Hi ladies, I check this board pretty regularly but am usually lurking since it's such a PITA to post by phone. But I wanted to share our birth story, as it would have been encouraging for me to read during my stressful pregnancy! Sorry, it's so long!
The backstory: The first 20 or so weeks of the pregnancy were rough with constant nausea. We found out our twins were mono/di, which was a bit stressful due to the increased risks, but also super exciting! A few weeks later, we found out they were boys! Ultrasounds were scheduled for every two weeks and they continued to look great each time! Then, at 26 weeks, the u/s showed my cervix had shortened from 3.4 to 1.2 in a two week span. Fearing pre-term labor, they sent me straight to be admitted to Labor and Delivery. They checked my dilation in triage and I was pretty much closed and not actively contracting?but they had to admit me so they could react quickly if I was to go into active labor. I stayed for a week, after which they let me go home when the follow-up u/s showed no further shortening.
Aside from a GD diagnosis, my next two appts were great. But at 30 weeks, I got more bad news?I was now 100% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated. They sent me back to L & D, skipping triage, and taken directly into a delivery room. They hooked me up to all the monitors, started an IV and had anesthesiology come talk with me about my pain management options. I was panicked?it was too real. I spent a few hours there but when my dilation was rechecked, it was unchanged. So they sent me back down to the antepartum unit. It was expected I could go into labor at any time and the doctors explained it was likely I would be there until I gave birth. It was so scary to expect to start contracting at any given moment and have to deliver these boys so early. But then the days starting to tick off. A few days after I hit 31 weeks, the doctors started saying that if I made it to 32 weeks, I could most likely go home. And I did! On the one hand, I was entirely relieved to be going home to my family. On the other hand, entering yet another phase of this drama and stress had me completely over-emotional! At home though, I made it to 34 weeks, another milestone, then 36, and finally we were scheduling my induction. It was such a relief to make it to that date (and for them to both be head down and estimated around 6.5 lbs)!Our Birth Story:On Thursday, April 5th, we showed up to Labor and Delivery at 8:30 in the morning. When checked, I was at five cm. Despite my early dilation being so stressful, it was great to know that now that we were at induction, half the work was done! My doctor and the nurse were both expecting me to have a short labor. Sometime probably around 9:30, we started the pitocin. And then began the wait. I could feel the contractions, but they didn't hurt. This continued all.day.long as they continued to crank the pitocin up to the max for twins. It was a rather miserable day -- I was extremely uncomfortable and could only sit certain ways so they could continue to trace the babies and make sure they were handling the pit okay. The on-call attending decided to break my water at about quarter to seven in the evening Apparently, that was exactly what my body needed. My contractions, with the pit maxed out, were excruciating and I asked for the epidural pretty quickly.After the epi, they offered to re-check me, but I was really looking forward to taking a nap for a bit, since after the long day I felt it may still be a while. At ten til ten, the resident checked me and I was fully dilated. The nurse asked if we should start the pushing in the room or go straight to OR (they deliver all twins in the OR in case of emergency c section). After one trial push, they said we should go straight down.The OR was bright, and cold, but I was so nervous, I was sweating. They had me scoot onto the delivery table and started getting things ready. The nurses wanted to have me start my pushing but the resident stopped them, saying she was afraid I'd deliver and we should wait for all the teams to arrive. Once everyone was there, there were about 15 people in the room?the attending, chief resident and resident, my nurses, the anesthesiologist and two peds teams. They had me start pushing and were encouraging that I was close. I pushed for 2.5 hours with my daughter, so I wasn't convinced. But almost immediately, I could feel him and knew he was right there. A couple more pushes (maybe a total of six?) and at 10:27, Charlie was out and crying!The anesthesiologist quickly put the oxygen mask on me (precaution in the event they have to put you under quickly) and the nurses got me ready to push again. I knew that pushing Baby B out could still take a while. They watched him by ultrasound to ensure he didn't turn with all the extra space. Thankfully, he too continued head down. Three minutes and two pushes after his big bro, Miles was born. He too, came out crying. Now, I could breathe. They looked so tiny (but actually were both right around six pounds) and perfect?and so much alike! The peds teams were calm, and I knew both boys were doing just fine. While in the OR, I was able to hold them both for a minute as they fixed me up. But before I knew it, less than an hour later, we were returning back to the labor and delivery room with two babies (such a bizarre feeling!).Because of my GD, we decided to supplement them right away. If they passed their sugar tests, they would room-in with me, but if not, they'd have to go to special care. We knew getting them to eat a bit could make all the difference. Although Charlie's sugar was too low at the half hour mark, they passed all the other draws just fine and had no NICU or Special Care time.When the epi wore off, I felt really good. I did have one average sized tear, but didn't have much pain, and felt pretty normal afterward. It was such a liberating feeling to not be carrying all that suffocating weight any longer! After three months of bed rest, my muscles are weak, and my back tires easily, but that's been the only challenge in recovery.Despite having two newborns, it all just feels SO much easier the second time around. I am just so happy and grateful, after such a scary pregnancy, to have delivered the two most perfect boys! At 26 weeks, we were signing paperwork to consent to a c-section. But at 37 weeks, we were taking our boys home! I feel like we are the luckiest family in the world!
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