Author: Jodie-Lee Wagner
Finding out I was pregnant
On the 21st of November 2016, I decided to take the “risky” test. I hadn’t felt great for a couple of days. Feeling extra tired which I have only felt once before in my life… I was pregnant then. I couldn’t feel my period coming which was due to start the next day. My positive very quickly showed. Only weeks beforehand we booked our wedding venue and date. Two months prior we had only celebrated out eldest child’s first birthday; it all seemed a bit sudden.
I was scared to tell my now husband. A pregnancy was not what we had planned yet. I booked my doctor’s appointment and got my bloods done while he was at work. The doctor had told me that the test was accurate and I was pregnant. When Josh finally arrived home my eldest child and I told him. At first it was shock then we just laughed.
Finding out I was pregnant with twins
Two weeks later we went for our first ultra-sound, for a few weeks before people had joked and told me we were having twins. Josh’s response every time was “yeah that’d be cool, twin boys”!
We live in Mount Isa, so I thought ‘yeah two second trip to the hospital and going by the first baby about a 10 minute ultra-sound’ I didn’t pack a nappy bag for our eldest child Rylan. We sat and waited for about five minutes and he done a poo! ‘Man’! Fifteen minutes is all he’ll have to wait, he’ll be right.
We finally go in and the sonographer puts the probe on my belly and says “oh”. Seeing the look on Josh’s face, and before I could filter the words they came right out, “what the F%^& are you oh-ing?”. I knew it. I had a tilted uterus so I have to have an internal ultra-sound. He found them both, well the exact words were “I think there is only two but you’ll have to confirm that at your next scan as I can’t get a good look at this angle”. My eldest was getting clingy and only wanted me but due to having the internal scan I was unable to hold him. He screamed! All I could think of was ‘how in the world am I going to deal with two more of this’.
We walked out in shock. We started the ring around to inform out parents who didn’t believe us but when they finally did just laughed.
Weeks went by and all was good. We started to adjust to the fact we were going from a family of three to a family of five.
13 weeks pregnant with twins
At thirteen weeks they confirmed we were having Monozygotic Diamniotic twins. I was a little bummed as I really wanted one of each sex, and a chance to get a little girl. Then to eighteen weeks we found out the sex. I was actually so convinced I was carrying girls this time because this pregnancy was so different to my first one. Not taking into account that this was a twin pregnancy.
Yep, I was a little shattered. Two boys! Deep down I knew that healthy was the most important thing, but knowing we probably won’t have any more kids and I won’t get my little girl.
22 weeks pregnant with twins
We hit twenty two weeks, my obstetrician gave me a wad of paper and tells me every two weeks I will have a scan until I hit thirty weeks then I will go weekly until I hit the hopeful thirty six weeks. My obstetrician always told me that no matter what I needed to last till thirty four weeks so I can deliver the boys in Mount Isa. Anything before thirty four weeks would require me sent to Townsville as they didn’t have the facilities for babies before this gestation.
26 weeks pregnant with twins
At twenty six weeks I had some cramps and couldn’t shake a feeling. I was flying out in a few days and thought it would be safer to get checked. My cramps weren’t registering as contractions but after a check my cervix was shorter than it should be. The Doctor did a Fetal Fibronectin test. I was in no immediate danger to pre-term labour but he said I wouldn’t last the distance of this pregnancy, but hoped I proved him wrong. So the discussions started about slowing down on work to eventually stopping.
29 weeks pregnant with twins
At twenty nine weeks it all started again. The cramps started again. More intense this time. On another check I was again not in immediate danger to pre-term labour but was closer than the last test. My cervix was shorter again. My cramps were registering as contractions. The dreaded decision was made! I was flying to Townsville. I was given my first round of steroid shots for the boys lungs a long with a Terbutaline pill to help prevent me going into labour.
This decision absolutely gutted me! I had to leave my twenty month old behind. It was likely they would keep me until I either gave birth or hit thirty four weeks when it was safe for the boys to be born in Mount Isa. That meant six whole weeks without my baby I had never spent more than two nights with out.
I was flown to Townsville and put on bed rest
I finally arrived in Townsville that night. The contractions lasted a few more hours and a few more pills, but the contractions had stopped by the next afternoon. It was now bed rest on the ward. I stayed in hospital just short of two weeks in the same bed all on my own. I got a quick visit from my family who drove over from Mount Isa for literally about twenty four hours before they had to head back. The trip to them 10 hours to drive, it was way too expensive to fly over for such short time… roughly $400 one way.
I finally got released to the Ronald McDonald House where I was to take it easy and hopefully wait the next three weeks out.
32 weeks pregnant with twins
After one week I had my first check up since being released. For some unknown reason I had packed my stuff up the night before. I saw the doctor. Yep! Jodie you are being readmitted. I was one centimetre dilated and no cervix left and he could feel a head. I was also told that if I went into labour this time they wouldn’t stop it.
