Twins!

So I said I'd post the twins birth story, if you're not interested, just skip it, it might be a tid bit graphic.

I went in the 25th of June to be induced at 38 weeks, 5 days. I had had some minor contractions but nothing major and nothing consistent. I kept trying to decide if I should actually get induced. I really, really wanted to go into labor naturally. But the contractions I was having didn't seem to be going anywhere and I could wait and be in pain for the next week and a half and still not go into labor and be induced. At this point I was really in quite a bit of pain. Like - a LOT! So I decided to go ahead and get induced as scheduled.

I went in at 8:00 am. They checked me in and my main nurse was Laura and the doctor in charge was Doctor Miller. Dallas, Mom and my doula, Lindsay Schneider came with me. The nurses, Laura and (I think) Heather, set me up on the monitors and IV and started the pitocin drip. It started some very mild contractions as they started to increase the drip. I chatted some with everyone and listened to my Hypnobabies and dozed.

I didn't progressing as quickly as I had expected. With both of the boys, I progressed pretty quickly, a couple hours of Pitocin and I was ready to have some babies. Not as quick this time. About noon, the doctor in charge came in to talk with me. Dr. Miller said he understood that I wanted to labor naturally, without an epidural. But he also said that he understood that my main desire was to avoid a cesarean section, and my best bet for that was to get the epidural. He said that since the second baby was currently transverse rather than head down, there was a risk that she would come down breach. If that were to happen, I would need the epidural so that he could do what was nessasary to deliver the second baby. I understood what he was saying, and though I really didn't want to hear it, I knew that he was right. He also said that he wanted to break my water to increase the contractions, as it hadn't broken on its own yet. I told him I had to think about it for a little bit. He said he had to deliver triplets at 1:00 pm and was off at 5:00 pm so I needed to make up my mind soon . I talked with Dallas and Lyndsay and Mom and decided that it really was the best option. I decided to get the epidural first and then have my water broken.

The anesthesiologist came in. Since I wasn't currently in a lot of pain and my previous two epidurals had completely blocked any feeling, I spoke with him and asked that he do a lighter version. He said that was fine and went with about half the normal dose.

When the assisting doctor came in to rupture my membrane, she checked me and could feel the first babies hand by her face. This was a concern, as if I progressed rapidly, she could be in the wrong position to birth easily. The doctor said she wanted to check with Dr. Miller before doing the procedure. It ended up being several hours before Dr. Miller made it back to check on me, about 3:00 pm. By then, the first baby had moved her hand and he went ahead and broke my water.

Now we were on a bit of a time crunch, because Dr. Miller was one of the few doctors who would even attempt a breach delivery if the second baby came down butt first. With most doctors, it would be an automatic c-section. Since he was supposed to go home at 5:00 pm, that only gave me 2 hours to progress completely and be ready to deliver. This apparently wasn't enough time this time.

At five, the next doctor came on, Dr. Hood. She came in to talk to me. I asked what she would do if the second baby came down breach and she said that she would have to do a c-section. She didn't have the experience to do a breach delivery. I was really upset about this, of course.

They were having a lot of trouble monitoring the babies. At the first, it was the second baby who was hard to track, but after they broke my water, the first baby became diffuclt. Dr. Hood said she'd like to do an internal monitor so they could monitor her better. As she was getting ready for that, she checked me and I was almost completely dialated. Dr. Hood had just talked with Dr. Miller who said that he would stick around a little while longer in case I got ready to deliver. So Dr. Hood stretched me and was able to get me complete.

At this point, the epidural had never been raised and I was actually able to feel the need to push, which was pretty cool, considering I'd never had that before!

They got me ready to move to the operating room (all twins deliver in the operating room in case of an emergency c-section) and off we went down the hall. Only one person was able to go with me, so, of course, Dallas went with me. They got him all set up in the white paper outfit and hair net and everything.

Once everything was set up, Dr. Hood told me to start pushing. She had to tell me to "push down, not up" a couple times before I got what to do. (Again, I've never felt any of this before.) After a minute or two of pushing, they had me grab my legs and start pushing. I honestly didn't know that I could reach my legs, but I did. I was a little suprised at how much I felt, considering I had had the epidural. I could feel a lot, and it was rather painful and a lot of work! And a couple minutes more of pushing and Lily Spring Allen was born at 6:23 pm on June 25th. She weighed 7 pounds 1.6 ounces and was 19 inches long. I turned to Dallas and said "I CAN'T do that again! That hurt!" To which he replied something like "Of course you can." And in reality I had no choice!

This is the point the "fun" began. The second baby came down and she did indeed come down breach, which we had been hoping she wouldn't. Dr. Hood was kind enough to go and get Dr. Miller, who had been kind enough to wait over an hour and a half after he was supposed to go home, just in case this happened.

Dr. Miller came in and checked the baby. He had the anesthesiologist increase my epidural. He broke my water, which was apparently under some pressure as it splashed all over. He waited for a bit for the increased epidural to take effect, and reached in and grabbed a foot and pulled the second baby out. So Autumn Rose Allen was born doing the splits at 6:42 pm on June 25th, weighing 6 pounds, 5.8 ounces and was 19 inches long.

I can't say how grateful I am to both Dr. Hood and Dr. Miller. Dr. Hood for delivering Lily and being willing to step aside and let Dr. Miller do his "thing". And Dr. Miller for staying so much later than his shift and being willing to go out of his way to make sure I didn't have a c-section. And for having the experience and confidence to birth Autumn breach. It might not have been the birth I hoped for, but it turned out the best way it possibly could. I have two amazingly healthy babies and all three of us are doing great.

Thing 1 and Thing 2

So, I have apparently been a bit remiss in updating my blog. I have a couple excusses... Twins!! Tomorrow I will try to add their birth story and the interesting developments since then. If the girls will let me.