I had been in and out of the hospital for PIH since the beginning of March. The last time I was to be admitted to the hospital before the birth was April 8th after attending a regular Dr. appointment. My blood pressure was discovered to be high and there was protein found in my urine.

In the hospital blood work was done and the result was that my Iron levels were beginning to fall to a dangerous level. So, in order to start cleaning up a poor situation to make the pg last just a little longer, I began medication for my hypertension, supplements 2x’s a day for my low iron (which was increased to 3x’s only a few days later) and moderate bed rest and close observation of all my SxS to make sure that the PIH didn’t become more severe…. Preeclampsia.

By early to mid-week my water retention was unreal…gaining at some morning weigh-in’s 5 lbs. a day I was also suffering from consistent headaches and blurred vision including a constant light show, I was seeing spots and sparkles all the time. Also, a 24-hour urine collection test revealed high amounts of protein.

On Tuesday afternoon an U/S was preformed and it showed that poor little Devon had fallen of his growth curve and hadn’t grown much at all since the last U/S. His brother Jonah was gaining very quickly… This was cause for concern

On Wednesday the 14th of April while still in the hospital, my OB/GYN came in for his morning visit and recommended we deliver the babies on Saturday. He wanted to wait the extra couple days to bring me to what we figured would have been 37 weeks. I was informed there is a huge difference between babies born at 36 weeks as opposed to 37. There is a higher chance that a baby born at 36 weeks will have feeding issues and be an overly “sleepy” baby. So the extra days would be worth it in the end… I agreed, after all, I was being monitored very closely in a safe hospital environment. So that was that… My c-section and birth of my boys, was to happen on the 17th of April.

To be on the safe side, my NST’s were upped to 2x’s a day and fetal heart rate, my BP and temperature were done every 3 hours & my input and output of fluids would be followed. Every morning I was weighed and my urine “dipped”.

Finally! Saturday arrived! My Mother had driven up the night before and was waiting for me in my hospital room when I got out of my last shower as a pg mommy. She was noticeably excited, DH invited her to be my support person during the section b/c he knew how much it meant to her to be there for me and the babies (what a sweet guy ). My mother and I had a few minutes to chat alone before DH arrived. The three of us spent the next half hour before the sun was up taking pictures and talking, it was very relaxing.

By 8 a.m. a nurse walked in and said she was there to prep me for the section. DH and my Mother stepped out. An IV & catheter were placed, I was given a little shave and I quickly took a shot of the nastiest salty concoction that I've ever had to swallow.

At 8:30 a bed was wheeled to my room, I hopped on and was taken to the second floor where I met with nurses and my anesthesiologist to go over the basics. Minutes later I was moved from the hall to the operating room where my epidural was started. During the placement of the eppidural I accidentally kicked a nurse in the shin (oops) something must have been poked in my back b/c my foot just took off all on it’s own

After I was draped and monitors placed, My Mom was lead in and seated beside my head. By that time I was feeling nauseated and very itchy from a reaction I was having to a medication used for post op. pain relief… But that was all O.K. I was too excited to let anything bother me.

Minutes later, surgery was started. At 9:29 a.m. on April 17th Jonah Rejean was born, he weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. Devon Joseph wasn’t far behind he was delivered at 9:31 and weighed 5 lbs. 4 oz. Both boys pinked up immediately and looked fantastic! After the pediatric teams looked the boys over they were bundled and brought over to me to take a quick peek. It was so amazing, I remember touching their hands and trying to peek at all of their little parts I couldn’t believe that there were two of them, it didn’t seam real until that exact moment.

The experience was perfect, the epidural made all the difference in the world (I was alseep for DS#1's section), recovery was quick and I was up and walking only hours after surgery. All the staff was so amazingly supportive and I think just as excited us us.

Yet! There were some complications…. The Dr.’s felt that the boy’s were not 37 weeks after all, they had the characteristics of 36 week babies (I’m soooo happy we did the work to keep me pg that extra week!) Jonah ended up with a feeding tube for a couple of days, he kind “ran out of gas” and was too lethargic to eat. And Devon just scraped by and didn’t need a tube….Just lots and Lot’s of quiet and rest.

As for me, My BP yo-yoed up and down but I was taken of the BP meds. My biggest problem after the birth ended up being my low iron. Blood work showed that I needed a transfusion. On Tuesday the 20th I was given 2 units. It was incredible how much better the transfusion made me feel. I also ended up with a consistent low-grade fever (37.7-37.8) and it was a concern that I could possibly be developing an infection. So to be on the safe side I was sent home w/ a script for antibiotics.

I was released with both babies (yay!! ) on Friday the 23rd. DH, DS & I feel so blessed to be given 2 beautiful little boys.