Abigail & Liliana's Birth Story

Ron and I are both a little sentimental the night before our girls' first birthday. Boy, how time flies!!

I came across the birth story I wrote up about 2 weeks after they were born. It was for a message board I frequent for parents of multiples. It was so neat to read and remember little details I've already forgotten. Here it is....(DH is Ron!).

Abigail and Liliana's Birth Story
April 30, 2008

At my 36 week appt, Ron and I decided to schedule a c-section after discussing birthing options with our doctor. At that time, Baby A was heads down and B was breech. I know there are different opinions on vaginal vs. c/s with this presentation, but we thought this approach had the lowest overall risk. So, my c-section was scheduled for April 30th at 11:30am, when I would be 38 weeks pregnant.

Despite my total denial that I would make it to 38 weeks, the evening of April 29th arrived and I was still pregnant. Knowing that I couldn't eat for 8 hours before the surgery (and with food being a top priority in my life at the time), I carefully set my alarm clock for 3am so that I could eat the PBJ I had left on my nightstand. Oh, yes - I wanted to be fueled for my big day and make sure I ate at the last moment!! :)

Ron and I woke up around 8 am on April 30th and made it to the hospital by 9:15, marking the first time in our lives we were on time for something! After arriving at Labor & Delivery, the nurse said that they were very busy with emergency c-sections and would we mind waiting in the waiting room? Um, hell yeah I minded, but not so much to put up an argument. They didn't even have any rooms available for pre-op! We called the families and told them to hold off on coming out until we were admitted.

Around 10:30, we walked back to the nurses' station for an update (fearing they'd forgotten about us). The nurses then proceeded to talk back and forth about what to do with me, then asked us how far away we lived. Ron and I looked at each other like "WTF????" - We were damned if we were leaving the hospital only to get a phone call telling us we were rescheduled for a different day. Luckily, my doctor walked up then, saw the look of disbelief on my face and shooed the nurses away. She said she needed to speak to others and would give us an update. So we headed back to the waiting room again (sigh). A nurse came out quickly and said our c/s would be moved to 2pm and that a room would be ready at 11:30. Thank the lord!

They took us back at 11:30 as promised and started getting me ready. Asked a million questions, inserted the IV and hooked my belly up to monitors. The best part was learning that I was having (painless) contractions every 5 - 6 minutes, which progressed to every 2 - 3 minutes while we were getting ready. The nurse said she was certain we would have been back that night in labor if we weren't scheduled for today. I was so glad to hear that the girls were ready to come on their own!

Around 2:20, Ron was in his scrubs and they walked me back to the operating room for the spinal / epidural. Now, here's one of the falsities I heard - everyone says it doesn't hurt, that the IV hurts worse. Now, maybe if you've been in labor for 10 hours the epi / spinal doesn't hurt. But, when your delivery is scheduled and seems more like a dentist appt and you are in zero pain, I thought it HURT LIKE HELL. And I have a pretty high pain tolerance. The anesthesiologist and the nurse had obviously never worked together, because the nurse was giving me instructions on how to breathe and then the anesthesiologist would tell me something different and talk over the nurse. I finally burst into tears and said "I can't listen to you both at once-I want to listen to the guy with the giant needle in my back!!"

The anesthesia took quickly and they put me on the table. My doctor and Ron came in around 2:30 and I was very glad to see two familiar faces. I won't lie - I felt very weird and exposed on the table. I kept thinking I felt like a frog being dissected in 9th grade bio lab (sorry - TMI, but that thought kept going thru my mind!!!). The surgery itself didn't hurt at all, I felt the pressure everyone speaks of and it goes very quickly once they get started.

At 3:00 exactly, Baby A (Abigail) was pulled out. She had somehow turned to a breech position over the last two weeks and was peeing and crying as she entered the world! Not much has changed. :) I didn't get to see her at first, but the look of instant love on Ron's face was one I'll never forget.

Baby B (Liliana) arrived one minute later at 3:01pm. She was in a vertex position (I have no idea how they both changed positions so late in the pregnancy) and didn't cry right away. They showed her to us though and it was the most amazing feeling. Yes, I felt doped up from all of the meds, but I still felt as if I was in the moment with them and Ron. She started to cry within a minute or so, which was a relief to me.

The girls' weights (A - 6lb 11oz, B - 5lb, 13oz) and time of births were read out loud, then they brought them both over to Ron and I. We held them briefly, then they took them back to the nursery to get cleaned up and checked out. Baby B was checked for low blood sugar, but other than that everything checked out fine. I was sewn up and taken to a recovery room.

Ron updated our families and friends of their arrival at that point. (I wish we had video of this - my dad said Ron had the proudest look on his face!) The funny thing is he wouldn't tell them their names -- he wanted to "double-check" if I was SURE that we were going with Abigail and Liliana. I told him I was sure, so he ran out and told them all the names. :)

The two hours following the surgery weren't painful at all, but it did feel weird. I got the shakes pretty bad, but didn't vomit or feel sick. I was glad that everyone was more caught up seeing the babies in the nursery window then coming back to recovery to see me. I really needed some time to focus on feeling better.

They brought the girls to our permanent room once we settled in. It was so wonderful to hold them, but a bit chaotic with all the visitors (I think we had about 10 people plus Ron, me and the babies in the room at that point). Luckily, a lactation consultant arrived and shooed everyone out of there. Ron and I had the rest of the evening to get to know our girls.

I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 days, which I recommend with twins. Ron stayed with me each night except the last night, which I totally needed. It was a wonderful opportunity for both of us to bond with our babies and I REALLY needed his help getting around and recuperating - I was able to get into a chair then walk around at 9am the day after surgery. I'd say recovery was a little more painful than I thought, but I've never had any surgery before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.

We kept the girls in the nursery at night and with us from early morning (7 or so) until late evening (11 or so). We all came home together the following Sunday. 2 weeks later, I feel pretty good. Not 100%, but I'm not in pain and recovery is going well. This has turned out to be way longer than I anticipated!! HTH anyone who has an upcoming c-section scheduled!