Preterm Labor and the Arrival of our Double Rainbow

Well, we are finally home after a long and trying month...  On June 19th at around 5 pm, while talking to a friend on the phone and eating a batch of chocolate covered strawberries made by my neighbor, I went into early labor... 7 and a half weeks early.   Apparently Baby A had ruptured her sac a few days prior and I just thought it was the case of 'urine incompetence'.  Not actually knowing that I was even in labor, I went to the bathroom and realized that my so called 'urine incompetence' had changed to a dark forresty green color.  I immediately knew something was wrong and hung up the phone to call my husband.  As flashbacks of the twins' older brother Raiden poured in my head, I began to panic. I couldn't afford, mentally, to lose another child let alone two.

After my husband got home, we rushed to the hospital and went straight to labor and delivery, and the nurses called my doctor. After a few hours of membrane tests and making sure the babies were okay, it was confirmed, Meconium Aspiration...  After Baby A ruptured her sac, she had a bowel movement and that is what the dark green stuff I saw upon going to the bathroom.  I was given Magnesium to slow the labor and given some more steroids for the girls, even though I had previous steroid shots for their lung development, we wanted to play the safe card.  I was then sent an hour away to a bigger hospital that had a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.   It was the waiting game for the rest of the night and most of the next day...

Besides the experience we had with Raiden, this was the most scariest thing that my husband and I had to face and I think there were a few people who didn't realize how serious of a situation we were in.  There was a chance we could have lost one of the babies or even both and it wasn't the time to celebrate...

Almost 24 hours later, the doctor decided that the Magnesium wasn't slowing the labor down much and we decided to go ahead and deliver.  On June 20, 2012 I delivered two beautiful baby girls, naturally- there was no c-section performed!

After an hour of pushing,  at 9:53 pm,  Achara Chomli (named after my great great grandma, Chomli) was born, weighing in at 4 lbs 6 oz and 17 inches long.  She was immediately put on oxygen, she couldn't breath on her own because of the Meconium Aspiration.

10 minutes later, at 10:12 pm, Phailin Sueni ( pronounced Py-Lin, and Sueni is my middle name as well) was born, weighing in at 3 lbs 9 oz. and 16 inches long.

We then spent 3 and a half long, emotional, exhausting weeks in the NICU... And was able to bring our Double Rainbow home on July 12...  The transition was an interesting one.  We had to learn to do things on our own without nurses and doctors doing anything... But it was definitely nice to finally feel like the nurses and doctors weren't breathing down our necks all the time.  We finally felt free! We are now home and have begun our adventurous journey as a new family... A family of 4 +1 in Heaven = 5!

Thanks for tuning in, and I would also like to thank everyone for all the thoughts and prayers along the way.... We definitely needed them! And you are more than appreciated than you will ever know!!!!

Love,
Mai and the girls!