November 9, 2009

So...finally the story of the boys' birthday. By far this has been the most surreal, amazing, miraculous moment in my life. It was a long three years of getting here, with many ups and downs, lots of tears and questions of why life wasn't happening how I thought it should...but, now that Ethan and Evan are here, I couldn't imagine it being any other way. They are two perfect, beautiful blessings from God who I fall in love with more each day...praising Him for doing immeasurably more than all we asked or imagined. So, without further ado, the story of the boys' birthday...

Sunday, November 8 I hadn't felt Evan move all day. He was the one up higher in my ribs and moved all of the time, especially at night. I didn't think much of it during the day because most times if I didn't feel him move for awhile he would go crazy later at night. We ate Bush's chicken for dinner and I had a huge Dr. Pepper thinking it would get him moving, which it didn't...and then drank some of Jeff's sweet tea, with still nothing. It was probably around 9:00 that night that I truly began to freak out. I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next morning but didn't want to sit in bed all night worried that something was wrong. I called my doctor who happened to be the one on call for the weekend and he said to come up to the hospital and he would put me on a monitor to make sure the babies were OK.

So, we went to the hospital and spent what seemed like an eternity at registration (even though I had already pre-registered and should have been able to go right in). I was told since I wasn't an "emergency" it would take a few minutes (really like 45) to get me in the system and have my paperwork ready. I wonder when not feeling your baby move all day became a non-emergency. I finally got back to a room, got all hooked up, and heard both baby's heartbeats...the best thing I heard all day. It was such a relief to know that everything was perfectly fine with the boys, and...as soon as the monitor was hooked up Evan began moving all over the place (typical that my child was already being difficult, but extra reassurance to me that all was OK).

While hooked up to all the monitors, the nurse also checked my blood pressure which was 138/85. All throughout my pregnancy it had stayed so low (100/60) and had only elevated slightly at my doctor's appointment the week before. I was told we would worry only if it got to 140/90. The 138/85 seemed close enough to me to be concerned plus combined with my horrible swelling, I was ready to be done. My doctor walked in the room to check on me around 12:30 that night and asked if I was ready to go home since the boys were OK. I was so not ready to go home, I was secretly hoping he would just say I could stay at the hospital but knew it was just wishful thinking. We talked about my blood pressure, which had reached 148/96 by the end of the night, and even though I was really concerned he wasn't at all.

I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, November 13 if I hadn't gone into labor on my own. I wasn't too happy about having to wait until Friday, being so uncomfortable. Also having babies on Friday the 13th didn't excite me too much. There was a small chance that we were going to be able to get in on that Wednesday, so our doctor checked to see if an OR had become available (which is required for all twin births). He came back and said that everything was still booked for Wednesday, but since I was already at the hospital and checked in, he would keep me overnight and induce me the next morning. Seriously, besides knowing the boys were OK, this was the best news I had heard all night.

So, Jeff went home and got all my stuff, while I got settled in my room. Typical me, I hadn't packed my hospital bag. You would think at 37+ weeks I would have had everything ready to go. I did for the boys just not for myself. Luckily I had made a list the week before of everything I wanted to have. By 2:30 that morning Jeff had brought back all I needed, our family was called to let them know what was going on, and I was settled and ready to go for the morning. I tried to sleep, knowing that we were starting early and it would be a long day, but really I barely slept...how could I knowing I was finally going to meet my boys.

Monday, November 9, 2009...

5:00 a.m. - I got up and took a shower and got ready. I at least wanted to look presentable (and little did I know that with all of my complications it would be the last shower I took until Thursday...GROSS, I know...but I was so weak I couldn't get out of bed).

6:00 a.m. - All of my blood work was done and my IV put in to get ready for the pitocin at 7:00.

7:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Pitocin was started at 7:00 and I began to slowly have contractions. My nurse (who was awesome) told me I could have my epidural at any time since I was already dilated to a 4. I held out for awhile thinking I would at least wait until my doctor came to break my water. The contractions, although not that bad yet, did get stronger. I remember thinking good heavens I can't believe people actually do all of this without any drugs, because I wasn't that far along and was already in pain. I also remember thinking if this is how I'm going to feel it's going to be an extremely long day. I finally called the nurse's station around 8:30 to tell them to go ahead and do the epidural...I wasn't waiting any longer. My doctor came in and broke my water around 8:45 and the anesthesiologist came in right after to do the epidural.

