Ella & Aubrey's Story

My girls are now three and a half weeks old. I kept planning on writing our birth story, but was unable to do so before now. There are many aspects of my pregnancy which I did not share because I was, quite frankly, scared to do so. I did not want to fall apart every time someone asked me about it. There were only a few people who knew what we were going through, not even all of our families knew.


 When I found out I was pregnant I was expecting to have a normal run of the mill pregnancy. I was starting seeing my midwife and was planning another homebirth with great anticipation. At 13 weeks when we found out it was twins our plans started to change. I was torn about my deep desire to have a homebirth and the higher risk associated with twins. After much prayer and soul searching we decided to have a hospital birth. I still fully expected to have a natural birth and have two healthy and perfect babies.

We went in for our 20 week anatomy ultrasound excited to find out what we were having; two girls as it turned out. It appeared that everything was fine to our eyes. I got a call a few days later that they noticed a few abnormalities with Baby A and wanted us to see a Maternal Fetal Specialist in Portland. I called Luke crying and asked him to come home from work.

Our appointment with the specialist was a few days later. A level 2 ultrasound tech preformed the ultrasound then we waited in the little room for what seemed like forever to hear the results. Our sweet perfect baby had what they thought to be a sub-arachnoid cyst between the hemispheres of her brain and was also measuring several weeks behind Baby B. I was crushed that there was something wrong with our baby. A repeat ultrasound was scheduled for 4 weeks later. At that ultrasound it showed that Baby A was still falling behind, but thankfully the cyst was not growing.

At my 24 week routine check up I went by myself for the first time. They did a cervical ultrasound and discovered that my cervix was shortened, funneling, and that I was having contractions. I was immediately sent over to Labor and Delivery to try to stop the contractions. I called Luke to let him know what was going on. He rushed over as soon as he could. Thankfully my wonderful sister was watching Kara and was ok with keeping her longer. I spent the night in the hospital and then spent the rest of my pregnancy on bedrest. 

Finally at our 35 week appointment with the specialist they found that Baby A was no longer growing and had fallen below the 10th percentile. I had been having weekly biophysical profiles done where they look at the babies and check for movement, practice breathing, heartbeat, and placental flow. My doctor told me that for the sake of Baby B, that as long as Baby A was still doing well on the biophysicals we would wait until 37 weeks to deliver. At that time Baby A was breech and due to her size would have to be a c-section if she didn't turn. I spent the next 2 weeks doing everything I could to make her turn. I went to the chiropractor, did inversions, put cold stuff on the top of my abdomen; nothing worked.

On Monday, October 29th I received a call from my OB saying that due to Baby A's small size and the lack of a NICU she wanted me to have the babies in Portland. I could either have them that day or Tuesday, when we had originally scheduled. As it so happened that day was Luke's late father's birthday. We decided to do it that same day. So I packed everything up and made arrangements for Kara. The 2.5 hour drive to Portland seemed to go too quickly. I knew that I was going to have a c-section and I knew that it was what was best for my babies, but the fear and utter disappointment still made it difficult to handle.

My delivery was scheduled for 5:00pm, but since the hospital didn't have my records they had to run numerous tests and then wait for all the results. At 6:30pm I started getting prepped and taken to the OR. At 7:05pm Ella Lucile came into the world crying and beautiful. She weighed just 2# 14 oz and measured 16.75'. Her cord was so short that the doctor was barely able to pull her out and place her on my belly. I got to see her briefly before she was taken to the NICU. Two minutes later Aubrey Joan was born weighing 6# 1oz and measuring 19.75". I was able to hold her right away. She had to be taken away from me though as I started hemmoraging fairly bad and the nurse needed to put in an emergency IV in case I needed a blood transfusion. My uterus would also not contract which made the bleeding worse so I was given pitocin.

When I was finally closed up I was taken to the recovery room where I was able to hold and nurse Aubrey. After 2 hours I was able to leave the recovery and go to the NICU where I got to hold Ella for the first time. She was so tiny, but so strong. She nursed right away. Unfortunately I could not hold her for long because she couldn't keep her temp up.  I was taken to my room and had to leave one of my babies behind.

