The twin birth story part 2

The doctor performed a test to determine if I was numb. She said it was pinching. The first two pinches I could feel the tug but not the pain. The third pinch I felt a little pain. She did the test again a couple minutes later. Same results. But for some reason, she started to cut anyway. I didn't feel the initial cut and I prayed hard to Heavenly Father that it would continue that way. But then the moving of stuff a opening and separating my innards definitely brought out the pain. I squeezed Danny's hand as hard as I could and begged him not to watch. I was so worried that he would pass out and I wouldn't have any support through the pain. It was awful. Like my friend's mother described to her when asked about her experiences with a not-numb c-section, "you know in those nature shows when it shows a lion eating a gazelle? That's what it feels like."

"It hurts. It hurts. I need drugs," I found myself repeating. I kept praying in my head and tried to focus on babies coming out any moment. I tried to tell myself that giving birth to Hammy was more painful. But I wasn't convinced. I felt like if I could just apply pressure to my right side I would feel better. Danny kept saying, "No. Don't touch," and grabbing my hand. At some point they strapped both my arms down.

Moments after the second baby was born and I heard a little cry I knew an end was in sight. I asked Danny, "Do they look alike?" He said, "Well, it's hard to tell because they're all slimy."

The placenta was delivered and finally the silent anesthesiologist said in response to Danny's inquiring to what he was doing, "I'm giving her morphine."

My neck tensed up and I felt hot from shoulder to shoulder across my back. I felt the vomit coming. I said, "I feel so sick." The anesthesiologist placed a little emesis basin next to my face. The doctor said something to him about controlling the pain level and he replied, "If the morphine doesn't work, I'll put her under."

The next thing I remember is being rolled into the recovery room and Danny saying to the nurse, "So, tell me about her ovaries."

to be continued . . .



read The twin birth story part 1
read The twin birth story part 3

The twin birth story part 1

First one out

Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 35 weeks pregnant, I went up to the county hospital with many signs of Preeclampsia, ie. swelling from the hips down both legs and feet, severe headaches, blurry vision, raised blood pressure. While I was there they discovered I had a large amount of protein in my urine-- which is typical of Preeclampsia.

The blood tests to determine if my liver was functioning well came back normal. But they realized that my iron levels were low. 6.7 to be exact.

They also decided to observe me for the night in case I was in the beginning stages of Preeclampsia. The doctor did an ultrasound to check on the babies and found them both in the breach position.

The doctor ordered continuous baby monitoring and contraction monitoring.

Within the next two hours it was apparent I was in active labor.

The doctor had gone home- being his day off and being exhausted from not really having a day off anyways. So I got a couple of lady doctors that work with the hospital anyway.

They prepped me for a C-section.

The drugs did not work. I was not numb.

to be continued . . .

read The twin birth story part 2

Please pray

I am doing very poorly. I need your prayers desperately. Wish I had energy to blog it all now.

Twins have arrived!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 10:05 p.m. 6 lbs. 15 oz. of baby on left was born.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 10:06 p.m. 6 lbs. 1 oz. of baby on right was born.

Both boys are amazingly healthy. Being born at 35 weeks gestation they were automatically sent to the NICU for observation. Neither one needs oxygen. All blood tests were normal. Right now they're basically being observed for eating to see if they can eat and gain weight. Baby on left is a champion eater and decided to remove his feeding tube to prove it.

The pathology report on the placenta determined it was two separate placentas fused together. Everyday Danny and I change our mind about if they're fraternal or identical. I suspect if their mild jaundice levels returned to normal, if baby on the right's skin was less red, and if they weighed the same, they'd look identical. But that's just my opinion as of this afternoon. Earlier today I thought baby on left looked like Danny and Pookie's birth pictures. And I thought baby on right looked like Bun and maybe a masculine form of Gabbers' birth pictures.

So if they were for sure sharing the same placenta, they'd be identical. There's still a possibility that they are identical if the egg split early enough for them to create their own placentas.

As for me and my adventures in laboring and recovering, that is another post. But as crappy as I feel, I couldn't have been more blessed than I am with these super snuggly healthy boys.

