Wish Upon A Star

What a wonderful, emotion filled journey I have been on. You think you can prepare yourself for how you will feel but you never really know until you have traveled that road.

So here is my birth story and the days following. 

I guess really it started with my appointment on Thursday October 27th. I already kind of felt like my body was starting to fail me. My ankles were swollen beyond belief, I could no longer sleep, and I was having braxton hix contractions all the time. My appointment only confirmed it. My iron was extremely low and my first blood pressure reading was high although there was no protein in my urine to indicate preeclampsia. The NST (fetal non-stress test) came back fine and my second blood pressure reading was much better so I was sent on my way with instruction to call if I felt abnormal. 

That brings us to the weekend. Bill and I didn't have the kids so we spent the weekend relaxing for the most part. Saturday I had a really bad headache which started to worry me. It can be a sign of high blood pressure and pain reliever wasn't doing anything for it. Sunday morning I still had it and it was getting worse. We woke up late, around 11, so we went to breakfast/lunch, and then I decided to go check my blood pressure at CVS just to be sure I didn't need to call the midwives. It was 150/90 which is high. I called the midwife on call and she wanted me to go to labor outpatient to get check. I made all the needed phone calls to make sure kids were taken care of, Y knew what was going on, and my mom was on call just in case. I got my bags packed, and Bill and I headed to the hospital. I think I assumed I would be sent home so I wasn't stressing too much. Thankfully I had Bill who was my comic relief. I couldn't ask for a greater man to have supported me through all this. We arrived at the hospital around 1:00. They inserted an IV and started running labs. Blood pressure was still high but once they got me on my side it wasn't that bad. There was a trace of protein in my urine but nothing too bad. The thing they were most worried about was my low platelet count. I think it was around 112,000. They decided to keep me over night so they put me in a small room on the labor & delivery floor. Bill left to pick up Simon and I decided I would just hang out and have some quiet time. A couple hours later they checked my platelet count again and this time it was lower, I think around 109,000. They don't want it to get below 100,000. The doctor and midwife came in to talk to me. They felt like both the babies were good weights, they were now head down (they hadn't been in previous weeks), and I was already there with an IV in my arm. We decided to induce which I was never really happy about but I didn't have much other choice. I was moved in the an actual labor and delivery room at this point. I called my mom and let her know so she could go ahead and head towards Asheville. I called Y and let her know that her babies would be born within the next 24 hours. Luckily S had already left Pennsylvania and had been driving throughout the day. He thought he was going to get to come to Asheville and relax. Haha! Made a couple more phone calls and then waited for them to come start the pitocin.

My mom arrived at the hospital  around 10 and shortly later so did S. They had a room for him nearby so I let him know it may be a good idea if he slept. Dolly my midwife came in and they started my pitocin at a low dose and inserted a folly bulb. Contractions started to come fairly regular but not painful. Some of this gets vague because at this point I had not slept and I was tired. The anesthesiologist came in to talk to me about an epidural. I hadn't wanted one but they are recommended with twins. The explained due to the low platelet count I would not be able to get one if my count fell below 100,000 because you can have risk of blood clots and other dangerous things when placing the epidural. The let me know if I planned on getting one at all now was the time to get it placed. I didn't have to have drugs put in it just yet but they needed to place it so we went ahead with the placement. Contractions were steady, not extremely painful but painful enough that I couldn't sleep. I labored through till around 4:30 while listening to music and breathing through the contractions. I was jolted out of bed with a contraction that would not let up around 4. This still wasn't active labor and they were only going to get worse. At some point I was going to have to get the epidural so why not go ahead and have the relief so I could sleep. You change your mind pretty fast when that pain hits. Even when you have done it twice naturally. So I got the epidural around 5. I had a small pain window which means it was not treating my entire stomach but it wasn't horrible and I could handle it. They did finally get most of the pain to go away and I slept for 30 minutes to an hour. Too much adrenaline to sleep longer than that. I was awoken by the most gorgeous view from my room window. The sun was coming up over the mountains, the sky was blue, and the fall colors on the mountains were amazing. I just kept thinking it was a beautiful morning to bring two little lives in to the world. 

