Twin Birth Story- the FULL report

This pregnancy seemed the longest, but was the shortest of all my other pregnancies. We purchased AFLAC, waited a few months, tried a few months, and by June, were super excited to find out we were pregnant. The due date was February 7th. I went to the doctor at about 13 weeks, where he recommended an early ultrasound. We declined the offer because we didn't have any maternity coverage and I was positive of my due date. Why pay to find out what we already know?

13 weeks and NO IDEA!

I went to the doctor again at 18 weeks where he thought I was measuring a little big. He asked whether I had done any genetic testing, and starting probing around my belly to find a second heartbeat. He was pretty sure we weren't pregnant with twins because I wasn't measuring "that" big, but it was time for the usual ultrasound anyway, so he ordered the ultrasound and had us make an appointment for the following Monday. When I got home, I noticed the order had a code: LGA. I googled LGA/pregnancy and found out it means "Large for Gestational Age." And then I started googling what's so bad about being LGA. My searches didn't soothe my concern about being big. It made it much worse. I got Mike a little worried too. I started wishing the doctor thought that it was twins.

The first thing Mike said at the ultrasound was something to the effect of, "the doctor typed LGA on our order, so we want to check for twins first, then you can do your measuring." He popped the scanner on my belly and before he said anything I saw two little heads, or what I thought was two heads anyway, and I knew. I obviously didn't plan my reaction very well. All I could say for the next hour and a half was "Oh my goodness!" And Mike didn't rehearse his reaction much either, because all he could do was laugh. My reaction as soon as the ultrasound tech left to get some notes was to cry. At the Beaver Hospital, I was known as "the girl who left her ultrasound appointment in tears." It's not that I didn't want twins, it was that I was overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed.

Two Babies!  And BOYS!

The pregnancy got hard very quickly. I was getting so big, so fast. And knowing that twins often come early, I got nervous about everything we would need to do before they came. Mike was very good to soothe all my concerns and even bought me a minivan sooner than he would have cared. At about 30 weeks I got a horrible rash. It started on my belly and soon spread all over my body. I was itching all the time and the only thing they could say was that it would go away after the babies were born. I was huge, and uncomfortable. I had constant contractions and it was very hard to walk. I started sleeping in a recliner and walking around the house with my belly hanging out because clothes hurt the rash and nothing really fit anyway.



About 36 weeks.  Front shot.




Side Shot.




Back Shot.



It was a busy season to be super pregnant. Friday the 17th was one of those days. There were a few Christmas preparations, and lots to do in the house. By Saturday, I was ready to take a break. A couple hours before I went into labor, I was ordering maternity dresses online because nothing with a waistband fit me anymore and I was still over 7 weeks from my due date. I sat and watched a little of a football game with Mike. I remember feeling a couple contractions that hurt a little more than usual. I had asked my doctor about my contractions, and we both agreed that it was very normal for me to have 6-8 contractions in an hour, and it shouldn’t be anything to worry about until they started hurting. I didn’t want to underestimate any “hurt” contractions, but I also didn’t want to pay for a trip to St. George and a hospital visit every time I kind of hurt. Mike kept asking if we should leave, and I promised him that if I felt one more “hurt” contraction we would go. Sure enough, the next one hurt and so he readied everything while I sat in a recliner debating whether I was just imagining things or not. He got me packed, him packed, and the kids packed for a trip to Grandma’s. I called my doctor at the Beaver Hospital, and told them I was headed down to St. George, which had always been the plan if I went into labor before 35 weeks. On the way down to the hospital, Mike timed my contractions, which were regular, but not hurting like they had at home. I almost wanted to skip the hospital and make it a date night to Chili’s instead. We decided because the contractions were so consistent we would hit the hospital first, and then Chili’s. They checked us into a triage room in Labor and Delivery and started monitoring the babies and the contractions. When they saw my contractions were regular, they took a fFN test (labor predictor test of sorts) and checked me. I was dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced. By the time the fFN text came back positive, my contractions were 1 ½-2 minutes apart. They moved me directly into the back Labor and Delivery room where it was assumed I would deliver my 32 week and 5 days baby boys. Only days before, the ultrasound had measured them to be 4lb 7 oz and 4lb 9 oz.

Shows contractions, and the small writing says my fFN test is +

The next 3 days are a blur. I remember being in and out of labor a few times, always thinking that delivery was imminent. They gave me the first steroid shot for the babies lungs that first night, and reassured me that every hour could make a difference if I could just hold out. I remember being checked at one point, and I had dilated again to a 4, officially marking me as being in active labor. There were times it hurt so bad I debated whether I was ready for an epidural, but knowing it would mean labor was imminent.  The bed was horribly uncomfortable and the constant monitoring kept me from getting any rest. I was given some drug to try and relax, which put me to sleep, and then labor started again an hour and a half later and I felt everything all over again with a “hangover.” I had some moments where I felt out of control and had to focus on what I really wanted- to keep the babies from coming until they were ready. They sent me a social worker, a financial assistance representative and a NICU doctor to visit with me all in one day. That was a horribly hard day emotionally, realizing all that could transpire if the babies were to come early, or if I had to stay in the hospital a prolonged amount of time. The labor and contractions slowed after a few days and the nurses convinced the doctor that I shouldn’t be in that horrible bed, and moved me to a room in the far corner with a very comfortable air mattress bed. I was able to get some better sleep, and I was monitored much less. I took the labor-stopping meds early a couple times because I felt some hard contractions, but eventually I wasn’t even taking the labor medications at all because it was lowering my blood pressure too much. It was so low I couldn’t really stand up on my own. At this point, I very rarely felt hard contractions and it seemed like labor pains would go away if I would sit up. I ended up staying in the hospital until my 35 week goal. I had been in the hospital 2 weeks and 3 days.

