We knew that we would be meeting our babies no later than the beginning of November. We had November 2nd scheduled as Baby Day, and we were just waiting to see if the Lord would bring them to us via C-section or induction. After we made it full term, and I was cleared from bed rest, we started the countdown!
And because babies decided to do things on their own terms, they made us wait the whole time instead of coming earlier :)
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**When we found out we were having twins, I knew that my ideas of what I wanted our birth to look like would have to be held loosely. There are just so many risk factors involved, and at the end of the day, we just wanted the safest delivery possible for healthy babies. I had been praying for the Lord to put them in the exact position they needed to be in for the safest delivery, and I had to then just let go of control. Which was hard. In the end, I didn't have to have surgery, but there were many other interventions that would not have been my first choice. But there were also unforeseen circumstances that made me grateful that we were in the care of the Baylor hospital staff. Looking back, I wouldn't change anything about the delivery. Everything that happened that day needed to, and I am just so thankful for doctors, medicine, and medical care. And I am thankful that our babies arrived safe and sound!**
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The last couple of weeks before their arrival, both Eli and Maddie were head down. And that was the deal with my OB in order to deliver without a C-section. So we were really excited when were able to cancel the surgery and schedule the induction instead!
I don't think either of us slept a wink the night before we checked into the hospital. We knew we were going to need the rest for labor, but how can you sleep when you know you are going to meet your babies the next day??? :)
So when the alarm went off at 3:30am, we were both already up and ready to go. We headed out the door and checked into Labor & Delivery at 5am. They gave me one last ultrasound to verify babies' presentation, and then we were all set for the induction. When they started the pitocin and penicillin {since my Group B strep test was positive}, I was already dilated to 3cm, but we were still in for a long day of labor.
At 10:30am, my doctor broke my water, since I hadn't progressed. The waves of contractions really started at that point, so I was ready for the epidural by lunch time. I originally wanted to try without it, but I am glad that I made the decision to take it. I was going to need all the energy I could get to deliver my babies. Once that set in, I was able to take a nap, which offered some much needed relief since we had been up for so long already.
Sleeping shot, courtesy of my hubby :)
I progressed pretty well for most of the afternoon, but ended up stalling at 7cm from 4pm to 7pm. My doctor wanted to see more progress, or we were going to have to start discussing other options. I was trying to stay positive, but I felt so defeated thinking about laboring all day, only to have a C-section after all. So we started praying that we could see just a little progression so we could stall the surgery conversation. When my doctor came back an hour later, I had made it all the way to 10cm, and we were ready to head to the delivery room!
Part of the protocol for delivering twins is that I still had to deliver in the operating room. So we were wheeled in to meet our huge team of doctors, nurses, and baby attendants. It's true when they say that all modesty goes out the window during birth...oh well :)
Thankfully, I didn't have to push for too long, and Elijah Winn was born at 8:25pm. He was 6 pounds, 8 ounces and 19 inches long. We were so excited to meet our sweet boy, and it was definitely love at first sight! And I am so thankful that most of the staff in the delivery room had nothing to do but wait around and grab Mike's phone to take photos for us :)
After all the hard work to meet Eli, I wasn't done...now we had to prepare to meet his sister. My contractions slowed, so we did a lot of waiting around between pushes. And I was actually pretty thankful because I needed the break to catch my breath. So Eli was an only child for 31 minutes before Madeline Grace was born at 8:56pm. Not to be outdone by her brother, she also weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces and measured 19 inches long. It was the absolute best feeling to finally be all together as a family of 4!
Big, healthy babies!
My amazing OB
Pushing was the most exhausting thing I have done, but I am thankful that both babies were out in less than an hour. At this point, I don't remember a whole lot of those first couple of hours after delivery, because I started to experience some complications. I was losing a lot of blood, and so they had to work quickly to get placentas out and me stitched up. Delivering 2 babies {with an epidural} was not terrible. But them pushing on my stomach to get the placentas out {still with an epidural} was incredibly painful. Even though I was pretty out of it, I remember begging them to stop because it hurt so much. And I remember being the most cold I have ever felt in my life. Teeth chattering, whole body shivering cold. I think I asked for another blanket at least 25 times, only to be told that I already had 3.
Poor Mike was on his own with our babies for a little bit. Of course, he took great care of them, and they got some really good daddy time while everyone was waiting for me to recover. I am thankful the hospital staff still helped me experience skin to skin right after delivery, even though I don't really remember it happening.
Because of the blood loss, I was extremely anemic and ended up having to get a blood transfusion. Once I had that, I felt a little more "with it" and ready to snuggle our babies. Of course, life with 2 newborns doesn't afford much sleep, so recovery has been difficult and slow. But when I look into their tiny faces and realize how the Lord took care of ALL of us, I am just so thankful.
So our journey to building our family was a long and eventful one. But after praying for 1,524 days, we finally got to hold our tiny miracles in our arms. And it made every one of those days worth the wait...
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