Prego Story: Weeks 4-22

Wk 4:  We get a positive HCG test. We're cautiously hopeful, this has happened before. The next HCG test shows rising numbers. When the doctor's office calls to tell us the results she says, "By the way, the HCG results are a little higher than average so there may be more than one."

 Wk 5-7:   I feel pregnant. Then I don't. Then I do. I start trying to get hubby to engage in irrational discussions. He quietly decides I must be prego.

 Wk 7:  The big ultrasound to see if the pregnancy is still on and if cardiac activity as been established. "Are you ready for this?" my OB asks. He's been there for all the miscarriages. I'm certain it hasn't stuck and say I'm ready to find out the dismal truth. Within seconds he and the nurse excitedly show me a heartbeat. I can't believe it! Then silence. The OB is trying to figure something out. He's studying the ultrasound and saying, "Huh....Huh........Huh.....Huh" Huh what??? "Well," he says, "Here you have a sack and there's a heartbeat inside. And here you have a sack and there's a heartbeat inside. And here, well, you have a sack and, um, there's two heartbeats. Looks like an embryo split, there are four in there!" Ben and I are elated. I meet my sister-in-law Sunday for lunch after the ultrasound and glow through the whole meal. We just can't believe it!

 Wk 8-9:  The excitement is short-lived as the gravity of having four babies at once sets in. In addition, the two heartbeats are monochorionic, meaning they share one placenta. This puts them at risk for twin to twin transfusion syndrome(TTTS), a condition where the majority of nutrients and fluid go to one twin while the other has too little. I start reading everything I can get my hands on. I get on forums, talk with people from groups such as MOST (Mothers of Super Twins) and the Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome Foundation. I read blogs about other families who have had quadruplets. I read the good and the bad. I call a major NICU in Washington. They overwhelmingly tell me to reduce the pregnancy. I cry, feel overwhelmed, and don't know how we can get four babies safely into the world.

 Wk 10:  Ultrasound confirms all four are still going! In the meantime I order When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads, an excellent source of guidance! In addition, I connect with Dr. John Elliott of Phoenix, AZ who has by now delivered 101 quadruplets. He spends an hour on the phone explaining quadruplet pregnancies. I begin to hope.

 Wk 12:  This whole time I'm not really sick, but don't like the idea of food and I sleep any chance I can. Dr. Elliott and my newly arrived Quad book tell me I need to gain at least 75 lbs, the sooner the better. I love to eat, why is this so hard???!!! Sister-in-law Beth begins to outline just how to eat the daily recommended 4500 calories. I also have a 3 hr ultrasound. All four are still going, and they're too big to fit in one picture. It starts to sink in that this is really happening.

 Wk 17:   My first visit with a perinatologist. The ultrasound takes almost four hours while my mom, Beth and I watch the little ones kick, wave, turn, tumble, and blow amniotic fluid through their lips. They take about 400 pictures and we leave with an album's worth of babies A, B, C, and D. I realize I've been so worried about losing the pregnancy that I've forgotten to worry about what we'll do if they all make it and we have four babies all at once. I start to get tired of always being worried!

 Wk 19:  Ultrasound check up and all is well. We have made plans to become Dr. Elliott's patient starting at week 20. Friends in Phoenix set us up with other friends and before we know it, the Cherington family opens their home to us for the remainder of the pregnancy. So many details have worked out and we are overwhelmed with God's providence and the kindness and support from friends, family and strangers. The 18 hr trip from Eastern WA to Phoenix takes us three days, the slowest road trip we've ever taken.

Wk 20:   There is a runt in every litter. Baby C takes the prize at the ultrasound today, coming in at 252 grams. The boys, A and D, are 359g and 351g respectively, and Baby B is 332g. At this point there is nothing to do but monitor C. Babies B and C are the monochorionic twins and are being closely monitored for signs of TTTS. Today they have fluid levels in the normal range (2-8 cm) and relatively equal (B, 4.7cm and C, 4.6cm)! It is a good day!  

Wk: 21:   I'm all tucked in my new home, my dad arrives to care for me and everything is great until I begin having a series of contractions. Of course it happens on a Sunday. For one hour they came approx 6 mins apart. I used The Bump's contraction monitor to keep tract of them. I was advised to take 600 mg Motrin and although they slowed down, they didn't stop. By now people were praying and at the start of the 3rd hour they finally subsided. At the doctor's appointment we found that although my cervix is firm and holding, it has shortened from 3.3 cm to 2.8 cm. The goal is to prevent contractions and maintain a cervical length of more than 2 cm.

Wk 22:  Wonderfully uneventful! My belly just gets bigger, I lay around all the more, and my dad gets better at cooking. I am on prescribed Motrin q 6hrs and have had very few contractions. Although the water in the pool outside is about 65 degrees, I find great relief getting into it a couple times a day. My doctor said there is no concern for the cold water and I monitor for contractions after each dip and have had no indication of trouble. There's nothing like being able to lay in the bright, warm sun in the middle of November!