Birth Story Part 2

The twins are sleeping, so we will see how far I actually get in this story before one of them wakes up!

The nurse wheels me back by myself and they make Ryle wait down the hallway on a stool. He's not allowed in the OR until after the doctor has made the first cut. Now, I totally understand that this procedure is in place for a reason - they don't want any husbands upset if something goes wrong with the epidural or the first cut, BUT these people had no idea how badly I needed Ryle in that room with me! I mean this is the day we had prayed for, this is the day that our life was going to change forever! The nurse was super nice and sat there and rubbed my arm during the epidural procedure and while the MILLION other people in the room got set up, but it was not the same. I needed to hear Ryle tell me that our babies were going to come out and be fine. I needed his reassurance. I was an emotional wreck from the moment the doctor told me that I would become a Mom that day.

So Ryle is brought in to sit by my head and hold my hand ... finally! There was so much activity going on around me, which just added to my stress and I'm sure didn't help my blood pressure any! Then the moment finally arrives, Baby Boy A was about to arrive. They tell Ryle to get the camera ready and he stands up. I'm a crying mess. They pull him out, and I don't hear any crying, but don't think much of it because it is literally like a Grey's Anatomy episode in that OR! There are people everywhere ... now keep in mind we are having twins 5 weeks early, so not only do we have the doctor and his staff, we also have the regular nursery staff (a set for each baby), the NICU staff (for each baby), and respiratory therapist for each baby. They immediately take Canaan away to his corner and start working on him. I'm asking if he is ok and NO ONE will answer me. So I start to panic. But before I can get any answers, they tell Ryle to get the camera ready again because Baby Girl B is about to be born. Let me tell ya, Camille has got some lungs on her! She came out screaming and would not stop. So they take her to her corner and work on her. All this time I still don't hear Canaan .... mind you they were born exactly one minute apart so it hasn't been that long, but to me it seemed like an eternity!

We are finally told that Canaan had some trouble breathing and "getting started" so they had to "work" on him, but that he is doing fine now. I'm immediately relieved. Camille was doing great and practicing her screaming! Ryle is able to take pictures of them while they work on the babies. While this is happening, I'm telling the anesthesiologist that I'm so tired and can't seem to hold my eyes open. Then the next thing I know, Ryle is holding Camille and the nurse is letting me half hold Canaan. Then they are gone and I'm once again left in this room with a million people, but this time I'm so tired that I can't seem to stay awake. They told me it was ok to tap a nap and the next thing I know, they are about to transfer me to the recovery bed and all I can remember was seeing lots of blood on the operating table. I'm not sure how long I was out, but when I wake up, Ryle is talking to a nurse and then she wants me to answer all kinds of questions (how to spell babies names, can they have bottles, can the babies have a pacifier, etc.). Umm shouldn't you ask me that BEFORE my surgery because my husband did not know the answers! Then the most amazing thing happened ... they brought Camille to me and I got to hold one of my little miracles! That's a moment I will never forget ... I might have been drugged up and loopy, but I will always remember the moment they put her in my arms! Canaan wasn't able to come out at that time because they were having to monitor him and suck "junk" out of his lungs every few minutes.

It turns out Canaan swallowed a lot of blood and fluid before they could get him out which is why he had trouble breathing on his own at first. I also had complications because it turns out that my placentas were attached to my uterus, so the doctor had to "dig and cut" them out. Apparently, they should come out easily. I ended up losing a lot of blood which is why I was so tired in the OR and so out of it afterwards. There was talk of giving me a blood transfusion, but the doctor wanted to monitor my levels closely and then make the decision. Luckily I did not have to have one and my levels came up on their own.

Here are a few pictures of the birth and after.

They are working on Canaan and his breathing

Cleaning up Miss Camille

Canaan, 5 lbs 3 oz. Camille 4 lbs 14 oz

Our first family photo ... that's one proud Daddy!

Pure perfection!

She is perfect and this is a moment I will never forget! I wish that Canaan was able to be in this picture, but I'm glad that they were doing everything they could for him! 

Well Canaan is trying to wake up for his bottle, so I will update more when I can! 

Birth Story Part 1

It's been a busy past few months! First let me pick up where I left off! My last post I was 30 weeks!

