We got pregnant through IVF after trying for one year. Since this was our first IVF cycle and my first pregnancy, we transferred one embryo, which ended up splitting into two - resulting in identical twin boys. Pregnancy was easy, for the most part and I was hoping and praying to make it to the full 36 weeks, as recommended by my MFM for mo / di twins.

At 33+1, I woke up with a stabbing pain under my right ribs, which shot up into my shoulder and neck. I was extremely nauseous and vomiting. My husband drove me to the hospital and after realizing the boys' heart rates were extremely low, the doctors thought it would be an unplanned, but typical c-section. Once they opened me up, they found severe internal bleeding, and about 2 liters of blood in my abdomen, which came from a liver hematoma and rupture. TO reach my liver, the doctors had to create an inverted T incision across my belly. My liver was so swollen and the hematoma was so large, my right kidney and lung were displaced. I spent 2 days in the ICU and couldn't meet my boys until 2.5 days later. I was in the hospital for 8 days, and the boys came home after ~2 weeks in the NICU.

The healing process following severe abdominal surgery has been a journey both physically and mentally, especially since the hematoma simply has to absorb back into the body. Even after almost 7 months, it isn't completely gone. We all have our dreams of how we think motherhood will begin, and HELLP syndrome and liver trauma wasn't even on my radar, even as I "planned for the worst, hoped for the best" with our multiples pregnancy. But we also count ourselves lucky and blessed - our boys are almost 7 months old and are thriving.