I was discharged from the hospital that Wednesday afternoon around 7pm.
On the way to the car, I had to stop by the bathroom near the parking garage. I felt like I wet my pants. I chalked it up to just some discharge since my cervix had been checked a few times.
We got home and got settled for bed...we didn't know it would be our last night in our home just us! I was still on the blood pressure medicine and had to wake up thru the night to take it. The next day (Thursday the 28th) Will went to work and left breakfast by the bed along with about 4 full water bottles and a yeti cup full of ice. He also left my medicine by the bed since I wasn't allowed to get up unless it was to go to the bathroom or shower. He came home at lunch and did the same thing...except I was able to make it to the couch.
Later that evening, I noticed a small drip when I went to the bathroom. It wouldn't stop but it was very light. It was also clear which concerned me. I asked my friend Jonellen what she thought so she came over to the house. She just knew my water had broken! She and Will finally convinced me to call the hospital. I spoke with a nurse in triage who would give my information to the doctor on call.
A few minutes later Dr. Knowlton called me back (I didn't want to call because I didn't think it was anything...and I just KNEW that as soon as I said I was 35 weeks with mono-di twins he would say come in no matter what).
We headed to the hospital and called both of our parents to let them know. I got checked into triage and they started all of the tests. I had a nurse and what appeared to be a newer nurse with me. The nurse told her she only needed to ask the basic questions since I had just been at the hospital. About that time she walked around the bed, took a look at the test to check whether my water had broken, and said "nevermind...ask all the questions. Her water broke."
My heart dropped! I wasn't ready to meet these babies. But they were coming anyway! The next few hours were kind of a blur....Both of our parents got there. The nurse anesthitist came in, the anesthesiologist came by, the doctor came in (while they were shaving me, of course), and finally my nurse for the c section came by.

I was super nervous on the inside. My dad was hoping that it would take longer so that one baby would be born before midnight and the other right after. The scariest part of it all was when they wheeled me into the operating room and Will had to stay outside. It felt like they were going to forget to bring him in. I was so relieved when he finally got to come in. I think he had laser eyes and only looked at me when he walked in. He was so nervous he would see something he didn't want to. Just a little while later the anesthesiologist told Will to stand up that they were about to take Baby A out. Will's face lit up! I couldn't see the baby so I just looked at him. While listening to her cries, Baby B was born just a minute later. My heart dropped when I didn't hear two cries. Turns out she was breathing fine when she was crying but had trouble when she stopped crying. A nurse came by my head a few minutes later to explain everything and tell me that they were taking Baby B to the NICU. Will left immediately with Molly (baby b) to go to the NICU. While I was in recovery, they brought Harper to see me and try to breastfeed. A little bit later Molly was in the nursery and she came to see me too.
The funniest part of the night...
My dad was a nervous wreck and apparently had been pacing the whole time while in the waiting room. They heard the two lullabies over the speaker when the girls were born. Shortly after they brought Harper into the nursery. They all could see her in all her naked glory. She was stretching so big they said! A few minutes later they brought a second baby into the nursery...but it was a big black baby! My dad was so confused! hahaha he knew something was wrong. A little while later after Molly was settled in the NICU, Will left her to go explain what was going on to everyone waiting. My aunt and cousin stayed until Molly was released from the NICU but they weren't able to see her. My parent's came to see me in recovery and then Will's parents came in. Will was running around trying his best to check on all three of his girls who were all in different places. I was on magnesium since my blood pressure was so high so I had to stay in recovery for close to 3 hours. They finally moved me to a high risk room later that night. Will's parents had already left but my parents stayed until we got moved and settled into the new room.

Nearing the end...