9:00 a.m. - Epidural was in...LOVED my anesthesiologist. I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing and it ended up not being bad at all. The greatest thing was that I immediately felt nothing and the rest of the day was wonderful. I sat in bed and watched my contractions come on the monitor all day and felt pretty much nothing. I felt a little bit every once in awhile but basically I happily hung out with Jeff and my friend Cathy, who came to help and keep us company. My other concern of the day...ordering the boys' Christmas stockings from Pottery Barn. It was the last day to get free monogramming and shipping, so amidst all of the contractions, epidural, monitoring of me and the babies, etc. I had to make sure Jeff had everything ordered...priorities people!

Jeff and Me...happy from the epidural and that I had a popsicle...the little things in life that make you happy.

11:00 - I was already dilated between 7 and 8 cm. I didn't really believe my doctor when he said I was that far along. I guess I just pictured a day of labor that went slow and lasted forever, not one where I was meeting my boys by dinner time.

By about 1:30 I was dilated to 9 cm. Jeff got into his scrubs and by 3:00 we were ready to go to the OR to have the boys. We ended up having to wait a little longer though...another lady (pregnant with twins and scheduled to give birth on Wednesday, the 11th) came in bleeding and had to have an emergency c-section. We could have still gone to the OR to have the boys but there was only one anesthesiologist and one technician available and in case of complications my doctor wanted to have them in the OR with us. So, we waited for the c-section to be over, meanwhile I started pushing for about 15 minutes in my room.

I didn't push for very long when my doctor decided we should just go the OR. Ethan was face up instead of face down and his heart rate was dropping every time I had a contraction...not enough to be a huge concern for my doctor but enough for him to say let's go to the OR so he could help get them out. I thought he meant c-section but he just meant by using forceps...get excited! I'm not quite sure what time it was when we went to the OR, probably sometime in the 4:00 area...everything happened pretty quickly once we headed to the OR so my recollection of the rest of the day gets pretty fuzzy.

I remember getting in the OR and getting up on the operating table, being told to push with each contraction and seeing both boys born, cleaned up, weighed, etc. I remember asking my doctor if Evan had stayed head down after Ethan was born. I asked my doctor if I had torn and he said oh yes (sorry if that's too much info) and that my epidural got an "A" because all that happened could not have without a perfect epidural. I got to hold Ethan while Evan was being cleaned up and then one of the nurses took our first family picture.

This picture was basically one of the last things I remember. After it was taken I started to feel really nauseous and weak. Jeff noticed me not responding to him and losing my grip on Ethan, so he asked one of the nurses to take him from me. At that time, Jeff saw my blood pressure had dropped to 60/30 and soon thereafter I got a shot in my leg and a drug through my IV. Jeff remembers the anesthesiologist telling him that it would "bring her back." He thought back from what? I came back a little and somewhat remember them moving me to a bed to go to the recovery room, almost throwing up when I had to move and then everything going dark...I could see all of the nurses and my doctor talking but heard nothing. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room and Jeff and my doctor trying to talk to me which Jeff tells me was an hour or two later. The boys were born at 4:37 and 4:48 p.m. and I stayed in recovery until 8:45 that night. I finally got to see Ethan and Evan again around 9:30 which is the first time I actually got to hold Evan and really see him.

I ended up losing a lot of blood during the birth...around 3 times what a normal person would lose. Usually with twins you lose a little more blood, but combined with the fact that I tore (sorry, TMI once again) and with my size, my body just couldn't replace it fast enough. I was so weak that I almost passed out every time the nurses tried to get me up and out of bed. Jeff basically had to do everything, diaper changes, feedings, etc. I couldn't do anything. By Wednesday of that week I had to have a blood transfusion...the number for normal blood volume is 12, mine was 6 after the birth and it had gone down to 5.6 by Wednesday morning. Even with the extra blood my levels only went up to 7. I was better by Thursday, but still incredibly weak. After taking a shower and getting ready to go home I felt like I had run a marathon.

It took a few weeks to actually feel like my normal self again. I had my mom and aunt here, so with Jeff and the two of them doing most everything, I was able to rest and recover. Now 6 weeks later I am feeling great and loving taking care of my boys. I definitely have my emotional moments (usually after not getting enough sleep at night) when both boys are crying, I'm living in spit up clothes, can't remember the last time I took a shower, and all I want to do is go to Wal-Mart (which on a normal day, I usually hate). But really, I can't imagine life getting any better than it is right now. We prayed and waited what seemed like forever for the boys to get here and I am just beyond amazed every day that God chose me to be their mom...we are SO SO blessed!