Are we there yet? alternate title: I'm tired of this! Take them out!

My OB is in my ward at church. If you're not LDS, you might be more familiar with the term "congregation." When Danny and his mom and the kids were leaving for church nearly an hour ago I told him, "Glare at Dr. XXXX. And then tell him with a very stern voice, 'Take the babies out. I want my wife back.'" I also told him that if he should see Dr. XXXX get up and leave sacrament meeting in a hasty rush, he (Danny) should follow him because it might be because of my phone call.

I'm in pain all the time now. My uterus aches constantly even when I'm not contracting. I went to Labor & Delivery Friday night at 11 p.m. with contractions 4-5 minutes apart. After four doses of a drug called Procardia, the contractions slowed to 5-6 minutes apart. They gave me a shot of Terbutaline as a last ditch effort and discharged me after checking my un-changing cervix. So I went home jittery (from the Terbutaline) and within two hours started the worst headache of my life-- thanks to the Procardia.

I was instructed upon discharge to take the Procardia at home every four hours whether I have contractions or not until I reach 35 weeks. Well, I say to that, "flllllrbbbbtttt!" I'm not taking a drug that gives me awful headaches and doesn't dent my contractions.

So, just barely I took some Terbutaline. Why? Everyone is at church and I have contractions 6 minutes apart and I'm terrified of giving birth in the living room to twins knowing full well the first one is breach. And because Terbutaline actually helps. a little.

Honestly, I'm super excited to meet my little twins. But the very thought of having a twin pregnancy again is HORRIFYING.



P.S. Danny has pulled out all the stops when it comes to tact. At least that's how it seems to me. Last night I was telling him that my outer thighs feel weird like they're dense or numb-ish. And he said, "It's because you're retaining water. I mean just look at your right leg and foot. It looks like you're wearing a sumo suit."

34 weeks and pics

34 weeks exactly. Notice the puffy sleep-deprived eyes. *sigh* There is no position left that I can comfortably sleep in. The best is the lazy boy. But you should see my feet-- my right foot in particular. It looks like it belongs on a 500 lb. caveman. The children were most entertained today. Every time the thought occurred to them, they'd rush over and see if my foot was still growing into a giant.
This pose demonstrates the position I find myself in when I'm standing or walking (only to the bathroom of course since I'm on bedrest). I worry that if I don't hold up this gigantic belly it might fall off or something.

So, Friday I got discharged from the hospital to go home on bedrest. After nearly two weeks of monitoring the babies and frequently checking my cervix, they determined I was safe to go home. The babies never showed signs of distress on the monitors. And my cervix stayed at 1 cm despite the constant contractions. The doctor said I could dance around after 34 weeks. lol

However, yesterday I called my local OB to ask him if it was normal or okay that my stomach is numb. If you go out about a 4 to 5 inch radius from my belly button and draw a circle around it, the whole area is numb. It's kind of a weird sensation really-- or rather, lack of sensation. Anyways, he said it's normal since I'm so full of baby right now and something or other about the nerves and the thinness of the abdominal wall.

Then my OB told me that he discussed me at great length over the weekend with the doctor from the other hospital. And even though they believe 34 weeks is a safe time, he prefers I "lay down on my left side and not move until 35 weeks." He said, "You are on complete bedrest. No cooking. No cleaning. No shopping. You understand?" I said, "Yes sir. My mother-in-law is here and taking care of all of us nicely."

So, that's my current story-- hoping for 7 more days. Tonight I decided though, if I can make it to August 30th, that would be really good. I'll be 36 weeks 5 days. That's a special day for me. It's Danny's grandma's birthday. It's one of my best friend's birthday. It's my sister-in-law Amy's birthday. And it's the day I said good-bye to my childhood dog, Tara. So, if I can make it to 36 weeks 5 days, I'll be doing laps around the block and possibly drinking Milk of Magnesia. ;)

I knew I was getting bigger

Yesterday on the way home from the hospital I had to use the bathroom really bad. No surprise. So as soon as we found a decent establishment a.k.a. not a bar or a gas station, I indicated to Danny to pull the car over. It was a Walgreens. And as far as my memory served me correctly, I was pretty sure I used their facilities before.

