2024 Signature Chefs Feeding Motherhood Phoenix

THE FLUELLEN FAMILY: TWIN PREGNANCY JOURNEY

Our second pregnancy started with a big surprise. We walked into our first doctor appointment excited to see our baby on sonogram for the first time. Little did we know, she’d turn on the machine, start scanning my little baby bump and we’d see not one, but TWO babies. There was a flood of emotions we felt, everything from shock, to fear and to happiness. I started hysterically laughing and crying at the same time. My husband sat frozen and our almost one-year-old son was laughing!

Despite being horribly sick almost everyday and struggling to gain weight early on in my pregnancy, our bay girls were hitting all the proper growth milestones. Along the way appointments were twice as often and consisted of seeing my primary OBGYN and a specialist.

One day, things changed in the blink of an eye. It was Halloween day, and we had an accident. I bumped my very large belly and felt a sharp pain. We waited a few minutes to see if it would subside and it did, but something told me I should go to the hospital. Off we went to Scottsdale Shea where the emergency room took me in right away.

Without hesitation they strapped me to monitors to check the babies heart beats. Immediately, I sensed they were concerned. One of the twins’ hearts was beating at a lower pace than normal. After a short time of monitoring, I then started to have contractions. At just 32 weeks pregnant it was far too early to go into labor. Medical staff then told us I would not be going home anytime soon.

My doctor decided to run more tests and scan to find out why our baby’s heart was struggling. That’s when we discovered her placenta had an abruption. Essentially it was pulling away from the lining of my uterus and starting to deplete. If our child’s heart was to decel for 10 minutes or more, then it meant an emergency c-section. At times she would decel for 6 to 8 minutes, which was why I remained in the hospital on continuous monitoring until the babies were born. We persevered and made it to 36 weeks. The girls were born healthy, at around 5 pounds, on November 24th, 2021.

The March of Dimes mission to end preventable maternal health risks and death, and to close the health equity gap for all families is something our family is passionate about. We were blessed to have access to quality healthcare, but that shouldn’t be a luxury. It’s a necessity for every family and we are so glad to support March of Dimes this year as the Ambassador Family, to help every Mom and baby have a healthy journey.