WARNING: this is LOOONNNNGGGGG!
The twins are now 7 weeks old. Here's how they got here!
From the moment we found out we were having twins, we knew to throw all of our previous pregnancy and birth experiences out the window. We really had no idea what to expect going forward because twins are a whole new ballgame. Thankfully, they didn't throw us too many curve balls!
I was lucky to be carrying diamniotic/dichorionic twins...this means that they had two amniotic sacs and two placentas - so they were separate and came from two different eggs. It also means they are fraternal twins. (Yes, they were a surprise, and no, we didn't do any sort of fertility treatments) These di/di twin pregnancies are the least risky of a multiple pregnancy so we were happy to have that going for us. But, since there were two munchkins cooking in there, I was considered high risk and had multiple sonograms - one at every appointment with my OB and then several with a Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor.
From the beginning, I wanted to attempt a vaginal delivery. The majority of OBs will only let that happen if baby A (the baby closest to the 'exit', or cervix) is head down and larger than baby B (the baby that comes out last). Jack was baby A and Bennett was baby B. Jack cooperated for the first 28 weeks while Bennett did flips and was a different direction at every sonogram. After 28 weeks, however, Jack decided he didn't like being upside down and he flipped to breech and stayed there for the rest of the pregnancy. Bennett kept up his antics.
Like previous pregnancies, I had some contractions early on. My new OB wasn't as on board with the term 'irritable uterus' as my last OB so she just called them 'cramps' but they were regular and painful. Those 'cramps' landed me in the hospital at 33 weeks for a 1 night stay, an IV, a shot of terbutaline, two steroid shots for the babies, a prescription of Procardia, and an order for bed rest. I had been on Procardia for a few weeks already, but just as needed. They upped the dosage to every 6 hours and wanted me to have limited activity until I reached 36 weeks. Basically I wasn't supposed to do anything that would make contractions start up again.
Pause here for the HUGE shout out to friends and family for stepping up and helping with Beau and Davis and even Mark. We had people bring us dinner, pick up our kids from school, come spend time with me and watch the kids while I stayed in bed. It was so helpful and we feel so blessed to have that kind of support in our life. The love is still coming from our friends and family as they've provided meals, gift cards, etc. after the twins were born and it's allowed us to settle into life as a family of 6 without worrying about getting a healthy meal on the table. So, THANK YOU!!!
So I spent almost 3 weeks on bed rest and was looking forward to some freedom at 36 weeks when I could drive and finish up some last minute things for the babies. 36 is the magic number for twins because it's when the majority are born healthy and don't need additional care outside normal newborn care. 34 weeks was when my OB said she wouldn't stop labor and 35 weeks was the cutoff for automatic admission to the NICU at my hospital, so 36 weeks was when it was safe for labor to progress and the babies to arrive. Anyway, we had hoped to make it past that and I was excited to be off the medicine and be able to drive regularly!
It was Monday, October 21 when I finally got out of bed after a night of tossing and turning and timing contractions. It was going to be the first full day for me to watch the boys by myself since bed rest had started. I was 35 weeks and 6 days, so just a day shy of 36 weeks. Mark was getting ready for work when I told him I think we were going to have to go to the hospital again because I was having contractions. We quickly arranged for my sister to get the boys and Mark started getting them ready. He came back into our room carrying Davis and was wide-eyed and said that when he got Davis out of bed, without Mark saying anything, Davis said "the babies are coming out of Mommy's tummy today!". Before this, we weren't even sure if Davis grasped the concept of the twins. We were wondering if he would be right!
We got to the hospital around 10:30 and went to triage to get checked out. I was dilated to 3cm (as I had been for a few weeks) and the contractions were about 3 minutes apart. The resident was sure I was dehydrated so they started fluids and seemed like they were going to send us home after the IV bag was done. After about an hour, the resident came back to check me. I had progressed only slightly and was still having contractions but as she checked me, a worried look came over her face and she said she thought she felt a foot kicking her. She called my doctor and came back with the news: Since I was still contracting, almost 36 weeks, the babies were breech, I was (slowly) progressing, and Jack's foot was threatening to kick it's way out, they were going to do a C-section that day. At 4pm. It was about noon at this point. We were having two babies in less than 4 hours!
We alerted our family, moved over to a room at L&D, I put on some makeup (phew), and got all prepped for delivery. Mark was able to eat and that's about all we had time for! It was 'go' time.