The next day I was able to be wheeled down to the NICU and feed and hold Ella. It was so terrifying. She looked too small and delicate and the IV in her hand was scary. Yet it was so nice to finally be able to cuddle my baby. After two days her IV came out as well as her feeding tube. She had slight jaundice but it cleared up quickly. The pediatrician performed and ultrasound on her brain and discovered that not only was the cyst possibly not a cyst, but a fibroid; she also had partial agenasis of the corpus collosum. Which means that the halves of her brain do not have full communications. When Ella was able to maintain her temp outside the incubator she would have an MRI.

Friday, November 2nd Aubrey and I were released from the hospital. We had a friend bring her horse trailer with living quarters over for me to stay in with Aubrey.

On Monday, Luke and Kara went home. I spent the next week by myself at the hospital being with Ella as much as I could. She started to gain weight and got out of the incubator. The MRI was performed and she did in fact have a fibroid and a partial corpus collosum. The fibroid would most likely be asymptomatic and would not need operation, but the collosum could either be so mild that it is never an issue or it could be totally debilitating. There is nothing that can be done. We can only wait and see. This has broken my heart that my baby might be different than her twin and unable to have a full life. Once my grief and mourning past I was able to take comfort knowing that this special little girl was sent to my family for a reason. We love her and would not trade her for anything.

After 13 days in the NICU we were all able to come home. As difficult as it was to be away from my family, I am grateful for the time I was able to spend with just my babies and have no other responsibilities except to take care of them.

....x2

You may recall that I was having a harder time during this pregnancy than I had before. I didn't want to go in to too much whining before, but it's been hard. I had been having some cramping and spotting twice whenever I was too active. By too active I mean walking half a block to the store. My midwife gave me some stuff to take that helped ease the cramping, but I still felt like something was off. She came over to see me on May 15th and did the standard checkup stuff; urinalysis, blood pressure, feel my uterus, and listen to the baby. I told her I thought there were twins. I don't think she really thought there were, but she scheduled an ultrasound for me on Friday. It felt like Friday would never get here, but it did. We went in at 11:00 and ended up having to wait half an hour which after drinking 32oz of water felt like 5 hours.

The ultrasound tech took us back and asked if we had any specific concerns about the baby. I said yes, that there is 2. She asked me a series of questions and when I told her I was only 13 weeks she thought I had my dates off because I was huge. I finally laid down on the bed, they put the goop on me, placed the wand on my stomach and instantly saw two babies. I had a bit of an emotional break down. I really thought we would go in there and have them tell us I was wrong, just one baby. Luke sat there completely shocked and speechless.

Both babies looked perfect. They were reaching out for each other and kicking and even sucking their thumbs. They had separate placentas and separate amniotic sacs which is the safest twins to have and means that they are most likely fraternal. I am still planning a natural birth but have yet to nail down where or how. It has been two weeks since we found out and it still hasn't quite sunk in. Maybe after we find out the genders and I can actually starting doing and making things it will. I think Kara is adjusting the best and likes to tell me that the babies are in her belly. Today she was putting sunglasses stickers on my stomach for the babies.

It's Finally Happened

At least it will sometime around November 19th. We are officially going to be a family of four. We found out March 11th that I am pregnant. Even though we told Kara she seems nonplussed about the whole thing. I asked if she wanted a little brother or a little sister. She told me a puppy. Kara does, however, love babies and gives ever indication of being a good big sister.

My blood clot situation is under control and we are planning another homebirth. My midwife and doctor both feel confident that it is a safe decision. I have an appointment on Wednesday and should be able to hear the baby's heart beat then. So far this has been a completely different pregnancy than I had with Kara. I have morning sickness that lasts all day, I am exhausted, I already look 4 months along despite losing weight, and my skin has decided that it hates me. In less than a month I will be out of my 1st Trimester and things should get better. Kara has been very good and rarely takes advantage of my weakness.

Kara is also sleeping in her toddler bed. She is doing well with potty training, which we hope will be complete by November. She has very good manners and says please, thank you, bless you, excuse me, and your welcome. Her vocabulary and cognitive skills have exploded. It is so sad that she is no longer my little baby, but an independent sassy toddler.

It's Fall!

The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are starting to change, and the rain is starting. We had a good summer this year. Kara had her first birthday on May 25th and is still growing like crazy. We were able to take the boat out a couple of times and go fishing on the Columbia River. My best friend graduated from college so Kara and I made the trip to Rexburg to see it. We went to Yellowstone well we were there and had a great time even though Luke wasn't able to go. I had a doctors appointment last month with the hematologist. I still have blood clots in my leg so I will have another ultrasound in February.

