I'm sure everyone knows that I'm a twin. I have a twin brother. So this pregnancy was extra special to me. Rich once wrote a letter to Sarah and Zachary and in it he said "Nothing made your mother so happy, as to carry the both of you. To know that she was having twins was an absolute blessing to her." And he was right. I did feel blessed. It was amazing!
I was on birth control pills, and I missed two pills. Two pills, two babies! I was so sick for months. I was throwing up so much, that it got to the point that I knew what wouldn't be nasty coming back up. For four months, I was sick. My doctor threatened to send me to the hospital and hook me up to an IV. Rich and I went together for the first ultrasound. Because I was so sick, when those two black dots showed up, I thought something was seriously wrong with me. Rich, however knew and said "Twins?"
Around three months, I almost lost them. I was walking to the bathroom, when I saw all this blood on the floor. I left a trail all the way to the bathroom. I freaked and was so scared. Rich took me to the ER. The doctors got the bleeding to stop and they did an ultrasound. We were so happy that they were both still there. I was put on bed rest. Rich was still working and trying to keep his time off for the birth. We managed to muddle through relying of family and friends to help us. When something like that happens, its amazing to see how many people are there to help. People made us meals, they cleaned, they played with Amanda and Anthony. Rich did what he could too.
After a few months, I was given the okay to do things again. At 30 weeks, I was standing on a chair stenciling Noah's Ark on the wall in the babies room when I felt this horrible pain. And then the contractions started. I started timing them, because they were pretty regular. They were five minutes apart, I was in premature labor. Rich rushed me to the hospital. My doctor checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. They told us they didn't have the facilities to care for preemies and I would have to be taken to Pittsburgh. I thought that meant another ambulance ride. But no, they were going to life flight me. I was scared to death. First of all, I knew it was too soon for them to be born. Secondly, life flight? Holy shit!
When I got to the hospital in Pittsburgh, they rushed me into a birthing room. Mind you, Rich couldn't come with me, no room on the chopper. So here I was miles away from my family and being rushed into a birthing room. I was scared out of my mind! They started me on a magnesium sulfate drip to stop the labor. I was on bedrest in the hospital. I had a catheter put in and wasn't allowed out of bed. They gave me so many drugs I had no idea who was coming or going. I had to have a shot of cortisone to help develop the babies' lungs in case they couldn't stop the labor.
The next day, the catheter came out, but I still wasn't allowed out of bed. I had to use a bedpan. I was taken off the magnesium sulfate and put on terbutaline pill. They did another ultrasound and said the babies were showing good signs and baby girl is head down, baby boy is breech. Slowly, I was allowed to get up and use the bathroom, take a short shower every other day or so. After awhile I was allowed to sit up in a chair or on a couch.
After two weeks in the hospital, it was getting harder and harder for Rich to work, take care of the older kids, and visit me. He would come for visits and crash on the couch as soon as he walked in the door. So he discussed things with the doctors and they decided to do an amniocentisis to determine if the cortisone shots had done their job. When we got the postitive results that showed the lungs were developed, the doctors scheduled baby day. The next day October 24 at 9 a.m. the doctors came in and broke my water.
A few hourse later I was wheeled into the OR in case I had to have a c-section or something. I had an epidural and felt absoluting nothing! The nurses had to hold my legs open because I couldn't do it. After a few short minutes, Sarah was born (at 3:43 p.m.). She came out really easy. Rich said it was almost graceful. He then asked the doctors if I would deliver the next baby, or the placenta from Sarah next. The doctors said the next baby will come. The whole time Zachary was breech until the last few days. He was head down, when we started. After Sarah's birth, he started flipping around. He managed to wrap the cord around his neck. Another doctor started pushing down on my stomach to hold Zachary in place. Then Sarah's placenta came out and Rich looked at the doctor who looked worried.
I ended up with a hand printed bruise on my stomach from the doctor trying to keep Zachary from turning. Rich started praying. He said he prayed again that God spare the baby and take him instead. When he was through praying and said "Amen", Zachary was born (at 4:26 p.m.). Sarah weighed 5 pounds 1 ounce and Zachary weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces. He was so tiny, they both were.
Since Sarah was so "graceful" when she was being born, we named her Sarah which means "Princess". Zachary means "God remembered" God heard Rich's prayers and he remember them. They have matchy middle names Michael and Michelle, which means "who is like God"
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