I walked into the cold operating room and did as I was told...climbed up on the table and turned to my side for the epidural to be placed. Doctors and nurses were buzzing around me doing tool counts and just getting ready. I tried to breathe and tune out most of what was happening...It helped that I was so tired from the night before and the fact that the anesthesiologist put some happy meds in my IV so I wouldn't be too anxious! I was poked and prodded and made sure I was numb before the OB came in the room to get the party started! I spent the whole time with my eyes closed, trying to go to another place in my head! I just knew I could take a nap if I wasn't being cut in half at the moment...
Mark was fully present and waited anxiously to be told he could look over the curtain. At 4:43, they pulled out baby A! He wasn't crying but Mark was! haha! I was worried that baby A wasn't crying at first but my OB seemed to think he was fine! He pinked right up and they took him to the warmer.
Next up was baby B. I had told Mark over and over that I didn't want him to watch or look too closely over the curtain. I didn't want him seeing my insides! But as they started pulling out baby B the anesthetist tapped Mark and said, "get your phone, you will want to see this". I had about 1 second for my mind to run through everything that could warrant that statement before everyone started oohing and ahhing - baby B had been born en caul - his amniotic sac was still intact! It's a rare occurrence - less than 1 in 80,000 births occur en caul. My doctor had only seen it once before, so it was a big deal to everyone in the room! Baby B was born at 4:45 but his amniotic sac ruptured after that...which made their paperwork interesting! Mark went to see both babies at the warmers as I started getting put back together. Once they were cleaned up, he got to hold both of them and brought them to me as we finalized who was who.
Baby A ended up being Jack Turner, weighing 6lbs 2oz and measuring 19" long. Jack Buchanan was Mark's paternal grandfather and we wanted to honor him. Turner is my maternal grandmother's maiden name.
Baby B is Bennett William, weighing 6lbs 4oz and 18 7/8" long. Bennett was my maiden name. William is a mix of a few family names - my paternal grandfather was Willard, my maternal grandfather is Billy, and Mark's maternal grandmother was Wilhelmina. We like that it reminds us of all of those people that are dear to us.
I was wheeled out of the OR with both babies on my chest. In post-op they nursed a bit and my parents came in to see them. I didn't want anyone waiting at the hospital because it would be a long time before we would allow visitors, but my mom was a hot mess thinking of me being in surgery without her there so they waited while I was in the OR. We had nurses coming in and out, making sure I signed the photo release so that they could use the pictures of the en caul birth! Mark was air-dropping them photos in the OR. Too funny.
We made it to our post-partum room a bit before 7 and called in the troops. My parents, Mark's parents, and our siblings were there to greet the new arrivals. We had Andrea come in with the boys first and she recorded their reaction! It was precious.
Around 2am that night they ended up taking Bennett to the nursery to test his oxygen because he was grunting a little. He was having trouble getting oxygen and stabilizing so they decided to take him to the NICU. After that, both boys had trouble regulating their blood sugar so we did everything we could to get that to be normal over the next 24 hours. Once Bennett was in the NICU, he had to be stable at certain levels of oxygen and blood sugar to be able to be released, so even though he and Jack were about the same, he ended up staying until Friday.
Meanwhile, Jack had to pull double duty with the visitors in our room!
Both babies and I were discharged on Friday! The twins both had lost weight to 5lbs 12oz. We came home, the craziness started, and it won't end for several decades! ;) They've been doing well since then, even with two mild cases of RSV. They are good babies though - with no dairy or soy intolerance, praise the Lord!!! Right now I'm pumping about 95% of the time and they are taking it by bottle. I like that I can get double the amount they need by pumping so I can store it for later. Also, nursing two babies at once is a logistical nightmare! We'll adjust as needed as time goes on, though.
One more note - I was either nauseous, full, or dealing with indigestion throughout the entire pregnancy so food was not appealing for 9 months. My doctor was totally fine with my slow weight gain and the babies got what they needed so luckily it wasn't an issue. It has made post-partum slightly more enjoyable because I was discharged from the hospital weighing less than my pre-pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding has helped as well! People have made comments about how I look after having twins but rest assured, it's just because I didn't eat for 9 months! ha! I'm making up for it while breastfeeding, the hunger is real!
Whew. I think that's it for the whole story. Sorry to be long winded, but I want to remember all of the little details! It was a good final birth, and we are so happy our family is complete.
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