As I walked into the Walgreens, a woman with a grade school age son and a preschool daughter (probably aged 3) were walking out. The cute little girl said, "Momma, she gonna have a baby!" And the mom without missing a beat replied, "Oh yeah, any minute now."

Leaving... on a jet plane in a blue car

In about 40 minutes my peeps are going to break me out of this joint.

Sleep? Pshaw. Highly overrated.

Yesterday I received an email from my older sister Leslie with the subject line saying, "It's okay to nap now and then" and this pic attached. I laughed so hard I was sure the nurses were going to come check on me.

Last night I discovered I cannot sleep on my side anymore. I tried all variations with my adjustable hospital bed and pillows and sheets. My stomach is way too big and heavy. If I'm laying on my left side my right side hurts from the weight pulling against it. My left arm feels pinned down under the weight of me. And should I decide that I need to pee, there's no convincing the rest of my body that I can get out of bed by myself. If I were at home I'd say, "Danny! I need to pee! Push me out of bed PLEASE!" But here in the hospital I don't have a spare Danny for such middle of the night emergencies. So, I have to sleep in a sitting position --being careful not to have too much of a reclining position so the babies aren't pressing against a main artery in my back.

Part of me wants the babies out so I can recover and sleep like a normal person. When I think about that though I feel so guilty knowing they would surely end up in the NICU and if they didn't end up in the NICU did I really think I would be getting sleep like a normal person with newborn twins at home?! *sigh*

So I've been compiling in my head all the good advice that will surely come in handy when I write a book about how to have a successful twin pregnancy. You know, along with that How to Potty train your child and not lose your mind book I'm also concocting. There's something about knowing that I could possibly help someone else in their struggle that helps me through mine. Or maybe just some good notes for myself in case I find my self down this road again.

Anyhow, yesterday I won the battle with shaving my legs. Please make sure you interpret "won" correctly. I came out of the teeny-tiny hospital shower (which happens to have a burned out lightbulb) with no knicks on my legs. Sure I still look half Amazon woman, but I did not give up. I suppose that counts for a good workout too. The nurse looked at me like I was nuts when I told her of the battle and she said, "Oh, hairy legs? We've seen much much worse." She's such a funny lady. She also happens to be the nurse that was with me when I delivered Gabbers here nearly six years ago. Her name is Kathy. Kathy tells me I'm a good incubator. She says that every time she sees me I look bigger and that's good because that means the babies are growing.

You know who you are

I have been blog-surfing today from my hospital bed. I've noticed several of you have my last name on your blog in links or posts with pics. With all the identity theft rampant in the world today and scary stalkers and such, I ask that you PLEASE remove my last name. And please remember when commenting as well. And don't forget to use the children's nicknames in the comments too.

Speaking of which, Baby A and Baby B will need some blog nicknames. Any suggestions? If you happen to be one of the few that already know what their first names will be, please don't mention that either in the comment section.

Thank you and good-night.

Coming to you live from my little corner of the hospital

I was readmitted to the hospital about 24 hours from being released. My contractions were 2 1/2 minutes apart and my local doctor was not pleased that they released me to begin with.

I did receive steroid shots for the babies' lungs last Monday and Tuesday.

The nurses and doctor have commented on the obvious growth of my belly just over the last few days.

I feel like I'm starving. So I've been ordering an extra banana or crackers with meals and squirreling them away into a drawer for the middle of the night when they think I don't need to be eating. Today Danny brought me some yogurt and Ensures for my stash. Unfortunately the yogurt has to be refrigerated-- which means I have to ask for it. Most of the nurses are very nice. A couple seem inconvenienced when I say things like, "I need to use the bathroom. Can you unplug all these monitors?"

I miss the orange sherbet from the Frozen North Hospital. However, they have the best vegetables here, and I swear their pie crust is homemade. :)

I'm 33 weeks tomorrow. The goal is to make it to 34 weeks. Thank you for all your prayers and kind thoughts.