Birth Story

It all began on Thursday night, June 26th, 2008. Ben and I had found out that afternoon that I was going to be scheduled for a c-section sometime the following week due to me starting to develop preeclampsia. I don't think either of us expected to get too much sleep that night from the excitement of knowing that the following day we were going to learn when we would become parents. I actually took an Ambien when I went to bed in hopes of that helping me get some sleep. I was definitely not prepared for how little sleep I ended up getting...

I woke up sometime during the night and was having some pretty intense stomach pains, but they just felt like really bad gas pains to me. Then I realized that some of them were accompanied by contractions. I assumed it was just more Braxton Hicks contractions and that I had gas, so I went back to sleep- or at least tried to. Around 2am I woke up again and had the same pains with and without contractions and also was starting to feel nauseus. At about 2:30 I got up to go to the bathroom and ended up throwing up everything I had had for dinner. I thought maybe that would make me feel better and I went back to bed. By the time Ben's alarm went off at 4:30 I had been up and thrown up two more times. Ben heard me the last time and was worried so he decided he wasn't going to go to work- he was going to stay home with me and make sure I was okay.

About 5am Ben paged Dr. Zaita. She called back and Ben told her what was going on and then I talked to her. She said to rest for a couple of hours and if I still didn't feel better to call her back. She said I may have to go to the hospital for some IV fluids.

Two hours later I still felt just as awful, so we paged Dr. Zaita again. She called back and when I answered the phone the first thing she said was, "Still sick?" When I told her I was she said to go ahead and go to the hospital for some fluids and to get checked out. Ben and I called our parents and told them what was going on. I somehow managed to get out of bed and get dressed and after I threw up again, we headed for the hospital. Ben had the great idea to have his mom go with us to the hospital, so we picked her up on the way.

We got to the hospital and after suffering through several long minutes at registration we went to labor and delivery and they took us right back to the triage room. They hooked me up to monitors to check on the babies and put in an IV to get me the fluids I desperately needed. They also gave me some Zofran, which was a miracle drug, for the nauseau. Within a few minutes of getting the Zofran I felt much, much better. They drew some blood to repeat the bloodwork I'd had the day before at the OB's office, told me they needed a urine sample when I could provide one, and left us to rest.

When the bloodwork results were ready Dr. Hodges came by and told me that everything looked good with that. No big changes from the day before. He said that he was hoping I'd give him a reason to deliver that day, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. By this point I'd finally managed to give a urine sample, a small one at least. I was so dehydrated that I didn't have to go to the bathroom. So we were waiting for the results of my urinalysis and if that was good, it looked like we were going to get to go home.

I remember Ben and I sitting there talking and thinking how we should be on our way home by around noon and we would get something for lunch on the way. And how we should be able to get the c-section scheduled for the next week while we're at the hospital and everything should be good to go.

And then they got the results of the urinalysis... I heard the nurse talking to Dr. Hodges on the phone, but she wasn't in with us, so I assumed she was talking about another patient. It's not uncommon for Dr. Hodges to have several patients in L&D at one time. But I guess that was just wishful thinking. Then the nurse poked her head in to our curtained area and said that she'd just talked to Dr. Hodges and that because of the results of my urinalysis, he wanted to go ahead and deliver that day. Apparently the protein level in my urine had gone up from the day before.

We asked for an idea of when the c-section would be and the nurse said probably not until 4:30 or 5:00 because they were really busy that day. So we waited. A little later Dr. Hodges came by and told us the same thing the nurse had told us. We'd gone to the hospital thinking that I would get some IV fluids and we'd go home, but instead we were going to have our girls.

At this point they started talking about moving me to a private room. Apparently they were preparing for more women coming into triage, so they needed to find a place to stick me until my surgery. Ben decided to go home, eat lunch, change clothes and get some clothes for himself since he would be staying at the hospital with me. I guess I should say that by this point Ben's mom had already been to our house and walked Jefferson. She had also called my mom earlier just to let her know how things were going. As soon as we found out that we were going to have the girls that day she called my mom again to let her know and also called Ben's dad to let him know. Everyone started to head for the hospital, except Ben who was heading away from it- but he'd be back soon.

