Double the care: Delivering twins at Brigham City Community Hospital

How many children should we have? Is our family complete?

Like many parents, Shadeau and Jake Secrist found themselves asking those questions. At the time, their happy family consisted of three children, and they were dabbling with the idea of permanent birth control procedures. But at the last minute, they decided to try and add one more child to their family.

Shadeau became pregnant quickly, but soon suffered a miscarriage. Then, several months passed without any pregnancy progress. They figured this must be the natural answer to their initial questions, and they decided to go ahead and schedule the permanent birth control procedure after the busy holiday season. But in December, they received the gift of pregnancy.

“Due to my miscarriage, my doctor was going to keep a close eye on me. I had an appointment in December when I was only about 7 weeks pregnant. Jake and I saw the heartbeat and the baby’s body,” Shadeau remembered. “Then in January we had another ultrasound. I went to this appointment alone, as Jake picked up kids from school. I remember the doctor looked at the screen and said, ‘Did we know there are two?’ That was quite a shock.”

Seeing double? Compassionate services offer support

Shadeau’s doctor, Dr. Stanton Bailey, obstetrician-gynecologist with MountainStar Medical Group — Brigham City, specializes in pregnancy and deliveries. He could see Sheadeau’s astonishment when she heard that there were twins, and instinctively knew what she needed — compassionate nurses.

“Dr. Bailey is so personable and sweet. Once he went out of the room, he sent lots of nurses in. They gave me huge hugs and told me I could do it,” Shadeau said. “I’ve had all of my children at Brigham City Community Hospital, and I’ve known them forever. The nurses are like friends. I was bawling, and they were supporting me. I was just hoping we’d successfully keep this baby. I wasn’t expecting two! This was insane.”

Collaborating physicians provide double the care

When pregnant with multiples, mothers attend extra prenatal checkups and can be referred to a physician who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. For Shadeau’s experience, Dr. Bailey closely collaborated with maternal fetal medicine specialists in Ogden, to ensure a safe pregnancy for both babies and Mom.

“I was going to a doctor twice as often as my other pregnancies,” Shadeau said. “They worked together. I’d see Dr. Bailey one week and then go to Ogden the next. Other than that, the pregnancy was similar to my other pregnancies. There were no complications, I just got uncomfortable a lot sooner. My biggest thing was, I wanted to make it until 36 weeks because I didn’t want to deliver outside of Brigham City Community Hospital.”

Because Shadeau’s pregnancy was considered high risk, if extra complications arose or if Shadeau went into labor prior to 36 weeks gestation, she’d need to deliver in a hospital containing a NICU. Although, Shadeau agreed with the plan for her and her babies’ health, she greatly desired to deliver at Brigham City Community Hospital.

“I absolutely love this hospital and I didn’t want to deliver anywhere else. All my babies have been born here. It’s a special place,” Shadeau said.

What makes the facility so desirable?

“It’s smaller and you get sincere care. I’ve gone to the bigger hospitals when my sisters-in-law deliver, and it just doesn’t feel the same,” Shadeau explained.

Making the goal: Delivering with the Brigham City Community Hospital team

Shadeau made it to (and exceeded) the 36-week gestation mark without any complications. In fact, the hospital team at Brigham City Community Hospital eventually gave Shadeau Pitocin in order to induce labor.

As a safety precaution, Shadeau delivered in the hospital’s Operating Room instead of the usual birthing suites. Pus, in addition to Dr. Bailey, Annie Overson, women’s health nurse practitioner and certified midwife, also attended to Shadeau — along with a team of nurses, her husband and her mom.

“There were like 15 or 20 people in the OR — twice as many doctors and twice as many nurses — and everyone was set up for if anything went wrong. They were wonderful and I felt completely comfortable and confident that they could handle whatever came up. I wasn’t worried at all,” Shadeau said.

Thankfully, there was no need to worry. Everything went smoothly. After just a few pushes, Shadeau’s baby girl arrived first.

River Rey weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. and was as healthy as can be. Ten minutes later, Ross Dewey entered the world. He weighed 5 lbs. 10 oz. Both donned dark hair and sweet dispositions. It was double the love at first sight.

Teaming up to care for the newborn duo

Upon arrival, little Ross appeared to wheeze as he breathed, so the nurses attentively provided extra care for him.

“Ross was smaller and a little weaker. We knew that would be the case, as he always measured smaller during our prenatal appointments. That first night, the nurses kept him in the Nursery because he needed to work on breathing on his own and maintaining his own temperature,” Shadeau said.

Ross got the hang of breathing and temperature regulation in no time, and soon learned how to breastfeed.

“Two nurses came in and they helped me figure the breastfeeding thing out. I wanted to be able to successfully nurse both babies at the same time, so those nurses stayed in there until I got the hang of it,” Shadeau gushed. “They were so accommodating!”

Life with the twins

Adjusting to life with twins and becoming a family of seven takes a bit of time — and Shadeau and family are doing amazingly well. They’re all smitten with each other.

Now three months old, Ross has surpassed his sister River in size. He enjoys rolling and moving his healthy body about with great enthusiasm. River, on the other hand, exudes a more calming presence and enjoys stillness and sleeping through the night.

“It’s amazing and we’re all doing so well. Really, we’ve adjusted incredibly. We’re so thankful to Dr. Bailey and all the hospital team,” Shadeau said.