Birth Story

Well everyone's been asking for much wanted details on the labour, delivery, birth, and home coming of our beautiful twins... I'm going to post what I can remember, as it was probably the absolutely craziest day of my life! May be a little graphic or whatever, so you've been warned!

April 13th 2011
I woke up this morning knowing that this would be the day I would be induced. Not necessarily the day the babies would be born, but I knew I would be induced. The day prior I had a non stress test at the hospital, which showed two interesting developments. #1. I had protein in my urine. #2. I had an elevated blood pressure of around 140/90. This shows that I had the beginning stages of pre-eclampsia. So, after the non stress test I had my appointment with my obgyn and midwife, and the decision was made to induce me the following day, April 13th 2011. I woke up around 5 in the morning a little nervous, but mostly really tired. Sleep hadn't been happening much in that week, because unbeknownst to me, my blood pressure and protein in my urine had been causing me to have all sorts of intersting symptoms such as nausea, vomitting, dizziness, insomnia and more. I admit I was extremely relieved to be booked for induction, because with all the symptoms plus being so anxious to have my babies I was really on the edge of my seat to run to the hospital if I had to! So, at 6:45am we headed to the hospital to be admittted to the prenatal unit at the hospital and everything seemed to go as planned. I met with my midwife, and the obstetrician on staff that day, and it was decided that the induction would start with a dose of prostin gel. First I was checked, and I had no idea THAT would be so painful. Turns out my cervix was still long, hard and far far away from being ready for labour. So prostin gel was the first choice to go with to start the softening and shortening process. The gel was administered around 8:00am and the labour cramping and pain started around 20 minutes after that. Apparently induction cramping has a bit more of a burning sensation than natural labour, but since I've never been in labour I have nothing to compare it to. Yes, the cramping was intense, and it did feel a bit "burny", but all I could do was breathe through it and hope it was working. I had to learn how to breathe while I was there, and my midwife was an excellent instructor. Turns out I am an excellent breather also, but I chalk that up to 27 years of breathing experience. So I had to wait the full 6 hours for the gel to work, and around half way I had to have something for pain. I felt really pathetic because of it, but it didn't really help anyways so it was pretty much for nothing. After 6 hours of breathing, moaning and crying, the doctor came back to check me again. Thank god I had such wonderful people there with me, because nothing on this earth could have prepared me for how being checked during a contraction would feel. I cried, I yelled, I damn near broke my best friend's hand. My husband was devastated to see me in such distress that he got emotional, which made me emotional too. So where did the first 6 hours get me? No where. My cervix was completely unchanged. No softening, no shortening, no nothing. So it was clearly too early for the oxytocin, so the next option was a second dose of prostin gel. Damn. Another 6 hours. The contractions and burning was quicker and more intense this time around, and the doctor gave me something more for pain. It helped a bit more to take the edge off, but still I spent 6 more hours crying, moaning, rocking, breathing, and more crying. Lots and lots of crying. So the first dose of prostin was around 8:00am, the second dose was around 2:00 pm, maybe a little later, possibly closer to 3:00pm, I can't be sure. Yes it must have been after 3:00 pm. So by around 10:30 pm the doctor came back (finally, he was late with another delivery so it really felt like forever) after my midwife went and tracked him down. He came in to check me, and this time I was ready to brace for it. I had a hand in each of my hands, I breathed and focused through it and all my effort seemed to help. It wasn't as painful as the prior check, but it was still very very unpleasant. The doctor didn't have good news for me. No change. No shortening, no softening, no nothing. So out came the paperwork. The doctor stated that he felt another dose of prostin would just give me another 6 hours of discomfort, and my blood pressure was continuing to rise, so he felt it would be best to get the babies out sooner rather than later. Done and done. I had no problem with it, because the odds of me going through another 6 hours for nothing was pretty great, and in the end the risks for my health and health of my babies were increasing by the hour. I've had surgery before, I wasn't afraid of it, and I knew that this would be a possibility so I was prepared for it. I filled out the forms I had to (incredibly difficult while crying and contracting by the way) to give the go ahead for the c section. The doctor had to go, but said he would be back by 11:00 pm hopefully to perform the c section. It was funny, because we realized that it would be the same day my cousin Jake was born, and deep down I kind of wished my babies would have their own birthday. Knowing so many people with birthdays in April, made that almost impossible. Interesting how things turn out.... We waited and waited and waited for the doctor to return; we sent out nurses and the midwife to find him, only to discover that the operating room was being held up by another surgery... So we just kept waiting...