Ben's mom stayed with me while Ben was gone. They moved me to a private room where I would stay until I went to the OR. When we got there we met my nurse for the day, Diana. She hooked me up to the monitors and was quite entertained when the girls kept kicking at the monitors. A little while later Ben's dad showed up. He had been pulled out of a meeting when Ben's mom called the last time and immediately headed for the hospital. My parents showed up a little while after that and then Ben came back.

I called the only people that I felt like I needed to call that day- Beth and Mollie. Beth was getting married that evening and Mollie was going to be in the wedding. I called Beth first, but after I got her voicemail I called Mollie. Mollie called back first, so I let her know what was going on and she told me she'd make sure Beth called me. A little while later Beth called back. Beth and Mollie were both very, very excited that our girls were going to be born that day- on Beth's wedding day.

So we spent the next few hours in our room in labor and delivery. Our parents were with us most of the time, but they did leave us alone for part of the time just so that we could be alone together and process what was happening. Our nurse, Diana, was with us a lot of the day, too. She was great about explaining the process of everything to us, including how they would do my spinal block for the surgery. They kept telling us that the surgery would be sometime between 4:30 and 5:30, but probably closer to 5:30. They couldn't give us a definite time, so we just waited.

At some point in the afternoon Ben and I decided that we would tell our parents the names before the delivery. We wanted them to be the first to know them, but also wanted to be able to tell people in the OR, so we told them in the labor and delivery room. It was so nice to be able to finally share the names we'd decided on months ago. And, of course, our parents loved the names. And Ben and I both teared up when we told them.

Then around 4:30 or so Dr. Hodges stopped in and said he was going to try to get us into the OR around 5:00. That's what he was pushing for, but we didn't know if it was going to happen. It was probably about 4:45 or so when Diana came back in the room and started messing with my IV. Apparently they wanted me in the OR in about 15 minutes, so they needed to get the IV fluids going again. At this point everything was kind of rushed. I guess the IV fluids should have been started earlier, but no one knew that they were going to be ready for me so soon. The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and explained what he was going to be doing.

Then a little while later I said goodbye to our parents and Ben and I was walked into the OR. When I got in the OR, I sat on the operating table and the anesthesiologist did my spinal block. It wasn't bad. The hardest part for me was relaxing while he did it and staying bent over so that my back was curved the way he wanted it. The surgical assistant in front of me kept having to tell me to curl my back more. At this point I was a nervous wreck. I could feel when he put in the spinal block because it felt like a cold liquid running down into my legs. When that was done they helped me lay down on the table and started prepping me for the surgery.

It was about at that point when they realized that Dr. Hodges, my OB, was missing. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Lee, started freaking out. He kept leaving the room trying to find Dr. Hodges and then would come back without him, still kind of freaking out. The reason he was so freaked out was because I had a spinal block they only had a set amount of time to do the surgery before the spinal would wear off. Eventually they found Dr. Hodges- who had been off delivering another baby- and he was ready to do my surgery, so they brought Ben in.

At this point I was starting to freak out. It was finally really hitting me that not only was I about to become a mother, but I was going to have major abdominal surgery in order to have the babies. I thought I was going to lose it, but I managed to hold it together, somehow. But, man, did I feel better when I had Ben sitting by my head. It all became a little easier to handle with him there with me. I don't know how I would have managed without him.

Next thing I knew they were cutting into me (all I felt was a little pressure) and we heard Paige cry. That was the most amazing sound in the world. As soon as we heard it Ben and I both started to cry. We were so caught up in that sound that we didn't even realize that Virginia didn't cry when they pulled her out. Ben said he realized something was wrong when he looked over and there was one nurse with Paige and two nurses and the neonatologist with Virginia. Of course, I didn't know anything about this until later.

