Double Mint Pregnancy ! Birth Story to follow

So a long time ago in San Mateo, California , there lived a mommy who when she was 16 weeks prego desiring a natural birth went for her first ultrasound . The nice midwife was a bit scared so she sent the mommy to high risk .The beautiful young doctor at Lucille Packard children's hospital could not get a good view of the kiddo , so the young resident she was went and got a grown up doctor. A few minutes later she smiles and says you are having twins. Terror struck my body , two babies , not one but two babies which was quickly followed by a joy that can never be described like when know you are in for hard work but , worth it work. So the young doctor warned the young mommy that she was overweight and that this pregnancy would be no easy road to walk. The path would be a bit tattered ! We had no idea if they were identical or fraternal.

20 weeks ........ hell begins ...... My blood pressure started to rise to dangerous levels and the young doctor would talk to me about viability at 23-24 weeks. It was really serious and surreal at the same time. I was 28 years old and 15 or so weeks of bed rest was not what I imagined. I dreamed of shopping for strollers , beautiful vintage clothes, Winnie the Pooh and so much more ...... The idea of laying i bed was not so much on my mind. I was sent home with strict bed rest no work JUST BED ! I was a freelance writer so I could lay in bed and write I was lucky. I tried to remain calm and carry on ! I could feel the little guys kicking around.

24 weeks.............. Viability not a big comfort because now if they were born so very soon they may have serious complications. This of course made my blood pressure go up and at 25 weeks I discovered that I had gestational diabetes. Whew so much ! Well so then it was once a week ultrasounds and dopplers and little stress tests with buzzers to wake my poor babies ! I was seeing three neo-natal specialists and of course the young doctor. I would leave with such stress and I am not even going to mention what was going on at home with the daddy.

26 ............. weeks two days a week doctor visits begin and the babies really start to move around , have wrestling matches in my womb. The womb mates as I started to call them ! They moved constantly and it seemed like baby A was much more active than the larger baby B. I had gained forty pounds and could hardly sleep at all. The babies moved constantly.

28............... weeks Still no relief in sight I was allowed to get out of bed and walk my young doctor wanted a vaginal birth as a c section was a huge risk and I had already had one c section so this would VBAC , vaginal birth after c section. So I walked around Golden Gate park , enjoyed shopping a bit in the Marina District and started to get things ready around the house. I had so many clothes and I was loving going to parks and watching other kiddos.

29................. weeks blood pressure still high I was placed on meds and strict diet . My mom came to visit from Alabama this week and since she could not hang around she bought me a Peg double stroller and a Maclaren umbrella double for later. We had a great time shopping for clothes at a cute boutique called Baby Style which sadly is out of business now :( Life was Bliss.

30............... weeks getting huge now I mean really huge I remember I was addicted to Starbucks Chai and would often go for rides over the Golden Gate bridge. I was just relaxing and reflecting on what was to come in hopefully another ten weeks.

32................weeks doctor visits are up to three times a week and the babies seemed to be doing pretty good !

33...................weeks back on bed rest the young doctor felt like we so close why not try to get to 38 or 39 weeks a miracle for my health status but hey miracles do happen right.

35 and a half weeks................ On a stress test baby B was showing no signs of life , his heart was not beating on the ultrasound quick action ahead !