Bean Sprouts: 3 Weeks

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In case you're wondering if I'll eeevvveerrr finish the twin's birth story (ahem...Grace), I will.  I'm working on catching up on sleep - so necessary to type complete and understandable sentences yet such an unreasonable goal considering the two night owls we've inherited - and brushing up on my one-handed typing skills followed by my new interest in learning how to type with the tip of my nose, the latter of which I'll be more likely to use as my hands are usually preoccupied these days.  :)

Bean Sprouts: 2 Weeks

TV Guide, Super-Epidural, and Anthony's Disappearance

So, four centimeters before labor even really began and my mind thinking it might be easier than I thought, especially since I was getting an epidural (strongly recommended, sometimes required for having twins in case an emergency c-section is needed...or the doc has to literally reach up and grab Twin B lest she decide to swim away).  Next came the waiting and the ever increasing intensity and frequency of contractions.  The TV was on but I vaguely remember only seeing TV Guide channel's rising list more than an actual show...our attempt to see what was on and change the channel according to what we felt like was obviously failing.  We both thrived on hearing the heartbeats of the babes on the monitors and so very often, the dull thuds of their kicks and brushes against the monitors.  It was sometime during those moments that the question of how I would get to the bathroom hit me.  Of course I asked, thinking I could just unstrap myself and wheel the IV stand over yonder to the potty but upon asking, I found out I was restrained to a bed pan...lovely.  Good thing I didn't eat breakfast and drink a large glass of orange juice followed by a few hundred gulps of water earlier that morning... 

So, contractions.  At first, it was just the normal tightening of my abdomen/uterus I was very used to but as my pitocin drip was steadily increased, on came those I had never experienced before.  I was bound and determined to go as long as they would let me before getting the epidural but was also very concerned with not missing the window of opportunity - apparently once your cervix is past a certain point, you can no longer get an epidural - and I knew that my sweet nurse knew enough to not let me pass it up yet I remember asking her to death if she thought I was still okay and safe within that time frame.  After an hour or so of contractions that pushed Cecilia so far up into my ribs and lungs that I thought for sure she had broken and punctured both, I finally broke down and asked for the anesthesiologist.  Twenty minutes later I had a tube in my spine and was slowly losing the feeling in my lower half...one of the weirdest feelings I've ever felt.  I wasn't thrilled with the fact that my legs began to feel like they each weighed a thousand pounds but I was so relieved that I could no longer feel my rear end, already going numb on it's own from sitting on the rock hard hospital bed. 

After about a half hour of epidural juice running it's course, after I couldn't even attempt to lift a leg, after the contractions had been almost reduced to a number on an electronic box to my right, I could still feel a sharp pain above my left leg that throbbed every time I contracted, and it didn't go away and didn't go away.  Even after being helped to lay on my left side so that the juice would travel thataway, it still hurt.  Back came the anesthesiologist who decided to reposition the tube in my back AND up the dosage a teensy bit.  Ten minutes later, the pain was gone and my legs felt like they had each put on a thousand more pounds.  The time was close to 11 am.  Again we waited and waited, TV Guide constantly scrolling through its scheduling and the twins still kicking like crazy. 

Around 12:30 pm, my nurse came in to check my dilation shortly after Anthony had left to go secure some lunch in the cafeteria.  While performing the shameless act, her eyes grew wide and she surprisingly exclaimed "Wow, nine centimeters!  You'll probably start pushing in twenty minutes or so!"  My already crazy mind zoomed straight ahead to thinking about how the 'labor' and my life as it used to be were almost over and the 'delivery' and our little sprouts were quickly approaching...and "Where the heck is Anthony...Why is it taking him so long to grab food...What if he misses it!"

...Hungry twins...gotta go!  Until then, I leave you with a glimpse of our two little peas in a pod...

*In case you missed the rest of the story and want more, read part 1, part 3, and part 4.*

 

Breakfast, Immodesty, and Water With an S

Welp, I'm currently parked on our sectional with my two little souls asleep and cuddled up next to me in a blanket and thinking there's no better time than the present to start telling the story of how they came into this world.  I think setting a goal of getting it all down in one foul swoop is a little unrealistic considering they eat, soil their diapers, and steal my attention and kisses at least every five minutes so it'll come in bits and pieces over the next few days...dare I say weeks?  We'll see how it goes.  I'll try not to create too many cliffhangers.  ;)

The story goes a little somethin' like this...

Twas the morning of July 9th, 2012, the very morning of the twins scheduled induction, and around 5:15 am.  We weren't supposed to be at the hospital until 6:30 but I really wanted to get up early and eat breakfast because I knew I was going to need all the energy in the world to push two kids out.  So, after a huge bowl of Lucky Charms and some strawberries, I threw on the only t-shirt that still semi-fit and some sweat pants, got Anthony to snap a 37 week photo, and off we went.  I couldn't tell you what exactly was running through my mind except for one thing, that at the end of that day my life would be drastically and forever changed.

Ten minutes later we had parked our car and made our way up to the labor and delivery floor where we where I checked in and was given one of those scandalous, open-back hospital gowns (hate them), and led to a small delivery room to change and hang out until my doc came to induce.  Most immodestly, I crawled into the most uncomfortable hospital bed I've been in in my life and tried as I might to watch the 12 inch TV screen mounted to the wall.  I couldn't even tell you what we watched but I can tell you I was thinking "this is it...no turning back now...oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh...wonder when they'll break my water, I mean waters, or will they break on their own...wonder what I'll get to eat for dinner tonight...will the girls have lots of hair or be baldies...this bed is killing my back...please stop kicking me in the ribs Twin B.................." 

Around 7:30, I was IVed and pitocin started slowly making its way into my bloodstream.  My burgeoning belly was also strapped with no less than three thick straps of equipment, two monitors keeping track of both girls heartbeats and one tracking contractions.  Then my nurse asked me if I had had anything to eat that morning.   I happily replied "oh yes", only to hear "oh, you shouldn't have." Oops.  Sweetheart that she was, she assured me that it would probably be okay.  Ignorant (nobody told me!) that I was, I prayed those Lucky Charms would give me the lucky and leave the charms in my stomach.  So...shortly thereafter, my doc came in to break the lowest baby's sac (Seraphia as she is now known) and check my dilation - four centimeters before we really had even begun!  Somewhere in my mind I had convinced myself at that moment that since I was already four cm, getting to 10 was going to be pretty simple, not totally pain-free, but simple.  Wrong and right.

- And I interrupt to tell you I thought I'd get more of the story down but I've got two diapers to change as the babes have each been working on relieving themselves as I've been

writing...stay tuned. -


*Want more?  Read part 2, part 3, and part 4.*

Bean Sprouts: 1 Week