As many of you already know, our little baby girls Kaylie and Alyssa were born prematurely by 8 weeks. Throughout my pregnancy, these two little babies were at risk for so many problems associated with premature birth. As time went on, I was able to seek assistance from my doctors and hospital to get the education and support needed to keep these little ones growing for as long as they could. Once they were here, we were again met with overwhelming support to keep these infants growing while spending 3 weeks in the hospital and then several months at home monitoring them closely. Without the help and research that March of Dimes has been doing, we would not have had the opportunity to say that today we have healthy and strong little girls. We have friends and relatives that have not been able to share the same blessings that we have had. Today we need your help to support all of the work that March of Dimes has done for our little girls and all of the work that they will continue to do in the future to help other's so that they will not suffer losses like those of our friends and family. You can help in many ways. You can join our team "Little Wonders Colorado Springs" and walk with us on April 24th or you can support our team and make a donation.
Please visit our family site:
http://www.marchforbabies.org/smkonchalski
Our story:
From the beginning, Kaylie and Alyssa put me on a crazy ride and I've gone through some of the most challenging points in my life but thankfully it has all been worth it! When we first found out I was pregnant, we were so exited b/c we wanted Taylor to be close in age to his next sibling. This couldn't have been a more perfect time. Within just a few weeks, my roller coaster ride began. I got sick! Really, Really Really sick!!! For 5 months I was sick! I couldn't eat, couldn't smell food, couldn't look at food! In my first tri-mester I lost 15 pounds!! (I wish I could lose 15 pounds now!!) Then at 17 weeks we went in for a regular appointment when my doctor thought I was measuring too high for the dates we had figured. So she sent me in for an ultra sound. As soon as the technician began, we knew something was different. She wasn't saying a word, nothing looked the same as it did with the ultra sounds with Taylor...after 5 minutes of silence we thought for sure something was wrong! Then she says "Well I have something to tell you" Of course at this point my heart sank, knowing she was going to tell me something was wrong. But instead her words were: "Well this is a head here and this is a head here and you are having twins!" Oh my god is all I could think! How could this happen, twins don't run in our family! All we could do was laugh! Things were good for about 2 weeks, I wasn't sick anymore. The babies were healthy and we were ready to have twins. But then I started seeing the high risk doctor (normal procedure for multiples during this time of the pregnancy). Everything looked great at first and the appt was just about over when the doctor decided he would go ahead and take a look at my cervix (something he typically wouldn't do until later in the pregnancy). Good thing he did b/c my cervix was already opening! Not good considering we had about 4 more months to go!! So he ordered me to strict bedrest with an at home monitor to record my contractions. Within another few weeks, I was having contractions and therefore had to spend the night in the hospital to start taking terbutaline on a regular basis to decrease my contractions. So for 2 1/2 months I was at home, in bed sticking a needle into my thigh everyday to administer the medicine through a pump, monitoring contractions and going to the doctor 3 times a week! I could tell that I was starting to get to the point where I knew I would deliver early but as Greg left for a business trip, I had no idea we would be delivering that week! December 8th I woke up in the early morning with horrible heartburn, I was sick in the bathroom for about 45 minutes. I was so tired that I just went back to bed, not even thinking of the contractions that were happening! Then a couple hours later, I woke up again and sick in the bathroom some more. This time I was very aware of my heart rate and contractions and immediately called the doctor. I went to the hospital and they started me on Magnesium Sulfate to stop the contractions. It didn't work!! The doctor told me she didn't think they were going to be able to get the contractions under control and they may have to deliver the babies. All I could think of was that Greg was out of town and would have to drive 12 hours to get back!! Soon the contractions slowed and they told me that they would keep monitoring but I would be in the hospital for the rest of my pregnancy. Little did they know that later that afternoon they would find that my amniotic fluid had dropped to an unsafe level and they would need to deliver the girls the next day. So Greg made it home and on December 10th, we were delivering two little babies 8 weeks early!! They were born with no major problems. They stayed in the hospital for 3 weeks to learn how to eat and regulate their body temperature and breathing. Then they came home with oxygen for a month. But here we are today with two beautiful healthy little girls! I love my little babies!!
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