No Matter What

Today's the Day

On April first, we went to our usual appointment with Dr. Khan. At twenty-seven weeks and five days, I was feeling pretty good. I was dreading my coming hospital stay the following week, but as for right now, everything was good.

We got checked in, then went into the room for my ultrasound. It was insane how big the boys were week after week. They looked like two actual babies now. I couldn't wait for another round of pictures.

I was laying on the table as usual with Connor by my side and Stacey doing my ultrasound. We were having our usual chats about school, but her face turned grim about a minute or so after she pressed the wand to my baby bump.

"What is it now?" I asked.

"The cord entanglement is looking a lot worse this week," she said.

"Oh no. How?" Connor asked.

"You have MoMo twins. It's something that just happens where they're on top of each other all the time," Stacey said. "Let's take a listen to the heartbeats and see how that's going."

She started playing their heartbeats and something definitely wasn't right. The peaceful thumping I loved so much was a lot softer and a little slower than normal. My whole body tensed up.

She took a few pictures of the screen as we sat there in silence. Connor held one of my hands, giving me my pop-it-rocket for the other. It helped a tiny bit to have something to do with my hands as I was laying there.

"Alrighty, I think we're done for today. I'll get you two in to see Dr. Khan as soon as possible," Stacey said, handing me a towel to wipe the goo off my stomach.

Connor and I were quiet in the five minutes it took for a nurse to get to our exam room. She took my vitals and my blood pressure was higher than normal. Dr. Khan came in a few minutes later. His face was buried in his clipboard when he walked in.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Connor asked.

"Your situation is definitely getting much more serious. I don't think we had as much time as we thought we would," he said. "Ayla, I'd like to check the heartbeats again before we move forward."

"Okay. That's fine," I said.

I laid back on the table, lifted my shirt, and he put the doppler on my baby bump. Twin A and Twin B were on opposite sides of my belly. Twin A's heartbeat sounded normal. Twin B...not so much.

"Well guys, I don't like to say it, but I don't like the sound of this. You're going to the hospital and we're going to deliver tonight," he said.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Are you sure?" Connor asked.

"With the decreased heart rate of Twin B, I'm concerned that he's losing oxygen. We need to get moving," said Dr. Khan.

"Uh...April Fools?" I asked.

Doctor Khan shook his head. "I would love to be joking, but you should be proud that you made it this far. This is critical. We need to admit you to the hospital immediately, Ayla. Get in the car, go over to the maternity ward, and I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"I can't even go home to pack first?" I asked, my voice a little shaky.

"You need to get to the hospital. Call your parents and have them pack for you," Doctor Khan said. "I'm going to give them a call so they know you're coming."

"Looks like we're going to the hospital then," Connor said, holding onto my sweaty hand. "See. I told you to have that bag packed in the car and ready to go. Now we don't have anything."

"Babe, you picked a bad time to be a smartass with me," I said, giving him a death glare.

"I'm going to call the hospital and let them know we're coming so they can get an OR ready. I'll see you both soon," Dr. Khan said, opening the door and ushering us out.

I threw on my coat and we rushed over to the minivan. It was a panicked, speedy ride to the hospital. Connor called both our parents on the way there. I got the car parked in the parking garage and went into the maternity ward with Connor, where we stopped at the front desk.

"Hi, can I help you?" asked the woman sitting behind the counter.

"Uh...I'm Ayla Green. Doctor Khan told me to come?"

"Yes, ma'am. A nurse will be right out for you," she said.

I didn't even have time to sit in the lobby before a nurse came in and brought us back into a room. From there, I was changed into a gown, hooked up to an IV, and had a monitor placed around my belly.

The anesthesiologist came in a couple minutes later to get my entire lower half numb for the C-section. I had some kind of catheter placed in my back and it all felt so strange and tingly, until it didn't feel like anything at all. A nurse came back every few minutes to check the readings on the boys. That heart rate wasn't getting any better.

"I really, really wish it wasn't tonight. I don't want them to have birthdays on April Fool's Day!" I said.

"It'll be what it's going to be. You did awesome. I thought there's no way in hell we were making it this far. Twenty-seven weeks. You did an unbelievable job."

"Twenty-seven weeks and five days. They'll be in the NICU for less than two months, hopefully."

"I'm so proud of you, babe," he said.

"I love you," I said, leaning in for a kiss.

He gave me a quick peck on the lips. "I love you too."

"You're definitely good with the cool space names I picked out?" I asked.

"Yeah!" he said, his face lighting up. "I think our families will love them too."

I leaned my head back on the stack of pillows behind me. "I'm not ready. I really, really didn't think this was happening today."

"I know," he said, rubbing his thumb in my hand as he held onto it. "But it is what it is. Today is the day, and that's it. It's most important that they're safe."

"Hi guys, how are we doing?" said Dr. Khan. He came in the room with scrubs on and a few nurses behind him. "Feeling nice and numb, Ayla?"

"Yeah. I can't feel my legs," I said.

"Hey, neither can I. We're twins!" Connor said.

I looked over and blinked a few times. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh or punch him.

"We're getting the OR prepped, so we're going to get you moved in there momentarily, okay?" said Doctor Khan.

"I don't really have a choice," I said, my voice flat.

Dr. Khan left the room and the nurses gave Connor some powder-blue scrubs to put on. He looked like such a proud dad already. After that, we got to see our families before I went down the hall to the OR.

"You've got this, princess," my dad said to me.

"Thanks Dad. I'll be okay," I said, my voice shaking.

As they wheeled me away, I didn't know why I even said that to my dad. I was having an emergency C-section. I wasn't going to be okay. I was literally the farthest thing from okay!