A baby for you: Two beautiful babies for two beautiful people

January 16, 2012

Two beautiful babies for two beautiful people

They are here! The babies have arrived!

And here is the story of how they arrived...

As I mentioned in my last post, I was called in for an induction on January 12 because of some not so ideal lab results. Jeremy and I arrived at the hospital around 10am and was shown to the room where this life changing day would begin. I changed into the hospital gown and took my place in the hospital bed. The guys arrived a few minutes later. Our nurse came in and introduced herself. She told us that their monitors were down for awhile and we would begin once they were up. The plan was to have the OB come in and check how dilated I was. Once they had that information they would decide which induction med to use.

The morning slowly passed while we waited and waited and waited. Finally in the late morning, I was hooked up to the monitors. The doctor and his 2 residents were not able to come in and check my progress because of an urgent C-section. I am not exactly sure what time they finally came in. In fact, I'll do my best throughout this post to remember correct times but the day was long and my memory is a little fuzzy. When the resident OB was finally in the room they did an ultrasound and checked dilation. I was dilated to a 4! What a surprise... a good surprise... almost half way dilated! I think it was around 1pm at this point. I remember looking at the clock and thinking... if we would have started earlier we would be so much closer to delivery. This thought would cross my mind several times throughout the day and night. About this time, the anesthesiologist came in and we discussed the dreaded epidural. Another blood draw was done to check my platelet levels. One of the reasons I was called in for an induction was because my labs showed low platelets. If platelets are too low an epidural can not be done.

I was asked if I wanted to start the epidural before the Pitocin. I said yes just so we could get it done and over with. I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Bad idea? Probably! The nurse came back and told we would need to wait until the blood draw results came back before they would start the epidural. Now that I think about it I am not sure why I didn't suggest we just start the Pitocin anyway. So we waited until about 3pm before starting the epidural. If you recall I was concerned about getting it. The actual process was not a big deal. It feels odd but not painful. My memory goes really fuzzy here. I remember not feeling well and feeling like I was going to pass out. My blood pressure dipped low and my heart rate went way up. The OB had come in around 4pm to break my water and get the Pitocin going but since I wasn't feeling right they decided against doing any of that. It took about 3 hours to get my levels where they needed to be.

At 6pm we started the Pitocin... finally! Throughout the day I was having contractions and although they weren't very consistent (about 6-10 minutes apart) I was hopeful they were doing some good. When I was checked again around 6pm I was still at 4cm. This was disappointing! The good news was the Pitocin was started and now we would get things going fast. They still had not broken my water so around 8pm (?I could be way off on time here?) they came in to do that. I was checked again and I had moved to 5cm. Again... disappointing.

I was still feeling sick and so tired. I asked the nurse if I decided to have a C-section would the OB allow it? A C-section was not what I wanted. I know this will sound ridiculous but I was feeling so disappointed in myself. Here I was through this entire pregnancy singing a tale of how fast I labor and how easy it had been for me. I wasn't performing at my best. I knew my body could do better than this. I am not sure if it was the epidural that seemed to slow things down or if my body just wasn't ready. I have to think it was the epidural. That poor epidural sure has a bad rap. Okay let's get back on track here... the nurse said she would "feel out" the OB for his thoughts. A bit later the OB came in to discuss the options. He told me to not feel so discouraged and that it was common to labor longer with a twin pregnancy. He said I had the option to choose a C-section but he encouraged me to wait it out and be patient. So that is what we did. 10pm turned into 11pm, 11pm turned into 12am... you get it. I think around 12am/1am I was checked again and was only at 7 cm. There was improvement but I knew it was going to be awhile because I was dilating so slow.

We all slept on and off. I would sleep for 20 minutes here and there but was awake for good at about 2am. I knew it would be happening soon. I was feeling much pressure but I decided to wait awhile longer before calling the nurse in. I was hoping they would come in and decide to check me on their own but that didn't happen. So I waited. Contractions were constant and the pressure was getting stronger and stronger. I called the nurse in at about 4am. They came in to check me and said we were ready to go.

Earlier in the evening, my regular OB had stopped by to see how everything was going. She told us she had given the staff instructions to be called if things started after 4am. She really wanted to be at the delivery. I learned she was on her way and perhaps they were waiting on her. The nurse finally asked if I could start pushing. Thank you, Julie! I was given the go ahead. I took a few moments and got down to business. I would say she was born with 3 -5 pushes. I heard someone say "look at all that dark hair" and out she came. I heard her first cries and then my world was rocked! Remember baby boy was breech? Well, he did not turn on his own. The chief OB went in after him. I recommend talking with your baby if he or she is breech and coming to an agreement that he or she will turn head down before delivery. This was not fun! I was taken off guard. First, I am hearing a sweet newborn's first cries and the next thing I know I am in a very uncomfortable state. I pleaded with them to stop but they did not. Hindsight, I am very happy they didn't stop. Baby boy was welcomed into the world 4 minutes after his sister. The relief is instant once a baby is out! It amazes me!

I haven't told you anything about the dads, have I? Well, they were great... like I knew they would be. Roy stood by my side and held my hand and Anver stood behind me. I am sure Avner would have held my other hand but the nurse was there. I think he had his hands on my shoulders but I am not certain. After both babies were born I told them to go to their babies and off they went. I wish I could have seen them set eyes on their little ones. Someone brought the babies over for me to see. They were as beautiful as I knew they would be. The guys came to me and quickly expressed their feelings in words and hugs and kisses. I could see tears in their eyes. They were finally dads, something they had longed to be.

Babies were born at 37 weeks and 4 days. Both are healthy and strong. We have all been released from the hospital and are doing very well.

Here are the little sweethearts: