As I was holding Mckenna tonight, I was looking at her and thinking about how blessed we've been to be able to take two healthy babies home, who were born so premature, and who weighed about 1.5 pounds at birth. It's a miracle. I'm thankful to God, who no doubt blessed our babies to be able to survive without major problems, and who helped them to be healed when they were very sick at times in the NICU. However, I also know that without Karisa's heroic effort, the kids would never have made it to the point where they are now - home and healthy! She fought amazingly hard to not only keep them in the womb for two weeks after her labor started, but also to help keep them around once they came into the world.
When we arrived at the hospital on November 30th, we had no idea that Karisa wouldn't be leaving until the babies were born. What she thought were just pregnancy cramps turned out to be contractions, and our doctor immediately turned her over to a "high risk" team of doctors, who would try their best to keep her from delivering for as long as possible. At less than 24 weeks, the babies would need a little more time in the womb for a good shot at surviving- particularly for their lungs. The high risk team wanted at least 48 hours, in order to give her two separate steroid shots, which would rapidly develop the twins' lungs while still in the womb. However, each day that they stayed in the womb would give the kids a better chance of survival. That same night, they immediately started to work on Karisa, giving her the first steroid shot and starting her on magnesium sulfate - powerful medicine used to try to minimize the contractions. They declined her in the bed so that her head was lower than her feet, in order to keep gravity from working against her and pulling the babies through. Unfortunately, the magnesium had a powerful effect on her body, making her naseous and also making her physically shake and quiver at times. Several times during the nights I would hear her whimper and moan from the pain she was in... it was really sad, but there was nothing I or anyone could do. Although she was in pain with contractions, tipped slightly upside down, and quivering from the magnesium sulfate, she made it through that crucial 48 hour window for the doctors to be able to give her both rounds of steriods!
After the second day, they finally let her lay flat on her bed instead of her normal declined position. That helped her to be a little more comfortable, but she still had the magnesium pumping through her body, and she was still having contractions. At this point, fluid had entered her lungs because she had been upside down for so long, which presented a new problem and required new medication. Much to the astonishment of the doctors, who originally told us that the babies would be born within two days, Karisa made it two weeks on her hospital bed before an infection forced the doctors to pull the babies out!
During those two weeks, we could write a book about all the strange things that happened, ranging from the two competing doctor groups trying to sell us on the rights to take care of the babies in the NICU, to failed operations to end the contractions, to visits from hospital personnel inquiring whether we wanted to attempt to save the kids at birth or "let them be comfortable" while telling us all the negative disabilities that premies can have.. the list goes on and on. On one occasion one of the treatments caused Karisa to have an allergic reaction and shake so badly that she had to be physically held down on her hospital bed, so that her water wouldn't break. She endured constant magnesium sulfate flow, 100% bedrest, fluid in her lungs (for two of the days), and possibly worst of all -- facing the fact that the babies may not even survive once they were born, after all her she would try to go through to save them. Despite all the obstacles, she kept her mind on the goal of having two healthy twin babies, which we now have, thanks to Karisa!
Once they were born, I could write a separate blog on all the things she's done to make sure that they stayed alive and healthy while in the NICU..... she stayed at the NICU nearly all day every day, helping to care for and hold the babies when they were big enough to be held.. she also played an instrumental role in helping to save Mckenna on Mckennas' worst crash (Jan. 6th) by advising the main doctor early and often that she thought Mckenna had an infection (the doctor brushed it off at first, saying that Mckenna was just displaying normal premie volatility).
Connor, Mckenna, and I all want to thank you for fighting so hard to be able to have the babies, and also for working in the NICU with the doctors and nurses once they were born. You saved their lives more than once during the last five months, and we thank you so much! We love you and owe you big-time, and think you're amazing!
