“ 4年前，我31岁，完全单身。我开始担心我永远找不到那种我想要的人。我拒绝安顿，我对此并不感到遗憾。我一直都知道我想成为一个妈妈，所以我开始考虑如果从未找到伴侣与家人在一起的话，我会做什么。我正在尝试在线约会，并最终与这个家伙匹配。我第一次遇到亚当时，感觉就像我永远认识他。
两年后，我们结婚了，不到3年，我们发现自己的孩子人数超过了我们的孩子。我们服用了一剂克罗米德来帮助排卵。该药物使您有10％的双胞胎的机会。我以为双胞胎会很棒！我年纪大了，想尽快完成我们的家人。
I went to my first doctor’s appointment when I was 9 weeks pregnant. When the OB started the ultrasound, I immediately saw two babies and I was very excited! ‘Wait, wait, wait,’ the doctor said. ‘Here’s a baby, here’s a baby, and here’s a baby. You havethree。’ My life completely changed that day.
My pregnancy was relatively easy at first. Early on, I was tired and experienced some nausea that was helped by some over-the-counter meds. As the pregnancy went on, overall, I felt pretty normal, my belly was just getting bigger by the day. Fun fact: Triplet bellies measure about 12 weeks ahead, so when you’re 20 weeks along, you look 32 weeks pregnant. At 24 ½ weeks, I went to my OB’s office for my weekly checkup. He found I was 1 centimeter dilated, so he said I should go home, pack up a few things, and head to the hospital. When I got to the hospital, I was hooked up to a bunch of monitors. One strap around my belly to watch each baby’s heart rate, and one to watch for contractions. I was having some painless, stomach tightening Braxton Hicks contractions, and by that night, I was dilated to 2 centimeters.
Based on things I’ve heard people say, I always thought there were ways to stop labor once it had started. It turns out there are a few things they can try, but they aren’t all that effective, especially with multiples. Babies are deemed ‘viable’ at 24 weeks, but it is not ideal to have them that early. Every 1 day in the womb can save 3 days in the NICU, so it is much better for the babies to stay in. If the babies were going to come, there were a few things they wanted to do to help them out. I got a 12-hour drip of magnesium to help with babies’ brain development and steroid shots for their lung development. The first 30 minutes of a magnesium drip is pretty awful. You get really hot and sweaty, and you feel sort of drunk, and not in a fun way.
Luckily, after that first 30 minutes, I started to feel a bit better. Magnesium relaxes your muscles so you cannot get up at all. I received my first catheter that day, I was not allowed to eat at all, and I had to limit my fluid intake just in case things were to progress and I needed a c-section. Moms go through a lot for their babies, even before they arrive!
一位新生儿学家来并与我们交谈了一个小时，谈到了那个周末婴儿出生的情况。我已经读到了Premies可能遇到的许多问题，但是在那时，我很害怕，因为它发生在我身上。还为时过早。当时，早期出生的婴儿的存活率仅为50％。我恳求婴儿，并与身体保持一段时间。整个周末我都住在医院，我不得不通过视频聊天来参加我的直通婴儿洗澡。星期一下午，他们让我回家，因为看来我很稳定。回家几天真是太好了。我必须在自己的床上睡觉，然后洗个澡，没有IV。
那个星期五早上，我抽了一些抽筋。我打电话给我的医生，他们建议我回到医院。当我到达那里时，他们检查了我，我的4厘米扩张了。我知道那时我不会回家。我要么要生婴儿，要么从这里开始休息。我再有24小时的镁和另一轮类固醇。到星期六晚上，我开始在骨盆区域感到非常轻微的压力。医生检查了我，说我已经完全扩张了。是时候走了。我只怀孕25周零6天。
My husband was given a hair cap and a bunny suit, which is a one-piece, white disposable jumpsuit to keep the operating room sterile. During surgery prep, I think I heard someone say they were giving me an anti-anxiety medication, which thinking about it now, is probably the only reason I wasn’t a nervous wreck. I was wheeled into the OR on my back and staring up at the ceiling, knowing what was about to happen was a very strange feeling. The room was very bright with white tile everywhere. All I could think at that moment is this OR didn’t look like the ones on Grey’s Anatomy. I couldn’t really see how many people were in the operating room, but I was told there would be a lot. Obstetricians, anesthesiologists, neonatologists, nurses, etc. My husband told me later there were about 25 people in the room.
Within 45 minutes of being told it was time to go, my babies entered this world. They took Grace out first, Nolan second, and Audrey third. They all cried when they came out, which surprised me and brought tears to my eyes. Usually, at their gestational age, their lungs are too weak to cry out, so the fact they cried made me hopeful they were stronger than we thought. The doctor held them each up briefly so we could see as they were taken from my body, and then they were whisked away to be worked on and evaluated. While my doctor was working on closing me up, they walked each baby by in an isolette on their way up to the NICU. All of my babies were alive.
