How did we get here?

Finn & Harper's Birth Story...

Greg and I discovered over the 4th of July weekend that we were pregnant...we were so happy!  Later that summer we were in for the surprise of our lives.  We were having twins!  We were so shocked but very excited about what was sure to be a special experience.  As we wrapped our minds around how drastically life was going to change, we anxiously anticipated discovering the gender(s)...would we have two teenage girls to manage someday?  Two boys??  We truly lucked out in the end and were blessed with the best of both worlds...a boy and a girl.  From that point on we truly began to fall in love with Harper and Finn.

Twins!!

Fast forward now to December when we discovered that Harper was a petite little thing!  We were worried about her since she was actually trending much smaller than Finley.  After 16 days of bed rest and high protein, we were very anxious to find out if Harper had grown and whether or not she would be able to further develop properly.  We had our appointment on Tuesday the 27th and found out that yes, she had grown but not to the extent we'd like to see.  Harper and Finley were officially discordant twins and Harper was deemed IUGR.  This was not great news and on top of it, we discovered that I was actually 1 cm dilated and 90% effaced...I was in preterm labor and had no clue!  We were whisked away to the hospital and admitted for preterm labor for a minimum of 2 nights.

While there, I showed signs of pre-clampsia which were then added to our growing list of new complications.  However, after nearly two days of managing my contractions and testing for pre-clampsic issues, I was on the track to going home.  Greg spoke with our doctor late on Wednesday night and we were thinking I may be discharged that weekend.  The babies this whole time were also being monitored.  With their constant squirming around, the monitors on my belly were constantly being repositioned and adjusted to track their little heartbeats.  There was a discussion on Wednesday night before bed if we even needed to have the monitors on throughout the night...luckily our doctor decided it's better to be safe than sorry and we left the monitors on for the twins. 

At around 5:40am we were awaken by about 7 nurses flipping on the lights and rushing into our hospital room.  I was told to go on all fours and an oxygen mask was shoved in my face.  From there I could hear them shouting that the twins were "down" and it'd been 3 minutes, etc.  Greg woke up to this scene and we were both in such shock.  After their heartbeats dropped and I showed significant signs of stress, they decided to deliver and did so via emergency c section.  The whole event was over in a matter of minutes.   Greg guesses the surgery took maybe 10 minutes total and both babies were safely delivered.  I'm even told that Harper cried when she was born, just as a baby should :)

I woke up from general anesthesia in the OR and was wheeled through a room where both babies were being incubated and Greg was waiting.  From there it's been a whirlwind of recovery and staying involved with how the twins are doing. 


We are still piecing together how this all happened but it seems their cords became tangled early Thursday morning and since they had been on monitors, the nurses were alerted quickly and able to save them both.  This is a true miracle since had we been home, we would never have known and would have surely lost them both...we can't begin to express how grateful we are and how amazed we are at God's work. 

Finn & Dad

Ms. Harper

Finn's Scuba Gear

Mom & Harper