Once readmitted I had my bloods taken and another scan to estimate the boys weights. They both estimated over two kilograms at thirty two weeks. The doctor was happy. I let my partner know it could pretty much be any time from here on out, but still prayed I could last the two weeks so I could deliver my boys at home in Mount Isa.
All this had happened on the Monday. Tuesday was their Dads birthday (My husband) who didn’t mind sharing his day. Wednesday was the third origin game and was a decider! I was strictly instructed to not deliver on this day. The game was over and I went to bed. At about two am on Thursday the first of June I woke up to pains. They took me to L & D to be checked and monitored. Nothing much was happening just slight contractions. I was sent back to the ward after a couple of hours.
At about six am I finally got back to sleep
At ten am I woke with pains again. Was checked and nothing was happening again. Re checked at twelve pm and still no change. Finally was two thirty they think my dilation had changed so I get taken back to L & D where I wait for my doctor to assess me this time.
Due to a busy ward, he was finally able to check me at five thirty pm. I was in so much pain by this stage. I was five centimetres dilated. Due to needing to have an epidural in case Baby B need assistance in turning the decision was made that these babies were coming out.
At five thirty five pm I was trying (with very little phone reception and between contractions) to contact my husband to tell him they are coming. He finally got to the Mount Isa Airport at five fifty to catch the six fifteen flight out which he was lucky to be able to walk in purchase a ticket ($885 just to fly over).
Twins born at 32 weeks
Josh walked through the door at about eight thirty and they had just finished putting the epidural in. not long after that they broke my waters. It came time to push. Baby A, Carter Stephen welcomed us at 11.18pm weighing 2.04 kilograms. What felt like a life time later, and after a complication that I knew very little about until after it was all over, Baby B had, had a cord prolapse. They had to cut his cord inside me and managed to rip him out. Theater was organised in case I was rushed in.
At 11.33pm Korbin Charles joined us weight 2.16 kilograms. He took about ten minutes until he could start to breath on his own. For a little second I did think I was only taking one baby home with me.
When Josh and I got some “ down time” while the room was thinning out, I was being stitched up and everything was getting cleaned, we realised there as approx. 12-15 people a minimum in the room at one time. My midwife, her trainee, another trainee that stayed on to see a vaginal twin birth, my doctor, the head midwife and the senior midwife, another doctor and a few trainee doctors. Both twins had at a least two doctors and a nurse waiting for them plus anyone else who had popped in and out of the room through the night.
We were informed that our boys were eighth and ninth boy born at this hospital today.
Twins born at 32 weeks – My NICU story
At about three am as I headed back to ward I was able to go past and check on my boys in NICU. On Friday morning Josh and I finally got to touch our boys for the first time in the humidicrib. We were inform that the boys were doing extremely well and would later on be moving to open cribs and to the special care nursey where they would stay as feeders and growers.
All this was getting extremely hard. Rylan had come over after the boys were born but we were going on another two weeks without him. Josh and I would go up to at least two of their cares a day but usually three which were every six hours. And usually between that time, one or both would take the expressed milk up. It was getting very difficult and tiring going in and out of the hospital all the time.
We were flown back to Mount Isa when the twins were two weeks old
Nearly two weeks after the boys birth on the Wednesday night Josh had to return home to our eldest child and to work. The boys and I had to wait until a back load came from Mount Isa now that the nursery had room for them both. At six am on Thursday morning I got a phone call “would you like to go home?” I packed my stuff and headed to the hospital at seven am. By midday Thursday my boys and myself were back in Mount Isa. This is where the boys took their first bottle. It only got better from here.
Twins born at 32 weeks – My breastfeeding story
Due to having twins born at 32 weeks, breast feeding was never going to come easy. I expressed every two-three hours for nearly twelve weeks. The first two weeks weren’t too bad as it was a short walk to the hospital and it was all about the twins. Although trying to introduce them to the boob wasn’t the easiest at times being constant connected to cords for monitoring purposes.
Week three and four were also not too bad as I still spent a lot of time at the hospital but I was struggling to get the on the two-three hourly pump as I had my little boy to attend to also as well as the everyday stuff to do.
Week’s five to twelve were hard
I had nearly given up so many times. Having the boys in my full time care as well as my twenty one month old and being on my own while everyone worked was extremely hard. I tried so hard. I tried so hard to get the boys to latch. Carter was extremely lazy and being identical I would often get them mixed up and was getting very frustrated.
I saw a lactation consultant and things were starting to improve with Korbin. But twelve weeks hit and life was moving too fast and I just couldn’t keep up. I had been doing fifty, fifty with the boys with breast milk and formula. I finally decided to give up. Formula was working for them. They were thriving; I had done my best and given them what they needed for the most important part of their lives.
I often wish I had tried harder, did things differently. But in the end I know my boys are doing well and I couldn’t ask for more. They are healthy and happy.
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