My Birth Story – Twins

At thirty six, I finally got pregnant with the help of IUI. My wife and I had been trying on and off for a few months and had been thinking of starting a family for much longer. Before I even got pregnant I knew I wanted a vaginal delivery with an epidural, simple and very traditional, that’s how my mom did it, that’s how most of friends did it and that was what I wanted also. I wasn’t naive to think that I would absolutely get the birth that I wanted but, I was hopeful and ready to fight for it.

When I found out I was pregnant with Twins, I knew that changed things a bit. I was 36, which is considered advanced maternal age, and pregnant with Twins, so that automatically made me high risk. It didn’t necessarily put my birth plan at risk, I just needed to be more cautious. Then at 26 weeks I was diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia, and that completely changed the game.

I had envisioned my self going into labor on my own or maybe with induction. I pictured myself walking the halls at the hospital with my wife by my side, supporting me through my contractions. I saw myself changing positions in the hospital bed and breathing to help me cope with the pain while I labored. I wanted this experience, as a woman and as a mother. I wanted it for my wife to. I wanted her to get the opportunity to be by my side as I labored and pushed our beautiful children into this world.

I had decided that I would labor for as long as I could, as long as I was managing my pain and progressing. I had watched all the videos, read all the articles and felt prepared to allow my body to do as much work as possible before getting an epidural.

I talked with my OB at my first appointment about my plan and what I wanted. She agreed but, wanted to make sure that I was aware of some things that could change my path. Since I would be delivering twins there was a chance that both babies wouldn’t be in the correct positions, both needed to be head down. Also baby A, which was closer to the cervix needed to be larger to proof the pelvis, this would ensure that baby B would fit through the birth canal. If either of these conditions were not met, a vaginal birth might not be possible.

Once I developed Pre-eclampsia, there were a whole new set of concerns that arose. My doctors were very nervous to let me try a vaginal delivery because they were worried about my blood pressure. They were encouraging me to have a C-Section but, I really wanted to attempt to keep my vision alive so I pushed for an induction when they told me I needed to deliver at 36 weeks because of the Pre-Eclampsia.

After much discussion and debate my OB decided to allow me to try induction. They did warn me that if anything went sideways, I was headed for an emergency C-Section, no questions asked.

I was schedule to come into the hospital on the evening of Monday Feb 11th, to start a medication called Cervadil. It was a small piece of cotton that was inserted like a tampon. I had to stay in bed overnight to allow the medication to soften my cervix. Let me tell you, I was so uncomfortable. I was very large and sleeping was difficult. I found comfort in being able to get up and move around at night. Even having to stay in bed, I was able to sleep on and off that night. I was ecstatic when I started to feel some very mild cramping during the night. I thought this is great, it’s working!

When morning came around I was so relieved to be able to get out of bed. I usually got up at least three times to pee and I think I got up once all night, so I all but plowed the nurse over to get to the bathroom. All of the nurses were so sweet and when they removed the cotton with the medication on it they also checked to see what kind of progress I had made. I was dilated to 1 cm, I was hoping that it would be a bit more but, it was something. I was able to get up and get a shower and eat some breakfast before we got down to the nitty gritty! I was so happy to be up and moving around.

Around 8 am we started the Pitocin, and my nurse really started cranking the medication in. She was increasing the mg. every 30 minutes. I thought, oh shit, this is about to get real! I was expecting to start feeling contractions with in the first hour or so and for them to steadily gain in intensity. I fell asleep and to my surprise when I woke up a little while later I still wasn’t feeling anything. After about 3 hours I started feeling contractions and they were uncomfortable but, not painful. I thought, it’s ok, we will get there. We’ve got time and there is still a lot of medication to give. After about 5 hours I was steadily feeling contractions but, still no pain, I thought ok, let’s move around a little bit. I got out of bed and stood for awhile. I asked the nurse to let me sit on an exercise ball, thinking that would really speed things up. I bounced and rotated on the exercise ball waiting to start feeling more pain and discomfort. To my surprise, everything stopped. I thought maybe I’m just not paying attention to them. Maybe I got use to the sensation, there’s no way that this is where I’m at right now.

Over 8 hours we had increased the Pitocin all the way to 18 mg. which was the highest dose they could give me. I contracted very mildly for about 6 hours and then everything stopped. My OB who had come in a few times to check on me said that she was considering breaking my water but, wanted to see what progress I had made.

When the OB came in and I told her that everything had stopped, she checked me and said, you about 2 cm’s. I thought Damn…I was hoping for way more than that. She gave me some options, you can either stop for today, get some food and rest and then we can start again tomorrow or we can take you for a c-section so you can meet your babies.

Because of the pre-eclampsia I had to have my BP monitored constantly and the babies had to be monitored constantly, so no walking. I knew that it would be another night of laying in bed and being incredibly uncomfortable with no promise that I would be able to deliver vaginally. With every passing day I was putting myself and my babies at risk because of my blood pressure.

I sat and thought about the pro’s and con’s. I decided that a C-section would be my best option at this point. It was a difficult decision but, I knew if I thought for too long about it, I would start to agonize over what my heart wanted and what my brain knew was the right choice. I wanted so badly to keep my dream alive but, I knew I had to do what was best for myself and my babies.

