Twin Pregnancy: My Preterm Labor Experience

There are so many things that could go wrong with a twin pregnancy, because the more babies you carry, the more you’re at risk for complications. It’s scary, especially if this is your first pregnancy. But, rest assured, if you are pregnant with twins, there are “success” stories, even if you experience preterm labor!

I remember during my pregnancy, I had bleeding. Not the spotting that most women see, but bleeding. Come to find out, one of the placentas was detaching from the wall. There was bleeding behind the placenta. We had already been on edge knowing the risks we faced by having two babies, but it actually started happening. To add, the twins weren’t growing properly, and I was anemic. I was considered to have a high risk pregnancy, and had to see maternal fetal medicine specialists.

During this part of my pregnancy, I was still working. On my lunch breaks, I would grab two blankets. Put one under my head, and the other I’d pull over me, and I’d nap. I was so tired.

About five months in, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was so stressed out, and exhausted, I had to take it easy, per professionals recommendation. I ended up resigning my position and went part-time. Even part-time became too difficult for me, but I wanted to continue working.

We were six weeks away from my scheduled induction date. I had been having Braxton Hicks since the beginning of the second trimester, but this day was different.

I got a facial that day, and as I was leaving, I started having contractions. Real contractions. They were pretty close and hurt. I ignored them, thinking I relaxed a little too much during my facial or perhaps it was the fact that I’m always on my feet. I drove home, and as I was driving, I felt worse. I started panicking. I got home, and was bending over in pain and hyperventilating. I called the hospital, and they told me to come in. I called Tyler telling him to go to the hospital. Oh my god, I was in labor. Five weeks too early for comfort!

I arrived at the hospital, and was hooked up to monitors. I was having contractions about two minutes apart, and was sixty percent effaced and dilated one centimeter. The babies looked great. THANK GOD! But, even with those conditions, the doctor was fairly confident and reassured us that there was no way they were going to allow me to have babies that early. Another huge relief! But, in order to do that, I had to stay.

They gave me fluids, steroids and magnesium sulfate- “mag” is used to slow contractions. After that was started, the next few days were a blur.

The magnesium makes you feel like you were set on fire. Actually. The nurses brought me ice packs, and I was only allowed ice and water at first. I sucked down pitchers of water like I had been trapped in the desert for a week. Finally, I was allowed to eat. Guess what? Mag makes your head spin. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom on my own. On top of that, it makes you sick to your stomach. I could barely bring myself to cut the bland chicken in front of me, which I suprisingly grew fond of- it was the only thing that I could stomach besides ice water. Fourty-eight hours of this tortuous medication.

After the medications and tests, we were given a “two weeks notice”, so to speak . Basically, the babies could end up coming at any point after two weeks post visit. Even with that notion, my doctor didn’t like the idea of complete bed rest. He said it could cause more complications, such as blood clots. I was to keep my activity way down, but not to be bedridden. I continued to work part-time, but I stayed on my bottom that entire time. I only stood, if absolutely necessary.

After this incident, my monitoring increased. Ultrasounds. Blood tests. Urine screenings. Non-stress tests!(which is a way to monitor fetal health). And, there was always an issue. I failed the non-stress test almost every visit. I had strong and close contractions majority of my visits, except those in the morning. Everything was well, complicated, but I had to keep going. I had to make it to term, and I almost did. I made it to 37 weeks, and 5 days.

Like this post? Read about when we found out we were expecting “dos bebes“.