My boys are here!!!

Be prepared for a LONG birth story, and some cuteness to go along with it! :) 

 

Jacob Thomas born at 9:30 p.m. September 15, 2012

Joshua Michael born at 9:31 p.m. September 15, 2012

Jacob

 Joshua

My birth story starts on Friday, September 14^th, 2012. I had been struggling with my blood pressure for about a month prior to this date, having about four trips to triage due to it being very high. On the morning of the 14^th, I dropped off my third 24-hour urine catch to check my protein levels after another trip to the ER.  My doctor called around 5:45 p.m. to let me know that my protein levels were now high and I have preeclampsia. She told me today is the day and to be at the hospital by 8 p.m.  I called my husband to let him know the good news and started to get everything together that we would need. We stopped to get some dinner and arrived at the hospital to check in. Once we got settled in our room and I was all changed up, they put me on the monitors to check how the boys were doing, and of course they took my blood pressure. It was still on the high side, but nothing too crazy. (High 140’s on top, high 80’s to low 90’s on bottom) The boys looked beautiful on the monitor, so they took me down the hall to have a foley bulb and cervidel placed for the night.  (To dilate and soften the cervix) By about midnight hubs and I were settling in to try and get some sleep. They offered me a sleeping pill if I couldn’t sleep, and after an hour of trying to sleep on my own I asked for it. I was already starting to contract and they were getting a little painful – enough to keep me up. The sleeping pill didn’t really help all that much because the contractions were getting closer together and more painful. Around 3 a.m. they started to lessen a little and I was able to sleep for about 2 hours or so. My poor husband barely slept with the anxiety of me in pain and the excitement that the boys would be here soon! Around 6 a.m. the nurse came in to tell us that we would be heading down to labor and delivery around 7:30 a.m. and set me up to eat some breakfast since I wouldn’t be able to eat anything but jello, juice or popsicles once I was down there. We didn’t end up heading to L&D until around 11. Before we headed down my doctor came in and checked me. (This was the worse part for me! My cervix is posterior I guess, and really high so I had to sit on my fists and she had to really work at even feeling my cervix! It was so painful!) I was 3cm dilated and about 50% effaced. My contractions, which had gotten to 2 minutes apart, had stopped for a few hours but were starting up again just as we were heading down. While I was in bed, the pain was horrible, but I realized that it really wasn’t bad if I was walking or standing in general. I wasn’t able to move out of the bed over night, as they wanted to monitor the boys. (Who were kicking the monitors off at every chance they got!)  When I got into the L&D room, I met my nurse and she started to get me hooked up to the monitors. I told her that my contractions were easier to deal with standing or walking, and so she started to set me up so I could walk around. Of course, Josh, who had always been the easy one to monitor, was giving her a hard time keeping him on the monitor. I was able to stand though, while she messed with it and the contractions weren’t that bad. The only problem is, with 15lbs of baby protruding out of my abdomen, my back started to HURT. She got me a rocking chair so I could sit when I needed and stand when I needed. I labored for about an hour or two like this until my back started to hurt too much. Since I was planning on getting an epidural anyway with the chance of a c-section, I got the epidural then (around 1:30p.m.). I’m so thankful that I did because right after I got the epidural my doctor came to check me again and break my water. Even with the epidural, the pressure was uncomfortable with her checking me, but bearable. I was 4cm dilated and 75% effaced. She tried to break my water, and it took her four times before she could knick the membrane! When she did, the pop was SO LOUD I thought she broke the stick thing, not my water! Her face was priceless! She said there was no way my water would have broke on its own, it was so strong. The gush of fluid was so weird; I really thought I was peeing all over the place! And it just kept on coming! Once my water was broke we settled in to wait for me to progress. I was able to nap on and off with the epidural. Around 7 p.m. my doctor came in to check me again. I was still 4cm. She put in an internal contraction monitor because my monitor was showing my contractions were off the charts and with that many strong contractions, I should have progressed. The internal monitor showed that my contractions were really not as strong as they were showing. About 45 minutes later she put in another internal monitor to make sure it was put in properly, and when this one showed the same thing she came to have the c-section talk with us. Within this time, I also started to run a low-grade fever. She explained that my uterus is so stretched out and that it was having a hard time contracting hard enough to move the babies down into the birth canal. She gave us two options. We could up my pitocin again and see if it made any more of a difference, or we could turn it off, give my uterus an hours rest and go in for a section. With me running a fever, even though it was low, there were risks with that as well if we decided to continue trying to labor. I looked at my husband and his face said it all – we decided on the section. There was no need to put either the boys or myself in any danger. I was scared though. We tried to relax for the hour before. The anesthesiologist came in to numb me and my nerves really kicked in. I remember moving my toes as he was pushing the medicine because I expected to immediately not be able to move. He kept asking if everything was OK with my feet, and I said, “I can still move them!” He kind of laughed and said I will be able to still. Once I started to really feel numb they moved me to the OR. The scariest parts were when they put me on the table and were setting up because my husband couldn’t be in there with me. They did start the surgery before he got there, and I panicked that he would miss the birth but he was by my side just as I started to really panic. I felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not even pressure! I was, however, shaking incredibly. Like, convulsing. I couldn’t control it at all and could barely speak I was shivering so badly. I focused on what they were saying, and when I heard them say we have reached the uterus, I thought “They will be here any second”. When I heard Jacob cry, I started balling. I practically yelled at my husband to go take pictures! He was so reluctant to leave me, he later told me it was because I looked so bad shaking and crying. When I heard Josh take his first breath, I started to relax. I didn’t realize how nervous I was that something was going to be wrong until I heard them crying so loudly. They got wrapped up and I saw them quickly before they were taken back to our L&D room with my husband. When I got to the room, I was still shaking SO BAD, so I didn’t want to hold them until I could control myself. It took me about 45 minutes to stop shaking enough that I could hold them, and I just cried when I saw them and was able to kiss them for the first time. They are so beautiful and I never knew I could love two little things SO MUCH! 

Our Family