We are expecting TWINS - a baby boy and a baby girl - due on November 30th. I am 20 weeks along, and will probably deliver sometime in early November. Rich and I are beyond EXCITED! We have experienced many many miracles that have led to this point. We just hope that things continue to go well and we can wait to meet our cute little ones!
I want to share our roller coaster that has brought us to this point. We experienced infertility issues for about a year and then decided to go to a specialist. We did a series of treatments which led to our best chance of getting pregnant - In Vitro Fertilization. Our diagnosis was so grim that we were given a 5 - 35% of success, even with IVF. This news was absolutely devastating. We decided to move forward with IVF in March. The whole process is lengthy - taking about a month and a half. Rich had to give me daily injections of hormones, and at one point he had to give me 3 injections in one day. I have a really difficult time with shots, but now I can say that I'm a pro! Overall, Rich had to give me about 150 injections, but I can honestly say that it wasn't a terrible experience at all.
Fortunately, our first IVF cycle was a SUCCESS! The doctor decided to put two eggs in because my odds were so terrible. This is our first miracle - we got pregnant, and with TWINS!
At 8 weeks, I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible pain in my lower abdomen. We called the doc and it was decided that we needed to go to the ER. We rushed up to the University of Utah Hospital in 10 minutes from my house. I remember being in so much pain that I would start crying if we hit a red light, so Rich was just go right through. (Haha, it was 4 AM so no one was on the road) As soon as we got to the ER, they doped me up on pain meds. Morphine wouldn't touch the pain, but it did make me really "chill." I remember telling Rich that I was in a ton of pain even if I didn't look like I was because the meds just made me act so chill. It look them a few hours to diagnose me with a very rare condition called an ovarian torsion. My right ovary had twisted and the blood flow was cut off. They had to do an emergency surgery.
The first doctor we talked to told me that I would lose my right ovary. This really freaked me out, because this was the ovary that gave me the majority of the eggs during my IVF cycle. Thankfully, my infertility doctor that I love so much just so happened to be on call that day. He is only on call ONE day a month, and it just so happened that he was there that day. He did my surgery, my babies were perfectly fine, and they saved my ovary. They showed me pictures of my ovary when they went inside, and it was BLUE. Once they rotated it back in place, it turned pink again, and it is doing just fine now. What a MIRACLE!
My doctor told me that in 30 years of doing IVF, he has NEVER seen someone have this complication. He told me that it was a one in a million chance that this would ever happen. Apparently, my ovary had reacted to all of the hormones in IVF, making it really large and causing it to twist. He told me that I better bring my little babies in to meet him after they are born - because these babies are very very special.
At 12 weeks, we had an ultrasound which showed that one of the babies - baby B - had a little extra fluid in his neck. Our OB told us that we shouldn't worry a bit about it. Our results only varied slightly from the normal, and that he should be fine. He said that this fluid - called nuchal translucency - could signify Down Syndrome, other chromosomal abnormalities, or a heart defect, but with my age and health, we should not worry. He told me that there was a blood test that we could take, and I had to know, so I took the test. The first trimester results came back normal, but there was a follow up test that I needed to take in the second trimester giving us results to this Quad Test.
At 18 weeks, I took the blood test. I wasn't nervous at all because our first trimester results were good. I got a call two days later from the doc. He woke me up at 7:30 AM and Rich had already left for work. The first thing he said was, "I got your blood test results in. Is your husband home?" He proceeded to tell me that my blood test results were very off, and there was a concern that one of the babies had Down Syndrome. He gave me the odds of 1:2. I was SHOCKED. I'm 26 and my odds for having a baby with Down Syndrome was 1:1,200. Now, I have a 50:50 chance. I asked him if I should prepare to have a baby with Down Syndrome, and he said yes. I got off the phone and started crying.
Later that afternoon, my doctor told me about a brand new blood test called MaterniT21 that tests DNA in my blood. Instead of giving me odds, it could actually give me either a positive or negative result for Down Syndrome. I headed to the doctor immediately. When I got there, I met with a midwife and a genetic counselor. Everyone kept telling me that they were so sorry, and that they felt so bad for me. I asked the genetic counselor to go over my blood results, and she basically said that my results were wrong in every way possible. She said she only sees a 1:2 results a few times a year. She even said, "I'm not billing your insurance because you didn't have an appointment. I'm meeting with you because I just feel so bad for you." The reality was sinking in.
I had a tough week and a half wait. It was HARD. I was preparing myself to have a cute little boy with Down Syndrome. At first, it was so hard for me to accept that my little boy would be the one with Down Syndrome. I wanted so bad to have a little boy who looked like Rich, who was tall like Rich, and who could play sports like Rich.
We found out the news last Friday and we were supposed to head to California the next day. I didn't want to go anymore. I just wanted to cry in my bed all day. We went of course, and it was such a blessing to be with my family. I just wanted to talk to my parents about everything, and they gave me wonderful advice and love. They told me that they would love this little boy so much and that he would be a blessing to our family. They reminded me of the miracles that have happened in my life so far. It would take a miracle for my baby to be okay. They called my family members and asked for them to pray for us, to pray for our little babies.
The week and a half was a very spiritual week for me. I prayed and prayed that our babies would be okay. I found the most peace through prayer and scripture reading. I also found great peace in researching in the right places. I learned so much about Down Syndrome, and how these people are AMAZING people. They go on to lead lives like you and me - some go to college, get married, and live on their own. I found the best mom blogs that gave such a positive outlook on raising one of these sweet spirits. My outlook is now different, and I became inspired - changed.
Yesterday, I called the clinic in San Diego that was running my test results. I had reached the 7 business day mark, and they confirmed that they received my results, but they couldn't tell me over the phone. I immediately texted my OB (yes, he gave me his cell number!) and he got back to me about 20 minutes later with the results. That 20 minute wait was unbearable. He called me and told me that my test results were negative, that neither baby had Down Syndrome. I couldn't believe it - this was another MIRACLE!
I got off the phone and said of prayer of gratitude. I felt so undeserving of yet, another MIRACLE.
Today we had our 20 week ultrasound, and we really felt like celebrities in the doctor's office. People who knew our story were shocked at all that we had been through. They were shocked that we had a negative result for Down Syndrome when our odds were so low. We feel blessed beyond belief for the miracles that have happened to us and our cute babies. According to the ultrasound today, everything looks normal and wonderful for both babies!
