Leap Year Miracles
by Rhonda Pevorus
(Moore Township, PA - USA)
When I found out that I was pregnant in August of 2007, my husband and I were so excited! I was very irregular with my period though, so the doctor set up an ultrasoundto determine a due date for our baby. I’ll never forget that day – September 14th, and we looked at the ultrasound. My husband said, “Wow, it has really big eyes.” I knew right away what was happening. The ultrasound technician just smiled and said, “No honey, that’s twins!”
We didn’t use fertility, so this was a COMPLETE shock. Right then and there I knew what “twin shock” was. I was crying so hard the technician couldn’t get a good reading on our little babies. By that point I had a mommy feeling that I was having a girl, I just had no idea that there could be 2 of them!
So along go the months, and we did find out that there were 2 girls, but never were they confirmed to be identical. I knew they were though. Every ultrasound appointment their heart beats were within 2 beats of each other, and their measurements were almost always exact.
Fast forward some more to February 28th, 2008. I started having crampy pains, and knew that I should call my doctor. She said to meet her at the hospital. So in I went, at 31 weeks, having no idea what lie ahead of me. It turns out, that after 4 different medicines, this “labor” that I didn’t even realize wouldn’t stop, it just kept progressing. Just over 24 hours from my first cramps, and they told me that they babies were coming, and coming NOW! So, leap year day, my two gorgeous little baby girls were born, just 2 minutes apart by emergency cesarean section. The doctor then said that there was only one placenta. I told her that she better make sure! I didn’t get to see or hold them, but I knew that they were okay. They were small at 3 pounds 3 oz for Kate and 3 pounds 2.6 oz for Stella. They were early and just needed to finish growing, but other than that were generally healthy. They stayed in the NICU for the entire month of March to grow and learn to eat, and April 1st, we brought our twin babies home.
It is almost 1 year later, and they are your typical 1 year olds, crawling, standing (while holding on), almost walking, and saying the important words like mama and dada. They absolutely LOVE their big brother Zane who is 3 years old. He is just fantastic with them, and they do “talk” to each other in their own language. It’s fascinating. We’re tired, as any twin mommy and daddy know, but it is an amazing experience, and we love them so much!
