My pregnancy started out as any normal pregnancy would. Looking back there were some signs that this was not a normal pregnancy but at the time I had no idea. We were excited to have our twenty week ultrasound to see if we were having a boy or a girl. Little did we know we would be finding out not only were we having a girl but two identical girls! We had been planning on a completely natural birth but as soon as twins came into the picture we were thrown into the “high risk” category. We knew it was still possible to have the twins naturally but the word ‘c-section’ came up quite a bit. We had started off seeing midwives but since we were high risk now, we had to switch over to the OB’s. One of the OB’s even told me I could just go ahead and schedule a c-section. Most of the OB’s were willing to deliver the twins naturally though as long as Baby A (the first to come out) was head down. One of the OB’s also encouraged an epidural in case I needed to have an emergency c-section. I really fought with myself over having an epidural since the chance for an emergency c-section was so high. I then figured everyone is really at risk for an emergency c-section and that doesn’t make everyone get an epidural so we decided against it.
Well, we saw many different OB’s and each one of them had a different idea on when I should deliver. The dates ranged from 34 weeks to 38 weeks. Since we were having identical twins, they shared a placenta which meant there was a risk of twin to twin transfusion. We were closely monitored for this and if there came a time when there was a 20% difference in weight we would need to deliver. We were lucky and both girls remained head down from 28 weeks on. At 35 weeks (the average length of a twin pregnancy) there was a 20% weight difference so our OB decided to induce me at 36 weeks. I tried to sweet talk him into letting me go into the next week hoping by buying time my body would go into labor on its own, but he wouldn’t. I e-mailed our doula asking questions that I already knew the answers to. I hoped she would tell me that an induction did not increase my chance of a c-section and that pitocin contractions really weren’t that bad.
Two days before my scheduled induction I had my last prenatal appointment. When my OB checked me I was 2 to 2.5cm dilated, 90% effaced, and Baby A was at -1 station. I was pretty happy about that because that at least meant my cervix was ready for this. The OB stripped my membranes and I hoped I would go into labor that night. I didn’t. The following day I hoped to go into labor and didn’t. The night before my induction we decided to try some natural induction methods. I was so nervous that we barely tried anything before attempting to get some sleep.
We had to be at the hospital at 6am for my induction. The OB said he would be there around 7 to see how we should induce me. He finally showed up at 8:15. When he checked me I was 4cm, 100% effaced and Baby A was at 0 station. I was so happy to have progressed that much. He broke my water at 8:30 and we decided to walk. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to walk after having my water broken, I felt so much lighter. After two hours of walking our nurse, Angie (who we LOVED), told us that the OB wanted to start pitocin since I had only had a couple of contractions and the ones I had were not painful enough to stop walking. Angie also told me that she would not offer me an epidural; I would have to ask for one. During labor I never even thought of an epidural. We had told our doula, Tracey H., that we would call her when things got going since inductions can take a long time. She decided to show up around 10am anyway. She told us to try nipple stimulation to help labor. I used the breast pump and still nothing. The OB found out that we were doing this and said I could have done that the night before but it would be pitocin now. So after 3 nurses and 5 or 6 pokes later, pitocin was started. This was 11:30. Since I was now hooked up to pitocin it meant I would have to have constant fetal monitoring. So they strapped 2 fetal monitors and 1 contraction monitor on me. My belly was covered. They kept losing Baby A’s heartbeat so they had to double strap her monitor, making it really tight. I was supposed to be able to use to the purse pack so I could still be mobile and go into the tub but we found out that would require one external monitor and one internal monitor. I had had enough interventions and did not want a monitor screwed into Baby A’s head so I decided I would just have to stay in this little 5 x 5 area. Our doula suggested I sway back and forth while standing. I then sat on the birth ball and bounced. After awhile of that she suggested I lay down on my left side to get some rest. My husband, Joe, also decided to lay down to get some rest since things were moving slowly and it seemed like it was going to be a long day. It was about 1pm. Angie had been cranking up the pitocin every half hour. Tracey H. noticed how swollen my feet were so she offered to massage them. I couldn’t resist and after about 5 minutes of the massage I had a hard contraction. I also started to feel a little bit like puking so she got me a bucket. I joked that maybe I was in transition since I felt like puking. She secretly thought I was crazy. I figured the puking feeling was just because I had been lying down and that caused me to have terrible heartburn. I sat up and had another hard contraction. Joe started to wake up about this time. It was around 1:15-1:30. I then sat on the birth ball while leaning over the bed. The contractions got very intense very quickly. Joe and Tracey switched off and on between rubbing my back and putting a warm rice sock on my lower back. At one point Tracey H. put her cold hands on my back and that actually felt really good. I was having some back labor, some normal contractions, and sometimes both at the same time. My contractions were every couple of minutes apart and lasting just about as long. I had very little relief between them. The relief I had was similar to a painful period cramp. With each contraction the monitors seemed to tighten even more. I only wanted to rip them off and threatened to with just about every contraction. I announced several times I didn’t know how much longer I could do this. The thought of pain medicine never entered my mind though; I just wanted to get in the tub. After nearly an hour of this Tracey H. and Joe suggested I get checked to see how I was progressing. The last thing I wanted to do was to get on the bed, on my back, and be checked, especially since I had very little window to do this without being in terrible pain. But if I was progressing then maybe I could get off the pitocin, get off the monitors, and get into the tub.