I was able to keep all of my gestational diabetes numbers under control with diet alone, which was amazing! I was also released from the high risk doctor not too long after this since we had made it so far. In February, I started feeling really bad - lots of LOW pressure, lots of back pain, and I just could not get comfy at all - not even to sleep! I kept getting checked for dilation weekly, but it stayed at 0! It got so crowded in there, the weekly ultrasounds were almost pointless - we couldn't see the babies faces or much less tell which baby was which! Here are the next few weeks pictures:

Around week 33, I was told that my doctor would be out of town when I hit 37 weeks so we would need to take them at 36 weeks. This meant I was going to get to have the twins on MY BIRTHDAY! I mean you canNOT ask for a better birthday present than that! So the C-Section date was set for March 12th. 

On Tuesday, March 3, I went in for my ultrasound. Baby Boy was weighing 4 lb 12 oz. Baby Girl was weighing 5 lb 3 oz. On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, I went in for my weekly checkup. Ryle was out of town, so my Mom drove me as it was getting harder to get around and especially sit behind the steering wheel! As soon as the doctor saw me, he said he was sending me to the hospital to get some labs done due to my high blood pressure and swelling. I was also 1 cm dilated and still 80% effaced. He told us if the labs were good, then I would be released, if not, then we are having babies today! Umm ... this is when I start to panic a tad bit! Ryle is 4 hours away, I canNOT have these babies without him! Thank the dear Lord that my mom was there because I was a nervous wreck!

We get to the hospital and they stick us in what I can only describe as a hallway, but turns out to be the c-section recovery area. The nursing student draws my blood, and we wait. About an hour later, in walks my doctor, and I knew right then that I wasn't going to be leaving the hospital that day. It turns out, my blood pressure was high (while on blood pressure medication), because I had mild preeclampsia and my platelet count was 106 - he said it should be around 150. If it dropped below 100, I couldn't have my epidural. He told me that I needed to call my husband and get him home as soon as he could. I think the doctor knew I was a mess, because he told me we would try and wait as long as we could to give Ryle time to come home. Its so funny because before Ryle left, I told him I will ONLY call him if it's an emergency. We must have discussed this a thousand times because he didn't want to freak out every time his phone rang. Well, it was an emergency because these babies were not coming into this world without their Dad! So I get him on the phone and he goes to tell his boss that he has to leave, etc. I spent the next four hours with my mom and sister in law! Those were the longest hours of my life! 

Thankful my sister-in-law was there to calm me down! And that she knew where everything was in my house since she had to go get my stuff!

And then Ryle makes it. He turned a 4 1/2 hour trip into less than 4 hours! I don't even want to know how fast he was going! As soon as he gets there, the nurses tell him to get dressed and everything starts happening so fast! 

I was so emotional and glad that he made it in time!

Ryle and his parents ... I made him wear a Daddy shirt :)

He's about to be a Daddy!

My Dad and I 

My Mommy and I 

It's time to have some babies!!!

Next thing I know, I'm being wheeled back by myself and I'm in tears. I was so scared about the epidural, scared about becoming a Mommy, scared that something would be wrong with the babies, and so thankful that this day was finally here. There are absolutely no words to express how thankful we were. It's still hard to believe! We tried for so long and the day was here ... WE WERE ABOUT TO BECOME PARENTS!

Gestational Diabetes

Latest Update ...

2 weeks ago, I went in for my 1 hour sugar test. After fasting for almost 9 hours, I had my blood drawn. The results came back and they want something less than 135 to pass. My number was 189! Holy Cow!! So I was sent to a Gestational Diabetes Counseling class the next day. It was two full hours of overwhelming information. I left in tears with a terrible headache. Of course I blamed it on the hormones. A big part of it was that I have an AMAZING husband who for the past 7 years has cooked dinner for me every single night .... in other words - I don't cook. Now he's out of town for a week and I'm supposed to completely change the way I eat. I had no idea what to do. Luckily I figured it out and he came home and my numbers have been good. The first week on the "new plan", I lost 3 lbs. I only gained 23 lbs with twins in 28 weeks - I didn't need to be losing weight. The second week, I didn't lose or gain any weight ... stayed exactly the same. But since my numbers are fine, I was released from "counseling". I still have to continue to check my levels 4 times a day. The pricking my finger 4 times a day doesn't bother me too much considering it took about 100 shots per fertility treatment cycle to get to this point. I'm just so tired of having all of the problems. I just want my babies to be ok ... I want them to make it to this world as healthy little miracle babies!

