4 years ago I started this blog after welcoming our first miracle rainbow baby, Kelia, and today I am excited to share our story and journey to complete our family! We are now proud parents of 3 after welcoming twins!
From The Beginning...
So to remind ya'll- Cory and I got married April 22nd 2017 and knew we wanted children pretty much immediately. We were already older than we wanted to start having kids so we didn't want to waste any time and began trying shortly after our wedding. Cory was 33 and I was 31. We tried for just about 2 years before we went to a fertility clinic and were told we probably couldn't conceive naturally. We decided to take a break and absorb the news, but God had other plans and 2 weeks later I was pregnant naturally in January 2019. Kelia was born 10/15/2019 after a typical pregnancy with mild choleostasis and a pretty easy c-section delivery.
We knew we wanted at least one more child and during the process of searching for a place of our own we began trying in 2021 for a second baby. We had hoped for an easier experience this time, but time passed and passed. We bought our first home, a condo, in spring of 2022 and settled in. We tried until March 2023 and returned to the fertility clinic for advice. This is where the fun began! We did one round of clomid, unmonitored and 200mg (yeah I didn't know this was a high dose)...And this was how the twins came to be!
Infertility turned 2 Babies!
After one round of a high dose of clomid and timed intercourse, the Friday before Easter we got the biggest blessing of all when several pregnancy tests were shockingly positive! I was also nauseas almost immediately! Cautiously excited I shared the news with Cory with an Easter basket with a onesie and 2 tests! He was shocked too but we were both nervously excited!
A few weeks after finding out our family was growing we jetted off to a preplanned trip to Hawaii to celebrate our wedding anniversary and Kelia's first trip to meet my family there! We landed on Oahu and because of being so sick I made Cory take me to a little ultrasound clinic by the airport. Kelia fell asleep in the car so Cory had me go in alone and I recieved the shock of a lifetime when the technician said congrats its twins! TWINS! What?! Cory found out via a text and showing him the printed ultrasound!
Pregnancy
Pregnancy was pretty typical until about 10 weeks when itching began and I was diagnosed with Choleostasis again! I knew I would get it again, but I had no idea what else was about to come and complicate things! At 17 weeks my blood pressures began to sky rocket and I was diagnosed with hypertension. By 20 weeks it was labeled Pre-Eclampsia. At one point HELLP Syndrome was thought to be a possibility, but thankfully it was just a thought temporarily. In total I had about 10 trips to labor and delivery for issues and 4 in person hospital stays including being transferred twice to a different hospital where the NICU is that could handle preemie twins and ultimately where I delivered and the twins remain today.
I don’t know if it was because of having so many additional complications, but this pregnancy my choleostasis was so bad I literally didn’t think I was going to be able to carry the babies long enough for them to survive. I have never been so miserable. Then the constant high blood pressures and failed NSTs that sent me to Labor and Delivery were infuriating. At one point I was told I had fluid around my heart and I feared I was in heart failure as well. But I pushed through and we made it to 32 weeks before I was admitted and told I wouldn’t be leaving there again still pregnant. At 33 weeks to the minute, I was rushed in for an emergency C-section due to my blood pressure, swelling, and sudden issues with my reflexes. Almost immediately my itching improved and blood pressures started to even out slowly.
They Are Here!
On October 30th, 2023 at 12:47am Madelyn “Maddi” Jo Wilson was born weighing 3lbs 12oz and measuring 16.14in long followed by her brother Chase Anthony Wilson at 12:48am weighing 3lbs 10oz and 15.75in long.
The C-Section was a success and seemed to go typically. I also had my tubes removed as well to be sure we wouldn’t have any chances of me ever getting pregnant again as this pregnancy definitely solidified my decision to never have any more kids!
3 days post c-section I was discharged to go home and was relieved thinking I was done with hospital stays and only would be visiting our sweet babies in the NICU until they get to come home. Boy was I wrong!
Not So Fast Mama...
We spent 6 days going back and forth to the hospital to visit the babies in the NICU and deliver my pumped breastmilk for their feedings. 10 days after I gave birth I started feeling flu-like symptoms and thought maybe I was getting a mild case of mastitis. Remembering it from my nursing journey with Kelia I made an apt at Urgent Care and the next morning at 9am Kelia and I went to get me checked out. I fully expected a round of antibiotics and orders to keep pumping…But instead my BP was so low they ran an EKG which came back abnormal and sent me to the ER. My mind went back to when they told me I had fluid around my heart and I was again terrified. I dropped Kelia at my in-laws and went to pump one more time, pack up milk to take to NICU, and grabbed Cory and we went to the Kaiser where the twins were so we would all be under the same roof.
I checked into the ER and sent Cory with the milk to see the babies. He met with me after about an hour and never left my side afterwards until after many tests, scans, and labs I was admitted once again and he had to go to work. This time I was close to having sepsis, had a kidney infection and they found fluid and debris still in my uterus that should have been removed during the c-section. A rare complication, but scary and serious! I had an emergency D&C the following morning at 5am and woke up to Cory by my side at 7:30am in recovery. He rushed over after work so worried about me! Even the surgery didn’t go as planned and took longer than anticipated. The 24 hours after surgery I was in excruciating pain and for 48 hours I was on IV antibiotics and bedridden. 72 hours after the surgery I got to go home and the pain was much better! I was unable to go to the NICU to see the babies for 4 days but sent my milk with nurses and Cory to them. Right before discharge I was allowed to go see them and I credit them for my recovery heading in the right direction!
I have now been home now 4 days and only stayed home from the NICU one day to rest. I feel almost normal finally, minimal pain, and back on my regular pumping schedule. Antibiotics have affected my milk supply so I am working with a lactation consultant to improve it again and its going well so far.
We are so blessed and grateful to have had monetary donations sent to us and donated breastmilk and tons of baby things given to us to help during this crazy time!
And Today...
Me:
Doing well. Normal Blood Pressures, Mild Pain On/Off, No More Flu Symptoms, Just Wish My Babies Could Be Home Already! Have my moments of ups/downs due to NICU life and the rollercoaster it is, but all around doing great!
Babies:
-Chase is starting to eat from a bottle, off respiratory assistance, more alert and awake, loves his pacifier and skin to skin with mom or dad and is smitten by big sis!
-Maddi is still on respiratory assistance due to some nighttime episodes with heart-rate drops, has upped the amounts of her feedings and lowering slightly how long it takes for her feedings. She’s a bit sleepy still and enjoys skin to skin with mom and dad, but doesn’t have her eyes open as much as Chase.
-Both Babies love when Daddy plays music/lullabies for them during our visits. Both lost their umbilical stumps recently. Both get twice weekly sponge baths and weekly growth checks for length. (They get weighed nightly and are both over 4lbs now!)…
(Chase) (Maddi)
To Conclude
While 2023 has been crazier than we every imagined, its been full of blessings and miracles and worth everything we have gone through! I hope nobody has to go through a lot of what we did this year, but if they do I want them to know it will be worth it and what is coming is the greatest prize of all.
XOXO Love Always,
Alana