. Then we set up for a battery of tests to see what was going on. I hadn't been having my period on my own, so she decided to put me on a medication to give me one. How much fun! After I got off of that induced period, we did a HSG(hysterosalpingogram), which is where they insert a catheter in through the cervix and inject a dye into the uterus while doing an Xray...the dye is supposed to light up the uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries...it's to check for any blockages...it hurt like hell. Well, it was also normal. So, we decided to go ahead and try some Metformin to see what that did...nothing. OK, let me go back and say that I first saw Dr. Chang in May of 2007. OK. So, back to the story.

So, I was told I needed to have another period. YAY. This was in October. I had one, still no progress in my ovaries as far as follicle production went. Boo. So, we started the Chlomid. I took it for 5 days and all it did was thicken my uterine lining, which was good, because that meant my womb was ready...if only I could have an egg. Well, since we noticed that Chlomid wasn't working, they decided to let me try injections...yea, I know, not exactly what I wanted, but I just wanted to have a baby, so it was all worth it to me. They gave me Follistem and for the next 3 weeks, I injected myself every day of this medication. During the 3rd week, they had told me that they would let me continue through the weekend but if I didn't have any eggs in my ov's, that it was time to have a period...you see, we were now into November, a week before Thanksgiving. I did my injections like a champ over the weekend. On Monday, when I went in for what seemed like the millionth U/S, I was told I had 4 eggs!!!! Woohoo! Finally some progress! Although, she did say that only one was dominant, so I would *most likely* only ovulate one. So, it was time to put those OPK's to work! I was instructed to take them until I got a + LH surge. Which I did...on a Monday. I called like I was supposed to and they told me that I needed to have s-e-x(lol) on Wednesday and Thursday(which was Thanksgiving). Jeremy, of course, was more than happy to follow that Dr's order!!! Heehee.

So, I was given a test date: December 7th, which was 10-14 days after ovulation. Well, as that day neared, I was cramping, like I was going to start, so I told myself and Jeremy, that "I probably wasn't pregnant this time, but it was ok" Even though I didn't think I was, I still had to take that test. I decided on Thursday night, December 6th. What was 12 hours? After all, if I WAS pregnant, it would show up...Kendall's did at night. Well, much to my suprise, it was +!!!!

I was in shock and disbelief...then I got worried...why was I cramping? I never had any of that with Kendall, so surely this couldn't be good. I called Dr. Chang the next morning, and they had me come in for a blood test...Dr. Chang called back and said "Man, when we prepare your body to get pregnant, you sure don't waste any time!". My levels had come back at 596. It was determined that I was 4weeks and 4 days. I conceived the day before Thanksgiving. My due date was August 13th. They wanted to recheck my quant levels in 3 days just to make sure they were rising....oh boy, did they! They had QUADRUPLED in 3 days...they are only supposed to double every 48-72 hrs. Then she said "Let's get you in for an ultrasound and see how many we have in there". I was scared. I was prepared for twins, but not for more. I could not even imagine what triplets or quads would be like. So, December 18th, 2007, Jeremy and I head over to the clinic. Kendall was at daycare, and we were nervous! We get in there and get undressed...well, I get undressed, he stayed in his clothes! ;) Dr. Chang comes in and we get things started. This is what we saw:

TWINS! We were excited, happy, nervous, scared...a whole bundle of emotions! We told everyone right away! We got weekly ultrasounds until we hit 10 weeks, and then I was allowed to see a regular OB. I picked a great one! Our first appt with Adrienne Lara was January 31, 2008. I was a little over 10 weeks. We checked on the babies and they were doing great! They were dancing around. We knew right away that they were fraternal. You could see two distinct sacs and placentas. In additon to seeing Dr. Lara, I also saw Dr. Jadali, a perinatologist. I went every 4 weeks for ultrasounds to measure my cervical length and just an overall check of the babies. Well, at 16 weeks, I felt some pressure, so they got me in a little sooner to check my cervix. The length was normal and that is when we found out that we were having a boy and a girl!! How exciting!! We were hoping for at least one boy!

The rest of my pregnancy was pretty uncomplicated. I had some minor preterm labor at 29 weeks, but one shot of terbutaline got rid of that. At my 31 week visit I was placed on bed rest because I had already dilated to 1.5 cm and was 50% effaced. I went into PTL again at 33 weeks, was given terb again and sent home. At 34 weeks, I was taken off bedrest. I wasn't dilating any further and the twins could come at any moment from then on out. I also went into PTL at 34 weeks, refused the terb this time, got sent home and then had a small gush of blood. Woot, I was excited! I thought it was time! Nope...not my water. Adrienne had me stay overnight to get me some rest. I was so tired of being pregnant. I was HUGE!

Well, at 35 weeks, a Wednesday, I woke up feeling pretty cruddy. I put some cartoons on for Kendall and got on my laptop. I was chatting with my girls on Cafemom and I had realized that I was contracting every 7 minutes...then it got down to 5. This started at 8am. All the girls told me to go to L&D, but I was so tired of going there!!! Finally, I broke down and called my OB, Adrienne. I asked if I could just come into her office and have her check me. They told me to come in at 1145. I called Jeremy to let him know, it was 1030 at this point, called the sitter and got in the shower...I didn't have the energy to shave. Thank goodness it wasn't a jungle down there!! I got to Adrienne's office and they put me back in a room and hooked me up to the EFM. The girl was stupid and put the TOCO on the wrong place...oh well. After about 1/2 hr, Adrienne came in and was baffled by her techs dumbness. She could tell right then though, that I was in labor by how I was. It was different. She helped my get my pants down and checked me...no further dilation, but that was expected...Baby A was breech. So, she looked at us and said "We are having these babies today". I gave her the BIGGEST hug and Jeremy told her he loved her. LOL. We head over to L&D with Adrienne and they automatically put me in the C-section prep room. They hook me up...they couldn't pick up the contractions. I was having hard back labor as well. They decided to manually feel my contractions, so they put their hand on the top of my uterus, my fundus, and realized that, hey, I was contracting every 5 minutes!!! They started their IV, got blood, yada,yada, yada. Adrienne comes back in and tells me that they will start at around 530 pm and that we were finally going to have these babies! Woooooohoooo! She ordered some Stadol for the pain in the mean time. It was 430. That last hour seemed to drag on! Jeremy got suited up...he's such a nerd...see for yourself:

If you look at the clock, he was ready an HOUR before they were going to start. Could you tell he was excited? They wanted to do my catheter BEFORE my spinal and I said HELL NO! So, they let me go pee one last time and I walked, well, more like waddled, my happy butt to the OR...It was almost time!!!

I got my spinal, which freaked me out. I couldn't feel myself swallow or breath. I knew I was, but I couldn't feel it. I went in and out of sleep. I remember Adrienne saying that she was starting, and I remember her saying "Here comes Baby A" and then Austin cried...then I heard the same about Baby B, and Addison cried. They were both taken to the NICU for observation...only theirs turned into a 3 week observation. Both of them had mild RDS, they both battled jaundice and overcame feeding intolerance. They had feeding tubes in up until a few days before being discharged. Austin(Baby A) came into the world via C-section at 5:59pm weighing 5lbs 6.5 oz and 18 in long. Addison(Baby B) followed at 6:00pm weighing 5lbs 5oz and also 18 in long.

Austin:

Addison:

They are now almost 4 months old and are thriving and growing! Austin is our chuncky boy and now weighs 12lbs 7.5oz and Addison is our petite girl weighing 10 lbs 2.5 oz

My 3 beautiful children: