The Story of TREVOR and TYLER

This story is a brief story of the birth of Trevor and Tyler.  The entire day of Thursday, September 4, 1997 was a tough day for me.  I was in the middle of my 23rd week of prenancy (just into my sixth month) and I was very uncomfortable.  My belly felt so tight I thought I would pop, but expecting twin boys, I believed this feeling was normal.  Tuesday of that week I had a typical doctor's appointment and was given the A-OK for my condition so I was not concerned that anything could be wrong.  It was exactly midnight that evening when I awoke with heavy bleeding and started cramping severely.  I immediately telephoned the doctor on call that evening and explained the situation.  I was told to lie down with my feet elevated and monitor the situation for the next couple hours and call back if the bleeding did not stop.  I lied down and began to read the many books on "expecting" that I had acquired.  One of the books talked about contractions so I decided to start timing my cramping pains.  They were anywhere from two to four minutes apart every time and getting more painful every episode.  At 1:00 I decided this was enough and drove to Arrowhead Hospital where I was immediatley rushed into delivery.  It was determined that I was in labor and already dilated to six centimeters.  I was in tears as the nurse told me that if I were to deliver that day, the boys had no chance for survival at the age they were.  Over the next hour I was given numerous injections of various medications to try and stop the contractions.  By 2:00 it was decided that there was no stopping the oncoming delivery and I was immediately transported via helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital being that Arrowhead is not equipped to deliver babies earlier than 32 weeks of age.  After a five minute helicopter ride, I arrived at St. Joseph's at 2:30 where I was rushed into delivery and was given numerous injections to again try and stop the contractions.  I was hooked up to an ultrasound machine and several doctors and nurses examined me for quite a long time.  I was informed that one of the boys had past away inside the womb and the other boy was already turned and half-way down the birth canal.  It was time to deliver.  I was heavily drugged so a lot of what happened next is quite fuzzy, but I remember a nurse holding me and telling me to push between blacking-out episodes that I was having.  First came Trevor Dean Bickle - born at 4:36 a.m., September 5, 1997 at one pound, three ounces and just under 11 inches long.  Next came Tyler James Bickle - born around 4:40 a.m., September 5, 1997 just under one pound.  Tests proved that the boys were identical twins.  We were told that Tyler had apparently died a few to several days earlier.  I have Tyler's clothes, gifts, baby book, and pictures put away for Trevor when he is older and would like to learn more about his brother.  It was later determined that Trevor was producing a large amount of urine and had a large amount of amniotic fluid in his birth sac.  This pressure was pushing in on Tyler's sac and eventually smothered him and caused pre-mature separation of the Placentia.  Tyler's death caused an overload of amniotic fluid in the uterus and the combination of all these things forced my body into believing I was in full-term labor.  The doctor's say that Tyler sacrificed himself for Trevor because if he had not passed on, helping me go into labor, both of them would not have survived.   Though Tyler's life was short lived, Trevor's life was beginning a long battle for survival, and in my heart I know Tyler has been and always will be there for Trevor every step of the way.  When Trevor was a week old, his skin began to deteriorate leaving him with open sores covering his groin, inner thighs, belly button, underarms, neck, and backside.  He was then diagnosed with two infections - one being a yeast infection from his skin sores.  He was given seventy-two hours for antibiotics to kick-in and begin the recovery process, so I started the clock - he had till 5:00 Tuesday night.  Monday morning I received a terrifying call - Trevor was failing.  He had been having seizures that morning and had to be bagged several times after not breathing.  I arrived at the hospital where there was a long meeting with the head of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Trevor's doctor, Trevor's nurse, the hospital social worker, Trevor's Dad, and me.  They said that he was not expected to survive into the night and were given options as to what needed to be done.  One option was to remove life support and let him pass away in my arms, or another was a customized DNR (Do Not Resusitate) could be ordered that if he fails again, they would not revive him, or nothing could be done and we just wait and see.  After hours of private discussion and numerous tears, Trevor's Dad and I opted for a customized DNR order.  I wanted them to keep providing him care and give him a chance to decide if he wants to survive.  If he begins to fail and it is obvious that he wants to be let go, he should go.  We signed the papers and started the waiting process.  In my mind, I kept referring back to the "72 hour deadline" he was given a few days prior.  I believed in my heart that I had to give him all of those 72 hours to fight for his life before I gave up hope - I still have twenty-four hours.  By the next morning I went to the hospital not knowing what to expect, but I was greeted with surprised doctors, nurses and lots of hugs.  Trevor was doing better!  Much better!  He was on the long road to recovery.  Since then he has had laser surgery on both eyes for ROP (bad growth of the eye blood vessels), and with the exception of being premanently limited to only having central vision, he should see fine.  He has also had surgery on one of the two herniated scrotums he developed.  He does have some scarring from skin deteriortation when he was first born, but it is not severe.  He is currently four and a half pounds and growing fast.  He is now recovering from hernia surgery and receiving therapy to learn how to bottle feed.  I am praying to have him home, happy and healthy, in January.  I would like to thank everyone for their support, thoughts, and prayers for us. December 17, 1997

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