My Miracle Musings

In 2011, life circumstances had spiraled toward intolerable and threatened what was well and good. I quickly found myself becoming a single parent to two small kiddos with two on the way. That’s right, at seven weeks, I found out I was not only pregnant but had three hearts beating inside me. We went from doing alright financially to being uncertain how we were going to survive month to month. Utilizing government assistance and resources had never entered my mind as permissible, but even that wouldn’t be sufficient for sustaining us.

Even against that backdrop, I think back to that time, when I was pregnant with the twins through my delivering them into the world, as a bright one, where I experienced love, hope, and a deep sense of community. For that time, I am thankful for lots of reasons:

• My pregnancy was without complication. Many have discomforts while expecting just one baby. I didn’t have high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia.
• I was pretty mobile throughout the pregnancy. I got around without much difficulty or discomfort, even though my belly grew to a point where there was little room between me and the steering wheel in my car. At the end, just turning my head to look at my blind spot caused contact between the two.
• The mother-in-law of a friend volunteered to be my doula. I had never had one before. Under normal circumstances, doulas are available with cost, one too big for me to entertain. In this case, not only was she dedicating her time free of charge, but she helped me think only a moment at a time. This was super important, considering I didn’t think I was going to survive the pain of delivering just one child, let alone two along with the placenta.
• I carried the twins to term — 38 1/2 weeks. Mothers of multiples are fortunate to make it past the 30 week mark and often the little ones are born premature.
• My doula, who had been living in Colorado Springs, was in the same city as me when my water broke. If she had been home and had to drive over, she would have missed my deliveries, because the time from when my water broke to when I delivered the second child was a brief two hours.
• My doula coached me and insisted I focus on only one contraction at a time, and given that I had elected not to have any pain management, that was all I could handle.
• Both my doula and my midwife reminded me how to breathe as well as when and how to push. I got advice I could actually understand. The last time I had delivered, being told to push like I was having a huge bowel movement didn’t help.
• With my midwife as my advocate, I had the opportunity to listen to my body and act accordingly. So, when I wanted to push, she encouraged me to go for it. I didn’t have to hear nonsense about waiting, for whatever reason.
• Both twins were born vaginally. I didn’t have the misfortune of being in labor for awhile before having to deliver them by C-section. Neither did I have to birth one vaginally and then the other by C-section.
• Both twins were born at healthy weights: 7 pounds, 9.1 ounces and 6 pounds, 14.1 ounces.
• While I was waiting my new son to descend, my just born daughter got to sit on my chest.
• I had the privilege of cutting her umbilical cord.
• Many new mothers have concerns about producing enough breast milk for one baby. So, that I made enough for both babies was both exciting and encouraging.
• A friend adopted us into her family. We had a place to go to celebrate holidays and birthdays. We could share whatever concerned us.  All we had to do was come as we were and be ourselves.

• Lily Chang © 2018

A couple of days ago was the twins’ birthday. Happy birthday, dear ones.

And I am so thankful for the many miracles that happened.

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By the way, the following is a link, if you want to read my post — My Birth Story With Twins.