Meeting Two Handsome Little Boys! - A Birth Story!

So this week turned out nothing like how I had planned. I went to the doctor on Monday to have my NST and BPP ran as well as have a growth scan for the twins. Finally, both boys passed the NST. I then went into one of the ultrasound rooms to check on the boys. They did all of their measurements and it was immediately obvious that Ronin was much smaller than Orion, I could tell and the US tech said as much. So, when I went in to the room to talk to our MFM I was expecting some sort of bad news, but I was still kind of shocked by what she had to say.

"How would you feel about meeting your babies this week?"

One sentence dramatically changed my life.

We began talking about possibilities. She said I could wait if I wanted to, but she didn't feel that would be the safest option. She explained all of her reasoning behind wanting the boys to be born at just over 33 weeks gestation. She told me about the risks if I were to continue carrying them as well as the ones for delivering them. So... the decision was made. I would meet my babies that week.

Thayer and I then went upstairs to make our delivery arrangements with our regular OB. Again, we talked about the positives and negatives of delivering vaginally (since both babies were vertex or head down) and having a C-section. Because it was my first pregnancy, induction this early (33 weeks) may not have worked at all. There was also the risk of Ronin (the littler baby) becoming very distressed during contractions. He said even if induction were successful, the likelihood of me still needing a C-section because the babies were in danger was very high. So Thayer and I made the decision for the health of our children, it would be better to simply have a scheduled C-section. Our C-section was set up for the next day at 2pm.

As we left the doctor's office we told Thayer's mom (who was in town visiting). I immediately called my mom to let her know, and then began spreading the word. I was excited, anxious, but most of all, I was scared. 33 weeks gestation was still very early. Yes, I had the steroid shots. Yes, my babies and I would have the very best of care. But what if something happened? What if something went dreadfully wrong? I was so worried for my little boys.

I went home that night and prepared for the next day... the day I would meet my little boys.

June 18th, 2013

We arrived at the hospital at 12pm to prepare for my C-section. They took me, Thayer, my mom, and Thayer's mom back to the prep room. I changed into my gown, got my IV, had the babies monitored, had my blood drawn. Then the wait began. Finally they had Thayer change into his scrubs and got ready to take me back to the OR. I became more frightened.

I was wheeled back to the OR, and I got up on the operating table to await my epidural. My nurse (who was AMAZING!) comforted me as the needles were inserted in my back. I laid back and got situated and almost immediately my blood pressure bottomed out. They had to pump me full of several different medications to get it back up to normal. They checked to make sure I was completely numb and the doctor got ready. They brought Thayer in and had him sit by my head. I could tell by his eyes that he was scared too, for me and for the boys. I heard the my OB said, "Okay, I'm ready to cut." Not two minutes later I heard the most beautiful cry. I immediately started bawling. I saw them rush him over to the station to get cleaned up and checked over. Then I heard a second cry. I start crying even harder.

Both of my boys entered the world at 2:55pm!

The NICU teams ask if Thayer has is camera. He looks at me and I can tell he's torn. I tell him "Go. I'm fine. Go." So he leaves my side and starts snapping pictures of the boys. I hear them crying and I can't help but continue to cry. They get them all stable. (Their Apgar scores were 7 at 1min and 9 at 5min.) They load them in an isolet and take them to the NICU for assessment and take care of them. Thayer comes back to me and I tell him to go with the boys. And they start sewing me up. Not long later I'm taken back to my prep room for recovery for 2 hours so the epidural can wear off.

When my 2 hours were up, they wheeled me down to the boys' room in NICU. My boys were small... but perfect and beautiful. They are the most amazing thing I have EVER seen in my life.

Ronin

Ronin

Orion

Ronin

Orion