High-Risk Pregnancy Video: Twins

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Transcript

Dr. Cantanzarite: Here are the eyes. That's the nose.

Janet: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Cantanzarite: 1990 grams, 4 pounds, 6. Janet’s a mom who’s carrying twins. She went into labor early and was heading toward delivery of babies and wouldn’t have made it. 

Janet: A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. And I was in preterm labor at 18 weeks, and so they were worried that we were losing the pregnancy. And then from 23 weeks on, I’ve been here.

NICU RN: At 20 weeks the babies would not have survived. All of the baby’s organs and systems are too premature to be able to sustain. At 25 weeks it would have been a very difficult road. 

Dr. Cantanzarite: I tell folks, listen, my marching orders for their babies are that we’re going to do whatever it takes to keep the babies inside. The medicine Janet’s on right now makes you feel bad. It really is a miserable medicine to be on. 

Janet: So this is over 10 weeks now. 

Dr. Cantanzarite: She’s been here forever in a situation would drive most people absolutely bananas. 

Janet: This has become our, kind of our studio apartment here. We’ve really settled in, as you can see. They say that, you know, for every day I’m here, it’s better than three days downstairs in the NICU. I’ve just been contracting like crazy. 

Dr. Cantanzarite: We’re kind of maxed out on all we can do to stop the contractions. 

Janet: Oh, dear.

Josh, Janet's Husband: We have been on pins and needles for like two and a half months. She’s been here for two and a half months. And every day we think she could have had the baby. Then about two or three weeks ago — God, wouldn’t it be amazing if we made it till your birthday? 

Janet's Mom: And here we are. 

Nurse: We all chipped in and got her a birthday present. And I went out and picked up a pink maternity gown, because I always saw her wearing pink. I’ve seen patients in similar situations without the comforts of home and without having any control. Basically saying this isn’t worth it. I’m going to go home. Josh is an amazing support person for Janet, and he’s living in the hospital with her. Sleeping every night next to her on the little blow up bed that he brought in. So we really try here at Sharp Mary Birch to make it as much like home as possible.

Janet: There’s so much they can do to keep me pregnant, although at this stage, if my body decides to go into labor now, that’s it. I am on the maximum amount of drugs they will give me. This is so unpredictable, and here I am ticking away, not knowing when I’m going to erupt. 

Josh: Just speaking with Dr. Daneshmand, who, he was saying that if the lungs are mature at say 34 or 35 weeks it would be better just to take Janet off the magnesium because the potential complications that she could possibly have kind of outweigh the benefit. 

Janet: And just this week I’m starting to feel really lousy on it, and the dose has not changed. So we’re wondering if this is the right thing just to stay on it for weeks and weeks? And I’m just tired. 

Nurse: Last night the babies had a couple drops in their heart rate so we weren’t sure if the babies would tolerate labor and since the babies were far enough along, the doctor decided a C-section would be best. 

Male: And so our wonderful perinatologists. 

Dr. Sean Daneshmand, OBGYN: I am very excited to meet these lovely girls. You know, you guys are phenomenal parents, even before they’re born. 

Janet: We’re going down the hall.

Josh: We’re going down.

Nurse: OK, ready?

Janet: We’re ready.

Nurse: Good luck.

Janet: Thank you.

Josh: It is, let’s see about two o'clock, Aug. 12, this is going to be the birthday of our daughters. 

Dr. Daneshmand: Here’s gal number one; yay, here comes number two. Take a peek. 

Female: They’re looking so pink.

Female: They’re doing everything so far. 

Female: They look wonderful. They're very different looking. 

Nurse: This is what makes it all worthwhile, getting two healthy little girls out of all of this. There she is. 

Janet: Hi, sweetie. 

She’s ready to leave; she’s been here 3 months, too. 

They smell so good. 

Nurse: Oh my God, that’s wonderful. How are you doing?

Janet: The nursing staff, I can’t say enough about. It's just been incredible. And I guess it's because I’ve been here so long that they’ve become very close. And I feel like these are my personal friends. The thing I’m looking forward to most is just lying in bed as a family. So I think we’ll just snuggle together. I can’t wait. Well, the fantasy was to take them home right away. For them never to go to the NICU, so we got our dream. Wow. Since I’ve been here so long, it’s amazing ... three months. The women who are going through this, hang in there. Hang in there.