My pregnancy was overall pretty uneventful.
We were monitored very closely by going to the MFM every 2 weeks for ultrasounds and my OBGYN every 4 weeks (until it got closer). Luckily this all worked out pretty well with my work schedule and my 3rd grade team was amazingly accommodating. My blood pressure was high on a few early visits so I got a cuff to monitor at home twice daily. My hemoglobin dropped at one point so I was on iron tablets 3x a day on top of the prenatal and baby aspirin. As I got closer to my 3rd trimester I was met with an awful case of acid reflux/heartburn/indigestion. This. Was. Awful.
I was finally cleared from my MFM around 32 weeks. Then I began getting monitored by my obgyn weekly.
Tuesday, April 26th was my last prenatal appointment. I was scheduled for an ultrasound and a visit with my wonderful obgyn. Having had numerous ultrasounds all along the way, I knew what to expect...this one was awful. This was a BPP test and the girls both passed several indicators right away. She then began monitoring them practicing breathing. Baby A (Harper) was doing great but Baby B (Molly) was not doing what she was supposed to yet. We had to wait the entire 30 minutes pretty much in silence and fear-this lady was by far the worst sonographer we had seen.
When we met with my doctor she had already talked to the MFM at their practice and with my blood pressure being high, my feet and legs swollen, and the BPP test she decided I needed to be admitted for observation.
We left crying to go across the street to check in to triage. They immediately hooked me up to three monitors and began a 24 hour urine test. Soon after, the nurse and doctor came in saying that I was having contractions (we could see them all over the monitor-they looked pretty intense but I couldn't feel a thing). She decided to check my cervix which was at 1 cm. They hooked me up to an IV of fluids and began procardia for my blood pressure and the contractions. She checked my cervix again and it had not changed. Let me stop right here to say that the cervix checks hurt worse than I could have ever imagined. OMG!
I pretty much stayed up all night watching the girls heart rates on the monitors. The next day we had another ultrasound. This one was soooo much better! Both girls passed! My doctor came by a little later and was very pleased and happy with the ultrasound and my monitoring. The 24 hour urine test was finished around 6 pm and there were trace amounts of protein in my urine so I was diagnosed with mild pre-eclampsia and sent home on strict bed rest.

Exciting News

November 6th was a day our lives changed forever. We thought we might be pregnant but I was still a little in denial. We made the appointment when Will was finally back from Dallas for work. I was nervous sitting in the waiting room....thinking of all the "what-if's" I looked at Will and said "What if it's twins?! (jokingly) No sooner that those words came out my mouth, my name was called to go back.
We first had routine procedures: weight, height, blood pressure, urine sample, finger prick. Then we waited for the ultrasound. The tech was very sweet and the moment she put the wand on my belly I immediately saw TWO. I didn't know two of what but I saw two of something. "Oh shit, is that two?!" was the first thing out of my mouth. A few minutes later she asked if we had been taking fertility or if twins ran in my family. She then announced that there was definitely two.
Next we waited for the doctor. She started off by asking general family history questions. Then she announced that there were some concerns about baby B. This baby had a little too much fluid on the back of the neck. We were crushed. She went over the possibilities of what it could be but it was all a haze for me. I don't think I heard much more after she talked about the concerns. Turns out this could be a sign of downs syndrome, TTTS (twin to twin transfusion syndrome), a heart defect, or it could totally resolve itself.
We both cried in the doctor's office that day. We prayed more that week and a half than I think we ever have. We googled and tried to learn as much as we could about the situation.
November 17th we got the call back from the doctor's about the results of the genetic testing. We were elated to learn that no chromosomal abnormalities were detected with the blood test. We had an appointment scheduled for November 20th at USC Specialty Clinic. We had a very thorough and patient ultrasound tech on this day. All three of us cried when she measured the fluid and it had gone way down to a normal level. We were supposed to have genetic counseling after the ultrasound but the doctor told us that we didn't even need to go due to the results and the scan.
Finally...we could take a deep breath! We had avoided any major problems and concerns. We are still considered a higher risk due to the babies sharing a placenta (mono-di twins: monochorionic diamniotic). We also found out that they were identical twins!
Our next appointment was back at the doctors office on November 30th.