The twins are officially10 months so no time like really late - to tell how they got here...
We picking up here and forgetting some of the interim. My due date with the twins was 4/8. After my first appointment at 15.5 weeks my doctor ordered all the things including a level 2 ultrasound so we could hopefully figure out if these babies shared a placenta - they were relatively sure there were two sacs from the regular ultrasound. That was really important because two babies in one sac with one placenta - momo twins - are the riskiest twins because the placenta and sac that normally hold one baby is home to two. You've lucky to get to 30 weeks if I'm not mistaken.
Anyhow the level 2 ultrasound showed two sac (yay!) and probably two placentas which is the best situation for keeping babies baking for as long as possible. My doctor said if we can just get to 35 weeks he would be thrilled - early March. I was really really April 1 because April Fools Day - and it seemed fitting for whole situation which was God's big joke to us from the get go.
I don't know if I really processed the gravity of early babies until we went to the hospital the evening of me being 36 weeks pregnant because I was pretty sure (and I was) having contractions. I had taken the kids to swim practice and come home that Friday and I wasn't feeling the best but I mean I great could I really possibly feel after a long week? After unsuccessfully sleeping off the contractions, I rushed a hospital bag together and we left after the littles were asleep. That was definitely the first wake up call of - okay there's two people going to be coming home with you soon.
We weren't ready.
They gave me bags of fluid and medicine for the babies lungs. My doctor said I could camp out there for the weekend or at home but strict orders - do to as little as possible. Thus began the days of drinking a gallon of water daily (thanks gallon Yeti jug for keeping me honest) and lots of time perched on the couch. We really shut things down after that hospital run because the thought of nursing twins seemed tough but nursing two tiny early babies wasn't something entirely different. We needed these babies to grow a little more.
I'd do the regular morning school run, go to work, pick up the littles from preschool and then I was done for the day.
Between that and the water it worked and I was 37 weeks - and Lee had crossed the St. Patrick's Day school fundraiser cooking hurdle. My doctor said he fully expected me to be back that weekend of March 10 but I always seek to approve him wrong : )
The babies were not cooperating and were basically all but heads down for the last 12 weeks of the pregnancy so it appeared a c-section was in my near future. I tried ice packs to try and get them to move but they weren't having it. At one point baby B was in a ball jammed up against my left rib. I was in denial about a c-section for all the reasons but it came time to set the date for it so I was good with March 23 because 3/23/23 seemed like a cool birth date.
I left my appointment earlier in the week and then the nurse didn't call me to schedule so the 22nd I called and was told I needed come in on the 23rd (and maybe he'd find a reason to do a c-section that day). I was to the point where I was going to say there was decreased fetal movement and boom - I'd be in the OR. Also at play here was the 23rd was a Thursday so I would be in the hospital for a few nights but home in time for the school week so I could still keep tabs on things.
And the night of the March 22 is when I really learned things weren't up to me. I needed to let go and let God.
From Valentine's Day to March 22, each week someone had thrown up. Some people were on round 2 and possibly 3. It was crazy. It was crazy. It was CRAZY. So everyone was seemingly healthy and then I was wrapping up work stuff at 8:30 in Lee's office and he comes down the hallway and says - You won't believe this, H just got sick! My heart sank. We were supposed to be through with the funk. And I definitely wasn't going to bring babies home to another round of the stomach bug. So we called our helpers - who were all in place for the next few days - and told them we'd wait to see what the doctor said in the morning. Then at 4:15 AM on March 23, A came down and announced he had just gotten sick.
Oh the best laid plans.
So instead of going to my appointment and begging for that c-section. I marched right in there and told them there was no way it was happening today. We discussed again for the last time why I couldn't have the babies on April Fools Day - they don't do elective surgeries on the weekend - but you told me I could choose any day I wanted, I reminded my doctor jokingly. He said March 27. A Monday. Possibly the worst day because then I'd be gone from the house for most of the school week and then there was a bit of work to contend with but I knew walking in the door, I had to go with whatever the doctor said. I had to give up my control/wants/worries - or our house might just spontaneously combust.
I left at peace with with Monday March 27. That weekend I went back to church for the first time in two weeks because at that point if I did go into labor it would be fine -which I didn't. It was good to go back and get all graces before the babies came.
With a new set of kid care in place, we headed to the hospital early Monday morning - not without them calling Sunday night to confirm my noon surgery and me questioning why I was supposed to be there at 6 am for a noon surgery - I’m always up for a good questioning of procedure. By eight all was well and we waited and waited until noon - so glad I needed to be there that early. We talked. I worked some to take my mind of the impending surgery which I was still not 100% sure about. Noon rolled around and that became 1 and finally at 1:30 ish it was game time.
I was wheeled back to the OR. I got the epidural, the nurses counted off all the instruments in the room - because they have to do a pre and post count just to be sure they don’t leave something on the inside, then the doctor announced what was happening and not long after at 2:07 Baby A who was a girl and Baby B who was a girl were pulled into this world in the same minute. It was surreal laying there listening to two babies scream, grateful for their health and the crowd of people who had gotten us here and still being poked and prodded by the doctors who were discussing their weekends and the rental of a Tesla - that was weird but as someone pointed out, my c section was so normal and what they were doing was so second nature they could carry a normal conversation.
Anyhow…
The girls!
Lee claims he was no surprised it was two girls. I remember hearing one was a girl and waiting for the second to know which names we would call them.
Gianna and Genevieve it was. 6 lbs 5 oz and 6 lbs 7 oz.
I got to recovery and held them for the first time and FaceTimed the kids to share the double pink news! Lee went to get dinner and i was finally snapping back to it with some meds wearing off.
We stayed in the hospital for four nights - feeding to two ain’t no joke and same with a c section - Wednesday at lunch the anesthesia blocks they gave me wore off and I felt it in the form of crazy pain just getting out of bed. I begged my doctor to keep me that fourth night and I am so grateful he let me stay.
I had a day and night nurse who were the best. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have left the hospital nursing babies without them. I think of them especially on the 27th of each month and say a prayer for them. We were syringe feeding babies just to try and get them latched and satisfied. The feeding was constant and I knew I was not ready to tandem feed because they were so small and floppy.
During my extended stay - normally I prefer the get me outta here option - I found out that the week prior on 3/23 the nursery was madhouse with 12 babies and a set of twins - which just solidified for me the mantra of Thy Will be Done. Because if I had gone in on 3/23 and had the babies - I wouldn’t have had the same nurses and there would have been triple the number of babies in the nursery. So crazy to look back at the situation and see it full circle.
So Friday 3/31 we came home from the hospital and had no idea what we were going to do with two babies and a mama recovering from a c section. The village rose up to help and we have been surviving and at times thriving ever since.
Diapers. Bottles. Formula. Wipes. Clothes. Was all we did for days but we found a routine that worked.
My final thought will be on the c section- the thing I was most nervous about. It was terrible. Well the recovery was. Two and a half weeks it took to finally get halfway to normal. I felt like I was sawed in two. But, the babies are here and safe which was the goal. So while I would never wish a c section on anyone - I would do it over again because our babies were healthy.
