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| Catarina |
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| Cameron |
We convinced the doctor to let the babies wait until 37 weeks, when they would be term for twins, which was Sunday, January 27. I suspect the doctor went along with our request only because my cervix wasn't dilated to 3 centimeters until appointment late in the afternoon on Friday, January 25. We left the doctor's office around 6 that Friday, stopped at HEB (Chris pushing me around in a wheelchair cart), and then drove home. During all of this, the impending birth consumed my thoughts. It didn't seem real that the babies would arrive in less than 48 hours. I was excited and anxious and nervous and overwhelmed. Things were suddenly moving incredibly fast.
We spent Saturday at home, our last day as a family of three. We didn't go to church. I slept as much as my mind would allow. Chris and Katy built Falling Water with legos. I started a sewing project to distract myself from watching the clock. My parents arrived around 6 p.m. to stay with Katy. Shortly thereafter, Chris and I loaded the bags in the car and headed out for a pre-induction party with some friends. At the time it suddenly seemed frivolous and imprudent to be going to dinner and a movie right before reporting to the hospital to deliver the twins. In hindsight, it was a welcome distraction from sitting around and waiting.
The movie ended at midnight and there was definitely an excited energy among us as we left the theater with our friends. We anxiously stood around and chatted for a few minutes. Finally, we gathered in a circle in the parking lot for one final prayer, and then Chris and I were off.
The doctor asked us to report to the hospital at little after midnight on Sunday morning. Due to the time required to check-in, change, and monitor the babies for a bit, the induction didn't start until almost 2 a.m. From the start, I was connected to three monitors and two IVs. It made moving difficult and resting uncomfortable.
For the first four hours, my cervix moved from 3 to 4 centimeters and the contractions were not terribly painful. I even dozed off a bit at times. At 6 a.m., however, the nurse increased the Pitocin considerably. Shortly thereafter, my water broke and the contractions became very painful, much more painful than any contractions I experienced during Katy's delivery. The nurse checked and I had moved to 6-7 centimeters in a matter of an hour.
The next hour or so was a blur of activity. The doctor arrived as the anesthetist was preparing to insert the epidural. Staying still during this time was incredibly difficult because the contractions were only a couple minutes apart. As soon as the epidural was in place, the doctor checked my cervix and reported that I was at 9 centimeters. Chris was given a sterile suit, and I was prepped for the operating room.
The operating room was big and bright, filled with so many people and machines. I couldn't feel my lower half, and could barely feel the pressure of each contraction. It seemed that within minutes of arriving, I was at 10 centimeters and was pushing. After a few contractions, Catarina Luz entered the world, weighing in at 6 pounds and 15 ounces. I couldn't believe she was almost seven pounds!
After Catarina was out, the doctor confirmed that Cameron was still breech and began his attempts to flip her around. He broke Cameron's water and manipulated her externally and internally. Within a few minutes, she was vertex and it was time to push again.
Cameron came out almost as quickly as Catarina, however, her heart rate dropped quickly in the process. The doctor used a vacuum to expedite her delivery, and within a few seconds it became obvious that she was unresponsive. Her little body was limp and white, and the baby nurses quickly whisked her away.
And this is when things started to get a little hairy. Poor little Cameron wasn't responding, and I began hemorrhaging. At the time I didn't realize how much I was bleeding, but I did note a marked change in the energy in the room. Suddenly the nurses and the anesthetist were moving very quickly, and the doctor was giving lots of orders for different items from the hemorrhage cart. I could hear one nurse counting, I heard the doctor order someone to bring units of blood, and my arms were poked with more IVs and injections.
Several times I asked what was going on, which prompted the anesthetist to very kindly and confidently tried to calm me and reassure me that everything was fine. At one point, the doctor responded to my questions by explaining that if he could not stop the bleeding, he may have to do an emergency hysterectomy. I couldn't see everything that was going on, but Chris later told me there was blood everywhere.
At some point I started to feel very cold, shaky, and nauseous. The anesthetist responded to each of my complaints with another injection, then a plastic blanket full of warm air, and eventually a towel to clean the vomit from my face.
Eventually, I heard the doctor state that the bleeding was slowing down. After another half hour or so, the nurses moved me from the operating room. I was already receiving a blood transfusion, there were IV lines attached to both arms, and I had two large lines coming out of my nether regions. More immediate to me, however, was that my entire body was shaking so hard that my muscles ached. I kept opening my mouth wide to try and stop my teeth from rattling against each other, but it didn't help. I was so miserable that the anesthetist took pity on me and finally gave me some kind of sedative.
In all, I lost 3 liters of blood and received a transfusion of two units of blood and two units of platelets. I spent the next 24 hours unable to leave the bed, with a nurse stationed in my room, unable to eat or drink much of anything in case I started bleeding again and needed an emergency surgery. I was too weak to hold my babies until almost 12 hours after they were born, and even then I couldn't hold them very long. There were so many people drawing blood, changing IV fluids, and checking the lines going into me that it was difficult to get comfortable.
Thankfully, Cameron responded within a few minutes of her birth, and both babies were healthy enough to avoid a NICU stay and to go home with us at two days old. I was still quite weak, short of breath, and tired as a result of anemia when we left the hospital. I was very happy, however, to have two healthy baby girls.
1 comment:
This was an incredible story. I am so very thankful that everything turned out alright. I will think of you each and every time I give blood.
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