C Section; April 14th 2011
The doctor finally got back to us, and by the time he did, it was after midnight. Our babies wound up having their own birthday after all. :) Our midwife gave my husband a pair of scrubs to wear, and he started to get ready. (He looks totally amazing in scrubs by the way, he really needs to find a job where he gets to wear them.) I'm still crying, still contracting, and am getting more and more exhausted. By the time I finally get walked (oh yes, walked, I was not very pleased with this part) down the hall to the operating room I had been in induced labour for almost 17 hours. I was anxious to get the spinal done, just so the pain would stop, but I was also terrified, as I've certainly never had a needle in my spine before. I stood in the waiting area with my Mom, my Dad, my best friend and my husband, fighting contractions every few minutes, waiting anxiously to hurry up and get into the operating room. The doctor appears and smiles, and tells me "guess what? In a few minutes you're going to be a mommy!" and I can't help but tear up, not from pain this time, but from joy. I get lead into the operating room where about a dozen attending surgeons, nurses, anaesthetists etc are waiting, and my midwife rubs my back. I get lead to the operating table and get helped up onto it in a sitting position. My midwife and anaesthetist direct me to lean over my midwife and push my back out, and be very very still. They cover my back with that nasty yellowish brown sterile solution, which was so cold it made every contraction so much worse. My body is shivering and shaking, and aching all over. I couldn't help but think that it felt like I had the flu. The anaesthetist tells me I'll feel a little bee sting, which is the numbing agent they use before they do the spinal block. Then I start to get scared, they tell me again to push my back out and be still, while the anaesthetist begins the spinal. He tells me that my feet will start to feel warm, and then my legs will get tingly. I need to tell him when my feet feel warm. The strangest and most comforting feeling ever. Honestly. After feeling so rough all day, that lovely warming feeling starting at my toes creeping up my legs was something I can't even explain. After the warmth, it began to feel like pins and needles, which is exactly what is supposed to happen. I tell the doctor that my feet feel warm, and everyone in the team around me gathers and swings me up onto my back. So quick and efficient, I barely remember it happening. The sheets went up to hide my view, and my husband came in. I remember looking up and being able to see a tiny bit of reflection on a metal grate on the ceiling, so I was able to see a very muddled vision of what was happening... mostly just color. Bryce sat beside me, and we asked each other if we were ok. We both nodded and he smiled. I was told I would feel them all touching me, but I wouldn't feel pain. They were so quiet I had no idea when the first incision was made, all I remember is when they said I would feel some pressure, which I did not. All of a sudden the doctor broke out in song, singing haapy birthday to my little boy, it was 1:06am. They whisked him around to see me and Bryce, and asked him if he wanted to go with them to recovery to see his son. He went and my midwife took his place. Soon after, another song for my baby girl, it was 1:07am. She was brought around to see me, so quickly I barely saw either of them. She was then whisked away too. I asked if they were ok, if they were alright, I was told, that they were perfect. :)

Recovery
I saw my baby girl first, once I made it back to my room. They handed her to me, and I instantly fell in love. She was beautiful, just as I knew she would be. I asked about my son, and was told that he had some respiratory issues and had to stay in the NICU. I was also told that I could not go see him until my spinal had worn off, which turned out to be at 8:00am that morning. I was devastated. I needed to see my son, but I was reassured it was for observation only, that he was ok. I was up and walking as soon as they would let me, I would have put on any act, any show, done anything in my power to just get into that NICU to see my son. This lead to me overdoing it this day, but I got to see my baby boy and had my baby girl released into my room as well, so it was all worth it. My daughter began her life with my husband and I in our room at 11:00 am that morning, and my son was released at around 8:00pm that evening. It was an incredibly long day, night and day again... and so on and so on... But these gorgeous children, make everything worth it.