Birth Story

I actually typed this out three months ago and never got around to posting it. Life is crazy and wonderful and exhausting right now! I'm hoping to start giving my blog at least a little attention soon.

On Monday, September 16, I had a pre-op appointment with Dr. J, who was scheduled to do my c-section. He basically just went over the procedure and what I could expect on Wednesday. He answered my questions and tried to ease my nerves a little. He did an ultrasound to check on the boys. They both looked great, and both of my little stinkers had flipped since the Wednesday before. Carson was breech and Tucker was head down. Since the boys were both still flipping, he told me he would do an ultrasound before they prepped me for the c-section and if they were both head down, we could possibly induce instead.

38 Weeks and 3 Days - 9/17/13

We had to be at the hospital at 10 am on Wednesday, September 18. My surgery was scheduled for noon. We got there a few minutes before 10:00. There was a little paperwork, then they took me back to prep. They hooked me up to monitor the boys' heartrates for an hour. I had three monitors strapped across my stomach. One for each baby and a contraction monitor. I was having some pretty decently strong contractions, but they were still irregular, as they had been for the past 3 weeks. The boys' heartrates were great. The nurse sent Tim to eat, because he was worried about passing out during my surgery. She put in my IV and started fluids.

Tim came back and we just hung out and talked while we waited for noon. A doctor from anesthesia came in and talked to me about the spinal block and what I could expect. Then, the nurse that was going to be with us in the operating room came and talked to us. It was almost time for me to go back, so we asked if my mom and stepdad, who were in the waiting room, could come back for a few minutes. While they were with us, Dr. J came in with the ultrasound machine. Carson was head down, but Tucker was breech again, so we were moving forward with the c-section.

I put on my pretty little hat, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, and left Tim to get his OR gear on. The operating room was freezing! I sat on the side of the table while they place my spinal block. By far the worst part was the lidocaine shot in my spine before they inserted the needle for my spinal. It felt like it took forever to get the spinal placed. My ginormous belly made it difficult lean forward enough for her to get a good spot. Once the spinal was in, they helped me lie down. I immediately just felt this warmth wash over me. They finished prepping me for surgery and tested to make sure the spinal was working. The nurse kept commenting on how much the boys were moving. Apparently, my stomach was dancing, but I couldn't really feel it. I could feel pressure, but no pain. The spinal was effective from about my armpits to my toes. They had warned me that breathing may feel difficult, but it didn't. I could still move my arms, but they stretched them out to the sides and covered them and my chest with heated blankets. Once I was all prepped and the curtain was up, they brought Tim in.

The room was pretty packed. Other than Tim and I, there was my nurse, an anesthesia nurse, Dr. J, another surgeon to help, a nurse for each baby, and I think one or two more. Tim sat on a little stool next to me and held my hand and talked to me. He had no desire to watch. They started the surgery and I felt a lot of pressure as they pushed from just under my rib cage to get the boys down and out. At some point I started feeling nauseated and they gave me medicine in my IV.

Carson was born screaming at 12:45, weighing in at 6 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches long, they lowered the curtain a little and Dr. J held him up for us to see before the nurses took him. As soon as I heard him cry, the tears started flowing. Dr. J told us he had a funny story to tell us after the other baby was out. Tucker was a little tangled in his cord, but he arrived just behind his brother at 12:46, weighing 7 lbs 3 oz and 19.5 inches long. Dr. J held him up for us to see, then handed him off to the nurse. After that, Dr. J told us that when they cut me open, both babies were head down. In the 20 minutes it took to prep me for surgery, Tucker had flipped. Then as Dr. J was pulling Carson out, Tucker grabbed ahold of his foot. He didn't want his brother to leave him! I'm pretty sure we'll be telling that story for years and years to come.

Carson

Tucker

Tim went over with the boys as they were cleaned up and weighed. They had a huge TV screen next to my head so I could watch what was going on with the babies while they stitched me up. Tucker was having a harder time getting the fluid out of his lungs. Carson was screaming his head off and doing a better job of getting rid of the fluid. Once they were both cleaned up they put them in a bed together and Carson immediately calmed down. One of the nurses picked Tucker up and Carson started screaming again. They brought Tucker over for me to see him, then the nurse took him back, because she was concerned about his lungs. Carson was doing better, and they laid him on my chest while the doctors finished up.

They moved me to a different bed, put a baby in each arm and wheeled me into recovery. The nurse helped prop up my arms with pillows and get the boys positioned to nurse. They both latched right on and nursed like pros. We ended up being in recovery for a long time (7 hours,) because we had to wait for a room. They had 24 deliveries they day before, so they we're pretty much full. There were two other sets of twins born that week, all boys. My boys were the biggest twins they had seen in over a year!

We weren't supposed to have visitors in recovery, but since we were stuck there for so long, they let us break the rules a little. I wanted Piper to be the first to see the boys, so she and my mom were the first to come back. I think Piper was a little overwhelmed, not only seeing her brothers, but also seeing me in the hospital bed.

We had a few more visitors while in recovery. I think pretty much all of the grandparents got to come in and see the boys. We finally made it into a room around 8:00 that night. The boys got their first baths and we settled in for the night. The boys did great that first night, but I was on too much of an adrenaline high to get much sleep. The rest of our stay was pretty much a blur of nursing, changing diapers, visitors, and trying to rest whenever I could. We got to go home Saturday, September 21st and we haven't slowed down (or slept) since!