Well after a few minutes of sweet talking me I decided to let Angie check me. She asked if I felt pushy at all and I told her I didn’t know how I felt. Apparently her face was priceless when she checked me as she said “This girl is ready to go!” I was 10cm, 100% effaced, and Baby A was at +1. This was about 2:15. Not quite 6 hours since my water had been broke, not quite 3 hours since pitocin was started, and only an hour after my first hard contraction! People started scrambling then. Since I was at a high risk for a c-section I had to deliver in the OR room. So they wheeled me from my room to the OR room. During that short ride I did feel like pushing. Tracey H. talked me through that so I would not push in the hallway. Joe and Tracey H. both had to put on sterile outfits to be in the OR room. We got into the OR room and everyone was scrambling in there too. I had to get off of my bed and onto the OR bed which I was not thrilled about. I had to push in the traditional way with my feet in the stirrups, another requirement of our OB. It had been awhile since I had gone to the bathroom so the OB put a catheter in me to empty my bladder. As I was pushing the OB was counting to ten for me and I just remember telling myself to push to the point of comfort. I also remember thinking how strange of a feeling for my body to just take over and want to push and then I would get relief and could relax a little before the urge came over me again. I pushed for about 25 minutes and Hannah was born at 3:03pm. I did not watch her being born and did not want to watch her being born. I was afraid of “2 steps forward, 1 step back.” Joe said after her head was born her body just slid right now. The OB held her up and I couldn’t believe I had just birthed a baby! I announced how tiny she was, that I did not know if I would be able to do that again, and asked how women had big babies. I had no choice though; I would have to do it again. Joe cut her cord and the nurse took her away. We could not let her cord pulsate before cutting it because of Baby B. I found out later that her umbilical cord was not quite 10 inches. The nurse took her to clean her and then brought her back over for me to touch. As this was going on the OB broke Baby B’s water and checked on ultrasound to make sure she was still head down since sometimes the second baby will turn after the first is born. She luckily was still head down! I suddenly got the urge to push again. With about two pushes and 6 minutes later Marissa was born at 3:09. She was even smaller! I was amazed at how easy it was to push her out. Her cord was just over 10 inches. Again, her cord was cut and the nurse took her before bringing her for me to touch. After she was born I saw blood and knew that I had torn. I delivered the placenta 3 minutes later. The OB then stitched me up and they wheeled me back to my room.
We had wanted to have an hour of just family time after the babies were born but since our room was now wide open the nurses and my mom just came right in. I wish I would have said something but was too high on having just gave birth, twice. The girls were perfect. Hannah’s APGAR scores were 9 and 9 while Marissa’s were 8 and 9. They also avoided the NICU. I was discharged two days later but the girls had to stay for one week to make sure they could hold their body temperatures and had gained their birth weights back. We were allowed to stay with the girls though in our original room. After that week we were so happy to go home we couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Looking back at my labor, Tracey H. and I realized that she probably hit a pressure point on my foot while giving me a massage that jump started my labor. We also figured that I WAS in transition when I joked about it, I just did not have any signs of early labor. I don’t know if that is because I was having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout most of my pregnancy and had learned to ignore them for the most part. Also, I might have been able to avoid pitocin if I would have let Angie check me before starting it but I had in my birth plan I did not want to be checked. I had no reason to think my cervix was dilating though. We were also glad our doula just decided to show up because if we would have called her when things started going she probably would not have made it in time.
Hannah Mae 4lbs 9.9oz, 18” January 28, 2011 3:03pm
Marissa Ruth 3lbs 14oz, 17” January 28, 2011 3:09pm