Both girls were born at 5:36pm on June 27, 2008. I learned later that when Dr. Hodges had gone to break the amniotic sac for one of them he accidentally broke both of them, so he pulled them out faster than normal. They ended up being born about 30 seconds apart.

I saw them bring the girls over to weigh them since the scale was on the side of the room I could see. Ben got some pictures of them getting weighed. Then the nurses wrapped them up and brought them to Ben for our first family pictures.

After some pictures were taken, the nurses took the girls back to their warmers and started preparing for the move to the NICU. Ben left with the girls and went to the NICU with them while I got sewn up. The atmosphere in the OR got a lot more relaxed once the girls were gone. They turned on music and apparently Dr. Hodges was dancing some. I couldn't see it, I could just hear the anesthesiologist (a new one, Dr. Lee left during the surgery for some reason) talking and making fun of Dr. Hodges' dancing.

It took them a little while to sew me up, but once that was done they moved me to the post-op recovery room. When I got over there they brought Ben in to see me. I think that was when he told me that Virginia had come out blue and not breathing. But they revived her in the OR and she was doing fine. I could only have 1 visitor in the recovery room at a time, so Ben left and each of our parents came in individually.

They had me stay in the recovery room longer than normal because there was a shift change going on in the NICU and they wanted to be able to take me by the NICU to see the girls before taking me to my room. Ben had come back in with me and showed me all the pictures he had taken of the girls while we were waiting for me to be moved. Around 7:45 it was time to move me. They took me to the NICU and right into Paige and Virginia's room. Both the girls were in their warmers and when I got there the nurses took them out and gave them to me to hold. It was an amazing feeling getting to hold my little girls for the first time. We got some pictures taken and I held them for a little bit and then it was time for me to go to my room.

Ben came with me to my room for a little while and then went back to the NICU with our parents so that they could see the girls. Check out our other blog: therowlandtwins.blogspot.com for pictures.

I spent four nights in the hospital (the max my insurance would pay for) and came home on Tuesday afternoon. The girls were still in the NICU and leaving the hospital that day was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I knew they were in the best place for them, but it was so hard leaving the hospital without them. It was like leaving a piece of myself there, or really two pieces...

The girls spent a total of 9 days in the NICU, mainly to learn to eat and in the end to start gaining some weight. They did great there, but it's so incredibly wonderful to have them home with us. Bringing them home that Sunday made everything so much more real.

June 27, 2008- BIRTHDAY!!!

Paige Madison and Virginia Rose were born on June 27, 2008 at 5:36pm via c-section. Paige was 6 lbs 2 oz and Virginia was 6 lbs 8 oz. Both girls were 19 inches long.

For more information on them, check out our other blog at therowlandtwins.blogspot.com

At some point I'll get around to posting the story of what happened Thursday night and led to the girls' birth on Friday, but I don't know for sure when that will happen...

35 weeks 5 days appointments

I'm way late making this post, but I've been a little busy since I had these appointments. More about that later...

Last Thursday (6/26) I went to see my OB at 8:30am. I actually saw Dr. Hodges who I hadn't seen in the office in months. I saw him when I was in the hospital on bed rest, but all of my office appointments had been with Dr. Zaita. Actually, now that I think about it, Dr. Hodges was the one that admitted me to the hospital... Anyway, the appointment went well. My blood pressure was a little high again, so he decided to repeat my blood work from the week before. I was told that my urine was fine. He didn't check my cervix. I'd been having 2-3 contractions an hour pretty much all week, so he didn't want to do anything to irritate my cervix. My uterus was measuring 45cm, which would be about 45 weeks in a singleton pregnancy! No wonder I was having so many contractions- my uterus was practicing for getting the babies out. The contractions weren't painful, so they weren't anything to worry about, but they were definitely there. When we left Dr. Hodges said he would call me that afternoon to let me know how the bloodwork was.

