A little story about two sweet babies

June 05, 2013

A little story about two sweet babies

I just can’t seem to do anything normal.

A common expression in our house is, “Go Big or Go Home.” And now we certainly are living by those words. On April 17, we found out we were having twins. After nearly a year of trying to have a baby, we were shocked. Especially since I had just had surgery on April 4 for a supposed ectopic pregnancy. See what I mean? Not normal.

Here’s what happened. On March 31, a Sunday, I started hurting pretty bad. I thought I was experiencing kidney stones, since I had just passed a stone in February. When the pain didn't ease up and a fever set in, I went to my urologist Dr. Price for some tests. Since I was several days late at this point, I knew I needed blood work done before any X-rays were performed. I had an ultrasound first, and that’s when things got scary. A technician asked me for my gynecologist’s name, and the radiologist called into a separate room to tell me the “good news:” I was pregnant. My HcG level was registering at 227. I was elated. Then Dr. Moyers ordered 2 more ultrasounds, and I was starting to worry. Why was I hurting this much?

I was told to wait after my last ultrasound, and that’s when Dr. Moyers showed up. She told me I had a belly full of free-floating blood, and a 5 cm mass behind my uterus. A mass that had not shown up in my CT scan in February. All signs pointed to an ectopic pregnancy. She said a simple laparoscopic procedure would take care of everything, and she had time that afternoon. So within a matter of minutes I went from being completely overjoyed at being pregnant to devastated.

Another round of blood work, and then I went back to my office to deliver the news to my husband and mom. Both rushed here to the hospital.

The surgery went well. The mass was removed through a small incision in my belly button, and I went home that night with lots of painkillers and a heavy heart.

Through the following days of recovery, Brian insisted we focus on the positive. My ovaries looked good. There was a small tear in my fallopian tube that was healing itself. We could get pregnant. There were no additional tears shed. I moved on from my supposed ectopic pregnancy.

That was until the next Monday after another round of blood work. Dr. Moyers called me in my office to inform me that my HCG levels had increased to 700 – meaning we were pregnant. The confusion. The excitement. The unwillingness to believe it all just yet. The next Monday, more blood was drawn, and my HCG numbers rose to nearly 8,000.

I finally let myself get excited. We were having a baby.

That Saturday before we knew for sure, we went ahead and told Mary Liz. We went to dinner, and Brian asked her if she was ready to be a big sister. She looked at him, then at me, then at my belly, and asked, “Are you pregnant?!” That night we went to the movie theater, and as we were waiting for the movie to start, I told her, “I’m so glad we’re here at the movies.” She replied, “I’m so glad you’re pregnant.”

That Monday night after my lab results came back, we told my parents. We invited them over for dinner, and I asked Mom to get her calendar out because we were going to need a babysitter. In December. For Mary Liz’s new brother or sister. Needless to say she was shocked. We weren't supposed to be pregnant. It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

But the biggest shock came two days later, April 17, at our ultrasound at Temple Imaging Center. The technician did a pelvic ultrasound and a transvaginal ultrasound. Then she told Brian to sit down. We were both thinking we had lost the baby, when she said there were two. “Two what?” we asked. It was incredible seeing both babies side by side in their own sacs. I only measured at 6 weeks, so it was still early, but we were beside our selves with excitement. Actually during the rest of the ultrasound, Brian and I would look at each other and just laugh. We couldn't believe it.

The best was telling my mom the news. Brian and I went up to school during lunch time to show her the ultrasound pictures. She asked if we wanted to stand outside, and we said that would be a good idea. When I asked her if she was ready to see her grandBABIES, she screamed! Then she ran inside to her other teacher friends and had to show them the ultrasound pictures. The reactions people have to finding out we’re having twins has been a lot of fun.

Through all of this, Mary Liz has been really sweet. One night, after Brian got home late from working at the other house, they were laying in bed talking. She told him, “I can’t wait for the baby to get out of Melissa’s stomach so I can teach it all kinds of things like manners and how to say ‘yellow.’ And how to brush its teeth and not to talk when other people are talking. And to chew with its mouth closed. Because that’s what ya’ll taught me.”

At times, I have found myself worrying about losing one or both of the babies. There’s something called vanishing twin syndrome. I've already heard stories (one specifically from my boss) about miscarrying one of the babies, but keeping the other. Or miscarrying altogether. But then I remember God is in control, and after everything we've been through these past few months, I know he will take care of us. We’re already so attached to the twins, and now I can’t imagine life without both of them.

Besides, my mother has already started buying stuff for both babies!

So as you can see, life has certainly been far from normal for the Cragers. We couldn't be more blessed by all the changes in our life (including Brian coaching Mary Liz’s softball team, Brian working on remodeling another house with my dad, Brian accepting a new job, and so on). We have learned to trust God more, although we’re not always perfect at giving everything to him. This has certainly been a wild ride, and we can’t wait to see what else is in store for us.