Christmas Day in my "nice" bed.

There were a lot of reasons those two weeks were hard. I missed Christmas morning with my kids. I missed Mike’s birthday, and his New year’s party. I missed being able to spend time with Adelyn during her break from school. Mike spent as much time with me as he could, but I missed being able to see him every day. Some days I was more frustrated about being in the hospital than others. Usually when I thought about the finances, I was at my worst. I worked very hard to forget about the expense of being in the hospital and remember my baby boys.  Other hard times were when I heard one of the kids was hurt or sad.  The first time Joey came to the hospital he was scared of me because of everything I was hooked up to, and that was a little hard.

The good times, were when we would ultrasound the boys and I got to see their faces again, or when I would watch their heartbeats on the monitor for an hour each shift. I enjoyed my time with many of the nurses and I was so thankful for their company. A lot of the nurses, especially on the night shifts, would come talk to me for hours at a time. Mike’s visits were wonderful, and I will always have a memory of him sitting or sleeping on that plastic gray couch, hardly taking his eyes off of me.

When I was released from the hospital, it was only under the condition that I would stay in St. George, near the hospital. Leslie made some last minute arrangements to keep me comfortable at her house. The doctor assumed I would either be in labor within the first hour of leaving, the first night, or the first 24 hours. It felt good to prove him wrong, but it was very hard to just sit and wait for labor to come. I wanted to go home and be a mommy so bad. But I knew I had to stay in St. George and finish my job first- my only job being to keep those boys in long enough so they were healthy enough to take home soon so we could be a family again.

After several appointments to be monitored in the Maternal Fetal Medicine unit, we finally scheduled a day to be induced at my 37 week mark. I was given the option to drive up to Beaver and deliver there, but we made the decision to keep all our debt with one hospital, and also have a higher chance of delivering without a C-section. On Saturday, Leslie and I went shopping and I bought some 0-3 outfits to bring the boys home in. On Sunday I went with Leslie to church. Both outings were painful, but I never had any contractions.

Mike arrived Sunday night and we packed up my things from around Leslie's house and got to bed a little later than we had originally planned. I couldn't sleep very well with all the anticipation anyway, and was awake before I got the phone call from the hospital at 5:30 a.m. that I could come in at 6:30 a.m. to be started.

When we arrived, we did the usual check-in stuff, got an IV, and settled in. Nobody seemed to be in too big of a hurry until the nurse checked me and with one of those "looks" on her face said, "how are you feeling?" I was feeling fine, but she claimed I was dilated to a 9. And like magic, things started moving very quickly. The epidural man came right down and gave me an epidural, even before I felt a single hurt contraction. My doctor came in and said I was "only" dilated to a 7, but we could start with the pitocin. As soon as my contractions were coming regular and close, the doctor came in and broke my water and I was wheeled in the OR, just in case we needed to do a "crash" C-section.

Mike, all ready for "surgery"

Me, already numb from the epidural, and ready to pop.

 Everyone chit-chatted for a while until I was fully dilated and then I pushed. While Baby A was being delivered, a nurse and the epidural man were pushing Baby B from the outside of my belly to try and move him from breech to a head-down position. Baby A, Nelson David, was born during that first contraction and had a beautiful little cry. He got all cleaned up and swaddled and started looking around. Baby B's external version worked, and he was all lined up, ready to go. I finally got the gumption to ask if I could hold Nelson. I knew they could have said no, because I was pretty unstable laying down, in labor, but for a few seconds, I got to hold him until the next contraction came, at which point, Mike took Nelson and I pushed again. It took 18 min from the time Nelson was born for Baby B, Braden Parker, to make his entrance. He surprised me by being a little bigger than Nelson, but I was amazed at how similar they looked.

Baby A: Nelson David

Holding Nelson, and focusing on delivering Baby B

Baby B: Braden Parker

In the recovery room, we made a few phone calls, and I tried nursing both boys at the same time, feeling super awkward. Nelson had to leave us for a time because his blood sugar was low, but they brought him back, good and healthy within 30 min. We were happy he didn't have to spend any time in the NICU.

The first night was awful as far as trying to get any sleep, which made me even more determined to check out the next morning. I was very much done with the hospital and ready to go and be with my whole family. The check-out process went quick, and before I could hardly get a shower, we were out the door about 24 hours after the birth of our two newest family members. 

Ready for HOME!

The 4 weeks leading up to the delivery made the experience so tender and sweet. It felt so good to see two healthy and strong boys sucking and breathing all on their own. They looked so perfect, and felt so perfect in my arms. I was so thankful to finally have them here, and so ready to take them home and be a family again.