The Final Birth Story....

Hey peeps..  I know, I know. I left you hanging back there in July.  Let me start by saying the Twins were born healthy- full term and no issues whatsoever!   I kept meaning to post over and over but I would find something else to do.  I think perhaps with this being my LAST surrogacy and all, I didn't want to let go.  Writing my birth story seems a little like the last word on the last page in the last chapter of a really good book that you just don't want to put down.  But today is 16 weeks since the babies were born so I figured it was kinda now or never.  You have to let go sometime, right?

So we left off at 34w5d and dilated to 4.5cm.  My dr was sure labor was imminent.  Let me just say now, my dr was pretty much wrong every single time she swore I'd have those babies before my next appointment.  I went in the next day 34wk6d and still the same 4.5cm.   The dr and I discussed the likelihood of needing to be closer to the hospital.  I think this was the biggest worry for all of us in the last days. With the first set of twins I was in L&D and went from 5-9 cm in a matter of minutes. So being so close, we were pretty much all afraid that once I went into real labor (vs the inconsistent contractions that became the bane of my existence)  the babies would pretty much be born in the car on the way to the hospital (remember I live 1hr from my delivering hospital).   Back and forth we went, whether to book a hotel and stay close by or just go home and risk it.  Ultimately we decided that I would just go home. Logically with all factors involved it just worked better. Plus there is a decent hospital halfway to my delivering hospital (although no NICU) that would work in a pinch.   My dr decided that seeing us a few times a week would be best but every visit she swore she'd see me in L&D before my next appointment.  Every visit she was wrong... lol.  It became a running joke. How many times can the dr guess wrong?? lol 

So fast forward 2 weeks.  YES 2 weeks.  Apparently when someone asks how long can you walk around 4.5-5cm dilated and not go into active labor??  Well I don't know the exact answer but we will say AT LEAST two weeks. 

Monday Aug 8 - by this point everyone who had guessed in the baby pool had to pretty much guess again.  This was my date.  8/8/16.  What an awesome birthday for twins!  I had a dr appt that day and asked about doing an u/s because at our last one (2wks prior) baby b was slightly smaller than baby a. She agreed (fyi- still dilated to 5cm and holding).  At this point, DH came with me to all appointments and we always brought the hospital bag - just in case. lol.  This was the first u/s he had been able to come to, so his first time seeing these little ones 'in person'. Long story-short, the u/s showed that Baby B had not grown in the past 2 weeks.  This was slightly concerning since she was already the smaller twin. They looked at the cords and all looked okay but with 2 babies jammed in there, it's sometimes harder to see everything clearly. Plus the fact that laying flat on my back for any length of time was enough to make me want to pass out.  Not the most fun experience.  My Dr came back in said that if we still wanted to induce (we had asked at what point induction would be advisable) then she thought that baby a measuring smaller and not growing for 2 weeks was enough to warrant an induction.  So we agreed to induce on Wednesday - Aug 10 - exactly 37weeks.  Naturally Aug 10th was Baby Mama's pick in the baby pool.  I told her she didn't win if we induced though. lol :) 

Surprisingly enough, we actually made it to induction day.  I figured these girls did not like being told what to do the entire pregnancy so they would come on the 9th just to be contrary, but they were nice and compliant.   We all arrived at the hospital at 8am for induction. Finally!! 

 We got hooked up to the monitors and they checked me -- still 5cm.  Not a contraction in sight. lol.  They ordered the pitocin and my epidural at the same time.  Again from the last twin pregnancy I was worried that once it got started it would go fast..  ha ha ha. Silly me.  I did ask about breaking my water and letting nature take it's course vs the pitocin route but little miss baby A was hanging out too high up and there was a risk of the cord getting pinched.  Little booger.  So we settled in. Pitocin came and got hooked up.  Then my epidural lady came and placed that.  I had only had like 3 good pitocin contractions when I got my epidural and I think that's probably why it was the most painful. Normally you've had hours of labor and pain is a thing of the past by then.  This lady kept saying boy your vertebrae are close together, I'm having a real hard time getting between them.  I'm like Lady, this is my 5th epidural and no one has ever told me that before. LOL!  Eventually it was in and we all settled in to wait. 

