My Twin Birth Story: I Would Do It a Million Times Over

In the summer of 2016, we found out that we were pregnant! We spent two long years undergoing IVF treatments and our day had finally come. To top it all off at 10 weeks our doctor confirmed two heartbeats and that we were having two girls. We knew this was a possibility, but we were still completely surprised, scared, and above all excited.

My due date was March 19, 2017, but it’s very common for twins to come early.

I didn’t want to take any chances so by the end of that January we had the house ready for their arrival. The joy to meet them was beyond measure. At 19 weeks we had our first scare. I went in for my anatomy scan and the OB discovered that my cervix had started thinning. He recommended a cerclage. The procedure entails stitching up your cervix to prevent it from dilating too soon and resulting in premature birth. It was definitely frightening but the right decision. At about 35-36 weeks the stitches would be removed with the hope that the girls would wait till about 36-38 weeks to make their appearance.

On the evening of Feb 12, my husband and I met up with friends at a local brewery. They all had beers while I indulged guilt-free in Coney dogs. We joked about me having the girls soon so they could meet and play with their daughter.

I went home thinking, “No way, we still have a couple weeks left at least!” 

At about 4-5 AM of what was now Feb 13 I felt a gush of water, and immediately told my hubby, “I think my water just broke!” I was nervous and anxious, and ready. Besides the cerclage which had no side effects, my pregnancy was pretty easy. However, I had started feeling the toll of the weight on my entire body weeks before and I was looking forward to not being pregnant. Both babies were head down so my OB was completely on board with letting me try a vaginal birth. Calmly I showered, made phone calls, and headed to the hospital. 

We arrived at the hospital at about 6 AM. My OB met me there and confirmed I was in labor. The first thing he did was remove my stitches which were scheduled to be removed the next day. Then he informed me that it was his day off and he had made plans to go up to the mountains for the day with his family. OMG, is this really happening I thought. His partner was great but I was still super bummed that it wouldn’t be by OB delivering my twinsies. I had grown so close to him. He was the type of OB you dream of – gave me his cell phone on our first appointment and did all the ultrasounds himself. Here I was though with another great doctor and amazing nurses by my side.

Let’s do this!

I got to 5 cm fairly quickly. The cervix checks were so painful though and that’s what made me decide it was time for the epidural. From the get-go, an epidural was something I wanted if I was going to push two babies out. I dilated to almost 7 cm with no issues, and babies were happy and stress-free. In the meantime, my mom was making her way from Miami. I was hoping the girls would wait for her but clearly, I had no say.

At about 6-7 PM my cervix was at a standstill. The OB recommended Pitocin to get things moving along and I was 100% on board with that. By then, my mom had arrived and I had been in the hospital for over 12 hours so it sounded like a great idea. After the Pitocin, I started feeling stronger contractions. Eventually, the pain in my lower back would not allow me to stay in the same position for more than 30 seconds, but still no dilation past 7 cm. This went on for another 12 hours! It was excruciating. The one good thing about being in labor for 24 hours was that my OB was back from his day off and ready to deliver my girls.

At 6 AM on Feb 14, he advised that since it had been 24 hours since my water broke the safest thing to do was get them out via C-section. We were having twin girls on Valentine’s Day!

The doctors and nurses got everyone ready and into the OR we went. I was so nauseated and uncomfortable. As soon I got into the OR all I wanted to do was throw up and I did THE ENTIRE TIME. It was horrible! There was nothing I wanted more than for this part to be over. I felt so weak and sad that I didn’t get to see or hold my babies right away.

Baby A came out first. Cali Anne Kennedy was born at 6:07 AM weighing 4lbs 14oz and measuring 18in long. Baby B was still in the sack and not entirely ready to come out yet. Gianna Elizabeth Kennedy was also born at 6:07 AM weighing 5lbs 1oz and measuring 18in long too. When my OB got Gianna out he discovered that parts of her placenta were embedded in the wall of my uterus. This caused severe hemorrhaging and had we not decided on the C-section he may not have caught it in time. The extreme loss of blood caused my blood pressure to drop and the last thing I remember was hearing my hubby say, “I’m not leaving until you tell me she’s stable.” 

At the moment I didn’t realize how life-threatening this was. 

I woke up in recovery hours later. The significant amount of blood loss required a blood transfusion and extra recovery time. I didn’t get to hold my babies till almost 24 hours later and I was heartbroken. We didn’t even consider this as a possibility nor had we ever heard of it before. Placenta accreta is when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall. Since the placenta has to be removed entirely at childbirth, this can cause extreme blood loss. The severity of it depends on how deeply it’s embedded. In my case, my doctor believes it could have been caused by several procedures I had during IVF that created scar tissue in my uterus. 

The journey to becoming a mother has been the hardest and most rewarding. I would do it a million times over if I had to. Three years later I admit that was the easy part. Raising two little humans simultaneously as a first-timer is way harder! That said, none of it would have been possible without my husband, Chad. He’s my rock, support, and made all of my cravings a reality. He’s one of the best gifts life has given me, and we are so blessed to have him. Our girls were worth every emotional breakdown, every shot, surgery, scar, every tear. We never gave up or lost hope. Now my heart truly lives outside of my body.