So lets start with last Thursday.... Raylene was admitted to Chilliwack General Hospital for observation as she was starting to show the early onset signs of pre eclampsia which can be very dangerous for her and the babies if it progressed to far. She had 24 hour monitoring and was advised the following morning that they were going to transfer her over to Royal Columbian Hospital to be induced. We had to be transferred there because it was only one of two hospitals that was fully equipped to deal with the potential issues that could arise with Raylene and the babies.. Once we arrived via ambulance Raylene had some more tests and we were then told that they would be able to put delivery off for another 2-3 weeks with close monitoring. This was hard to take for us all because within 24 hours we were told twice they were coming and once they were now not. We obviously did not want them to come this early because of the risks, however mentally it was hard for us to manage the yes then no's. We all understood the Dr's were trying there best to balance Raylenes health and the babies health at the same time. So from that point we really realized and accepted that this truly was going to be day by day and just to be prepared for whatever was to happen next.
Sunday rolls around and Raylenes blood pressure started to climb more and they tried to medicate her to bring it down but it did the opposite and it continued to rise. At this time it was only me and Raylene and Jeremy was just on his way to get Brett to come out for a "Visit" as they had no idea what was starting to happen. Within 45 minutes of her Blood Pressure rising they took her down to labor and delivery to prep her to bring our little ones into this world. I instantly panic.... "OMG I can't do this on my own, where is Brett and Jeremy".. I called to let them know whats going on and they raced out as quick as they could, but of all days got stuck in major traffic. Once they finally arrived they started pretty much right away and induced Raylene at 7:24pm on Sunday June 1st. Generally Raylenes labours have gone very quick with her kids, so we expected this to go very quickly too. 12 long hours later still no babies and after roughly 15 minutes of pushing our little twin A (Jordyn) did not want to come out. The dr's at this time believed it would be safest to delivery them via Csection and started to prep there staff and OR for this.
Fast forwarding ahead, with her amazing husband at her side Raylene delivered our two perfect little angels at 8:41am (Jordyn) and 8:43am (Sawyer) on June 2nd 2014. Raylene and Jeremy were in the OR with roughly 14 medical team members to ensure that everything and everyone was looked after. Shortly after there birth I see two nurses walking down the hallway towards us and the NICU holding our two beautiful children. Our hearts filled with so many emotions and eyes filled with tears we get to meet our Son and Daughter for the first time.
As we went into the NICU with the medical team we immediately notice that Sawyer was not doing nearly as well as his "Older" sister. Only getting to see his sweet little face for less then 30 seconds the NICU nurses and Respiratory Therapists started working with him to try and regulate his breathing.
Sawyer was born with a pnuemothorax and "Wet Lungs". What this means is Sawyer had a small tear due to birthing trauma in his right lung and it was creating a "Bubble" of air in the lining of his lung that was putting pressure on his poor little lung from inflating properly. So this combined with his wet lung, which is fluid in the lungs caused major breathing issues. After roughly 24 hours things were not improving so they had to give him a chest tube to relieve the pressure. Once this was done it still was not working the way they wanted it too and we were told to be prepared for our little son to be intubated. As the words were coming out there mouth I tried to maintain my calm collected self but could feel myself breaking down by the second on the inside. I walked up to my son in his incubator, placed my hand on his chest with tears rolling down my face as I felt his poor little chest collapse beneath my hand and feel how much he is struggling to breath. I took a moment I just wanted to take all his pain away, I wanted to switch places with him and take his struggles away. That moment I felt so connected to my son and I could tell he knew his Daddies where by his side cheering him on as we will for the rest of his life.
As time went by Sawyer started to improve by the hour, his strength avoided being intubated and showed us how strong he is and will always be. We were so proud of him for fighting so hard and making the improvements he had made in such a short period of time. He is now off all breathing assistance, however is still working really hard but doing great.
Now our little Jordyn... Lets just say this little lady will rule the house with her two Daddies and Brother always by her side. She was so strong from the moment she was born and with so much personality right away. She was off her Cpap machine within 12 hours and was bottle feeding 12 hours after that. By Thursday night, so rough 3 days old she was out of her incubator, in a "Big girl" crib and without an IV. She is such a strong beautiful little girl and we are so proud to call her our daughter.
I now want to take a moment and talk about the staff at Royal Columbian Hospital. Words can not even begin to explain how we feel about this amazing group of people. They have forever impacted our lives and showed us how beautiful a complete stranger can be. They have since day one taken an invested interest in our children, Raylene's and Brett and I's well being. They have always explained everything to us and walked us through all of our concerns we have had. They have almost become family to us which is so important because they spend so much time ensuring our babies get healthy enough to come home. Two night ago was our first night away from Jordyn and Sawyer and it weighed heavy on our hearts but we knew they were under the watchful eye of the "NICU Angels" and that allowed us to rest for the night to recharge from next to no sleep for the past 96 hours.
We also can not forget about the love and support of our friends. Oh my goodness... How lucky are the four of us to have all of you. Your out pouring of love and support is like nothing I have ever experienced before. You have all stood by Brett and I's side since day one and moved alongside through this entire process with us. The team at Royal Columbian have told us several times that they have never met such a loved family from such a large community of friends. So from the Mallard-Rancourts we thank you and feel so blessed to have you all in our lives now and forever.
Lastly a special note to Jeremy, Raylene's husband. What an incredible man, he is what so many should aspire to be. A dedicated husband, father and friend. He's been so supportive since day one and has helped us all through this with his compassion and witty humour. He's always great at bring the lighter side out on any situation. During Raylene's Labor he's rubbing her feet, feeding her ice, giving her loving and encouraging words. When our kids were born he came in to the NICU shortly after we did, gave us a huge hug and said "Congrats Daddies". He looked down on our children with love in his eyes and we could see that special bond him and his family will forever have with our little babes. So Jeremy we thank you for everything you have done and for supporting us all ever step of the way.
Another post to follow on our last visit with the kids and a special post to Raylene and Lisa!
(Still running on little sleep, brain cannot process editing at the moment, sorry for the grammar lol)
Chat soon my friends.....
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