Jon and I went into the second ultra sound hoping and praying that all three babies would look great and be progressing normally. You can imagine our surprise when the Ultra Sound Technician announced to us that this time there were four heart beats! Jon just looked at me and all I said was get me a Kleenex as I started to cry. We went from not being able to get pregnant to being really pregnant in about a month. I told the ultra sound tech that I was not coming back as I was afraid that next time they would tell me there was five babies in there.
After she announced that there was four heart beats she then told us that baby D did not look like it should. It was very abnormal in shape. She then told us that baby c (Kendrick) was abnormal and a little behind babies A & B in size. She suggested that we meet with the doctor so I got dressed and we then met with a different doctor. He went over all of the ultra sound pictures with us and told us that there was an 85-90% chance that baby D was not going to make. The doctor explained that what would most likely happen was that the baby's heart would stop beating. Then he went on to explain that he has some concerns about baby c due to the size and shape of the sac. He gave baby C about a 50% chance of survival.
Needless to say Jon and I left the doctors office that day feeling confused. We vowed not tell anyone about baby D as we were so confused as to what decisions we would have to make and we did not want to be judged for those decisions. As we knew that quads would be a lot to take on but who would ever want their baby to not make it or have to make a hard decision about reducing. I started to do some research on my own and both Jon and I decided at that point that selective reduction was NOT something that we were capable of doing. No matter what happened we were going to take what God gave us.
I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I called a very good friend from high school as I knew her mom was a nurse and she worked with higher order multiple pregnancies. My friend told me to call her mother right away and get some advice. I spoke with her mother and she told me to get to the specialist as soon as possible. She said that there should be no messing around and we need to see the experts. So I had the doctor at the clinic that we were at refer me to the Perintologist group.
Jon and I had our first appointment with the specialist on Dec. 24th, 2003. I remember we were both really looking for some answers to what was really happening and what to expect for the next 9 months. We mentioned to this doctor that the first doctor we spoke to mentioned that we should look into Selective reduction and then we asked her what she recommended. She then proceeded to tell us that there was more risk to all of the babies to go in and reduce than to carry the pregnancy out. She gave us lots of statistics with percentages and all on how what the risks were with triplets. Jon and I were so relieved and since Jon is a numbers guy he was really impressed with all of these statistics that the doctor rambled off. This Doctor was wonderful she gave us a ton of information and she told me that she gave baby c a better chance than 50%. She also told me that my treadmill was now going to be my coat rack, I needed to gain 75-80 pounds, I might have to have a cerclage, I would be on full bed rest (flat on my back) at 20 weeks, and she instructed me to start taking lots of different vitamins. All of this freaked me out but I was going to do anything I could to carry these babies as long as possible.
When Jon and I left the office that day we had an ultra sound appointment set for just after the first of the year and I also had an appointment set with the dietitian about my diet for the duration of my pregnancy. We both felt that we were finally going to get some real answers. We proceeded to enjoy our holiday season with family and friends and everyone was thrilled for us about our baby news.
To be continued...
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