We came home for awhile and rested and ate some lunch before going to our next appointment. We went to the high risk office for a non-stress test and a growth scan. The non-stress test went fine. Oddly enough, I didn't have any contractions while hooked up to the monitors. And we managed to get both of the babies on the monitors without many problems, so that was nice. Then they did the ultrasound. Both babies looked great. Baby A was measuring 6lbs 10oz and baby B was measuring 6lbs 12oz and had flipped to breech! I don't know how she found the room in there to do that, but she did. And I'm pretty sure I know when it happened. One night a couple of days before the ultrasound I remember telling Ben that it felt like one of the babies was trying to come out through my belly. I'm guessing that was actually her flipping over.

We got home and called our parents and let them know how the appointments went. And Ben sent out an e-mail to a bunch of people letting them know what was happening. Within minutes of the e-mail going out, my cell phone rang. It was Dr. Hodges. He said that my bloodwork came back and it was okay, but the levels they were looking at were a little higher than the week before and I was definitely headed down the road towards preeclampsia, so we needed to set an end date for the pregnancy. He wanted to get me to 36 weeks, which according to the due date he had (7/30) would have been the next Wednesday (7/2). We had been talking about me attempting a vaginal delivery, so Dr. Hodges was ready to schedule an induction. Then I told him the results of the ultrasound we'd just had- the babies' sizes and the fact that baby B was breech. So he suggested a c-section, and I agreed. He was planning on being at the hospital all day on Friday, so he said he would call me from there and get the c-section scheduled for the next week. Dr. Hodges had told us Memorial Day weekend when I was in the hospital that they didn't believe in holiday babies, so we figured the c-section would be scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday.

And that's where we left things Thursday afternoon/evening- probably about a week until we would get to meet our girls. Little did we know what would happen later that night...

34 week 5 day appointments

On Thursday we went to both my regular OB and the high risk office. Exciting day- I got to leave the house twice!

First we went to the OB. That appointment went fine other than the fact that my blood pressure was higher than normal. It was borderline, so not really high, but high enough to be something to watch. Dr. Zaita asked me about contractions and since I really hadn't been having many at all, she didn't check my cervix. She wasn't worried about it. She checked the heartbeats, which both sounded good. She downgraded me to "modified" bed rest until Wednesday (tomorrow!) and told me to keep taking my Procardia until Saturday. She also said that if I were to go into labor, they would still try to stop it until after Wednesday- assuming my blood pressure was okay. They did some blood work because of my blood pressure and said I'd only get a call if something was wrong with it. I didn't get a call, thank goodness. I go back to her on Thursday of this week.

Oh, she also said that if we decided to schedule a c-section she would do it sometime between 37 and 37 1/2 weeks. But for now the plan is to at least attempt a vaginal delivery. Granted, I could change my mind on that after we get the results of our growth scan this week...

And then Thursday afternoon we went to the high risk office for a fluid level check and a non-stress test. They tried to do the non-stress test first, but she could only get one baby on the monitor. So they decided to do the ultrasound to find where to look for the babies on the non-stress test. Well, the babies looked good. Their fluid levels were good as were their heart rates. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures, but, really, they're getting too big to be able to see much in a picture. So then we went back and they tried the non-stress test again. Even though we knew where each baby was, they still couldn't get both on the heart monitors. We knew there was a chance of this because they're so close to one another in there. The ultrasound tech had done what they call a biophysical profile- checking for movement, practicing breathing, and I can't remember what else- when she did the ultrasound just in case they couldn't get the non-stress test to work. So the high risk OB was okay with that and let us go. We go back on Thursday for a growth scan and, supposedly, another non-stress test. I can't wait to see how big they've gotten...

