Twin C-Section: Jeffry & Sadie (long)
Birth Story
Background: I was scheduled for a c-section 10/21/09 at 36 weeks for
intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Basically, the babies were
still growing, just not at the same rate they had been up until that
point.
We were scheduled to arrive at 10:30am for the c-section, which was
at 12:30. I took a shower and got dressed, my mom met us at our
house, and we were on the way to the hospital. I had packed weeks
before after my L&D scare / bedrest at 29 weeks, so everything was
by the door, we just had to grab it and go.
The whole drive to the hospital was kind of surreal.... I just kept
thinking that in two hours, we were going to be parents. I started
to get nervous, and my hands wouldn't stop fidgeting, so I pulled out
my new iPhone and played word scramble the whole way there. My
husband looked over at me and said, "you're about to have two babies,
and all you can do is play word games on your phone." He laughed,
then held my hand the last few minutes to keep my hands occupied.
We check in at L&D and were brought back to the holding room. It
was set up like a recovery room, with curtained off areas and four or
five beds, but since we were the only scheduled section until late
that afternoon, we had the whole room to ourselves. I changed into
a gown and the nurse hooked me up to the contraction monitor. I was
contracting every three minutes, which was expected, since I had
stopped my Procardia the night before. She listened to both heartbeats
and got my IV started. Once I was settled in bed, my family was able
to come back and visit while we waited.
At noon, the nurse came back to run everyone out of the room and got
me prepped. I got the lovely bikini shave while my husband and mom
changed into their scrubs and hats. I was transferred into a
wheelchair, and we were off to the delivery room.
My husband and mom had to wait outside while I was prepped. I had
been absolutely terrified of getting an epidural, but it really wasn't
that bad - the lidocaine numbing up the area was the worst of it. I
laid back on the table and started to feel warm all over, which was
lovely since the room was freezing cold. I got pinched in a million
places to make sure it was effective, then got a foley catheter put
in and was propped up with a wedge pillow under my hips, tilting me to
one side.
Here's where everything fast-forwarded and gave me the worst scare
of my life.
Once I was positioned back on the table, the fetal monitors were put
back on. After a few minutes, one of the nurses wanted to move the
wedge pillow to the other side, so they repositioned me. After
another few quiet minutes, they put me back on the side I was
originally on.
At that point, the nurse anesthetist said, "we're going to put a little
oxygen on you".... and at the same time I heard one of the nurses murmur
"decels in the 50's" to the other nurse. being a nurse myself, i knew
what that meant - the babies' heart rates had dropped.
After another few minutes, I asked the nurse by my head, "did they
recover?" (meaning, did the heart rates go back up). She never took her
eyes off the monitor as she shook her head. She asked the other nurse,
"did you page dr. s already?" The other nurse said yes, and she said
"well, page him again." I look over at the nurse anesthetist at
my right shoulder and she has this "oh $h!t" look on her face - that's when
I started to silently freak out.
They yank the monitors off, throw the drapes over me, and squirt what
seems to be an entire bottle of betadine on my stomach - no little swabbing
sponges like you see on TV. My husband and mom were still out in the
hallway waiting. At this point, my mom, who is also a nurse, was starting
to worry about what was taking so long.
According to my mom, as soon as Dr. S. gets to the hallway where they
were waiting and he was to scrub in, he was talking to both of them at
the same time he is furiously scrubbing his hands and arms. He tells them
things are going to move a little quickly, so get ready and keep your eyes
open so you don't miss anything. My mom swears he did a five second
hand wash, so she knows something is up.
My husband and mom walk in at the same time Dr. S. does, and they are
seated at my left shoulder. Dr. S. breezes in and says, "hey, miss
allinduetime, we're going to move a little quickly here" as he gets gloves
snapped on and immediately grabs the scalpel. I hear the nurse say, "time
of incision?" he says, "12:32." I thought I was going to have the huge
drape strung up in front of me like you see on TV, but no - I had this
little half-moon shaped bar across my shoulders that only came up to
my chin. My mom and husband had a 100% unobstructed view.
I felt the pressure of the scalpel, and then feel two huge tugs (after
watching the video, Dr. S. had literally grasped both the top and bottom
of the incision and pulled it apart, just like if you were pulling open
a duffel bag). I remember thinking over and over, "please, god, just let
me hear them cry. just let me hear them cry."
I knew they were going to be small, but if they cried right away, then
I would have some reassurance that they would be okay. Dr. S asked,
"i don't know which one this is, but here he or she comes!" I feel
what seems like a pop, and I hear the loudest, shrillest cry I've ever
heard. Dr. S. says, "here's your boy!" and walks around to the side to
show me.
This little peanut was screaming his head off. He looked so tiny in Dr.
S's hands, and was curled up in a little ball. But he was crying, and that's
all that mattered to me! My mom keeps repeating, "he looks good, baby, he
looks so good!" My husband is speechless. Dr. S. says "time of birth,
12:35" and hands him off to the NICU nurse who was stationed in an
adjoining resuscitation room.
