Jacen and Spencer's very long birth story

***Warning:  This might get a little graphic at times and some points are a little blurry in my mind***

Parenthood is definitely already showing us that we are no longer in control and things do not always go according to plan.

On tuesday, 4/3, the boys did great on the NST but it was noted that I was having lots of small contractions. The nurse spoke with the OB on call and they decided since I wasn't feeling them I wasn't in labor my uterus was just being extra "irritable".  I was told to pay attention and if I started to experience pain to let them know.  I had been on the monitors for over two hours but hadn't felt anything at the point so I tried to relax.  Andy had gone home to check on the kitties and when he got back I mentioned I was feeling a few contractions an hour but they were feeling a little different, not painful, but different.  I took a shower thinking it would relax me.

My dad showed up to visit at around 4pm and I continued to monitor them and told them both that I was probably going to become that mom that cries wolf every day and it was probably nothing.  I mentioned it to the nurse and she said if I had another one to let her know.  We waited it out and about three contractions later (yeah, I know) I was positive they felt different.  Instead of the hardness beginning at my sides and moving in to the center/top of my belly it felt like I was first feeling it low then my belly would gradually get hard.  My nurse hooked me up to the monitors again and in about 10 minutes came in to say she had placed a call to the OB on call and she was going to come check to see if I was further dilated.  It was incredibly scary because at that point I was almost positive I was in active labor again but was praying it would somehow stop or they could give me something else to make it stop.

The OB on call showed up, checked me, and I was already dilated to 4+/5cm, 90% effaced, and having semi frequent productive contractions.  I am my mother's daughter and I think the first words out of my mouth were "oh shit" and then I cried more.  We were told there was nothing they could do to stop labor at this point and I would likely deliver that night at 29w3d.  Andy had to quickly pack up the room and follow me back to an L&D room (we had moved to antepartum that morning) where the nurses started me on an IV line with fluids and the OB told me I needed an epidural soon.

I originally wanted a medication free birth at a local birthing center with a midwife so the idea of an epidural has always felt wrong to me.  But I knew with twins it was a necessity and not a choice but I wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.  The OB was a little surprised/skeptical but said that was fine.

They ask you to rate your pain 0-10 with 10 being the worst pain ever imaginable.  At the worst I told them my contractions were a 2 but in all honestly they remained uncomfortable not really painful.  I had to take a deep breath when they occurred and wasn't able to talk but it was mainly due to the intensity of the feeling not pain.  In the beginning I progressed 1cm per every 1-2 hours so the OB again reiterated that we would likely deliver that night or early the next morning.  My contractions never really picked up so I stalled out a little bit at around 7cm dilated (I think, my memory at this point is hazy).  They made me get the epidural at about 11:30pm and it wasn't as awful as I had imagined for years.  I almost passed out afterwards but lying down helped immensely and I didn't.

At 12am it was officially Andy's 26th birthday and five years to the day since he proposed to me.  We tried to make jokes about how he was going to be 25 forever since the day will always be about the boys and not him in the future.  We were both scared.  I labored slowly for the rest of the night.  The numbness of my legs made me anxious and uncomfortable so I wasn't able to sleep for more than 5 minutes or so at a time.  Andy was able to sleep a little but I know it wasn't really restful.  Every time I got a dose of the epidural I would get very shivery and at first I thought it was an anxiety response because every time Andy would hold my hands and talk to me it would calm down immediately.  I now think it was a combination of the coldness of the medicine entering my blood stream, hormones, and anxiety.

By 5:30am I think I was stalled at 8cm dilated and still 90% effaced so the OB convinced me to allow her to break Righty's water in hopes of progressing more quickly.  The OB on call was okay with me progressing naturally since both boys were perfect on the monitors with very little reaction to labor.  They were happy campers inside, my body was just confused and thought it was time.  I was scared for each intervention since in my mind I knew with each one it became more likely a c-section would be necessary.  But I also knew at that point that without the interventions a c-section was becoming more likely.  My labor didn't progress as much as we had all hoped and at 6:30am they convinced me pitocin

Around 7am my OB came to visit and take over.  She immediately said if things didn't start progressing soon a c-section would be necessary.  Andy and I finally began to tell the boys that it was time for them to come into the world, even though we wanted them to have every second of advantage due to growth in me.  On the pitocin my contractions began to speed up slowly but didn't become consistent for awhile.  At around 8:30am I think I was checked again and was at 9cm and almost 100% dilated with Righty at a +1 station.  Pitococin was upped again and pretty quickly the contractions became stronger and more frequent.  I was told to let them know if I started to feel a certain type of pressure.

As we were waiting a woman from church, who is also a chaplain at our hospital, came in to say a prayer with/for us.  I honestly feel that this was the final thing needed before the boys were ready to be born since during her prayer I began to feel the pressure.  After she left I told the nurse and my OB came to check me and agreed that it was go time.  We did several practice pushes in the L&D room before the nurse and OB agreed that it was time to go for real.

