January 19th, 10 days before they were born. I am huge!!!!
Warning: This post is long, with details of my labor, so this is your chance to skip to the next post about NICU life :)
Wednesday, January 26th
So when I was getting ready for work I thought I might be leaking a tiny bit of fluid, so I called the doctor. They said it was probably just urine leaking (but let me tell you, I knew it was not pee, I know when I am peeing people!) but they wanted me to go down to Mercy and get checked anyway. So I went to MTT and they hooked me up to monitor the boys heart rates and my contractions. Well, I was having contractions that I couldn’t feel so they kept me there and monitored me all day (in a very small room with no windows and a very uncomfortable bed!). Marcus came down at lunch to keep me company :) Nothing really changed all day and I didn’t leak any fluid so around 5 the nurse called the doctor and he sent me home on strict bed rest. I was so glad to be out of there! Before I left they gave me a steroid shot to help mature the baby’s lungs and I was supposed to come back in 24 hours to get another one.
I went home to the couch and Marcus brought me dinner. It wasn’t too long before I had to get up to pee again (I think I was going about every half an hour by this point in my pregnancy!) and Marcus had to help me up off the couch, of course. Well, that is when I sprung a huge leak. And this time I was in denial about it because I didn’t want to go back to the hospital, so Marcus and I argued for a couple minutes, but of course he won and off we went back down to Mercy. Because my water was broken they sent me straight to Labor & Delivery. I spent the whole night there on a very uncomfortable bed having contractions that were hurting now, so I didn’t get much sleep.
Thursday, January 27th
But by morning they had spaced out and were not hurting as bad so they sent me back to MTT. This time I was in a long term room with a very comfortable bed!! They wanted to keep me there at least a week if I could make it and they pumped me full of antibiotics since my water was broken. I stayed all day Thursday and made it to the second steroid shot, woohoo! Now I just needed to make it at least another 24 hours for both shots to have full effect.
That night I started having contractions again so they moved me back to Labor and Delivery. Not much sleep again! And back to the uncomfortable bed, I wanted to be back in MTT.
Friday, January 28th
The contractions spaced out again and they sent me back to MTT. So glad to be back. Hopefully I could keep the boys in there until Thursday. That would make them 34 weeks and less likely to have lung problems. But it just wasn’t to be…
Saturday, January 29th
About 2am I started having contractions again and this time they were really bad! But they kept me in MTT because they didn’t look that bad on the monitor and I think they were sick of sending me back and forth J By mid-morning I was crying because I had two 6 minute contractions, ahhh! But they were still not normal labor contractions, the nurses weren’t sure what to do with me because I was hurting so bad, but I was still only 3cm. By 11am I had had enough and was asking for drugs (an epidural was the plan) so they called the doctor to see if maybe they could move me to Labor and Delivery where I could get an epidural. He had the head nurse come check me to determine if I could move, I was still only a 3 but she decided to move me anyway. Good thing! It took about 10 minutes to move me and when I got there she asked if I was feeling any pressure. Yes, maybe a little more. So she checked me again looked up, grabbed my leg and said “Your cervix is gone, time to push.” WHAT!!!!!!!??????? Can I still get an epidural? No. Then can I have a c-section instead? No, you’re going to do this. Marcus: “You can do this Honey!” He got the look of death! I was none too happy for the first hour of pushing, and I wasn't making much progress because Ryan was face up. So, the doctor came in and turned him face down, that had to be the worst part! But then things started moving much faster.
Once Ryan was close they had to move me to an OR in case they needed to do an emergeny c-section. So while they moved me I couldn't push for 2 contractions ahhh! When we got there the room was filled with people, everyone they would need in case of a c-section, plus a bunch of NICU nurses and a NICU doctor. I think I kept my eyes closed most of the time because I don't remember any of them. So, I never got my epidural, but it was worth every second of pain!
Ryan was born at 3:16, to my surprise he gave a good scream! Best sound in the world!!! That meant he was breathing on his own! They whisked him away, but brought him back a few minutes later for us to see. He had an oxygen mask on but was doing good J They held him up for about 10 seconds and then off he went to the NICU.
In the meantime, a nurse on either side of me was holding Jackson in place, hoping he had turned head down. They brought in the ultrasound to be sure. They gave me some pitosin to get my contractions going and it was time to start pushing again! Luckily it only took 3 contractions!
Jackson was born at 3:39, and also cried! The best sound in the world again!!!! They also took him away, but brought him back with just an oxygen mask too!
We had two little blessings! Now I just had to go recover and wait until they would let me go up to the NICU to see them.