Around 8 my midwives switched and Allison came in to check on me. We talked about breaking baby A's water so we could get things going. I had to wait for the doctor on call to get out of a meeting before we could actually proceed because you have to have a doctor with a high risk case like twins. Around 9:30 we broke my water and the epidural had worn off some. I was feeling a lot more pain, especially in my pelvis. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing because it let me know when there was pressure and later helped me to push. Things moved fast after that. When she broke my water I was at 5-6 centimeters and by 10:30 I could feel serious pressure and my body was telling me to push during contractions. They rushed me to the OR because with twins you need to be prepared. S was nervous but he put on his scrubs and came in. My mom never left my side. Again some of this is a little fuzzy. It happened so quick. One of the nurses put my IPod in and "This Woman's Work" started playing. Again another beautiful sign for a beautiful day. 

I started pushing as soon as they gave me the go ahead. Aiden was born October 31st at 10:55 after only a couple contractions, weighing 5lbs 11oz. He went to my chest and then his papa got to cut his cord. They wrapped him and handed him to papa and what a proud papa he was. I am so glad that he got to be there. Then we had a little scare. Aiden's placenta was trying to detach before Claire was born which can cause very serious hemorrhaging. My midwife had to stop the placenta from coming out before Claire by pushing it out of the way and guiding Claire's head down. Claire was born after a couple more contractions at 11:12 weighing 5lbs 6oz. At this point Aiden was being cared for so S got to cut the cord and then hold Claire. Both babies looked amazing, Aiden's apgar was 9,9 and Claire's was 8,9. From what I was told I had some hemorrhaging, not sure how much but they were able to stop it. My mom was amazing and I am so glad they allowed her to be in there. Once I was cleaned up they moved us all back to the labor and delivery room to relax and keep an eye on me for a couple hours before moving us to the mother/baby floor. Once in the room we got Aiden & Claire nursing to help with shrinking the uterus. Of course the first time they both did amazing. After that breast feeding wasn't so easy since they were both so small and their mouths were itty bitty. Luckily we only breast fed for 24 hours to help with supply and to get my uterus to shrink down.

The first night the babies roomed in with me while S got some sleep and I fed them. I am so lucky to have had that time with them. Y&S will never know what that meant to me. The next day was spent hanging out with anyone who stopped by to say hello and staring at babies. Mid afternoon Y (momma) got there. She had the most beautiful smile when she first saw her babies! This was the whole reason I did this... to see that pure joy on a parents face when first seeing their child. 

We all spent the next 24 hours hanging out and taking pictures. My best friend, Jamie came to stay with me and she took 800 of the most gorgeous pictures. I will treasure these for the rest of my life because the documented the experience so well! I loved watching Y & S learn to care for these perfect little ones. I loved getting to hold them and cuddle them before they went home with their parents. I loved that Y & S allowed my kids to come and hold them and be a part of the experience also. It was amazing. I am so thankful for these days after the birth.

On Wednesday it was time for both me and the babies to go home. It was a very bitter sweet experience. I was so happy for Y & S. I was so grateful for the experience. I also realized that I would miss these little ones kicking me and I would miss their parents as well. I was fairly sure they would stay in contact but you never know in these situations. So I said my goodbyes and I cried. I looked back as they wheeled me out of the mother/baby floor and all the nurses where standing there watching, a few with tears in their eyes. They felt my joy and my pain. 

UPDATE: I am just now finishing this story and it has now been over two months. It feels like a life time ago. I had a hard recovery; because of the hemorrhaging I had really low hemoglobin and it took me about 2 weeks to recover enough to feel like getting out of bed. I also had mastitis which comes with a fever and flu like symptoms, not fun! I was able to pump and ship the milk for the first month. Unfortunately my milk dried up quickly but I was glad to be able to send the milk that I did. The only day I felt the least bit sad was the day that I left them. Since then every time I have thought of Y, S, & the babies it has been thoughts of pure joy and a little sympathy (twins are a lot of work). I have continued to get regular updates and pictures from them and they have grown so much. I was a privilege to be part of something so wonderful!

To all those who went along this journey with me, THANK YOU. To Bill because you dealt with me every day and I am sure it wasn't always easy, especially with all the hormones. You are an amazing man and I couldn't have done it without you. To the kids because again, you had to deal with me every day :). To the rest of my family for helping when it was needed, especially my mother who is the most awesome labor coach there is. To Sarah for going with me to my transfer and to Jazlyn for being my good luck charm. To SMO (http://www.surromomsonline.com/support) for being a place of constant support along this sometimes bumpy but wonderful journey. To the staff at IVFNJ, especially Jamie for being there in the beginning. To Molly at Piedmont Reproductive for all the extra care she showed during my visits. To the wonderful midwives at MAHEC, you were wonderful, especially in the end. To the extremely understanding nurses at Mission hospital. And last but not least to Y & S for allowing me to go on this wonderful journey with them!