And wait we did.  The excited parents eventually went off for lunch and came back again.  Still waiting.  Lots of checking in between, me changing positions trying to make monitoring 2 babies easier b/c those babies were stinkers. Eventually they broke my water on Baby A and put a scalp monitor on her b/c she was always my little mover and would NOT stay on the monitor.  Stinker!!  Actually truth be told, they put 2 scalp monitors on b/c the first one didn't work. lol. Like I said, she's the troublemaker.  I could bore you to tears with the waiting but pretty much it went really smoothly.  Finally I got to 9cm and had to spend some time on my side since Little Miss Baby A was not keeping her head down properly (she wanted to turn sideways instead of head down) and there was a darn lip on my cervix.. sigh..  Troublemaker I tell you.  We all laughed that these girls were trying to be so convenient for the dr, they waited until her office hours were over before my nurse even had to call her to come to the hospital!  Yep - all day long.  Rotten kids, so much for my worry about going fast! Lol! 

 Finally it was time to head off to the OR (all twin births at my hospital must be delivered in the OR) for the birth!  We gathered around for a quick picture of all of us together - because naturally all these hours in labor, no one thought to take a picture. lol. We are lame. ha!  But at least we all look cute in our scrubs. 

When we got to the OR, Baby Daddy stayed just outside the room (per hospital rules only 1 person is allowed in the OR, we stretched the rules by letting DH & Baby Mama in).  Once Baby A was born she would immediately be taken to the hallway to be checked over anyway so he would get to see her right away (they had a little set up there with the bed and all for her).  So we got into the OR and I had to transfer from my bed to the OR bed.  I love how these people think that a woman with a good working epidural can just move themselves from bed to bed.. That may have taken a few mins. lol.  Our room was packed. My dr, the NICU staff (just in case) , nurses for the babies, my nurse plus her mentor nurse b/c my nurse was new and wasn't allowed to do everything yet.  Then the pushing started. and went on and on.  I was beginning to think this kid was not going to come out AT ALL and we'd end up with a c-section after all.. I did learn that I cuss a LOT during delivery.  Ooops.. lol. Finally Baby A came out - sunny side up!! ARGH!!! No wonder she was so hard to get out. I swear this child- TROUBLEMAKER.!! Apparently when she was sideways and finally turned she turned head up instead of head down. Always something with this girl!  But she was here and looked wonderful!  Super quiet though! She came out all cone headed. Poor thing!! I told Baby Mama to go on out and visit with her for a few minutes b/c the Dr was going to do a quick ultrasound to make sure Baby B was still head down.  

 My dr was highly amused when she did the ultrasound b/c it was the first time she saw her own fingers on the ultrasound. lol.   Baby B was head down and ready to rock and roll!We called Baby Mama back into the room. Baby Daddy & Baby A also snuck back in!  The dr tried 3 times to get her water to break but it wouldn't budge, so she decided we would go ahead and push with the water intact.   Baby B was smaller and actually facing the right direction so she came out much easier!!  The water finally broke as she was coming out!  The entire pregnancy I always commented how BabyA was the mover and Baby B was always content to just hang out in her little corner, usually curled up.   We found out at delivery that Baby B's cord was much shorter than Baby A's.   I'll spare you the sight of fresh baby covered in goo pictures but I do have one of Baby B (Baby A's cord was still hanging there attached to placentas b/c in a twin delivery both babies are delivered and then both placentas) which shows her freshly born before her cord was cut and it is pulled tight.  Yet Baby A's freshly born picture shows her in the same position and her cord is laying loose and looped around.  Poor Baby B just couldn't move around as much as her sister b/c her cord was holding her in place. lol.

Stats :
Baby A - 6lbs 6oz, 20 inches long , born @ 5:23pm 
Apgars 6 & 9

Baby B - 5lbs 6oz, 19 inches long, born @ 5:42pm 
Apgars 9 & 9

Exactly 1 lb and 1 inch apart!!  

   The babies were 100% healthy! There was a slight jaundice issue but nothing huge. The parents were given their own room down the hall from mine and were released after 2 days :)  I hung out at the hospital for my entire 48hours (vacation!!) and went down to their room to hang out, or they came to mine.   I pumped for the twins for the first few months, they had to supplement with formula anyway while I built up a supply.  Now that they no longer want any milk,  I am still pumping and donating to Preemie Milk Bank.   I do get pictures all the time and even went to visit right before Thanksgiving :)  I love this family to pieces! I'm so glad to be a part of it in a small way =) 
 
And that, my dears, is that.   My 3rd surrogacy is over and while my dr keeps trying to convince me that I should do just one more.. I'm 98% sure that I'm officially retired.  Do I miss it? Sure. About 2 weeks after giving birth to the twins I was already missing the pregnancy. lol. But three great journeys is a blessing and I hate to jinx myself.  So I'm calling it - I'm out. 

Thanks so much for following our journey. I'll always be around to answer any questions anyone might have.  I may occasionally post updates on the 2 sets of twins :)  Until then, take care!