Of course, since those appointments I've been having some contractions. Ben made me page the doctor on Saturday because I was having contractions. Of course, none of these contractions have been painful, so it's just my body practicing for labor. When I talked to the doctor on Saturday she said that she wasn't worried about it since I'd only had 5 contractions in 2 hours. She told me to lay down and drink lots of water and if things get worse to call her back. Well, from that point, the contractions slowed down some, but I was having them about every 30 minutes or so. That continued on Sunday, but finally got better yesterday. I've had a few this morning, but nothing to worry about. Of course, I'll talk to Dr. Zaita about all of this on Thursday. I doubt she'll be concerned about it, though. Unless, of course, there's a change in my cervix.

Well, that's the update for now. Today I'm 35 weeks 3 days. There have been times during this pregnancy when I wasn't sure I'd ever make it this far, but here we are to almost 36 weeks. YAY!!!

Our new blog

Ben and I set up a new blog for the girls. Right now all it has on it are some nursery pictures, but we'll be updating it with pictures and stories once the girls are born. The address for it is therowlandtwins.blogspot.com

I'll continue to update this blog until the girls are born and then I'll switch over to updating the twins blog. I'll do another post like this when I am going to stop updating this blog, which hopefully won't be for another couple of weeks.

Nursery

Here are some pictures of the nursery that Ben took so that I could see it while I'm stuck laying on the couch. Here's one of the cribs with the bedding on it:

This is a picture of the valance over the window. You can also see some of the decorations that Ben has put up on the walls.
This is the nightstand that we got that matches the cribs and dresser. It's got the lamp and picture frame on it that match the bedding.
This is the second crib and the nightstand. They're directly across the room from the other crib. That's all the furniture in that room. We have another room set up with the dresser/changing table and the glider, but I don't have pictures of that room all set up.
We're still not done with the crib room. We're going to put the girls' names up on shelves on the walls over their cribs, but we're waiting on the shelves and we can't put the names up until they're born since we aren't telling anyone their names. The letters are all ready to go, though. Ben painted them the red color that is in the bedding. It's pretty much fire engine red and looks awesome! I can't wait to see the whole room put together. I'll try to remember to post pictures after it's all done.

33 week 5 day appointment

We went in for another ultrasound yesterday.  It was a real quick one.  The ultrasound tech checked my cervix, although she said there's really no point to it at this point.  Yet the doctor ordered it, so obviously someone sees a point to it.  It's still really thin, but looked about the same to Ben and I.    

Then she took a quick look at the babies.  The heartbeats were good and they're definitely getting big in there.  The fluid level on baby A looked good, but we're not sure she checked the fluid level on baby B, but they must not be worried about it because they didn't take me back to get a fluid level.

She told me to make sure we head for the hospital pretty much as soon as I start feeling contractions or have any strange mucousy discharge.  She doesn't seem to think my cervix is going to hold for long after labor starts.  I've already been told repeatedly to call my doctor as soon as either of those things happen, so I plan on doing that.  I trust what my OB tells me more than I trust what an ultrasound tech tells me.

Then we met with a doctor.  He wants me to get to 37 weeks, but doesn't seem too sure that my cervix will hold up that long.  What Ben and I found kind was odd, though, is that my OB seems perfectly happy with my cervix, but this high risk doctor seemed really concerned about it.  But since I've only met this high risk doctor once and I've seen my OB many times, I'm going to stick with what she says.  I trust her to know what's best for me and the babies.  And she's well aware that my cervix really hasn't changed much in a month or so, but still seems confident that I can get to 35 or 36 weeks and she'd be happy with that.

So basically, we're exactly where we were before yesterday's appointment.  We go back to the high risk doctor next week for a fluid level check and a non-stress test- that's where they monitor the babies heart rates and for contractions.  We also go to my OB next Thursday, so it's going to be a busy and exhausting day.  But hopefully I'll get word from my OB that I can start moving around more soon.  What I'm anxious to know is when she'll take me off the Procardia...

Here's a couple of shots of my belly from last week.  Is it just me or is it really getting big?