Andy got to put on a handsome blue OR gown and I got to put a surgical cap on my head just in case.  They wheeled me into the OR and there were so many people there, I don't even know how many.  At first I lost my "rhythm" of pushing since there were so many people and no one was coaching me very well.  It vaguely reminded me of when we were doing the gonal-f injections to try to conceive our boys in the first place.  I would go blank under the pressure unless someone told me exactly what to do.  Once a nurse began to tell me, "Deep breath in, hold it, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, let out the breath, take another deep one, hold it" etc three times each contraction things went so much better.

Andy was amazing and coached me the whole time too.  He helped in the L&D room and in the OR.  I couldn't have done it without him!  He encouraged me, told me I was doing great, reminded me to hold my breath when pushing etc.  I'm always so amazed that I can continue to fall deeper and deeper in love with him.  It already seems like my heart is so full of love for him, but during delivery I fell even further in love.  He is my partner in every sense of the word, even when it came to bringing out precious boys into the world.  I've heard other women get annoyed with their partners during delivery but I was so incredibly thankful to have him there for support.

I'm not sure how many pushes it took but Jacen (Righty/baby A) was born at 10:01am weighing 2lbs13oz.  Before the cord was cut by Andy (he's a rock star!) they placed Jacen on my abdomen and I got to say hi to my first born son.  It was absolutely incredible.  He was small but not too small and so perfect.  He already had some dark hair on his head and gave a few little cries before the OB picked him up and let Andy cut his cord.  I think at that point the NICU nurses/doctors grabbed him and began to do their work. His first apgars were 7 and 8 which is pretty darn good for a baby born at 29w4d!

My OB then broke Spencer's water and helped to flip him the right way.  I won't go into detail but that was definitely painful despite the epidural!  I'm not sure how many pushes later but it seemed like in no time at all Spencer (Lefty, baby B) was born at 10:14am weighing 3lbs3oz.  His first apgars were 8 and 9.  He was placed on me and I got to tell him happy birthday as he cried really strongly and loudly.  He too had his umbilical cord cut by Andy and then was taken by the NICU staff.  The OB and some nurses got to work finishing our birth.  Two easy placenta deliveries and two very painful stitches (2nd degree tear) later they brought Spencer by in an incubator already on a CPAP machine for us the see him for a minute before they followed Jacen up to NICU.  Andy went with him and was able to spend some time watching the boys get settled.

I was wheeled back to my L&D room to have the epidural removed and my battle wounds cared for.  It was all incredibly surreal.  I think I repeatedly said, "Oh my gosh, I have two sons".  Eventually I was ready to move to our post partum room and Andy came down to help move our stuff.  The nurse helped me into the wheelchair and then left to get something.  I started to get really light headed with tunnel vision, ringing ears etc.  Andy came and held onto me so if I passed out, which I came very very close to, I wouldn't fall out of the wheelchair.  The nurse came back and had me put my head down as close to between my knees as I was capable of.  Andy ran and got me a cup of apple juice and some graham crackers which I began to nibble on while still hanging semi upside down.  Everything cleared up fairly quickly, we think after not eating for almost 24 hours, laboring for so long, and delivering two babies that my blood sugar just crashed.  I seriously chugged a huge amount of apple juice during the next hour and ate some lunch.

Originally I was told that I would get to go to NICU to see the boys within two to three hours of birth, but my nurse would not approve it because of the nearly fainting episode.  Andy's dad and grandma showed up to celebrate his birthday (and now the birthday of our sons!) but I was very overwhelmed and anxious about everything.  I know I was awful company and cried several times.  My dad and then my mom showed up too.  I love them all very much but my system was on overload and Andy took them downstairs to eat cupcakes and celebrate so I could calm down and rest some.  I hope next time we see them I can make it up to them.

The rest of the day is somewhat of a blur except for my first pumping experience at 5pm (whole other story) and finally getting to go see the boys at 8:30pm.  Jacen was doing wonderfully and required very little oxygen through a CPAP.  Spencer, although bigger, has had a more difficult first day of life on the outside.  He's required almost double the oxygen as his older brother, and required a line through his umbilical cord to give him various fluids, medicines, and nutrition.  We've been told this is very typical for the B baby to struggle a little more than A.  The theory is that Jacen struggled a little more in the womb so he's struggling less now vs Spencer was probably less ready to come so he's struggling more now.  Hopefully they'll follow general preemie behavior and even out to a better baseline within three days.

Our boys are the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my whole life.  They are incredible and I can't believe that less than 24hours ago those munchkins were kicking inside of me.  It's still very surreal.  I miss being with them 24/7 and I miss the kicks.  But I'm so excited that they're here and doing so well.  I wish my body had done a better job and been able to nurture them inside for a lot longer, but I'm so proud of how well they are doing so far.

Andy and I are parents!  We have two amazing sons!  We have many weeks of NICU ahead of us but I already can't wait to bring them home.  I can't wait to be able to look at them and snuggle them whenever I want!  Our life is totally different now, it is so much better.  I can't believe how big and full my heart is, I love those two more than anything.  It's so incredible that they were born on such an already important day to us too.  Seriously, what are the odds?  I wish they had been able to get at least 4 more weeks inside of me but they sure did choose an amazing day to be born.  Happy birthday to my three favorite men!