A Twin Birth-Part Two

I just had to document this one again because I'm huge

Its been a minute since I wrote part one of the twin birth, and to those of you that read this still, I'm so sorry! haha. 8 months later, and I feel like I can finally finish part two of the twins birth.

So there we were, waiting. I got changed into the hospital gowns and the nurses then came in and started getting me hooked up to everything. I was so swollen and so big that it was hard and painful to both move and sit still, as weird as that sounds. I could barely lift my legs and sitting in one position too long was sooo uncomfortable.

Of course both babies were hooked up to heart monitors, but every time I would shift (which was terribly hard) Baby A's (Ellie) heart rate would disappear and the nurses would have to come in to help me put it back on.

I remember as I was sitting there waiting, even though I was uncomfortable and even though I wanted it all to be over, hearing both babies heart beats was so surreal and so amazing. I was finally so close to meeting both my babies and I couldn't believe it.

Finally, contractions started getting harder, so I requested the epidural. I could have definitely handled more pain, but I was terrified of labor progressing too fast and not having an epidural, and for this delivery out of all my other ones I really didn't want to go without the epidural considering my breech baby would have to be pulled out!

Rolling over to lay on my side to get the epidural was comical.  Like I mentioned above, I could barely move due to largeness and being so incredibly swollen. I felt like a beached whale. Seriously. I'm not trying to be mean about myself. Its literally how I felt.

After the epidural was placed, the doctors decided to put in an internal heart rate monitor on Baby A, since it kept coming off. I remember that hurt pretty bad, so then i got scared that the epidural wouldn't work. I then frantically started pushing the epidural button to get more medicine, and my contractions were starting to get painful, but just on one side. The nurses then came in and checked me and all the sudden I was at a 10 and ready to push. Thank goodness I got the epidural when I did. But then I started to panic because I still felt everything on one side. I was terrified and just wanted to be numb. I knew that there was a higher chance of a C-Section, but also I knew this birth was going to be tricky, you know, doing it twice with a breech baby and all, and I was just all the sudden so scared. Thankfully, me and Sam had a moment alone before we were taken into the operating room, and he gave me a quick blessing of comfort.

You can see me clinging to Sams arm because I was so nervous

So now here is where things get a big foggy. Because of the higher risk of a c-section, I had to deliver in an operating room. So that meant that everyone had to wear scrubs and i had to put a cap on my head. Thankfully, as this chaos was going on the epidural finally kicked in all the way and for the first time in MONTHS, I was comfortable. Months.

So there we were in the operating room, and it was a full show. So many people were in the room with me. There were two full nurseries (one for each baby in case there were complications) 2 doctors, tons of nurses, maybe another anesthesiologist? I can't remember, but the room was so crowded, and there I was, sitting on the operating table so nervous. I knew I was in good hands, but I could NOT stop shaking. They gave me a blanket while I waited, but the nervous/cold shaking wouldn't stop.

This doesn't even do justice to all that were in the operating room, but it was my most flattering picture

Finally I was ready to push. First out came Ellie. Her birth was quick. After she was weighed, I remember Sam being able to hold her, although Sam isn't sure he remembers that. I could be remembering it wrong. Like I said, things are kind of foggy at this point in my memory. Not only because it was so long ago, but because it was just a whirlwind of activity going on. Anyway, my doctor was absolutely amazing, and started working immediately on getting Josie out. Its a good thing I was numb because she reached right up and started pulling Josie out by her feet. I was able to kind of relax for a bit there, and then I had to do some little pushes. 6 minutes after her sister, Josie then made her entrance into this world doing the splits.She was born with some meconium in her mouth, so they had to take her and immediately scoop her out/massage her. I remember being pretty nervous that she wasn't crying, but  before long, she was crying and being weighed and measured, then both babies were ready to be held by me.

When the babies were placed on my chest, it was the most bizzar feeling in the world. I did it. I successfully grew and birthed two babies. I finished the most hard thing that I had ever done up to that point, and honestly- I rocked it. I was seriously so amazed and thankful that my body was so strong and did what it was meant to do without terrible complications. And now I had TWO BABIES!! And to me, the hardest part was over.

I am also so thankful for my amazing doctor, Dr. Natalie Loewen. She was so great. I trusted her and never felt like she did any "unnecessary" procedures. She was confident in her work and in herself as she had successfully birthed many twins before mine, and she was confident in me. Because of that, I was able to have a wonderful birthing experience.

Baby A, Eleanor Kaye Tappana, was born at 3:02 pm, weighing 6 pounds and 11 oz, 20.5 inches long. Baby B, Josephine Kate Tappana, was born at 3:08, weighing 6 pounds and 10 oz, 19 inches long. They were my smallest babies for sure. But I am so thankful they were both still really good sizes.

After the birth and everything got cleaned up, I was shaking still for the longest time. i Ijust so cold, but I was able to hold my babies and be wheeled back into my room. I remember getting congratulations from other nurses walking the halls. The nurses that was in my room would tell of how awesome I did, and that  made me feel pretty great.

The rest of the hospital stay wasn't too exciting. The babies kept choking on amniotic fluid and had to be suctioned out, and I got the flu the second night there. But besides the flu, eating was my favorite part. I had a stomach again and food tasted amazing! When time came to go home though, I was so ready!! I didn't care for many of my nurses while in recovery. They really weren't as awesome as my L&D nurses, so I was really anxious to get home and stop being disturbed all night, by someone other than the twins. Plus, I missed my 3 at home. So even though taking care of 2 babies plus the older 3 scared the crap out of me., I knew I could do it, because I had already survived a twin pregnancy. I could do anything. And so far, almost 8 months later, I still have 5 alive and happy children.