My Preemie Twins are Sweet Sixteen
Posted by kim on January 27, 2010
Mallory & Macy on their 16th birthday (1/27/2010) standing under the counted cross-stitch samplers I started while I was on pregnancy bedrest at 21 weeks.
As it snows outside today, I remember the awful snow storm we received sixteen years ago, as that was the day my million-dollar miracle babies were born. The weather was too bad for a helicopter to fly me to Omaha, so I was put in Trendelenburg position (feet above my head to relieve pressure on the cervix) and given drugs to try to stop labor and more drugs to speed up the development of the twins’ lungs. I remember the doctor saying, “Your tummy is a way better incubator than any hospital.”
But the drugs didn’t work in time. Six doctors and fifteen nurses were called in to help out at our small local hospital for my emergency C-Section.
At 10:52 pm and 10:53 pm, I gave birth to the tiniest babies I’d ever seen, born over 13 weeks before they were supposed to come into this world…
Twin A: Mallory Joan, 2 lb 6 oz
Twin B: Macy Annette, 2 lb 9 oz
Notice the size of the nurse’s fingers compared to the size of Macy’s arms and legs (Twin B)! My wedding ring could fit around them. And Mallory was even smaller. I tell them they could have fit in a Velveeta cheese box.
The doctors didn’t think the girls would live through the night, and our pastor came down to the hospital to baptize the girls. My husband named them while I was still in the recovery room, and I remember practically sitting up in bed when I heard that they let him name them (let’s just say I would have named them differently). I think the grandmas may have helped as they have their grandmother’s middle names. 
I wasn’t even put in the maternity ward after surgery, as I’m presuming they thought it would be too devastating for me. I got to see the babies for one brief minute before they were flown to St. Joseph Hospital in Omaha. A helicopter would have been too rough of a ride for them, so they were transported in a medical airplane. I remember receiving a bill from the City of Norfolk for having to do snow removal to clear the airport’s runway for the plane.
It was not an easy journey the first year (as you can read under Macy & Mallory’s NICU Story), and they still like to try my strength and patience at times. I’m surprised I don’t have any gray hairs yet!
Happy Birthday Girls! I love you! ~Mom
