Our Angel

I was released from the hospital around noon today. It felt so good being able to get outside of those walls. Even though we were ready to leave I cannot pass this opportunity to tell you how wonderful our hospital experience was. As many of you know I work in a hospital so I can sometimes be a tough critic. At NO point were we given poor customer service. We were treated like royalty. I distinctly remember one day our housekeeper came in to clean our room. She asked how our babies were doing and at that time Joanna was the only one named. She left that day saying she would be praying for Joanna and her sister. That was the common thoughtfulness we experienced every day. It was unbelievable and Brandon and I will never forget those whom we've encountered.

It been put on my heart to share the miracles we have experienced since arriving here. To do this I must share some of the details of the days before our twins were born.

After being on the anti-contraction medication for two days the plan was to take me off of it on Saturday morning and wait and see what would happen. Thank God after being off of that medication my contractions did not begin as some thought they would. Saturday night was a rough night. I didn't get a lot of sleep and just couldn't get comfortable. Sunday morning came around and the plan was for me to be moved to another area of the floor for observation since again I was not having contractions at that point. The physician on staff noted that I had some uterus irritations the night before and was not sold on moving me to a different room. After it was decided I was not switching rooms that day, I requested to be able to take a shower. You see, I had three monitors strapped to my belly and oh how I longed for them to be off even if it was only for 15 minutes while I took a shower. My nurse was able to get that approved and when I got up to take a shower there was blood in my bed. Not a lot, but enough to have my shower privilege taken away. The physicians came in to discuss what the game plan was going to be now that we had this added complication. Dr. Kelly was just coming on shift and would be in charge of me for the remainder of that day. The physicians told us that our time of just waiting and hoping we would not go into labor was over now that we had some blood in the picture. This new discovery could mean that things may be getting more complicated very soon. The placenta may be starting to pull away from my uterus wall. What this means for all of us non-medical people is that the placenta is Joanna's lifeline and if it becomes detached, it is as if she now has to hold her breath until she is delivered. They were going to be monitoring me much closer now to see if other symptoms appeared. The physicians and nursing staff left the room. I begin to get really nervous and started to "feel different". I was sure it was all in my head but I couldn't get comfortable and began to feel like I was having more contractions so I called my nurse in again. She came right in and noticed on the heart monitors that Joanna's heart beat was increasing to around 180 beats and then decreasing to 70 beats - she called this decelerations. She called in Dr. Kelly immediately. Within minutes Dr. Kelly was telling everyone in the room that we had to get these babies out now. It all happened so quickly but I remember being so scared and looking at Brandon and knowing he was scared too. We kissed each other, said we loved each other and I was out of that room and on to the OR which was just down that hallway from the room I was in. Once in the OR I am not sure if I was crying or just had a look on my face but Dr. Kelly got behind my head, held my face, looked me straight in the eyes and said "You are going to be fine, we are going to take care of you." I remember at that moment feeling a sense of peacefulness. I shut my eyes to block all of the commotion out and began to pray that God would protect my babies.

The reason you need to know this history is to understand how miracles keep happening. Miracles: 1. The Dr. said that if we had been moved to the other room like we were told we were going to we may not have had two babies born alive. That extra time it would have taken them to get us to the OR may have cost Joanna her life. 2. If I wouldn't have wanted to get a shower I would not have gotten out of the bed to know that I was bleeding. 3. If the nurse wouldn't have came in at the exact time she did Joanna would have continued to have those decels and eventually her heart rate would have stopped. All of these were just daily happenings until you look back at them and see there were reasons behind them all we just didn't know it yet.

Dr. Kelly was my angel. I know after speaking with her today that she is a Christian who was sent from God to protect my babies. When we spoke with her today, she said it is a blessing each time she gets to deliver a baby but there are those special deliveries that she never forgets and ours was one of them. We weren't just another delivery, we were a delivery that she knows she was able to save two lives and it was "a very powerful experience". She said only God knows why things happen when they happen but she was so blessed to have been able to be a part of our delivery.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your many thoughts and prayers. God is working miracles.