Birth Story

The boy's birth story starts very early Wednesday morning, about 5:00am. We were a block from the hospital when we saw flashing blue and red lights behind us. Yes, Erik was so anxious to get to the hospital that he passed an HPD until going 30 OVER the speed limit. Fortunately, all Erik had to do was show the officer his shiny badge and we were on our way again, without a ticket. So we got to the hospital and all checked in by 5:30 and then came 3 hrs of waiting. During that 3 hrs I did have some blood tests done (had to check the levels of my blood thinners to make sure everything was out of my system), had to sign a dozen or so consent forms, and wait for shift change. To my pleasant surprise my L&D nurse was LDS. So at 8:30 my pitocin was started. My Dr came in a few minutes later to check me (I was dilated to 5) and break the first bag of waters. So we waited for the pitocin to kick in and around 9:15 my epidural was ordered. This is where the fun really starts. The anesthesiologist came and prepped my back. He stuck the needle in did the catheter and when the needle came out, so did some spinal fluid (not a good thing) so he had to take that catheter out and try it again. The second time it worked, however, I was warned that since the first one didn't work, there was a slight chance that I would get a spinal headache (a bad headache when you sit up/stand but goes away while laying down) sometime in the next few days. After a little while, the epidural started to work, on one side. My left side was completely numb and I could feel everything on my right side. My nurse had me roll to my right side and that seemed to help. My nurse checked me again around 10:00 and was surprised to find that I was completely dilated. A few minutes later, Baby A's heart rate dropped to the low 40s. Some code was called and in a matter of moments there were a ton of nurses in my room. I was unhooked and rushed to the OR. It was a bumpy ride as we hit doorways and walls in the rush. Poor Erik was left standing outside the OR doors because they hadn't had time to give him his surgical gear. Fortunately by the time we got everything hooked back up in the OR the babies HR was back to normal. Erik hurried and got scrubbed up while we waited for the Dr to get there. Erik says there was about 23 people in the OR and several more in the wings waiting for the babies to come out. The Dr got there and within a matter of minutes Baby A was born at 10:39. At this point, my body decided it was done and stopped contracting. The pitocin was started again (it had been stopped before the mad rush to the OR) and 13 minutes later, Baby B was born at 10:52. It was apparent right from birth that there was going to be complications with the boys. W came out red and C was white (Erik said it was like a bottle of ketchup and a gallon of milk). C was also the same size that he measured at our 34 wk ultrasound (so he hadn't grown in 2 wks). C was rushed off to the NICU for a blood transfusion. The nurses brought W for me to hold before rushing him to the NICU as well. After some testing, the Dr's decided that W needed a transfusion as well. He had too much blood and it was too thick. So they took out some of his blood thinned it out and then put it back in. In the mean time, I got cleaned up and sent to my recovery room. While there, I started to get a headache while eating lunch. I told my nurse who relayed the message to the anesthesiologist. He came and talked to me and said that if it didn't go way on it's own by the following day they'd try a procedure called a blood patch, in the meantime I was supposed to lay down as much as possible. I was soon wheeled to my Postpartum room where the anesthesiologist stopped by again to tell me that after talking to my Dr, they decided that if I wanted a blood patch, then it should be done that day instead of waiting because I would be started back on my blood thinners the following day. I decided to go ahead and have the procedure done. While waiting for the Dr to get everything ready, I asked the nurse to wheel me to the NICU so I could see my boys (I wouldn't be going anywhere once I had the patch done). My headache got really bad while we were there and I ended up puking everywhere on our way back to the room. Once I was cleaned up, I had yet another large needle stuck into my back and was told to stay laying on my back for the rest of the day. I could only get up to use the restroom. By the next morning I was feeling better and the headache seemed to be gone, so the first thing I did was to head to the NICU to see my boys. Their blood transfusions had gone well the day before so now all they needed to do was learn to maintain their body temp and work on eating (though feedings wouldn't start until the following day). I was at NICU a lot that day and got to hold C for the first time. I guess I over did it because the following day (Friday) I woke up with a headache again. So that morning, I had another blood patch done and again was told to lay down and that if it didn't start working that day I'd have to spend another night at the hospital (which would have been fine if I didn't have J to take care of. She was having a rough time with Mommy being in the hospital). Fortunately it worked and a little after 8:00 that night we headed for home. Friday the boys started their feeds and took to the bottle very well. At first they were given very little (W got 5ml and C got 4ml) because the blood transfusions could have affected their digestive system and the Dr didn't want to take any chances and make problems worse. W ended up being jaundice and was put under the lights for 2 days and Sunday the IV in his arm blew and they had to stick the new one in his forehead. Monday night, they took C's IV out completely and let W start on full feeds (as much as he could eat but at least 55ml). This morning they let C start full feeds (his min was 40ml) and this afternoon W's IV came out. And the Dr says everything looks good so we can start getting ready to bring them home. They both had their hearing tests today (and passed), tomorrow they'll do their car seat tests (they have to maintain their vitals while sitting in the car seat for an hour) and I have to watch a CPR video and then by Thursday early afternoon we should be on our way home with them.