Yesterday, I had my 2 week check up with my OB. My blood pressure is still high and apparently the back pain I've been having were contractions. Who knew?! I've been put on blood pressure medicine to lower my BP and to help stop contractions. I'm also 80% effaced and 0 cm dilated. From now on, I will go in weekly for a sonogram to check on the babies development and to see if I have dilated any. We are trying to make it as long as possible, and hopefully they will stay put for another 4 weeks. I'm 30 weeks now and really want to at least make it to 34 weeks. 

That's all for now ... will update again next week! 

I've been MIA ...

Wow, I can't believe my last post was in September! Needless to say A LOT has happened since then and I was informed by a friend that I needed to update the blog ... so here it goes!!

Back in October, Ryle and I saw our High Risk doctor (at 16 weeks). Everything looked great and both babies were right on schedule! We even found out at this appointment that Baby B was a GIRL! I left the hospital with the biggest smile on my face, while Ryle was in panic mode! Haha - he was scared that Baby A would also be a girl. The doctor couldn't get Baby A in the right position to determine the gender. So Ryle would have to wait for another 2 weeks to find out! But seriously ... a girl ... headbands, big bows, and lots of dressing up are in my future!!

We then went to my regular OB at 18 weeks for our "big" 18 week anatomy scan. Much to Ryle's relief, Baby A is a BOY! So we get the best of both worlds - A BOY AND A GIRL!! Again, both babies are doing great, which means this is one HAPPY mommy! And Daddy was pretty happy too! We had our gender reveal party for the family the very next day! Our theme was "Camo or Pink, what do you think?!", it turned out great! We tricked my father in law and only let out pink balloons at first because he just knew there was a boy in there! Then we let out the camo balloons! I have waited so long for all of these moments, sometimes it still doesn't seem real ...

November 19, is a day I will never forget. Ryle and I go to our second high risk appointment, expecting everything to be fine because we have had nothing but good reports at all of our appointments since getting pregnant. Babies were looking and doing great. However, the doctor saw something with my cervix, and wanted to do a vaginal ultrasound to double check. Once he saw the ultrasound, his exact words were "I'm a little concerned with what I see". At this point, I'm 20 weeks and a nervous wreck because I know that the babies would not survive if something happened. Apparently, baby boy was sitting directly on my cervix and it was starting to "funnel" or open. He explained how this was cause for concern. So I turn to Ryle and say "I'm a little freaked out right now", the doctor's reply was "You should be freaked out, the babies would not live if you went into labor". In the back of my mind I already knew this, but to hear the words come out of the doctor's mouth did something to me. I almost lost it on the table. They told me to come back in a week and see if there are any changes. After I got dressed, I could barely keep it together. I had to get out of that hospital as fast as I could. Ryle and I decided that I would take off the next two days just to get off of my feet. I was put on "husband mandated bed rest"! So I spent the next week on the couch or in bed ... I'm SO thankful for my amazing husband. He took such great care of us during that week.

We went back November 26th to have my cervix rechecked. And thank goodness, the funnel was gone. They didn't check on the babies at this visit, but I didn't care after they told me my cervix was much better.

Then we saw my regular doctor on December 1st. At this visit after hearing about everything that happened, he put me on 6 weeks of modified bed rest. Meaning I could get up and move around my house, but I couldn't be on my feet for long periods of time. He says that there is no medical proof that bed rest will prevent the cervix from funneling or prevent preterm labor, but after being on bed rest for a week and then getting a good cervix report, I'm a firm believer. On December 22, he extended my bed rest throughout my pregnancy. On December 31, we saw the high risk doctor again. So far my cervix is looking great and babies are healthy.

I'm so thankful that they are doing well. I just couldn't stand the thought of losing them. The best parts of my day are just laying around and feeling or watching them move. I'm not sure I will ever be able to truly explain to them how much they were wanted or loved before they even got here. I still get all emotional when I think about how long we "worked" to get to this point. Every single day as I rub my belly, or read them a story, or just talk to them, I'm reminded that I was just about ready to give up. I was at the point where I thought that I would never get pregnant. I thought that I would never be able to give my husband a child ... much less 2! I love them so much already, I can't imagine loving them even more. But I know that as soon as they make their arrival, I will be proved wrong. It's hard to believe that I'm already 27 weeks. It seems so crazy to think that in as little as 7-10 weeks if we make it to my doctors goal of 34-37 weeks, that I will have two babies in my arms.

Two little miracles. My Canaan and Camille ....

Here are some pictures since it's been 3 months!

Gender Reveal Party

Camo AND Pink

One of my favorite pictures ever! Diesel is going to be a great big brother!!