My Boys Have Arrived! (Long Birth Story)

nygrl79 · April 2010

Alek Jakob (6lb 11oz) and David Binim (5lb 3oz) were born on Friday, April 2nd at 10:34 a.m. (both came out in the same minute). Both boys are perfectly healthy and robust. No NICU time was needed and we all came home together. I will post pictures when I figure out how and when I get more time ... today is the first day I have been on the internet since they were born.

They were born at 37w4d via a scheduled c/s. Twin A was transverse breech the day of the c/s even though he was head down 6 days before, so the choice of a c/s v. induction was made for me. The c/s was less scary than I expected. Because it was scheduled, it was very calm in the OR and the team introduced themselves and then we started. I had a spinal and it felt like having novacaine at the dentist, only the feeling was from the chest down. The strangest feeling was not being able to feel myself breathe and I kept asking whether I was breathing well enough.

The babies came out fast, about 5-10 minutes into the operation. I heard them cry right away and that was enough to get me through the rest of the c/s. I didn't even care when I heard tension in my OB's voice and heard her say that she couldn't talk (I must have asked a question). I then heard them asking the anasthesia team to give me various drugs and I knew that meant that I was bleeding more than average. About 20 minutes after the babies came out, I was already in the recovery room and was able to bf David and he was a GREAT latcher. By the time I was ready to bf Alek, they were taken away for blood tests and a bath. That upset me, because I felt like Alek got cheated out of bf, as I didn't get to try it with him for another 3-4 hours.

I am so lucky that both boys are great latchers. I was completely prepared for latching problems and even brought nipple shields with me in my hospital bag. Instead, I have been rewarded with being able to tandem feed them from day one. However, because my milk has not fully come in yet, we have been supplementing with formula after I let them bf for 25-30 minutes. Formula was necessary, especially for David to make sure that he didn't drop too much weight. I was told that some babies have to get admitted to the NICU if they drop to a particular weight level, but I didn't find out what weight it was. Either way, we didn't have to deal with that issue. David lost 7 oz and Alek lost 11 oz before they began to gain again.

The recovery from the c/s has not been as bad as I expected either. The pain is manageable. However, I couldn't sleep the first night at all because I was itching all over. Turns out that it is a side effect of some of the meds in the spinal and 30% of people have this reaction. Nothing helped, no amount of benedryl, no amount of pain meds. I just had to wait until the drugs were out of my system (24 hours). Other than that, I was up and walking around 24 hours after.

Before the c/s, I wish I was warned about the horrible swelling that I now have in my legs. I mean HORRIBLE -- major elephant ankles. During pregnancy, I was swollen, but not like this. My OB said it is normal after a c/s, especially because of all the fluids they pump into you and that it will take 2 weeks to get back to normal. I can't wait. Another issue that I wish I knew about is the gas. I heard about gas after a c/s and how important it is to move around to get things moving, but I didn't realize that my intestines will swell up with gas to a point that I will actually be able to feel them MOVE inside my belly the first night -- made me wonder if I had a 3rd baby in there that they forgot to take out!!!

Anyways, it was all worth it. I hope some future MoMs find this info helpful. I will post pictures of my boys when I can.

Temp159135562506975 · April 2010

congrats!!!!

i had that itching with my epidural when i had Griffin - HORRIBLE - i itched between contractions.

glad you are all doing well!

ougrad1 · April 2010

Congrats NYgrl!

janjag · April 2010

congratulations!! all sounds great! bf and all yay for tandem.

i had the itching from morphine leaving my system. benadryl did help me though. the gas!! oh god, it was painful. and the swelling, i didn't know about that either. try to give your body a chance to heal.