28 Weeks ... it was supposed to be a routine
doctor’s visit and 28 week ultrasound. It turned out
to be anything but that.
I was feeling great and was in absolute disbelief
when the doctor told me I was in labor and that I
needed to head over to labor and delivery and be
monitored. There had to be a mistake, I couldn’t be
in labor, I felt fine. But indeed I was and the day
passed in a blur of medication to stop my
contractions, and visits from various doctors.
Someone came by from the NICU and told me all the
medical issues a 28-week-old baby could have; I
signed a consent form for a C-section and many other
papers. I pretty much signed whatever was put in
front of me if I thought it could make this
nightmare stop.
But it wasn’t stopping and by the evening, I was 4cm
dilated. The doctor told me that she would be back
in an hour and if I was still progressing we would
start discussing the plan for the twin’s birth. It
was at that moment of my medication-induced haze
that I really fell apart. I couldn’t believe this
was happening. It was all so sudden and so very
frightening. I called to the one person who I felt
could save me: my grandmother Josephine.
We had lost Josie only 7 months earlier. It was a
sudden loss and a tremendous one to my family. It
was during the IVF cycle that led to the twin’s
conception that she passed away. I had always felt
that she had sent the gift of the twins to us. And
so I called to her and she heard me.
When the doctor came back an hour later, my labor
had stopped. With bed rest for the duration of my
pregnancy, I was able to carry my twins until 36
weeks. Looking back, that was the worst night of my
life. The uncertainty was overwhelming. So many
things could have gone differently and life could
have been forever changed.
But we were blessed exactly 8 weeks after that night
with beautiful, healthy twins that were able to come
home with us two days after their birth. I think
about what could have been and it brings me to
tears.
Their birth ended up being everything I had
imagined. I did not need a C-section and I felt
incredibly calm through the whole thing. I will
never know how Eva “my peanut” kept her brother John
(the larger of the two) from making an early
arrival. I will forever give her the credit when
telling them the story of their “near” birth. And of
course, credit needs to go to Josie. And it has,
with Eva being given the middle name of Josephine.
Stephanie Sylvain
Mansfield, MA
