How a Family of Two Became a Family of Four

We just wanted to thank all of you for your support and prayers. I don’t know how we could ever show our appreciation. I’m amazed at how many people are praying for Logan and Olivia every day. . some people that we have never even met. We thought that we would share a little bit about how we were blessed with these two miracles and how God has been working in our lives.

Ryan and I met in March 2001 and were married June 28, 2003. In August 2004, we decided to start trying to have a baby. I visited with my OBGYN about it and began taking prenatal vitamins. I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I could to have a healthy pregnancy. The months went by and we were unsuccessful. I had some tests run and found out that I have PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome. Along with many other symptoms, I fail to ovulate on my own which makes it difficult to become pregnant. Ryan was checked out as well and was found to have poor sperm morphology (abnormal shape). Besides that, I have a microadenoma on my pituitary gland which further affects my endocrine system. I don’t know how that played into our infertility, but I felt that we were battling it from all sides. For two and a half years, we underwent multiple procedures and medications along with 8 intrauterine inseminations. Infertility and its treatments are very hard on a person physically and emotionally. I had almost given up all hope. It was Ryan who kept us going and for those of you who know him. . . you know how stubborn he can be. When he sets his mind on something, he doesn’t give up.

On April 13th, I received a call from my reproductive endocrinologist who said that I was “very” pregnant. I can’t even begin to tell you the joy and excitement that Ryan and I felt. I had my first ultrasound on May 3rd and was found to be pregnant with triplets. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I felt so blessed. One of the babies, however, was a lot smaller than the other two and had a much slower heart rate. On May 14th, I had a second ultrasound and found that I had lost “Baby B.” It was difficult, but we were very grateful for our twins.

Throughout the following weeks, my pregnancy went very well. All of my checkups were good and the babies were growing very well. On August 9th, we found out that we were having a boy and a girl and couldn’t have felt more blessed. It was around that time (week 20) that I began to have some back aches. I attributed it to being pregnant with twins and having already gained almost 30 lbs. Plus, back aches are very common in pregnancy. On August 19th, I begin feeling a lot of pressure and I reminded myself that I was carrying two babies. Two days later, I started having some brown mucous discharge. I had not had any spotting throughout my pregnancy, so Ryan and I were very concerned. I called my OB from work and they told me that I could either go home and lie down or go to the hospital and have it checked out. Ryan and I decided to go to the hospital. It was found that I had an irritated cervix and that’s what they believed was causing the discharge. I went home, but my OB put me on bed rest until my next appt on Sept. 5th. I spent the week in bed and took it very easy. The following weekend, my brown discharge turned to pink and I started getting menstrual-like cramps. From everything we read online and heard from others, spotting and cramping can both be very normal, but I worried just the same. I decided to call my OB again Monday morning.

That Monday, on August 27th, Ryan had jury duty and we believe God had a hand in that. He happened to be released around noon, picked up lunch for us and came home. While he was home, a nurse returned my call. She didn’t seem too concerned and told me to take 2 Benadryls and lie down. I had been lying down for over a week, however, and it wasn’t getting any better. Since Ryan happened to be home, we decided to go back to the hospital. Part of me felt like a paranoid mom, but a part of me felt that something wasn’t right. When I went to the hospital the week before, I didn’t tell my mother until after I was home and she wasn’t too happy about that. This time, I called her on the way to the hospital and she arrived there shortly after we did. I felt it was kind of ridiculous for my mother to be there since they were probably going to stamp my file with a “crazy lady” stamp and send me home. Then, my dad and my brother showed up.

We got to the hospital and when I had my exam, they found that I was already dilated 2.5 to 3 cm. They began talking to me about taking magnesium sulfate to stop the contractions and keep labor from progressing. The menstrual-like cramps I was having were the start of contractions. My parents and brother stepped out of the room and another doctor was sent in to exam me. This time I was dilated 4-5 cm and they told us that labor couldn’t be stopped. I had never been so scared in my life. The doctor literally stepped out of the room and my water broke. We pressed the nurse call button, told them my water broke and about 20 doctors came into the room with 2 incubators from the NICU. My parents and brother were watching all of this from the waiting room and didn’t know what was going on.

After only about two pushes, Olivia was born at 6:18 pm. I remember Ryan telling me that she was moving and that she was beautiful. She had been head down, but Logan was breech. They were going to go ahead and deliver him vaginally as well, but then he turned sideways. They quickly rushed me out of the room for an emergency c-section. I remember not wanting to leave Ryan and passing by my parents in the hallway. They put me out for the c-section since there had not been time to give me any pain meds for Olivia’s birth. They had Logan out within 2 minutes of putting me under and he was born at 6:28 pm.

Since then, everything has really been a blur. As terrifying as it was and as much as I don’t understand why all of this had to happen, I can’t help but to believe that God took care of me and my babies. I don’t know what would have happened if Ryan hadn’t have been off work that day. I wouldn’t have made him miss another day of work to take me to the hospital. I just know that God made sure that I was at the hospital that day. I know that He is hearing all of our prayers and that He has special plans for my two special miracles. . .these miracles that Ryan and I have waited so long for. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.