- To document the scary journey of a twin pregnancy;
- To offer up advice to other new mothers of twins as I go through the process myself;
- To have a journal of the best thing that's every happened to me.
#1 and #2 ended up not being as relevant, as I had a really easy pregnancy for anyone, let alone a twin pregnancy. I didn't post nearly as much as I intended, and to be perfectly honest, other than the regular old awesome pregnancy stuff, nothing that exciting happened. I'm a little sad that I missed writing about the incredible feeling of the kicks and wiggles in my belly. Slightly disappointed that I failed to record my rollercoaster of emotions as they fluctuated from the highest highs to the lowest lows, the greatest triumphs to the most awful fears.
But here I am, a new mom, and my journey has completely changed from a twin pregnancy to a twin motherhood. As I type this, I'm listening to little noises from my sweet girls and wondering if they're ready to wake up yet for the next feeding (when I just put them down ten minutes ago).
And as promised, here is my birth story, which I am so excited to write!
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As you all know, I had a very uneventful pregnancy. I was a trooper, and so were my girls. Their weights and measurements were nearly identical through the pregnancy. My doctor never recommended a specialist, and other than the typical twin stuff (extra ultrasounds, appointments and check-ups a little more often) we didn't have to do anything crazy to take care of our growing little ones in my belly.
I worked my whole pregnancy, taking days off only for doctor appointments that I couldn't schedule after school. And other than some excessive swelling and a little exhaustion on those extra long school days, I didn't really change much as a teacher.
So it was a huge surprise to me when on my birthday, a Monday (Nov. 18), when we were 36 weeks exactly, my doctor told me I shouldn't go back to work. My blood pressure was "a little high" and she wanted me on modified bed rest (chilling at home) to try to get it down. She mentioned she wanted to see me Wednesday to check my blood pressure again.
I wasn't ready to leave work... but I have to admit, I was grateful to be home and resting before my girls came. It let me have a couple of days to hang out with Rob and just breathe. I packed our hospital bags, but I wasn't really concerned that we'd be giving birth anytime soon.
Wednesday came and we went back to see the doctor. In the back of my mind was "what if we have to go have babies?" but it was one of those fears that was only in the back of my mind. Didn't think it could actually happen.
But my blood pressure was still pretty high; in fact, it was a little higher than Monday. Doctor said, "I'm going to need you guys to head over to Labor and Delivery so we can monitor you and those babies. We'll try to get that blood pressure down and if it doesn't lower we'll see about having some babies."
WHAT?! I started shaking. I wasn't ready! Mommyhood was going to hit me soon and I wasn't ready yet. The doctor told us we had some time to go get our stuff together at home, but they would be expecting us at L&D.
On our way home to get our things and stop to get something to eat, we decided that we weren't going to call anyone just yet. We weren't sure what was going on, and if they could lower my blood pressure, we'd end up going home anyway. There was no reason to worry anyone or get anyone excited.
When we got to the hospital, everything started to feel a little more permanent. It made me realize that this probably wasn't going to be a short stay. They hooked a bracelet to my wrist with all my info and sent someone down with a wheelchair to push me upstairs to the birthing center. THAT was a hoot. I was like, "seriously, I can walk..." but they wouldn't let me.
They took us to a big room where we sat for hours with a blood pressure cuff checking me every 10 minutes. It started to get really painful to have my blood pressure checked, which the nurse said meant it was raising and getting really high. Luckily Rob had his computer so he could keep himself entertained... there was literally nothing going on in that big room other than the machine checking my blood pressure. They also had monitors on my belly checking for contractions (existent, but not regular) and the babies' heartbeats. The girls were fine... my blood pressure was not.
Eventually, my doctor came in to check up on me, and suggested that I be put on magnesium to try to lower my blood pressure. She said they'd continue to monitor the babies, but it shouldn't really affect them other than making them a little tired. I had been so against taking anything my whole pregnancy... but my blood pressure was getting dangerously high. They were also monitoring the protein in my urine (Sorry if TMI) which was very high, telling my doctor that I probably had pre-eclampsia.
They put an IV port in my hand (gross!) and started me on a magnesium drip. It slowed me down a lot, but the babies heartbeats stayed high and strong. The nurses were all really surprised that the girls were still as active and happy as they were.
Hours and hours later, my blood pressure was not lowering. it'd drop every once in a while, but for the most part, it was staying up. Doctor came in and mentioned induction.
I stayed on the magnesium all of Wednesday, was switched to a different room where I was on the mag overnight, and into Thursday.
Thursday was the worst. The nurses and my doctor came in to let me know that we'd really need to consider induction and be prepared for a cesarean. I couldn't handle hearing that news. I was adament about letting them know I wanted to have as natural a birth as was possible; as little medications as we could and definitely vaginal. My doctor was willing to deliver my girls, but we couldn't guarantee who'd be on duty when they decided to come. I spent Thursday in tears at the thought of a c-section, an epidural, and all the things I didn't want when I had my girls.
The birthing center was PACKED that night, and I am so grateful for that. The night doctor that evening was too busy with active labors to come in and start my induction, and the nurses weren't sure if she was comfortable delivering twins vaginally, especially with one of them breech. So I spent Thursday night in bed on magnesium still.
Friday morning, my doctor was back on duty. I was so grateful. She decided to give me a dose of Cytotek, a medication that softens the cervix. She mentioned that for people who already had kids, Cytotek could start contractions, but since I was a first time mom, it probably wouldn't.
Sure enough, I was the anomaly, and the Cytotek made those random contractions I was having more regular and stronger. I started early labor that Friday morning, and was moved into yet another room. The labor room was the fourth room since being admitted Wednesday morning.
**More coming!**
**More coming!**
