Excellent vaginal twin delivery!
Eric and I were actually able to get a good night sleep on Saturday night and were so bummed out when the hospital said they were full and we should call back at noon. Talk aboutwaiting anxiously! Finally at 11am the hospital called us! Yay!
At 12pm Eric and I checked in and got to our room. Everything was very fast since we had pre-registered all our paperwork and they were expecting us. First thing we had to do was get me hooked up to the IV. I have never had an IV and my body sort of freaked out. I overheated and felt like I was going to pass out. Eric was so nice and went to get me some water and ice chips, but I think I actually freaked out more because he was not with me. Several nurses came running in (which, even I knew, was not a good sign) and they put an oxygen mask on me, called my doctor and had to move the fetal monitors around to find Kenzie's heart rate...which was in decel. So, the first 10 minutes were definitely the scariest.
After that commotion, I just hung out for about 8 hours. I had some contractions, very mild. My family and Eric's family visited and did anything possible to kill the time. At 8pm the nurse told us our options were to stop the IV, reschedule an induction for a later date, or continue on with the IV and hope that it was not too much pressure and stress on the babies. This decision was very difficult because we ultimately want what is best for the babies and there was really no way of predicting what that was since I had not made any progress in 8 hours. After deciding to stay on the IV for 4 more hours, everyone left the room and I got to rest a bit.
At 9pm I laid on my left side and was almost asleep when my water broke. It was a very unusual sensation and at the same time I knew this meant the babies were coming! Of course the nurse button had fallen on the floor behind the bed, so I couldn't reach it. And, Eric was out in the waiting room so I had to call him on his cell phone. When he came running down the hallway the nurse had no idea what he was doing. She said that since the water had broken, the decision had been made by the babies...they were ready! Things progressed rather quickly after that. The contractions were more intense. I had to really focus my breathing and Eric had to talk me through them. At the shift change we got an excellent nurse and she let me get off the IV and labor in the jacuzzi tub. It did not lighten the contractions, but it was very nice to get out of the hospital bed. The nurse said that my pain tolerance looked like I was dialated to about 3cm. I labored some more on the bed and she called the anethiesiologist to get the epidural started.
At 1am I got my epidural and Eric, again, did an excellent job talking me through the process. Since I had such a bad reaction to the IV I was a bit tense, but everything worked out perfectly. It even turned out that the anethisiologist's birthday was that day (same day as the babies!). After the epidural the pain of the contractions was much lower and more manageable. I started to get the shakes and the nurse said that it was probably the 3cm shakes-meaning, she guessed I was dialated to a 3. She checked and everyone was shocked to realize I was dilated to an 8!! What progress! That was really exciting to know the babies were even closer to being born. Eric and I were able to get some sleep while I dialated from an 8 to a 10.
At 4am the nurse said she would call the doctor and we would start moving towards the operating room at 4:30am. Since twins are considered high risk (even though I had no complications during the entire pregnancy) only 1 'partner' can be in the delivery room with me. This was a huge bummer because for months Eric and I had planned on having both of our moms in the delivery room with us. We finally convinced the nurse to let my mom join us and she only agreed on the condition that she could kick mom out if she needed to. Eric and I were both very upset that his mother could not join us, but (looking back) we are thrilled that she was able to be in the hospital room for the majority of the labor process.
At 4:30am Trina, Eric, and Debbi went to the OR. It was a very large room and not at all as 'homey' as the birthing suite. Dr. Evan showed up right away and we got started pushing. I had to push for 4 counts of 10 for each contraction...not easy! It is hard enough just holding your breath for that long, nevermind the fact that I was trying to birth a child...or two. Finally Kiernan's head came out. I had to stop pushing so that the doctor could unwrap the cord from his neck and then...presto...he was on my belly! Eric got to cut the cord and then went with Kiernan to the baby station to watch his apgar test and see him take his first breath!
Since our little lady was still inside, the doctor had to perform a quick ultrasound to see if she had turned or flipped now that she had all the space to herself. Like a perfect girl, she did not. She was head down and ready to go. McKenzie's head was out in 1 1/2 contractions, 6 pushes. The doctor had to cut her cord from around her neck because it was wrapped so tightly. She was not laid on my belly, but taken to the baby station immediately. Eric still got to cut her cord and see her first breath. It took her a bit longer to get going, but soon both babies were swaddled and in Daddy's arms.
Debbi (Trina's mom) took video of the kids' clean up process and some still shots of Momma, Daddy and babies. It took about 3o minutes and then we all went over to the birthing suite and babies got to meet their Grampa Terry, Nana Dianne, and Grampa Rick.
What an amazing Chirstmas Eve morning!
Re: Excellent vaginal twin delivery!