Journey of the Twincesses

So early in my pregnancy, even before my first ultrasound, I knew something was totally different. I kept telling my husband, Jason, and everyone else, I'm either having a boy this time, or there is more than one (haha!!) So we went in for that first scan of the baby..super exciting moment in any pregnancy. I have known the ultrasound tech since 2005, as we worked together for many years. I was looking at her and saying the same thing...and sure enough, her next words were "YOU'RE RIGHT!!!!!!" There was a moment of oh sh!t, proceeded by lots of nervous laughter! It was the scariest, happiest moment, but that just marked the beginning!

As weeks passed by I kept growing bigger and bigger, but luckily only gained 19lbs!!! Big difference from my 40+lbs with my singleton. I ended up failing both of my glucose tests though, so I literally watched everything I put into my mouth. Those were trying times.

Throughout pregnancy I'd wonder how I was going to care for newborn twins, and my oldest who'd be two when they were born. I never worried about having enough love to give each one, that never even crossed my mind. I'd think about things like how am I going to carry both of them, or do I make a gazillion trips.....HA, no. You learn as a parent of multiples, that you can carry both. It's tricky at first, but you literally train your muscles and your mind to do this. Do I fed them separately or together? I know there are differing opinions on this, but I found for us, it worked better if I fed them together, and had them on the same sleep schedule. To me, it just makes life so much more simple!

With a multiple pregnancy, you are treated like royalty, or at least we felt that we were! You go in much more often for scans and tests because they like to monitor the growth of twins closely due to possible complications that they could possibly catch early on. All of the staff were so friendly and helpful on many levels. My OB is one in a million. I've heard several say that they don't like his bedside manners, but I think he's amazing. He's very knowledgeable, listens to concerns, gives feedback, and genuinely cares about his patients.

At 36 weeks, things became a little scary because my blood pressure. It started going up, and staying there. That and having gestational diabetes made me preeclamptic. What could possibly turn into a bad situation, so I was closely monitored. At 37.1weeks, I was scheduled for an induction due to having those issues, and risk of something happening to the girls or myself. That was a very eventful day! I go in, and luckily get the most amazing nurse. She was so sweet, and had just came back from vacation. She got my gown and everything ready and stepped out for me to get undressed, and came back in a little later on. She explained things that I had no idea about, answered questions that I had, and gave me comfort in knowing that I was in good hands. She came in and out a million times that day. Keeping baby monitors on twins is a full time job in itself! Upon arrival I was 4cm, and thought, this shouldn't take long....wrong! The doctor that was on came in to check me mid day, and I was only at 7cm. We were to call my doc when I reached 8cm. More time passed and it was 7pm, shift change. I was super sad to be losing my dayshift nurse as she had been so great, but the night shift nurse seemed to be good as well. They were talking as they were getting ready to reposition me so that we could find the heartbeats again. They said that the baby had probably just dropped further into the canal being the reason they lost baby A's heartbeat. So I was laying on my left side, with a wonderful peanut pillow (highly recommend) between my legs holding me in a great position for getting babies in the birth canal.  Did I say great....because what happened next was EPIC! So they turned me onto my back, and I hear baby, BABY!!!!!!!! Low and behold, there was baby A's head. I was still only 7cm. Whatttttttt, how could this be happening! Then, she shot out...my husband explains it as being like a rollover car accident...Bahahaha (it's funny now) she shot out and bounced on the bed, and of course the nurses were there to catch her, after NOT knowing she was even there. I didn't even know she was there, my epidural was that good. So they put her up on me to hold at the moment, and I'm just in total shock....I'm excited, scared, overwhelmed, you name it! I did mention this was right at shift change right! So all of the sudden I have like a million people rushing into my room. There beside me the whole time though, was my dayshift nurse. She reassured me everything was fine, that it was going to be ok, and she was right! So, after baby A surprised ALL of us, my Doc was called, and they scanned to see that baby B was head down, or not. Once the first baby comes out, the second has room to turn, which doesn't matter majorly from what I understand, unless the second baby is bigger. Baby B was bigger in our case, so they had to make sure she stayed head down. With one nurse holding pressure to keep her in position, they wheeled me to the OR...just in case there was s need for an emergency C section l, which is super common for twins. So then, I pushed laying flat on an OR table...FLAT, meaning I was not sitting up AT ALL. Still only 7cm BTW. I couldn't feel my contractions, or anything else for that matter. My doc arrived (he totally didn't have to, but that's how freakin awesome he is) the dayshift doc was there, and the nightshirt doc!! Not to mention, a gazillion nurses for both me and each baby. 45ish LONG minutes later, I am finally able to get baby B pushed out with a lil help from suction. Her cord kept trying to prolapse, so it had to happen for her safety, or else a C Section was about to happen.

Whew what a journey, even more, what a great story!! I am absolutely grateful for all of the people who helped that day, but especially to my doctor for going above and beyond by coming in when he didn't have to, and my dayshift nurse who stuck by me throughout everything. As scared as I was in those crazy moments, they held me together, brought me peace, and kept me focused. Let's not forget my hubby...he is the most patient person in stressful situations. With everything going on, he remained so calm, but excited! They handed him baby A to carry and follow me, I think she brought him some comfort in the situation!! I am beyond blessed for all these people, my family, and the opportunity to be a mom of twins!

The Moment My Life Began

 

Its amazing, that first second of the rest of your life. You go through ten months (or more for me) of pregnancy with all these expectations of what life will be like, but then the moment happens when your first child is born...anything and everything that once existed evaporates from your mind, and the only thing you can focus on is this brand new, tiny human being lying in your arms. That particular moment is beyond amazing. I mean, your holding the most beautiful thing you've ever laid eyes on, yet, its covered in fluids, poop, and blood, among other gross bodily yuck, but its PERFECT.