Welcome to Our Twin Angels - Part 1

Who would have thought that our lives would have changed so much in 2 days?

There was much that happened leading to these dates and after but I've decided to summarise the posting into the events between 13th - 15th September 2007.

At 24 weeks, I developed a condition known as pre-eclampsia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-eclampsia which put my life at risk. The pre-eclampsia could only be resolved by terminating the pregnancy / delivering the babies early. I was 25 weeks & 2 days pregnant (just short of the 26 weeks which is the 'viable' age for a baby) and my condition was worsening - so the Specialists decided that since the Fetal Assessment had improved for our little boy (it seems he weighed 560g now), that he had a good 'fighting' chance. He would be delivered by Cesarean section on Thursday, 13th September 2007. Our little girl was too small (weighing under 200g) and her heart stopped 2 days prior to this.

All went well during the surgery. In fact, the Cesarean section surgery was the easiest part of it all - we had a wonderful Team of 'ALL female' Specialists taking good care of us so perhaps that was the reason:-) Chad was born at 9:30am. He weighed 400g (less than what we were expecting). He didn't come out crying or moving so we were told by the Pediatrician that it was all over.... but then a little miracle happened, she returned within a minute to let us know that he had taken a turn for the better, started crying and moving about and was well!

I was then admitted to ICU / High Care so that my condition could be monitored - which should have been for 4 hours but ended up being 2 days, so Mike spent most of his time with Chad while I was there. Mike took some photo's of Chad to show me on the 1st day as I hadn't seen Chad at the surgery. On the 2nd day / Friday, I was wheeled into the nursery to see our little boy.

We were told that the 72 hours (Thursday - Sunday) after birth was critical, as such little babies have their main problems then e.g. brain hemorrhages during this time. Our little Angel was looking great and well in the 1st 48 hours so we remained positive that he would pull through.

On Saturday, 15th September 2007, I was moved from ICU / High Care back into a private room at 12pm. Mike arrived just before 2pm and we were then given the news that Chad had had a serious Stage 3-4 brain hemorrhage. They brought him to us. Although he was still alive, he was pale and blue and clearly not in the same healthy pink state as the day before. Still he looked peaceful and was not crying, so we assume he was not in pain. I remember sobbing and being in so much physical & emotional pain and turning to Mike and saying "this is so F*cking sore!" We held him until his heart stopped at 2:15pm. Mike & I were both shattered!

We named our Twins Chad meaning 'Warrior' and Morgan meaning 'Bright Sea'. We were sad not to have been able to spend time with Morgan but humbled to have been able to spend 2 days 4 hours and 45 minutes with Chad. Of course, now they will always be a part of our lives and we are very blessed to have Chad & Morgan always watching over Dad, Mom and Jordan.

The Twins will rest at Durbanville Memorial Park http://www.dm-park.co.za/index.php?page=about and the private service will take place in 2 weeks time when the ash grave is ready. I will post again at that stage so that you have an update.

Welcome to Our Twin Angels - Part 2

"When days are dark, friends are few":-)

This is no doubt a very traumatic experience for anyone to go through BUT it has been very encouraging to know that we have such a great support system of wonderful friends and family to help us through. We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all the prayers, phone calls, messages, those who brought us dinner, flowers, chocolates, books, magazines, those who were there to lend an ear or a helping hand with Jordan and Mike while I was in hospital etc etc. We really appreciate all of you and Thank you so much!

I would like to especially mention the following:

Thanks to Mike / the best Husband ever and he is mine:-) I would not have managed to 'survive' this if it were not for him!

Thanks to my very special little sister, Elsa, who has always been there supporting us from London and who managed to ensure that the news was communicated 'correctly' to my parents who are in Madeira.

Thanks to our Hotline number aka Janine. She managed to keep everyone informed of our current status through out, and is always there when we need her.

Thanks to Gathry & Vannessa for being our pillar of strength and supporting us whenever needed. Please refer to Vannessa's blog for more information - Thanks Vannessa for the postings re Chad. http://www.kendrameiring.blogspot.com/

Thanks to our Specialist Team of Doctors and all at Kingsbury Hospital.

Thanks to both our Companies - Intec & Pinnacle Point - for allowing us the time off and all the support during this time.

And a final note - I'm sure that there are many of you that are only reading our news for the 1st time now, as we certainly have lost track of who we have spoken to or who received the latest updates. You may feel that you have no words (as I know when I've been faced with this in the past when others have been through a loss, I'm out of words myself) but if you do want to leave a comment on the blog then please feel free to as we certainly will appreciate your comments.

Mike's Birthday Party - 8th September 2007

Just a short note to wish my FANTASTIC husband a very Happy Birthday and year on the 8th September 2007.

Sometimes, it is quite apparent that to be organised is the best thing:-) I had booked and organised Mike's birthday party 3 weeks prior to the date + his birthday pressies and at that time I would never have guessed that I would not be able to make it.... I was checked into hospital on 7th September 2007 (the day before the party) and I'm very grateful that it could go on without me as he had a great time with all our wonderful friends.


Thanks to everyone for their presence, presents and spoiling Mike on his birthday.

It was held at Finkel & Koljander Bistro with Werner being the host. I received very good reviews of the place & the evening's proceedings, so have a look at this link if ever you're in need of something similar...

http://www.dining-out.co.za/member_details-MemberID-2676.html

Please feel free to post some comments and let me know what you thought ...