A Huge Honor...

In June of 2005 I learned I was expecting twins. This was extremely scary to me. I mean everyone who learns they are carrying twins has that "oh ****" moment... don't tell me you didn't :) I mean yes Chad and I were over the moon, in fact Chad will tell you that he is the one who noticed the second baby on the ultrasound ** and this is in fact true. The ultrasound tech was already to be done when Chad literally SCREAMED "there is second heart... I see it"... **.

But because of our history of miscarriages and other complications (high blood pressure, hypermesis, and eventually pre-eclampsia) learning we were expecting multiples made what was already a high risk pregnancy even more high risk. What was supposed to be a 30 minute ultrasound to find a heartbeat for the SINGLE baby we believed we were pregnant with turned into a 150 minutes of appointments between the in-detail ultrasound and meeting with my doctor, who I vividly recall taking one look at me as I am white a sheet and Chad is dancing into room thinking he was some super stud and saying "Kristin... you can't let us do something the easy way can you"... I of course (being the smart butt that I am) responded with "Hey... if you get vacations to the Virgin Islands because of me and my awesomeness, I don't see why you are complaining"

We hashed out a very good care plan, we went from normal monthly visits to having visits every two weeks from the beginning. The counselor we spoke with suggested that I get in contact with Sidelines, which is a National Support Network for women who are going through high risk pregnancies, she also suggests that we not tell family and friends we were expecting twins for a short time. We didn't... in fact I don't believe we told anyone in our families until well into the summer, oh and looking back I really don't recommend that. I mean for some people this is probably best... but for me it was really hard, especially with what would happen in our future.

I looked at the Sidelines website, but got busy. So I didn't actually sign up for support. I just looked around. I read as much as I could, and I was more lucky than most people pregnant with twins, because our brother and sister-in-law (Chad's brother and his wife) were also expecting twins, and were due around the same time as us.I was extremely sick and had some cases of spotting etc during the pregnancy but thought all was well.

In September I began spotting a bit more than my doctor was comfortable with and he sent me for a detailed ultrasound. It was during this ultrasound that we learned that my cervix had shortened significantly. I was placed on bed rest at home... thankfully Delainey (who was was 22 months old at the time) was easily entertained with videos and reading books with mommy, and a husband who worked nights and was able to 'babysit' us for a bit in the mornings once he got home from work.

With weekly doctor visits and me following the orders that doctors had been giving us, I was able to return to doing 'normal' activities with the promise to not over do it around Thanksgiving. So I tried not too, but I know I did more than I should have... I knew that BIG changes were coming for Delainey. She was going to go from not only being an only child to having two sisters... but she was also going from being the light of her grandparents, and uncles and aunts' worlds to being the oldest of 6 grandchildren in a very short time. (During our pregnancy we learned that Chad's other brother and his wife were also pregnant ), I wanted to make these last few months of my pregnancy special for her. We planned a pretty big birthday party for her, her grandparents from the Twin Cities came... they even brought presents from Delainey's uber special Uncle Brian and Auntie Tracy ** I don't believe we have gotten Brian back yet for that damn sit and spin or that weeble tree house yet...hmmm**.

Thankfully my health (and the health of the girls) was doing well. Everything was going really good. Until December 22. My doctor had left for the holiday weekend, so I called a NP within the practice. It was 4pm the Thursday before the Christmas Holiday, part of me can understand where the NP was coming from... part of me will never understand. My concerns were brushed off, I was sent home. Friday and Saturday I was miserable but I refused to let Delainey's last Christmas as an only child be ruined. I worked through it. I tried to smile and be happy... I forced Chad to take a picture of us as a family in front of the Christmas tree, I didn't care if I was in my pajamas and hadn't moved off the couch in almost 2 days.

Delainey had and AMAZING Christmas... I was happy. December 25th I didn't move from the couch at all. I barely moved... Chad made me go to the hospital to be checked. He demanded that I get looked at. So I went, they sent me home again. That evening I got worse, I began to vomit and shake and was so dizzy I would just lay on the bathroom floor. I began having contractions every 3 minutes, Chad carried me out to the car at 7am because we both believed my doctor (rather than the on call doctor) would be on staff at that time. When we arrived at the hospital we learned that our doctor was not going to be on staff until the next day, I was ready to just go home... Chad lost it. I mean all out lost it. He demanded that the staff do something... he demanded and I quote " that lazy ass doctor get his rich ass outta bed and come look at my wife and my daughters, because if you can't get him on the phone, I'd be happy to go rip his happy ass outta bed and bring him here myself". We were admitted, we thought we were getting care, (we weren't).. it wasn't until a dear friend of mine who is a nurse on the same floor saw me there. She realized what was going on and got things going. She knew I wasn't a 'complainer' she knew if I was there SOMETHING was wrong.  Our girls were born a mear 36 minutes after we received our diagnosis. Our girls spent 11 days in the NICU, and once they came home I was able to breathe. It was during those late night nursing sessions that I went back to the Sidelines website and applied to become a volunteer.

I was a volunteer to quite a few ladies, some with experiences such as mine (multiple miscarriages, infertility, hypermesis, multiples etc) it was rewarding. So very rewarding. In fact I met one of my dearest friends via Sidelines. I supported her during her pregnancy in late 2006 early 2007 and we STILL talk today.

In late April of 2007 I learned I was pregnant. In May 2007 I learned we were again pregnant with twins, but this time it was even more scary because of complications that were learned during that very intense ultrasound. In fact in this blog post is probably the way most of our friends and even some relatives will learn that at one time Brody had a twin. It was devastating to us. Not that any of our other loses weren't... but this one especially because we had seen the bond that twins can have. We had seen the very special relationship that Shelby and Avery had with each other, so we mourned, not only the loss of our child but the loss of our child's special relationship with his sibling.
Because of the rules Sidelines has I was unable to volunteer during my pregnancy, but I was still able to speak with the friends I had made through the organization, and as soon as I was able I went back to helping others. I have loved the experience of helping others through their own high risk pregnancies, I have celebrated with many and sadly mourned with others... it has been a very rewarding experience for me.
A while back I was asked to fill out a form in regards to being chosen as a Volunteer of the Month for Sidelines. Well October is my month... I couldn't be happier or more honored to have received this amazing honor... THANK YOU SIDELINES.. It means so very much to me... THANK YOU.

If you'd like to read the write up you can do so by visiting the following link.
http://www.sidelines.org/volunteer-spotlight/october_volunteer/
And if you feel that you would be interested in helping others in a similar please feel free to do so. It is a very rewarding experience and I have learned so much during my almost 5 years of being with the organization.

Thank you again....
-Kristin