Dh and I were TTC for almost 3 years. It was a very difficult time and became more stressful with every passing month. Finally, in July 2002, I told dh I was pregnant the same night that we attended an adoption class. We were so happy. It was not to be, however, as the sac never developed. Then I had a twisted ovary--OUCH. My left ovary had flipped over on itself three times. I had surgery to correct it and save the ovary, but I miscarried (as expected) four days later. Three weeks later, my ovary flipped again. This time the surgeon was going to take a piece off to make it smaller, which would hopefully correct the problem. Again, it was not to be. My ovary had died and was removed. My hopes of getting pregnant were severely dashed at that point. I remember being in the hospital recovering from the second surgery when my younger sister came in and announced that she was, in fact, pregnant. I couldn't have been more disappointed! We tried again, again, and again. Finally, on our last cycle of IUI we got pregnant (we were one step away from IVF). I knew immediately that it was twins. I only told one person, and she didn't believe me. But, sure enough, my suspicions were confirmed when I started bleeding at five weeks and went in for an emergency u/s. There were two sacs this time! We saw the heartbeats a few weeks later and it was smooth sailing throughout my pregnancy.

The day I delivered, I was out and about grocery shopping, cleaning, ordering stuff online, etc... I had no pains and no idea that Nov. 20 was the day! I was 37 weeks along and was expecting it at any moment, but, like I said, I didn't have much warning. We were just getting ready to eat dinner when my water broke. It was 8pm. I told my husband calmly and called the doctor. Well, the doctor didn't call back, so I sat down to eat (a small meal) and watch survivor. Then, my water broke again! I called the doctor again, and she said to come to the hospital. I goofed around so I could see the end of Survivor (Rupert got kicked off that night). My dh was nervous and wanted to leave. Finally I thought to myself, wow, this is getting painful. We rushed to the hospital with me in pain the whole way. We got to the hospital at 925pm. I wanted drugs, but the nurse refused until I was hooked up to every monitor and the IV (for 20 minutes). Well, the pain was pretty bad. The next thing you know, there is blood all over the floor, twenty people piling into the room, and me delivering Ella at 10:15pm. My doctor told me to go ahead and push again when my contractions started again. I never really felt another contraction. I just got crampy and decided to get it the hell over with--so I pushed. Four minutes after Ella, Kyle came popping out all at once. Even the doctor said, "Thank God I had a hold of him." Dh was behind the bed after the first sight of blood. He couldn't handle it. He wanted to get up after Ella was delivered, but the nurses wouldn't let him for fear that he'd pass out. All in all, it was a good delivery. Fast and furious!!

Dani
Mom to Ella and Kyle
born Nov. 20, 2003