MY twin story Part 2: Labor and Delivery

Other than getting bigger and having to go to more ob (ostetrician) visits than before, the pregnancy went on without event, physically anyway. We decided to move closer to my mom, so we found a house being build four miles away from her in Red Oak, Texas. We put our house on the market in Fort Worth and it sold in four days. So homeless, we moved in with my mom and step-dad. We lived there for about 8 weeks until our house was built. Then we moved again into it. I, of course, could not help with the moves at all so it was pretty easy for me. The difficult part was living with my mom again after 6 years. I love her with all my heart and soul and she is my best friend and mentor, but we are not meant to live together anymore.

Emotionally, was a different story. I was not happy about having three children, neither was my husband. But he handled it much better. This may not sound like a bad thing for some, but for a strong, control-freak like myself who makes a plan for my life and it gets destroyed by events beyond my control, that sense of helplessness I feel is very difficult for me to handle. And this was not just a temporary change of plans, this one would change the rest of my life! This was not what we wanted. But we bought the bigger house and mini-van and prepared as best we could.

I was still getting settled in our new home and a putting things in their place slowly at the new house. I was pretty big by this point (33 weeks). Plus, keeping up with a 17 month old and moving had wore me out. Just to give you an idea of my size, when I sat down, my tummy covered my legs so that all I could see were the very edges of my knees. Yet, I had only gained 18 lbs. The twins were getting big and taking every calorie I consumed. So all the weight I gained was from them and the other pregnancy stuff (fluid, placenta, etc.)

I had some things on my list to get done before the babies arrived. I had all of them checked off except for buying their baby books. One morning, I woke up with more energy than usual so I decided this would be the day to buy the all important items. I packed up CJ, we went to Hallmark and picked the perfect baby books. I brought them home and put them away until their arrivals. I sat down at the computer to check my email. I stood up and liquid ran down my legs. "Did I just pee myself?" This was not a far fetched notion since BB (baby B) had been kicking my bladder for a while. Usually just causing a small leak, but this was a lot. I would eventually learn, it was BA (baby A). She had decided this would be their birthday. She was wrong. Because I was in labor 27 hours, their birthday would not be until the next day (November 10, 2001). My uncles birthday is on the 11th, I tried to hold out but I just couldn't do it for another 3 hours. Sorry Unc!

I know 27 hours sounds like a long time, but it was not bad at all. Other mothers of twins had tried to tell me this. I did not believe them either until I experienced it for myself. You see, the pain from labor comes from contractions. Contractions are the stomach muscles "contracting" and pushing down on the baby to get it out of the womb. When you only have one baby, the muscles have to push much farther to reach the baby to push it out. When you have more than one baby, your muscles do not have to push as far to reach resistance and push the babies out. Which means less pain.

The babies at this point were both head down (ideal position) which meant that the doctor WOULD allow me to attempt a natural birth! FINALLY! Something in my plan was going to go right! The doctor kept me at 10 cm (the place you want to be to push the babies out) for an hour to ensure an easier delivery. This doctor really made me happy with his next move. Our plan was that IF I HAD to have a c-section (surgery to remove babies) they could go ahead and tie my tubes. But I had to sign a release for this to happen. Then he said it:

"You don't need to sign anything, we are going to have these babies naturally and we are NOT going to have a c-section."

I could actually see the halo above his head and hear the "hallelujah" music in the background. He was on the same wave-length as me. He would help me have the birth I wanted, with precautions, of course. He insisted on inserting the tube in my back that delivers the drug to numb me, JUST IN CASE. And we would deliver in an operating room, JUST IN CASE. I could live with that.

I then began to feel BA pressing on my cervix. I knew she was about to make her debut. They finally wheeled me into the operating room and got ready. It was so crowded in there with nurses for me and the babies, doctors, anesthesiologists (just in case), students and my husband. They were being very cautious because, keep in mind, the babies ARE 7 weeks early. He asked me to put my legs in the stirrups, I asked if he was ready to catch BA because she was right there, he said just a minute. When he was ready I got in position and one small push later, BA was born. She was pink and whimpering, GOOD SIGN!!! They whisked her away before I could really see her though. But once they got her in the next room, they took a Polaroid of her and my husband brought it back to I could see my baby girl, who had caused this early delivery. All 4 lbs., 9 oz. of her. That was a great weight for a 33 week preemie. Now on to BB.

Since his wombmate had left, he felt the need to stretch out even more. I say that because during the whole pregnancy, I called him the Alpha Twin. His head was in my ribs and his feet were at my bladder and poor BA had to remain curled up in a ball at my lower left side. Now, with her gone, he flipped, NOT GOOD! To most doctors, this would have meant an instant c-section. But not to my "angel". He said that this one WOULD be born breech (feet first)!

The doctor proceeded to slip his arm inside my womb with a sonogram outside to see what he was doing inside. On the screen I could see his hand. He was making "hook 'em horn" signs inside my tummy (the hand sign for Univ. of Tx.). Some college football game was going on and he was excited to get back to it after my delivery. It was weird. Anyway, he pricked BB's sac of waters and it began to trickle out. Once that was done, he proceed with his arm inside of me again, UP TO HIS ELBOW to grab BB's feet and pull him out. He was bigger than BA so this was not an easy task. Collaboratively, for nearly 30 minutes, we worked to get his feet out, then his torso, then his head.

OHHH, MY, GOD!!! That gargantuan, gigantic head!!! It was much like shitting a telephone pole!!! But, I got my wish. I got to experience the PAIN of childbirth. Then I got scared. I looked down at my baby boy. He was grey. He was not crying. His legs were purple from his feet to his knees from the pulling. They whisked him away, too. I was terrified. He never cried. But, I still had work to do delivering the placenta which was bigger than BB. As they worked on me, my husband came back with a picture of BB. Much different than BA. He had a tube in his mouth with a green bag on the end. They were breathing for him. They had brought him to life. He weighed 5 lbs. 4 oz. it would be 3 days before he would breath on his own and CRY for the FIRST time.

Continued in later post.