This post is a continuation of my twins’ birth story. I left off at “my twins were born healthy” and that was the end. But unfortunately that wasn’t then end for me.
Surgery
Both girls came out with great cries, which was exciting to hear. Within a few minutes they were cleaned up and brought for me to see. Then they were taken away again.
As they were finishing up my doctor says to me “Are you planning to have anymore kids?”
Having been asked this numerous times in the past months (seriously though, who asks this of a pregnant woman??) I responded with my normal answer, “not anytime soon.”
She replies, “Well if you do, you’ll have to deliver early because you have a tear in your uterus.”
I can’t remember what I said after that, I just remember being shocked. I should clarify, the doctor that did my surgery was actually the doctor I saw when I was pregnant with M, but she was no longer my primary OB. One of the reasons I left her practice is because, while she is an excellent doctor, her bedside manner isn’t the greatest.
I spent the next few months worrying about this before I was able to get better clarification from my current doctor. She explained that the only danger was going into labor, which is why I would need to deliver early. However, it is still a difficult thing to wrap my head around, knowing that another pregnancy could put me and my baby at risk.
After my surgery I was able to hold the babies in recovery for the first time. I shared that picture in the previous post. Being able to have them with me made the time pass quickly.
The First 24 hours
Back in my room, my family was able to meet the girls for the first time and we shared their names. A little while later my in-laws arrived and were able to meet the girls as well.
I was put on the magnesium drip when I returned to my room. As I mentioned in Part 1, this was to help relax my muscles and keep me from having seizures due to the liver issues. Because of this, I was still not allowed to eat, drink, or get out of bed. The worst part was being unable to drink. I remember begging to have some ice chips. When people told me how great I looked after the twins were born, I always cringed a little inside. Because in the back of my mind I can see myself starving for about 36 hours.
The night passed quickly in a blur of feedings, diaper changes, and tests. One of the babies was showing signs of jaundice so they had to keep scanning her to be sure it didn’t get any worse.
Warning: If you get squeamish at the thought of blood you may want to skip the next few paragraphs. I will not share all of the gory details, but it is important to my story.
One common misconception I have heard about c-sections is that you do not bleed as much as with a vaginal delivery. This is not completely true. It is possible that because of the “cleaning” process of the surgery there could be less bleeding, but that is not always the case. Needless to say the next morning I felt something that did not feel quite right. When I checked myself there was way more blood then there should have been.
I immediately alerted the nurse, who immediately alerted the doctor. I was hemorrhaging. Apparently, I had not been sufficiently “cleaned” and my doctor had to manually finish the job. I am putting this as gently as I can because it was probably the most painful experience I’ve ever had to go through. I was told that if the bleeding did not stop I would have to go back into surgery to make sure that they got everything. Thankfully, this did not need to happen.
As I said earlier, the doctor that did my surgery may not have the best bedside manner, but she is an awesome doctor. In my opinion, she saved my life and I appreciate her quick action.
The rest of the day passed without any major issues. My mom brought M back to see us all. By around 5 pm, after checking my blood levels, they declared I was doing well enough to be taken off of the magnesium. I was allowed to have dinner and encouraged to get up and walk. All this time had been spent on the Labor & Delivery floor. Once I was mobile I was moved to the Mom & Baby floor.
Day 2
Again the night passed in a blur. Being on the Mom & Baby floor meant that we were left alone for the most part. We got our first real taste of what life would be like with twins. They were noisy sleepers so it was hard to rest and it felt like we were constantly trying to calm them down.
I was unable to breastfeed so we were at least able to work together with feedings and we were grateful the nurses were willing to take them for one of the night feeds so we could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
When morning came my husband went back to work and my mom and sister spent most of the day with me. I also had a wonderful visit with a friend from college who had identical twins a year and two days before me. She had been a very supportive during my pregnancy, so it was a great visit.
Day 3
Because the babies were so small, only 4 pounds, 10 ounces and 5 pounds 10 ounces, they needed to pass a car seat test before they were cleared to leave the hospital. What happens is they hook the babies to a heart monitor, strap them into their car seats that you bring, and monitor if their heart rate changes over time. If I remember correctly its for an hour. Anyways, that was done Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
The babies were cleared to go home.
I was not.
I believe they were still waiting on either my blood pressure or protein levels to look better. Actually I am almost positive it was my protein levels because I was still getting those 5 am blood draws.
Thursday, February 15 passed with visits from family and hoping they would possibly let us go home. However I knew that if my body wasn’t ready then it was best that we stayed.
We were kind of getting the hang of the night time thing. We started a system where we would both get up, change a baby, feed the baby, then try to put them back down. Emphasis on try. Their days and nights were a little mixed up so it was work getting them back to sleep at times.
Going Home
I had my 5 am blood draw on Friday the 16th. Then it was just a waiting game to see if I would get the all clear. The doctor on call came in and check on me a few times. They were all happy with how well I was up and moving around. I tried to be out of bed as much as possible.
Finally, around 10 am we were cleared to leave. We had so much stuff and left so quick we actually left a couple of my gifts in the room and didn’t remember until later that night. My parents met us at our house with M and Chick-fil-A. I was so happy to be eating something that wasn’t hospital food. Although, I guess I should have just been thankful that I could eat. That night we had a visit with my brother’s family since they had not all gotten to see the girls yet.
From there we made a plan for what we would do at night. We each had a baby closer to our side of the bed in their pack and play bassinets. We decided that is who we would be responsible for so whoever’s baby cried would be the one to get up. This worked out pretty well because each baby had good and bad nights so it wasn’t like one of us had any more or less sleep than the other. It truly was a team effort.
We had to take the babies in for a jaundice check at our pediatricians the very next day. They were cleared until their one week appointment.
From here, as they say, the rest is history. The girls have been basically happy and healthy ever since. We know we have been so blessed that God chose us to care for and raise twins. With this understanding, we trust that He will see us through any trials that come our way. We don’t know yet if the future includes more children because of my health concerns, so we are focusing on being the best parents to our three girls that we can possibly be.