27w1d: How I Got Here

I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks 1 day. I was in shock because David and I had only just started trying to conceive. I felt so lucky and blessed! I really wanted to have a natural birth and sought out a midwife rather than an OB in order to have what to me seemed like the best support for that outcome. I found a midwife who was also part of a high risk practice group--best of both worlds, I thought.

At my seven week appointment, the midwife said my uterus was tipped so she wouldn't be able to hear a heartbeat. Everything else seemed normal, so I had no concerns. Then at 12 weeks she found the heartbeat right away--it was so amazing! I had gained about 3 pounds at that point and was beginning to need a bella band--things were really moving along!

I had scheduled my NT scan ultrasound for right after the midwife appointment. David and I headed down the block for the ultrasound, and as we went into the exam room the tech seemed surprised that I hadn't had a prior ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy. I was again not concerned--I was seeing a midwife because I wanted fewer interventions, period.

As soon as she put the wand on my abdomen....I knew something was off. The picture looked blurry and blobby, sure, but....and then she said, "looks like you're having twins!" If I hadn't been lying on my back I would have fallen over. David didn't say anything--he just stared at the screen in shock. I think I said "you've got to be kidding me" about ten times in a row. But, sure enough, there they were--TWO babies, two placentas, two sacs. Both were measuring on track and healthy.

When we left the appointment and got to the car, I started crying. I was so overwhelmed and flustered, and I thought David was mad at me because he was still so silent. He assured me that he was not mad at me, he hugged me, and told me that this was clearly all my fault. (He has a delightful sense of humor.) We called my mother-in-law first, and she promptly asked if I had been on drugs. Umm, no. My father was also shocked but extremely excited. We called David's oldest sister who reassured us that everything was going to be fine.

At my next ultrasound, we learned the sexes--Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy! David's main concern was that there were still only two of them.

My next two ultrasounds were also uneventful--both still measuring on track, good heart rates, and a nice long and strong cervix for me (3.8cm, 3.8cm, 4.0cm). My perinatologist (I switched to the high risk end of the practice once we got the confirmation of twins) was unconcerned with me; I guess compared to a lot of patients I really was not high risk.

And then.

I started having really frequent tightening of my uterus on March 8. Many an hour. I would drink water, urinate, and lie down--and they'd go away. But as soon as I'd get up, I'd feel the tightening. So on March 9 we went into the hospital, and learned that my cervix had shortened to 2.5cm. Although it's still shut tight, that scared me, so here I am in bed, and here I'll stay until my babies are born or someone convinces me that I can move!