I spent 2 hours in the recovery area after the surgery. I was extremely tired and still in disbelief we were parents. We learned our babies were 1 pound and 13 ounces, 1 pound and 14 ounces, and 2 pounds and 1 ounce. My husband left after one hour to go up to theNICU看看婴儿。一旦我稳定，他们就把我滚到医院床上的NICU。每个婴儿都在NICU最密集的区域中，在一个非常温暖和潮湿的隔离中。在那之前，我曾经看过premies的照片，到处都是所有管子。我的婴儿很小，但对我来说仍然很漂亮。我想我有这种感觉，因为我是他们的妈妈。当我们回到我的房间时，亚当和我很疲倦。
第二天我试图休息，我们参观了NICU, and I let my boss know the babies had come, and I wouldn’t be coming back to work for a while. That night, we had just fallen asleep and were awakened by a knock on the door. A doctor came in and came over to my bedside in the dark. She said, ‘I have some bad news about your son,’ and then paused. I was still waking up, but my heart sank to the floor and I started crying immediately. I could not speak. My first thought was he had died, and that’s what she was coming to tell us. That was the worst moment I’ve had since becoming a parent.
After a few seconds, she started to describe he’d had an intestinal perforation due to his extreme prematurity. My husband sprung into action and started asking questions. We learned a surgeon was on the way to do a small operation to help him. We’ve received several calls in the middle of the night since then. It is a terrible feeling. You’re confused because you’re being woken out of a deep sleep, and you have to answer the phone and then comprehend what a nurse or doctor is trying to tell you and it’s almost always bad news.
Due to umbilical IVs, I could not hold my babies until they were 6 days old, 7 days old, and 9 days old. If you’re a parent who got to hold your baby right after they were born, think about how that would feel if you could not. If you’re a NICU parent, you already know. Besides the intestinal perforation, we dealt with intubations, extubations, and re-intubations, bleeding in the lungs, UV light treatments, multiple blood transfusions, spinal taps to check for infection, heart defects, and lots of scary plummets in heart rate and oxygen levels. Everything that happens feels like it could be the end, and when you ask a doctor, they always say it’s a common issue that can come with extreme prematurity. It hurts to see your babies struggle, but it helped me a bit, knowing the staff had seen the issue before and knew how to handle it.
对于父母来说，NICU是一个过度刺激和压倒性的环境。您可以听到各种机器的各种警报和哔哔声。每一个噪音都令人恐惧，直到您了解确定的警报与意味着出现问题的警报之间的区别。我是一个通常会因不断的哔哔声或叮当而感到烦恼的人，现在这不是我的震惊。
开始的几周后婴儿were born, I could not drive due to my c-section. Adam drove us to the hospital once or sometimes twice every day so we could visit with the babies. After that, I was able to drive myself and sometimes we take separate shifts. I started back to work after only 4 weeks off, in order to save 8 weeks of FMLA time for when the babies come home. I’ve always known the maternity leave situation in this country was terrible, but it’s not until you’re in it that it feels like a complete injustice. My husband goes in the mornings to be present during rounds, where the doctors visit each child and talk about their progress and the plan for the day. I work during the day, and then I go to the NICU at night to spend time with the babies. We do skin-to-skin or kangaroo care with each baby for at least one hour per day. My husband and I take turns each day on who holds two babies and who holds one. Sometimes I spend 5 hours in the NICU and I wonder how time passed so quickly.
NICU不允许任何游客除了我sband and me. My parents and in-laws are struggling because they have not been able to meet their grandchildren, and it’s hard for them to watch us go through this alone. We have shared photos and done video chats to try to make up for it, but I know it’s not the same. Our family and friends have all been very supportive: reaching out to see how we’re doing, bringing us meals, and doing chores at our house. Another great source of support is the Triplet Moms and Dads groups we’re a part of on Facebook. That group really knows what we’re going through. It’s a great place to ask questions, share updates, or just vent. When you have premature babies, they can take steps forward and steps backward with their progress, sometimes all in the same day. I’ve chosen to take a cautiously optimistic view of everything. I go into each day hoping it will have a great outcome, and then I adjust if things do not go as planned. I feel so fortunate things have gone as well as they have so far.
Today is Day 50 of my babies being in theNICU。We’ve been told as a guideline to expect the kids will come home around their 40-week due date, which is Mother’s Day and would be day 100. There are still many skills they need to develop and refine, such as breathing on their own and breastfeeding. We’re only halfway done with our NICU journey, but we’re all stronger than ever, and I can’t wait for my babies to be home and then our next chapter will begin.”
This story was submitted tobeplay网络一直不畅来自密歇根州底特律的克里斯蒂娜·帕沙克（Christina Pashak）。你可以跟随他们的旅程Instagram。提交自己的故事here.Be sure tosubscribeto our free email newsletter for our best stories, andYouTubefor our best videos.
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“他的肚子看起来很膨胀。”突然，他不好。他们必须进行测试，但我只知道。我祈祷了一百万个祈祷。
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