Birth Story...

Here is how the boys came into the world - (it's a long read...)

On January 8, 2009 at 1pm I was laying on our couch watching TV, I had just showered and talked to Christian who was on his way home from work to bring me some lunch. I felt three very hard and strange kicks from baby A. I didn't usually feel him move as much as baby B so I decided to sit up and change positions. When I did I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom so I stood and immediately felt a big gush of fluid. I paused, thinking to myself "did I just pee my pants?" I went into the bathroom and the fluid kept coming out. I immediately called Christian, crying because I was scared that it was too early and honestly wasn't quite ready, I told him to come home instead of get us food because I think my water just broke. After hanging up the phone I called my OB's office who told me to come into labor and delivery right away.

Luckily Christian was just exiting to our house and was home in a few minutes. I waddle around our house trying to get a few things together, put on clothes and also dry my hair before going out into the cold. Of course I didn't think to pack a bag because I heard the nurse say "right away" and my brain couldn't think of anything else.

We got to the hospital at 1:30 pm and was sent to triage, hooked up to an IV, baby heartbeat monitors and a contraction monitor. We sat there for about a half an hour before Dr. Hyde, my OB came in to check on me. He was not working that day so he had come in from home to see how I was doing - I was so glad about this because I found out that Dr. Davis was the doctor on call that day (and the only one from the office I didn't like). When Dr. Hyde checked me I was already 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced, having contractions every minute and baby A was in +1 station. He told us that we were going to have these boys that day and asked the nurse to admit me and start me on pitocin to get things rolling.

He also told us he had a family obligation at 5pm and wouldn't be the one delivering the babies. My heart sank and I started to panic that Dr. Davis would deliver our twins, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Dr. Hyde said he'd check in on me after he was done that evening to see how everything went.

I was checked into a room and hooked up to more monitors and got into bed. At this point I wasn't feeling the contractions so they started the pitocin. It wasn't until about 6pm that the contractions started to hurt, by 7:45 pm I was in pain and the nurse asked if I wanted the epidural - I nodded my head and she said that she had already gotten the supplies ready and notified the anesthesiologist because she thought I was ready - even though I wouldn't admit that I was.

Around 8pm I got my epidural and was rechecked. I was 4cm, 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station now. The epidural took 20 minutes to administer and get in the right spot and I had to be numbed two times. Honestly, this was the worst part of the entire pregnancy/labor/delivery. The epidural immediately started working on my left side but I was still feeling everything from mid thigh up on the right side. I turned onto my right side for gravity to do it's job and spread out the pain medication. About an hour later, at 9pm, I was finally all the way numb and could relax. I told the nurse I was starting to feel some pressure down there.

At 10:30 pm Dr. Davis came in to check on me and talk to me about delivery. He asked if we were going to try vaginally since both boys were heads down, and I said yes. He then proceeded to talk about how he saw in my chart Dr. Hyde said he would do a breech extraction if baby B flipped - Dr. Davis said under no circumstances would he reach in and change the position of the baby or extract him. If baby B flipped he'd do a c-section. I started to panic a bit and then 2 minutes later Dr. Hyde walked in and announced "I've got it from here". I was so happy I cried!

He checked me and said that the baby's head was right there and I was ready to go. He asked me to put my legs down and keep them together. The nurses prepared me to go into the operating room (twins can't be born in the birthing suites in case an emergency c-section is needed) and I kept asking if the baby was coming out. The nurse would look and say - "nope still in there!"

At 10:45 I was in the delivery room and 5 minutes later (after about 10 doctors/nurses came in) I started pushing. I had two delivery nurses and two doctors right next to me during delivery (I'm pretty sure Christian was there too). One of the doctors had an ultrasound machine hooked up and was watching Baby B during the delivery of his brother.

It took 3 contractions and several minutes before baby A was born at 11:06 pm weighing 4lbs 10oz and 17.7 inches long. After the first contraction they had me feel that his head was already out, he was really ready! They briefly showed him to me and took him over to the neonatologist standing by. I was so distracted by baby A's birth that I couldn't focus on my next delivery. I kept asking if Baby A was okay they assured me he was and took him up to the NICU. I cried and got back to business.

The nurses were holding baby B in place, from the outside, so he wouldn't flip. Dr. Hyde broke his bag of water and with the next contraction I had to push to get him down into position. He was so high up that the doctor had to help him by literally reaching in. The ultrasound was still on baby B and it showed that his hands were up and in front of his face. Dr. Hyde again had to reach in to move baby's hands so his head could 'engage'. (Here is where I think to myself - WOW if Dr. Davis would have delivered the twins I would have had a vaginal and c-section delivery!!!) It worked and I started pushing again.

It was hard to tell if I was actually pushing because there was less pressure in my abdomen since baby A was out. It took a bit longer to get baby B out but he arrived at 11:24 pm - 18 minutes after his brother and with about 6 contractions. He weighed 4lbs 2oz and was also 17.7 inches long. As he came out he looked so much smaller, and was bright red. They took him right over to the neonatologist and up to the NICU after assuring me he was okay.

Christian got to go up with the boys right away, and I was left to get "put back together" and recover from the epidural in my room. I was so anxious to see the boys, every 5 minutes I asked if I could go up. The nurse said that they typically make the mom wait 2 hours - something I wasn't going to do! Within an hour I said I was ready, and they let me go up after proving that I could stand, use the bathroom and wasn't bleeding too much.

They wheeled me up to the NICU and I got to see them for the first time, but not hold them. The delivery nurse was so nice and took our camera so we have a few pictures. Christian was so overwhelmed he totally forgot to take any! After looking at them for a few minutes I told Christian that I thought Baby A looked like "Gavin" and Baby B "Lucas". He also thought the same thing and said that he almost told the nurse that was their names before I got up there!

Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) came in about 30 minutes later to briefly see the boys. I was allowed to stay about an hour before being taken back downstairs, Christian stayed with the boys through the night. It was the longest night of my life and I didn't sleep at all. I was downstairs in the recovery room alone and nervous about how the boys were doing. I made it to about 5:30 am until I called the nurse in and said that I wanted to go back up. They had me try pumping for the first time before going up, with no success.

Up in the NICU room I got to touch the boys again and make sure they were okay before returning to my room to 'sleep' - this time Christian came down with me. At 9am I went back up to the boy's room and stayed for several hours before Christian and my parents joined me, we all just sat and stared at the little men.

That afternoon Dr. Hyde came up to the boys room to see how I was doing. He asked how I was feeling and if I wanted to be released - I did! I went back downstairs to get discharged, fill out birth certificates, shower and get pain medication before I was released. Since then, we've been spending nights at home and the whole day in the NICU room with the boys.

Now I can officially say - I am super woman! I delivered twins, vaginally, in 45 minutes time after laboring for only 10 hours. I was up and walking within an hour of delivery and released within 24 hours. So okay, I had an epidural (but we can't all be perfect). I am truly amazed how well I did and how perfect the boys turned out. I couldn't ask for more and can't remember what it was like before they were here.