Our two daughters were born eight weeks early on Tuesday, May 12, 2009. For those of you interested in just the highlights of that day, read Dan’s post Introducing Carolyn Joy and Elizabeth Grace. For those interested in all the play by play details, read on…
The day began rather earlier than expected. I got up in the night for a bathroom trip (imagine that). Then I decided I needed a snack (this was a little unusual and only happened a half dozen times or so throughout the pregnancy). Before returning to bed, I noticed a decidedly pink tinge to the discharge and decided to call the doctor. The day was nothing short of a whirlwind after that. I called the doctor about 4:00 AM and about 11 hours later I was in a recovery room having given birth to our two new baby girls.
As expected, when I spoke to the doctor he told us to go to the hospital ER and have it checked out. So we got in the car, glad that at least the rush hour traffic hadn’t begun in earnest yet and fully expecting to be home again in a few hours. We assumed that whatever was going on was no more serious than the tiny bit of spotting I experienced in January, which turned out to be no big deal. When we arrived at the hospital we were taken to the labor and delivery department and hooked up to all kinds of monitors — blood pressure, pulse, a monitor for each baby, and one to monitor for contractions. A nurse examined me and discovered that there was a good deal of fluid leading her to suspect that my water had broken. This was truly one of the low points of the day as I became quite concerned about the health and safety of our daughters. The fluid was tested and confirmed to be amniotic fluid. I think it took a couple of minutes for that to really sink in. Some time later a doctor came in and asked, “You’re contracting?” to which I replied, “I don’t think so.” It seems that his monitors knew more than I did at that point. While I wouldn’t be aware of it for several more hours, I WAS in labor.
We had gone to ValleyCare hospital in Pleasanton. It’s relatively close to home, it’s the hospital where our OB practices, and it’s where we fully expected our girls to be born. But ValleyCare only has a level 2 intensive care nursery. Given that our girls were only 32 weeks along, it was possible that they would need the attention of a level 3 nursery, so we were transfered to John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. At this point it was clear that I would not be leaving the hospital until after the babies were delivered — although it still wasn’t clear just how soon that would be. So I was transported to Walnut Creek in an ambulance (my first ambulance ride, although since it was a non-emergency there were no lights or sirens). Meanwhile, Dan made a quick trip back home to pick up some overnight items for us. Since we hadn’t expected to be at the hospital long, we hadn’t brought anything with us. In fact, I hadn’t even PACKED my going to the hospital bag yet and had gone to work just the day before. I knew this was to be my last week of work, but I thought Friday would be my last day rather than Monday.
It was probably about 9:30 AM when I arrived at John Muir and they proceeded to reconnect me to all the monitors, ask all kinds of questions, and have me sign lots of forms. The doctor came in and began explaining what it meant that my water had broken and how things might proceed from there. This was a perinatal specialist that we had previously met with for one of our ultrasounds, so it was at least a familiar face. It turns out that it’s possible to remain pregnant for weeks after your water breaks if certain precautions are taken. For example, mommy will be given antibiotics to help prevent the baby from getting an infection now that it’s no longer protected from the outside world. At this point I began thinking, “Okay, I’ll be hospitalized, but maybe the girls can continue to grow and get a little bit bigger before they have to be born.” Next the doctor did an ultrasound to determine the size of the babies. They measure several pieces of each baby’s anatomy (head circumference, length of leg bone, length of arm bone), plug that information into a formula and tell you how much the baby weighs. He was having a little difficulty in measuring the head for Baby A (now known as Carolyn). This prompted him to do a physical exam on me in which he determined that I was already 100% effaced and 4 cm dilated. He then informed me that I was in labor and these babies were definitely coming TODAY. This was at about 11:00 AM, and while Dan had called earlier to advise that he was on his way, he was caught in some traffic and had not yet arrived. This was the scariest part of the whole day for me. My head was reeling, the nurses were still asking questions trying to complete the admissions process, I was facing big medical decisions, and Dan wasn’t there to help me focus and remain calm. He arrived shortly thereafter and we began making plans on how to proceed.
[Side note from Dan: Just for the record, from my perspective Janet did not appear to be reeling or particularly overwhelmed when I arrived at the hospital, although there was certainly a sense that great things were afoot. Indeed, she seemed just as steady and composed as ever, something that I have always admired and respected about her.]
Given that I was in labor the doctor suggested a pitocin IV and an epidural. The pitocin would make the contractions stronger and more regular (I still didn’t feel anything, but the monitors said they were there). He strongly suggested getting an epidural in place because with twins there’s an increased chance of needing an urgent C-section and if an epidural is in place it can be used in lieu of general anesthesia. Also, after the first baby is born, if the second baby needs to be manipulated to facilitate delivery or if other types of intervention are needed it’s really just going to be much less unpleasant if you can’t feel it.
Things progressed rather quickly throughout the day. My first exam was about 11:00 AM (4 cm dilated) and Carolyn was born at 1:45 PM. The timing of most of what happened during those three hours is a bit of a blur, but here’s how things went — they started the pitocin IV (maybe around 11:30 AM); they started the epidural; they wheeled me into the delivery room (around 1:00 PM and 8 cm); I started pushing (around 1:15 PM); Carolyn was born (1:45 PM); a short reprieve before more pushing, and then Elizabeth was born (2:25 PM); they stitched me up and I was in a recovery room by 3:00 PM.
I did finally start feeling the contractions at some point. However I felt the pain in my back and I didn’t recognize it as labor pains at first. For the past few months I’ve been experiencing back pain whenever I lay on my my back, but it always resolved fairly quickly once I changed positions. (I read somewhere that laying on one’s back while pregnant adds 55 pounds of pressure there.) With all the work trying to get the fetal monitors positioned correctly and assorted exams, I had spent a good amount of time on my back and it sure was hurting. So I finally told them that I needed to change positions and lay on my side. This time I continued to experience pain rather than nearly instant relief. Then I realized the pain would kind of ebb and flow. Yep, it was true — I was in labor. Fortunately, the decision had already been made to get an epidural and it was in place before I got very uncomfortable.
It was an unbelievably amazing and wondrous sound to hear Carolyn’s cry when she was born. They checked her out, cleaned her up a bit and then let Dan bring her over so I could hold her for a minute while we were waiting for Elizabeth. Obviously Elizabeth followed shortly thereafter. She also gave a small cry when she was born. But she was having a little more difficulty breathing so after a quick clean up, they brought her over so I could see her and give her a kiss on the head and took her straight over to the Intensive Care Nursery.
I spent the next 48 hours in the hospital recuperating and knowing the whole time that I would be released weeks before the girls. But it really only hit me when I was being discharged and it was time to go; then it hit me pretty hard. When we arrived home, we were greeted by a welcome home banner on the front door (courtesy of Annmarie, Cortnie, and Audree) and some flowers on the doorstep. It helped cheer us a bit, but we definitely look forward to the day we can come home as a family.
What a difference two weeks makes!
May 5
May 19
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