I couldn't believe what I had just heard - 3 minutes from the time of the
first incision, until I heard that beautiful cry. This was my son.
Dr. G, who was assisting Dr. S., was on the side of the other twin, and she
was reaching in up to her elbow with one hand and pushing down on my stomach
with the other hand. She remarked, "this one is custom fit!" By the time
Dr. S. came back from handing off Jeffry, Sadie was far enough down to where
he could pull her out. She didn't come out crying, but Dr. E. walked around
to show her to me and she was pink and wiggling. Dr. S. says "time of
birth, 12:36." She was handed off to the nurse and brought to the resuscitation
room. Everything was quiet as I listened to hear that second cry.... and
sure enough, within a few seconds, I hear Sadie's cry joining her brother's.
I immediately start bawling.... all the frustrations, the two years of trying
to get pregnant, the screaming, the tears, the failed treatments, the pills,
the shots, the forty-four empty boxes of pregnancy tests I pulled out of
my bathroom cabinet a few weeks before (yup - i counted).... all of that was
forgotten in those four minutes.
My husband says to me, with tears in his eyes, "if i didn't have this damned
mask on right now, i would kiss you." which makes me cry even more. Dr. S.
starts stitching everything up and says, "wow, no stretch marks, and just a
tiny incision!". I said, "that's what happens when morning sickness is so
bad, you only gain eleven pounds" and he said "well, those babies certainly
got everything they needed to look as good as they do now" which reassured me
that they were going to be okay.
My mom asks if my husband wants to go in the room with the babies, and he says
"no, you go ahead".... I think he was still shell-shocked. 
My mom goes in
with her camera while I'm still listening to the music of screaming babies.
After a few minutes, she comes back out and my husband goes in. Once I am
stitched up and moved to a stretcher, the nurse comes out with Jeffry in an
isolette and says they are on their way up to the NICU because of his weight.
He weighed four pounds, three ounces, and it is their protocol that if babies
are less than 2000 grams, they automatically go to the NICU.
Jeffry was still wailing in the isolette. He didn't have any oxygen on and
no tubes coming out from anywhere, which was a huge relief. He was rolled
off, and I was wheeled into the resuscitation room to see Sadie. She was
bundled up and put into my arms, and it felt like the weight of the world
was just handed to me along with her. This was my daughter.
It was so surreal that looking back at pictures, I have this look in my eyes
that almost looks like I'm not really there. I can't believe this baby I
am holding is actually mine. My husband is wiping tears away as he watches
us, and I just snuggle her tight and kiss her tiny cheeks. After a few mintues
I was expecting the nurse to say she was going to the NICU with her brother,
but they begin to wheel me out with her still in my arms. I asked, "I get
to take her with me?" and they said yes - she weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces,
so after she spent some time in the transition nursery and got cleaned up,
she would be going to the floor with me.
We're wheeled down the hall into the family viewing room, where the rest
of my family was waiting. A thousand pictures were snapped, and we got
about 15 minutes to be with everyone until the transition nurse arrived to
take her to the nursery. I was wheeled into recovery, and as I'm waiting
for my IV pain meds to kick in, I realize I'm wearing two ID bracelets.
My two children.
The morphine kicks in, and I sleep peacefully for the next hour. Once my
pain was rated below a 5, I was allowed to go to the floor. I get settled
into my room, where my family is waiting, and within 30 minutes, Sadie is
brought into the room in her little crib. The nurse tells me as soon as
my epidural is completely worn off and I can move both of my legs up and
down in the bed, I can get in a wheelchair and go to the NICU to see Jeffry.
This is where I begin to feel so torn.... I have this beautiful baby girl
that I've gotten to hold, snuggle, kiss.... and another baby I have yet to
meet. I hated to send her to the nursery to go visit Jeffry, but I couldn't
wait any longer - after a few hours, I got in the wheelchair and my husband
pushed me towards the NICU.
When we get there, it is a beautiful sight - my tiny boy, with a little
feeding tube in his nose, with no oxygen, no CPAP, no respirator. My
husband picked him up and handed him to me, and the same rush of feelings
that came over me in the resuscitation room with Sadie came flooding back.
I hated to put him down, but my pain meds were wearing off, so we went back
to the room after about an hour. The next three days were a blur....
breastfeeding Sadie, pumping what I could for Jeffry, then wheeling down to
the NICU with my precious little bottles in hand to feed him. After two
days, my milk came in with a vengeance - my teeny B cups were now rock hard
D's that would not let down. I felt like I had two sacks of marbles
sitting on my chest! The shower was my only source of relief, and even
then it wasn't enough. My husband remarked about my "porn star boobs"
and I told him to enjoy the sight now, because the next time they would look
like this was when he bought my breast lift and implants in five years.
After four days, we were discharged home with Sadie, having to leave Jeffry
behind in the NICU. He came home on the eighth day, and once we were all
under the same roof, it finally felt like my family was complete.
Re: Twin C-Section: Jeffry & Sadie (long)