The Birth Story

I really didn't think I would be writing my birth story so soon. It's really amazing how quickly things can happen in life and how the best laid plans aren't always that useful! So here is what happened on Saturday...

When I woke up on Saturday morning I was 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Greg had brought Lizzie downstairs to have some breakfast so I could snooze a bit more but I needed to use the bathroom first. When I stood up from the toilet there was a small gush of liquid where, frankly, there shouldn't have been any. I thought that perhaps one of the twins might have kicked my bladder or something (ok, that was wishful thinking) so I sat down on the toilet again. When I got up the second time the same thing happened. At this point I was pretty sure my water had broken so I stuck on a pad and started cursing. This wasn't supposed to happen. Up until that point my pregnancy had been relatively smooth. I also had a hair appointment that morning which I had really been looking forward to! Bugger!

I called the midwives knowing that they would want me to come in so they could check if it was amniotic fluid and to monitor the babies. The same thing happened with Lizzie only she was 39 weeks at the time. I didn't even get a chance to eat breakfast. They called me back immediately and wanted me to come in ASAP. I did manage to have a quick shower then grabbed some Gatorade and a Power Bar for the trip there. Greg and Lizzie were still in their PJs so I told them to stay at home and I would update them.

At the hospital they very quickly determined it was amniotic fluid so I was hooked up to the monitors, given a dose of steroids and put on magnesium to stop the contractions I was having (although they weren't really noticeable at the time). It was also decided that I should be transferred to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston which is where the perinatologist I had been seeing has his practice. The Special Care nursery at Beverly was full up and they wanted me in a hospital with a NICU that could handle intubation, in case the babies needed it. So I won my first ride in an ambulance as a patient! Because my contractions seemed to be getting stronger and both the babies were breech, the nurse wanted the ambulance's lights on so we could make the 40 minute bumpy ride in to Boston quicker. They even put the sirens on as we headed in to the city. Very exciting!

It's a very strange feeling arriving at an unfamiliar hospital on a stretcher and not really knowing where they are taking you or what is about to happen. Greg was still home watching Lizzie until we knew more about what was happening but my brother and sister-in-law were waiting in the wings to take over so Greg could join me. Once I was settled there was still some talk of trying to hold off my labor for 48 hours so the steroids had more of a chance to kick in and mature the twins lungs. My contractions kept coming so they upped my dosage of magnesium but to no avail. Soon I was calling Greg and tell him to get his butt in to the hospital because I was going in for a c-section in a couple hours.

There was one person ahead of me getting her c-section first then it would be my turn. Greg eventually made his way to the hospital but as anyone who has ever driven in Boston knows, it wasn't the easiest task. It didn't help that I had our GPS with me so he was trying to use a Google map. When he arrived we found out that our c-section had been bumped again but it wouldn't take long. Of course, at this point my contractions were getting much stronger and I was already 3 cm dilated and almost fully effaced. It's really a shame it couldn't have been a vaginal birth because it was going so much faster than Lizzie's labor! Figures!

I was finally brought in to the OR a little after 5. It took three tries for the anesthesiologist to get the spinal in the right place, three painful tries I might add. I am told that my ligaments in my back feel like bone! They are very strong which is great for my back support but bad if I need anesthesia. I almost passed out while they were doing it as well. For those of you who have never had a spinal, it was a very strange experience. You can still feel touch but you can't feel pain which is very unnerving especially when you know they are about to cut in to you. When the surgery got under way it didn't take too long. I felt lots of tugging but no pain and soon I could hear the beautiful cry of Alex followed quickly by Emily. They were both born at 6:22 pm on April 18th. The NICU teams were ready and waiting but they let me see them both before they wisked them off and left the surgical team to stitch me back up.

I may not have felt the pain of the cutting but it was EXTREMELY uncomfortable when they had my uterus outside of me and were closing it up. I was very thankful when they put it back and stapled me shut. So in 12 hours I had gone from thinking I had at least a couple more weeks left to having two new babies down in the NICU! It all felt very surreal (and still does in many ways). I still think I would prefer a vaginal birth but I am very happy that the c-section went smoothly and there were no complications.

This has been a long enough post already so I will leave you with a few pictures taken on their first night in the NICU and will return tomorrow to let you know how things have progressed.

PS - I really never imagined that this blog would talk about infertility, pregnancy with twins and now premature babies!

Alex: 4 lbs 9 oz

Emily: 4 lbs 3 oz