Once I agreed on the C-section, things moved very quickly. My nurse immediately began prepping me for surgery. They wheeled me into the OR and started to prepare for my epidural. I had no idea what to expect, to my surprise I was very calm. I am a fairly anxious person so I shocked at how peaceful I felt. The nurse anesthetist numbed my back which was painful but not horrible. I actually didn’t feel the epidural at all until he hit a nerve and an electric shock shot down my right leg. I have a curve in my lower back which made it difficult to get the needle in the correct place. After two attempts at getting the epidural in we had success. I was nervous about the epidural but, it was no where near as bad as I thought it would be. The sensation of numbness that runs down your legs is interesting. The nurses quickly helped me lay down and they began prepping my stomach for surgery. The nurse anesthetist talked me through everything that he was giving me and how it would make me feel. All the nurses communicated with me as well. I was very calm and comfortable through the whole process. When Maranda entered the OR she sat beside me and held my hand. I knew that our lives were about to change forever and I was so ready to meet my children.

My OB asked if I was feeling anything and I answered no, and she said ok, good. Everyone was talking some and a minute or so later she said ok Tina, we’ve already started. After a few minutes the Nurse Anesthetist said ok, they are getting ready to pull Baby A out, and asked my wife if she would like to watch. She stood up and peeked over the curtain was able to see our daughter being born. Amelia was born on Tuesday February 12th, 2019 at 5:48pm she weighed 4lbs. 9oz. My Sweet boy, Dawson came right after her at 5:49pm and he weighed 5lbs. 1oz.

As each baby was born my OB hoisted them up and over the curtain so I could quickly see their precious little faces. As the OB nurses worked with the babies to get them cleaned up and make sure that they were alright, my OB stitched me up. I layed on the OR table and watched directly to my left as they worked with my daughter, I could hear her crying and my wife was with her. I could hear my son crying occasionally and I kept asking if they were doing good, the nurses kept reassuring me that they were. I was all stitched up and ready to go to recovery when the nurse who was caring for my son said, I am going to take your little boy over to the NICU to get him warmed up and then I will bring him right back to you. I asked what was wrong and she said she just couldn’t get his temp to come up. She said they would put him under the warmers and that should do the trick.

I watched her leave with my son as they moved me from the OR table back to my hospital bed. The nurse came over to the side of my bed and said Tina, I have your daughter. She said let’s get the front of your gown pulled down and I will side her right in against your chest. I pulled my hospital gown away from my chest and she placed the tiniest human I had ever seen against my skin. I layed there and looked at her as they wheeled us both to recovery. I thought she is the most perfect angel ever! I was so in awe and soaking up every second of my daughters first moments of life with me. We got to spend about 15 maybe 20 minutes together before her nurse returned, I thought she was bringing my son back but she was empty handed. She said I have to check your daughters blood sugar, your sons was very low which was why his temp wouldn’t come up. We are giving him glucose and he is stable now. I said ok and handed my daughter over to the nurse. She pricked her foot and there was no noise, a moment later the nurse said, her blood sugar is lower than her brothers, I’m sorry she has to come with me to the NICU and she jetted off with my daughter in her arms. I reassured myself that my children were in the very capable hands of the NICU nurses and everything was going to be fine. Watching my children leave before really having had the change to touch them or love them was gut wrenching. Not being able to go to the NICU to be with them was terrifying. I prayed that they would both be ok.

Just a few minutes later the Neonatologist came in to talk to us about the babies. He said they were doing well, both were stable but, they would likely have to stay in the NICU for a little while. After we talked he took my wife to see our babies. They ended up spending 7 days in the NICU which I am so thankful for because I know woman who spend month and months in the NICU with their babies, we were so lucky!!

One of the reasons I was reluctant to have a C-Section was because of the recovery and trying to care of twins. I had never had any major surgery and I had no idea what to except. The first night back in my room I was very drowsy and itchy from the pain medication. My epidural was wearing off and the numbness was leaving me. I still didn’t feel any pain, thank goodness. The most uncomfortable part of the recovery right after surgery was when the nurses had to push down on my uterus to help get the clots out, even with the pain medication and some of the epidural still working, it was painful. I slept pretty good that first night and when I woke up the next morning I was ready to get out of bed. I was sore for sure but, it was totally doable with pain medication. I forced myself to walk from my room to the NICU, which was about a 2 minute walk. I learned a very valuable lesson here, push yourself but, don’t over do it. I was very very swollen after my C-section. My doctor explained that when I gave birth I had extra blood that my body is carrying from the babies. My body saw the blood loss during surgery as a trauma and instinctively held on to the extra blood, in case I have another trauma. All that extra blood pooled in my feet and lower back. I said that explains why my back is hurting so bad and my doctor said yes. I missed doses of pain medication because I wanted to be with my children and boy did I ever pay for that. I was in so much pain I was sweating and shaking. It took me at least 2 days to get ahead of the pain again. During that time, walking became hard and so my wife wheeled me back and forth between my room and the NICU in a wheel chair. The nurses in the NICU were extremely concerned about the swelling in my feet and they made me keep my feet elevated when I was there. Not only did they take excellent care of my twins but, they took excellent care of my wife and I. If there is anything I can tell you about a C-Section recovery, it is, to take your pain medication, even when you don’t feel like you need it, trust me, you will need it when the medication wears off.

Over all my recovery took quite a while, it was about 2 months before all the soreness went away and I felt normal again. A C-section was not my first choice and even though the recovery was long, it was not as horrible as I thought it was going to be. The bottom line is, you have to make the best decision for you and your children. Most woman have ideas and wants for their birth but, you have to understand that they don’t always go as planned. The most important thing is that you have a healthy baby, the way they get here isn’t really all that important! I hope you enjoyed my birth story and it inspires you to be flexible in your plan and make your goal more about having a healthy birth and less about how it actually happens.