9 weeks...



9 weeks...

     Our first 6 weeks were some of the hardest days of our lives to date.  We went to bed every night praying and pleading to God to save our babies.  Now we had finally made it to nine weeks.  To many people this doesn't seem to be a huge deal but we knew, each week we were given brought us closer to viability for the babies.  We had to atleast make it to twenty five weeks, although our prayer was to get closer to thirty seven.  At twenty five weeks the babies could survive but there were numerous problems they would face being less than two pounds.  I never thought I would plead with God to let us make it to twenty five weeks.  No, we didn't want the babies to suffer but we did want them to have a fighting chance. 

     At nine weeks we had our next appt. with Dr. G.  The babies looked great and were growing at exactly the same rate.  This is not always true for identical twins.  One baby usually grows more rapidly which can be harmful to the smaller of the two.  We were thrilled and thought we were only going to receive good news this day but that wouldn't be the case.  Dr. G tried an tried to make the babies move so she could see if there was a membrane between them.  We already knew they were in the same sac but our fear all along had been that they were not separated at all.  The problem with no membrane is that the babies cords begin to tangle terribly and more times than not only one baby survives.  If we were in this category our babies only had around a 60% chance of both surviving.  This is not at all what we wanted to hear.  The odds may seem like they were in our favor but they weren't.  My Dr. had only delivered a few sets of twins like this is her eleven years of practice.  She told me of one set that she lost around twenty five weeks and one set that made it to thirty seven weeks.  Needless to say we were at a loss for words.  On our way out of the office Dr. G told us to wait while she called the specialist, to see if he could see us in the next three weeks.  I heard her tell him that she knew he didn't normally see twins until sixteen weeks gestation but ours seemed to me in the same sac with no membrane.  If you know me at all. you know that I worry worse than probably anyone you know.  It's an issue I have dealt with for years.

     As we got out next appt. scheduled for three weeks later, we then left the office speechless.  We neither one knew how to comfort the other and both dreaded calling our parents and breaking the news to them.  I remember Trent telling me to wait a bit before calling our parents so we could pray and try to process what we had been told.

     "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."  Proverbs 3:5-6