Life at the Olsen's: Miracle

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 is a day I will never forget. The day I met two little girls who stole my heart.

Around 6:40pm Twin B had an elevated heart rate in the 200 bpm range and then a deceleration into the 50s that lasted 5 minutes. At the time I was on the phone with Sam giving him the update for the day. My Doctor had just been in to see me and let me know that everything was looking great and the girls were doing well. Shortly another two more nurses joined the room with IV fluids and equipment in hand and I was being repositioned. I could tell the situation was not resolving. I told Sam I needed to let him go so I could free up my arms for an IV.

The IV was in place quickly, I was repositioned, and Twin B was not recovering. Another doctor happened to be on the unit having just finished a C-section and was informed of our situation. She came in to do an ultrasound of Twin B because now the external monitor was not picking up the heart rate. It was determined that she was in too much distress and would not be able to recover from the deceleration. My Doctor was paged, and before I knew it the whole surgical team was waiting for me in the OR.

I was able to get a hold of Sam at 6:50 pm to tell him it was time. I was rushed to the OR and put under general anesthetic. At 7 pm our little angels were delivered. Twin A came out first with cords wrapped around her neck and had an APGAR score of 6. She needed to be intubated because she could not remember to breathe. Her sister came out next completely wrapped up in the cords. Her APGAR was only 1and she had a feeble heart beat. They intubated her as well and she quickly stabilized. They were taken to the NICU to stabilize and get settled in.

I woke up in recovery just as Sam and my Mom made it to the hospital. Sam's aunt (that I had been staying with) was by my side, I am so grateful for her support since the rest of the family was hours away. It seemed like forever before they would let us in to see the girls.

When I met my babies for the first time it was absolutely amazing. Little Temperance Gail Olsen (baby A) was 2 lbs 12 oz and 16 inches long. Juliet Violet Olsen (baby B) was 2 lbs 4 oz and 14 3/4 inches long. Juliet received two blood transfusions in the first 24 hours of life thanks to her sister getting all the blood in utero.

Both girls have made amazing progress. They are now 2 weeks old and 32 weeks gestational age. Breathing tubes are out, central lines are out, IVs are out, and they are breathing on room air. They both are still too young to eat without a feeding tube, but they both start sucking the air when the feedings start... smart little ones!

I feel so blessed that our story is unfolding in such a positive manner. Heavenly Father is certainly watching over these precious little souls, and I am so grateful to him.