My little sister was married this last Saturday to a great guy. It was a small wedding that was very beautiful. We are all very happy for her.

Now that it's October it's time to get the apples and grapes canned. We are trying to decide what to do for Halloween and I want to get Christmas cards and shopping done early so wish me luck and give me your mailing address :)

A Very Brief Summary

I think she's pretty freaking adorable

Family picture

Kara then and now

Once again it has been way too long since I have updated the world on our life. And with my sweet little baby taking a nap and the house relativly clean, this seems like a good time. To start with Kara is amazing. I never knew how rewarding it is to have a baby. She is so smart, and beautiful, and fun. She talks like crazy and will hold up one finger when you ask how old she is. She started walking at 8 1/2 months and hasn't slowed down since. If anyone ever needs a pick-me-up, just come and see my baby. Kara loves people and will wave and say hi to everyone she sees. I could go on forever about her. But this has been a very busy year.

Janie, Luke's mom moved up here from Arizona shortly after Kara was born and got a job working in a nearby hospital and then a few months ago got engaged to a widower that goes to our church. The wedding is in 9 days. It is so fun to have her around and for her to be able to be a part of our lives.

Luke is now working for Siemens wind energy and is going to be heading to Houston, TX soon for more training. This last year he has worked for 3 different companies in the same industry and we are hoping this will be a good fit. So far so good.

I have been keeping busy with raising my baby and the occasional babysitting job. I had nasal defect revision surgery on the 24th of March and discovered a week later that I either developed, or still had, another blood clot. I'm seeing a hematologist and will be having my leg ultrasound in August to check to make sure the clot is gone.

Catch Up

The last two months have been overly eventful for the DeWitt household, not only have we had the joy of having the blessing of our baby girl but we had the scare of realizing just how precious our time on this earth is and how quickly it could be over. Just over a month ago on the night of Tuesday June 22 I started to experience horrible pain in my leg. I was so bad that I couldn't sleep at all. The next day I was taking ibuprofen all day and then when I took a shower that night I noticed that my leg was purple and extremely swollen. We hurried to the emergency room. When we got there and were finally seen, I got an ultrasound on my leg and they said that I had sciatica, which is basically a pinched nerve in the back. So we went home at 2:00am.
By Sunday none of my pain had gone away, in fact it was getting worse and I had a fever. We went back to the ER. I got a different ultrasound tech who found blood clots. After getting a CT scan they found a total of 10 blood clots with 2 in my calf, 1 in my thigh, 5 in my pelvic area, and 1 in each of my lungs. After getting blood work done I also found out that I was incredibly anemic. They told me that I was a walking time bomb and lucky to be alive.
That night I received a blood transfusion and was started on blood thinners. I ended up having to stay in the hospital until Thursday and then be on bed rest for another week. Luke's mom Jane cut her vacation short and flew from Michigan so that she could be here with us for a few days. The wonderful women from church provided meals and came and took care of me and Kara so that Luke could go to work. I am getting better everyday but will have to be on blood thinners for about 6 months. I am just grateful to be alive and for all wonderful people I have in my life.
Kara is getting so big. She is 12lbs 8 oz and 26.5 inches long. She is working on rolling over and has done so a few times. She is so active and happy and just the best baby anyone could ask for. We had her blessed on Sunday and she wore the blessing gown that I wore. We had a BBQ at my parents house after with most of my family there as well as Luke's mom who just moved up here.
Luke started a new job with Mitsubishi on Monday. He is still doing wind turbines but will be expanding into erecting turbines. Hopefully this is the beginning of things starting to settle for us, at least as much as they can with a new baby.

Welcome baby Kara Marie!

The day we have all been waiting for has finally come. On Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Kara Marie DeWitt was born. She weighed 7lbs 15oz and measured 22inches long. I was due on Saturday and was having no contractions until I went to bed Sunday night. At 9:30 they started and were 10 minutes apart. By midnight I was having them every 6 minutes. At 11:00 p.m. on Monday the midwife broke my water and at 2 a.m. on Tuesday I was ready to start pushing. I pushed for 5 hours. Thankfully I had about 8 minutes in between contractions during which time I was able to sleep. Finally at 7:03 after 34 hours of unmedicated labor our baby girl was born. She was, and is absolutely perfect and looks just like her daddy.