My birth story with the twins doesn't begin with that first contraction or twinge that makes on thing " today might be the day". In fact it started the day I found out we were having twins. Then it forked when we found out one of our twins has a Single Umbilical Artery (SUA). But it wasn't until about 32 weeks pregnant that I would say that our birth story really started. At 32 weeks we found out at a routine appointment that our Baby B decided to flip breech. In reality this isn't a huge issue and shouldn't have caused any problems with delivery, however due to our Baby A having an SUA, she was much smaller and it would pose it's own set of challenges to delivery both of these babies vaginally. All we could do was hope that Baby B flipped back vertex, Baby A caught up in the weight department or if we got to delivery hope that once Baby A was delivered the doctors could get Baby B to turn head down for delivery. If these things didn't work then it would be a c-section for one or both of the babies, but for now it was just a waiting game.
With the twins I probably had more appointments than all 4 of my other pregnancies combined, which was a whole new experience. And ultrasounds to check the growth of the babies (especially Baby A), those were pretty frequent as well. On September 14, 2012 I had another growth scan for the babies. It was then we found out that Baby A had slowed a bit in her growth, which was a possible indicator that her cord or placenta was starting to have a problem and not doing its job. We had estimated weights for the twins at (A) 5lbs 2 oz and (B) 7lbs 2 oz - a pretty big difference. We spoke to the perinatologist and she recommended a delivery by 39 weeks and to follow up with an extra Non-Stress Test, which she would also pass along to my regular doctor. So we left that appointment knowing that we'd have babies born in the next 2 weeks or less, which was pretty exciting!
On Monday, September 17, 2012 I had a regular check up with my doctor. We verified that Baby A was still head down, and Baby B was breech. We again discussed our delivery options based on the position and size difference of the babies. The doctor then advised that a delivery sooner rather than later would be better, as it was possible that the extra monitoring might not catch an issue. And it was becoming apparent that being on the outside was better than being on the inside for Baby A. Much to our surprise he booked an induction for me the next day! That was totally unexpected, but also a welcomed surprise, as we could plan for our older kids and get both babies here sooner rather than later and to hopefully avoid any problems.
That evening we made the appropriate phone calls and made the plans for the grandparents to take care of our older kids the next day. Then much to my surprise after we got everyone off to bed, I started having some contractions. They weren't painful, but they were sort of regular and we both thought that I'd probably head up to the hospital that night and an induction wouldn't be necessary after all. Well that didn't happen, after mild contractions most of the night, they died off about 11am on the 18th. We also found out that my induction call time was for 7:30 PM (not AM like the doctor has said). I stayed home sans kids and took a nap and prepared for the night and next day. Matt went to work and then we enjoyed our last dinner as a family of 6 together. Matt's mom came to stay with the kids and we headed up to the hospital about 9pm.
We arrived at the hospital about 9:30pm and word had spread that there were twins being induced that night, so I was welcomed with open arms and excitement. I know every baby that is delivered is exciting, but I think there is something a little "extra" exciting about delivering twins. I got sent back to my labor room and things got started; paperwork, IV's, questionnaires, snacks for Matt, chatting with the nurses, hooking the monitors up for the babies, meeting with the doctor, discussing the induction plan, talking to anesthesia about not wanting an epidural - but wanting to know my options in case a c-section were to happen. Once everything was in order, the doctor ordered my meds and we settled in for the night and prepared for a delivery on the 19th.
For various reasons the pitocin was set very low - as to not stress the babies (especially A), make sure there was enough staff to handle the twin delivery, ease my body into an induction (since I'd never had to do that before). Contractions came every 3-8 minutes throughout the night, but they weren't painful and I slept through most of them. At about 8am a decision was made (unknown to me until later) that my labor was going to be stalled. My pitocin wasn't going to be increased and they weren't going to be breaking my water anytime soon. I was just going to hang out. Come to find out later, this was strictly because of how busy the labor and delivery floor was. They had 5 deliveries in an hour later that morning (2 c-sections and 3 vaginal)! I think at one point there were about 10 or 11 babies being monitored on the floor as well. Given the fact that I needed double the team and needed to deliver in the operating room, they needed to keep my labor at bay to make sure that all of the appropriate staff was there for me, which was fine by me.
So while I was in labor and delivery, being induced and having mild contractions - if you can still talk through contractions - you're not in labor yet. Needless to say daytime TV was getting a bit boring and given the fact that I had an increased risk of a c-section, I couldn't eat either. Ugh. I was getting bored and just wanted to get the show on the road. Honestly, I wanted to be in pain, because then I'd know that things were happenening. So finally about 2pm the doctor on call came in and said that since things slowed down, we could get the show on the road! She was going to break my water and she knew that would officially put my into labor. After sitting in labor and delivery for so long, I couldn't have been more excited to be in pain! At about 2:30pm she broke my water, I was about 3cm dilated, Baby A's head settled into my pelvis and boy did labor start. By about 3:45pm I knew it wasn't going to be long (and so did Matt). He told the nurse, who then had to think fast. I was only at 5cm, but she could tell that I would be ready to have a baby SOON. So while they were trying to decide to call the doctor or just take me back to the OR to deliver - she basically said "screw it" and took me back. She got me moved to the other bed (which I will tell you that operating beds are TINY and not very comfortable to finish laboring on). But it was a good good thing she did because even with the little bit of warning within the next 45 minutes I went from 5cm to delivered and the staff was still scrambling to get everyone there. The doctor actually told me NOT to push so she could get her gloves on. Yeah, like I had a choice. Ha! But not to be outdone by her big sisters Averie Claire came quickly into this world. Born at 4:31pm - after just about 2 1/2 hours of real labor. She weighed in at a teeny tiny 5lbs 6oz and was 19" long.
It was now the delivery of Baby B that would prove to be tricky. Baby B was presenting breech and our plan was to have the doctors attempt to do an External Cephalic Version to get her head down and into position. I knew that her cooperation was key and if she didn't flip, I would have to deliver via c-section, as a breech extraction of a baby estimated at almost 2 pounds bigger than the first just wasn't safe. I was given 2 doses of terbutaline and my pitocin was shut off to stop my labor. Then for the next 20-30 minutes 2 ob/gyns and 1 nurse pushed, turned, prodded and gave it their all to get the baby head down. But for reasons that are unclear, maybe it was to have something that she could call her own as the baby of the family, Baby B just wouldn't turn. For the health of everyone involved it was decided to delivery Baby B via c-section. So just about an hour after her sister, we welcomed Emilie Elise at 5:36pm. She weighed in at 6lbs 13oz and was 19 1/8" long.
Yes, I rolled the dice on the possibility of a double whammy delivery and I got it. I took the chance and many would say that I lost. But in fact I won. I delivered two healthy babies in the ways that they needed to be delivered. Averie got the benefit of a vaginal delivery and Emilie got the benefit of a safe delivery. I've had people ask me "knowing the outcome would I do it again this way". And the answer is yes. As crazy as it sounds I would take a vaginal and a c-section delivery again in a heartbeat - it's just how it was supposed to be. How can you argue with that?
Averie Claire 9/19/2012 4:31pm 5lbs 6oz 19" long
Emilie Elise 9/19/2012 5:36pm 6lbs 13oz 19 1/8" long
