Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Birth Story Part II: Delivery!

As soon as my doctor told me he wanted to do a C-section within the hour, I called my husband (who was in a dead sleep) to tell him to drop our daughter off at daycare and get his butt over to the hospital.  While we waited for him to arrive, they prepped me for surgery.  This involved hooking me up to various monitors, hooking me up to fluids via IV, having me sign consent forms, and shaving me "down there."  Then we ho hummed for a while waiting for my husband to show up, then it was off to the OR. 

There were probably about 15 medical people in the room, between the doctors actually doing surgery, their support staff, and the students just observing the procedure.  I asked my doctor which doctors were there for the babies, and he told me they weren't even there yet...so all sorts of people there just for me.  The anesthesiologist did the epidural/spinal block thingy so I could remain awake during the procedure.  Then they got me settled on the table, strapped down my arms crucifix style, and I guess started hacking away.  I was completely numb but could feel all sorts of weird pulling sensations that I didn't want to know what they were.  I was scared at the beginning, but I passed the time by joking with my husband and the anesthesiologist.  From time to time I asked the anesthesiologist questions about whether what I was feeling was normal.  For example, I recall asking him if it was normal to feel dizzy, cold, and like my teeth were heavy.  He told me all of it was normal (even the teeth, I guess). 

After several minutes, Baby A was born at 9:01 am.  My husband was ready with the camera to snap a couple pictures of the babies as they came out, but before he had a chance, a doctor had whisked him right out of the room to an observation room across the hall.  We were both a little upset about that as we had promised the IPs we would get pictures for them, so one of the lovely medical students offered to take pictures of Baby B once he was born and before he was taken out of the room.  At 9:03, Baby B was born, and her was NOT happy about it.  He had a very nice strong cry/scream as he followed his brother into the next room.

It took them about another hour to finish closing me back up.  I remember feeling STARVING while they were doing the surgery, and talking about how I could really go for a hamburger, then deciding that it would probably be better to wait at least until they finished putting my stomach back in my body.  I also remember thinking that it was so strange that all of a sudden, the babies were born and the journey was over. 

Once they closed me up, my doctor told me that everything had gone perfectly with the surgery, I had lost very little blood for someone with twins, and that I did great.  He asked if I had any questions, and I asked when I could eat again.  He told me it would probably be 5-6 hours, as they would start me off with fluids and see how I held them down.  Yep, pretty much that whole morning I was focused on food.

I would love to share the babies' names and photos of them with everyone, as they are cute as buttons.  But my IPs have asked me not to share their photos or names on the internet, and I am going to respect their wishes for their children.  So the stats I can share with you are:

"L" (formerly known as Baby A)
Born July 31, 2013 at 9:01am
5lbs, 1oz
18" long

"O" (formerly known as Baby B)
Born July 31, 2013 at 9:03am
5lbs, 8oz
19" long

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