A Twin Birth Story

I woke up Sunday morning, September 28th around 5 am. It was a strong one.

Since 28 weeks I was restricted to mostly relax on the couch. I had many Braxton hicks. All the time. I drank lots of water and avoided heavy activity. My husband wouldn't let me do anything fun. Like garage saling, going to the fair, attending church. I just sat on the couch and caught up on tv and facebook. Talk about boring. I also crocheted over 50 projects. Hey, if I was going to sit there and do nothing, I was going to make some money. I had my teenage sister staying with me to help with the boys during the daytime.

So Sunday morning I woke up and started my contraction timer app. It was actually consistent. Every 4-6 minutes for 45 seconds to a minute each. After an hour I took a shower, then called the doctor. I told her that they didn't all hurt, but they were consistent. I was 36 weeks 4 days. She said as long as they're consistent, come in. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way in, because I know they don't let you have any food while your in labor. On the way to the hospital I noticed the contractions were slowing way down. Oh great, I'm going to get sent home. I know it. But we continue on. We get there and I'm 1 cm. Woohoo! I wasn't any before that so something happened! They left for awhile to see if I progress more. They gave me a few hours. This whole time I worried I was going home. I didn't feel contractions anymore. My husband kept assuring me there were some contractions registering on the machine. They came in around noon and I was at 2 cm!

We had agreed to a C-section. Baby A was head-down and baby B was breech, which was fine and do-able. The problem was that baby B was bigger, so there was more risk of complications. We didn't want to do an emergency C-section after delivering the first one vaginally, so we decided to only have only one area to heal.

They said I was in labor and they could start prepping for the C-section or they could send me home until I dilate more. So obviously we didn't want to go home and wait. They came in and asked me a few questions and who knew you couldn't eat for 8 hours before surgery?! So we had to wait until 2 pm to go in to the operating room. Oops. It was okay because it gave us time to make some phone calls and for my husband to change in his scrubs.

They wheeled me in and I'm not sure why, but I started crying when I got in there, and could not stop the entire time. They rolled me over for the epidural, which by the way, hurts more each time. They were prepping equipment and getting me ready. I could see them doing things to me but couldn't feel any of it. They brought my husband in, and soon after that, out came baby A, at 2:23 pm. He was on the other side of the room getting cleaned up and I heard them announce baby B's arrival at 2:24 pm. Shortly after, they assured me both babies were doing well. Baby A weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces, and baby B weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces. My husband brought them over to me, and I fell in love.

After they finished stitching me up I was brought to a recovery room. It took a while for me to recover from the medication they gave me. I was finally able to hold my sweet babies after I could sit up without being dizzy. They didn't take to nursing right away. They said it was probably because they were preemies. They also had to be monitored more closely due to their gestational age.

It's a huge eye-opener the first time you're left alone with two newborns. I enjoyed being in the hospital this time. I was recovering from major abdominal surgery. The nurses brought the babies to me when it was time to nurse. {I couldn't quite walk across the room for a while.} The nurses even changed all the diapers! Being so small, they did have a few difficulties with their temperatures, weights, glucose levels, and nursing.

For the first few weeks I had to {try to} nurse, bottle feed previously pumped milk, then pump. Every three hours. That was exhausting. After about three weeks they stopped taking bottles, and kept gaining weight, so we quit them. That was a huge break.

In the end, I'd have to say I'd do it all over again. I don't want to, but I would.

Life with Twins

"Your hands are full!" Yes, my hands are full. Actually, my arms are full. I carry them in my arms. It's getting easier to do now. It'll be nice when I can carry them both on my hips at the same time. Actually, it'll be nice when they can just walk. {Wait, maybe it won't.} That's actually quite scary.

"Do they sleep through the night?" Um..... no. C was sleeping through the night. Then he stopped. D was getting up once each night. Now they both get up at least once to eat, usually around 4 am. {Which makes it 8 hours, so maybe they do sleep through the night. Ha. Cool.} But they wake up several times for their pacifier. Each. Oh, and they got moved to their own room down the hall a few weeks ago. So that's about five trips down the hall each night. Before 4 am. On a good night. Soooo I'm tired.

"How are you feeling?" I don't quite understand this question. The babies are 4 1/2 months old. Should I still be in pain?? I don't know how to answer this one so I always honestly answer, "Tired. Very tired."

"Did you know it was twins?" Seriously? Of course I did. I know not everyone gets ultrasounds, but how often does a twin pregnancy not go noticed? {I know it does happen.} Or maybe you meant before the ultrasound? I had mine at 8 weeks. No I did not know before my ultrasound. Strangely enough though, my husband did.

"Do twins run in your family?" They do now. Give them a year or so and they'll be running all over! My cousin does have twins, though. But it's from his wife's side. That's too much explaining to do to complete strangers, so I usually just say no.

"Are you going to have more?" This one shocks me the most but I usually say, "Not today." They laugh, and say, "No, really, are you going to try for a girl?" {I have four, yes 4 boys.} "It depends on the day. After today, no. Tomorrow if I see a cute baby girl, yes. I don't know." I don't like this question because it kind of seems personal. I always wanted a big family. Seriously when I was a teenager I wanted 15 kids. {Mostly because I had 15 names I liked. yeah.} But, I want to be able to enjoy my kids while they're little. Get on the floor and play with them. Chase them around the house. I couldn't do that for most of this twin pregnancy. I was on bed rest for the last few months. And now, they'll want me to play with them but I can't because I'm nursing. I'm always nursing. I kind of want a break. Most people assume because I've had four kids in three years that I'm trying to compete with the Duggars. Maybe I'm done with four. I like my boys. Yes, I've always wanted a girl, but... I was one once, and I'm not sure I want a teenage girl. Just a baby one, please. So, as of right now we're done. Maybe in a few years. But not anytime soon. So please don't watch my left-over-twin-baby belly.

Most days I don't mind the attention. I think when people see I have twins, they give me more sympathy. I've probably asked some of these same questions before I had my own. I love having my twins and watching my older boys interact with them. They are awesome big brothers. They are very loving and tender-hearted toward them. Even R, who is a big clumsy brute, tries to pick them up and burp them. L, 3 years old, is the biggest helper. If I'm staying home with the three youngest, I'll often ask for my oldest, too just because he's such a help.

No, my older boys do not use pacifiers... they just like to steal them.