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!

The Birth Story

I thought it was fitting to post the birth story today - our due date. Hard to believe that the Twins are 5 1/2 weeks old and they were just due today!  I'm going to just write this straight through without editing it.. Just how I remember it, so bare with me if I repeat myself.. Lord knows I tend to ramble sometimes !  We may as well start this final post out with some belly pictures that I neglected to ever share with you :)

June 25- 29weeks + 4days

July 9- 31weeks + 4days

July 19- 33 weeks

July 23 - 33weeks + 4days

July 28 - 34weeks + 2days

And that has us caught up to the day before delivery.. Where we left off- Monday July 28th when we went to the hospital to get checked out and were sent home- yet again.  I was so sure with the contractions 5mins apart that this must finally be it so I made sure to take a quick belly pic before heading to the hospital that morning.   Little good it did me.   As I said, I was sent home.  DH, my IPs and I ended up going out for lunch. I figured if these contractions weren't doing anything, there's no point in laying around complaining about them.   Was I miserable?  Yes.. But it gave us a chance to get out of the house and do something for a little while until I had had enough..  My threshold for holding my shit together is about 2hours and then I need to lay back and complain and moan for a while.. lol.

Tuesday I spent most of the day resting and relaxing..  The contractions were still there but I gave up timing them and had declared once again that I was NOT going back to the hospital until my water broke or something.  I was tired of being sent home and figured maybe these babies were just going to be good and stay put for another week or two.  We had family haircuts scheduled for that evening and I was super excited that I was officially off bedrest and could make it!  Nothing is more soothing than getting your hair done :-)   Since I knew I'd be in the car for a few hours (our hair salon is an hour away-- long story) and in public where I'd have to actually be halfway presentable, I tried to spend most of the day in bed reading.  My friend *T* had been coming up for the past month to help with the kids and with house cleaning while I was on bedrest so she was there that day to keep me company as well.  We were chatting with another friend on the phone when *T* decided to send her a belly picture of the naked monstrosity.   Ha!!  The reaction was priceless !  My uterus was now measuring 53-54 weeks.. Yep, well over a year pregnant - it's no wonder the twins were wanting out!

Since I told my IM that we were going to haircuts, they decided to spend the day out exploring in a local town.  DH got home from work and we all loaded up into the van and made our way to the hair salon.   I plopped my butt on the couch and laid there trying to get comfy while everyone else got their hair cuts -- it's always been my custom to go last so I can enjoy it vs going first and having to deal with everyone else's hair cut decisions.

picture me sprawled out on the couch, shoes off trying to get comfy.

Finally it was my turn !!  DH had just finished his hair cut and came into the waiting room to tell me it was my turn.  My hair stylist (since I was 16) came in and commented on the belly.   I heaved myself up - which was quite the task.. First I had to work my way into sitting position, then have DH help me get up off the couch. I stood up and immediately felt a gush of liquid.   REALLY??  It is MY TURN for pampering time!!  Everyone could see the look of shock on my face because they both asked me what was wrong.  I waddled my way to the bathroom and told them that I either just peed myself or my water broke but I was getting my damn hair cut before we left no matter what!

Instead, plans quickly changed.  When I got into the bathroom and pulled my pants down to check things out, I realized that that gush was all blood.  My pants were soaked down to my knees with blood.  I quickly waddled back out and said 'Nevermind, it's blood and we are leaving.'  Attitude King rounded up the little kids and took them to get buckled in the car.. Meanwhile I was telling DH to ask for towels because I didn't want to ruin my seats in the van.. Lol.

We finally all got into the car and started for the hospital.  The hospital we were supposed to deliver at was an hour ++ away. But our PBO was for that hospital and quite frankly no way would I have went to the local hospital because they are horrible..  DH started racing our way to the delivery hospital.  I started making phone calls.   I called *T* and told her I needed her right way.  She dropped everything to meet us at the hospital , pick my kids up and take them home again.  Then I messaged IM - twice and then IF when I didn't immediately get a response from IM.  Basically I just told them to get their butts to the hospital NOW.. ha.   Finally I called the hospital to let them know that we were heading in.   This entire time, I could feel little gushes of blood come out.  I knew in my head that this wasn't normal but for some reason I never panic until after the fact..   The hospital asked me if it was enough blood to soak a pad and I laughed -- uhmm several pads.  I don't think they believed me or understood how much blood there was.

We pulled into the hospital a mere 35mins after leaving the hair salon (yes, DH made the trip in half the time.. EEK).  DH jumped out and had the security get me a wheelchair and then raced to park the car with the kids in it (Attitude King was going to sit with them until *T* got there).  Security wheeled me up to L&D and I got Triage 3- again..  I remember thinking to myself, there is no way they can send me home this time!

As we wheeled into the room, the nurse was there getting the monitor ready.  I stood up and realized I'd left a bloody mess in the wheel chair and immediately apologized.  Every step I took towards the bed I could feel the blood dripping and leaving little piles on the floor.  The nurse got a little more concerned when she realized just how much I was really bleeding.  She instructed me to get my pants off and get on the bed NOW - no cares about closing the door or even the curtain.. As I worked to get my leggings off, another nurse came in to start cleaning up the bloody mess (security must have told her?) and help me get the darn pants off.  There was blood just pooling in the pants on the floor.   Everyone started moving a bit quicker that point.  I got onto the bed and the nurse got the monitors hooked up to check the babies heartrates. DH had already showed up at my side..  My Dr had left on vacation that morning - isn't that always how it works?? The delivering dr showed up with an ultrasound machine within minutes of my arrival. We had a quick u/s and both babies were head down.  I'm not really sure if she looked for the source of the bleeding or not because the only comment she made was that she knew I wanted to try for a vaginal birth and since they were both head down.  She then left the room and my nurse worked on getting the monitors back untangled from me so that I could be moved to an actual labor room. This was it for sure this time!!  I asked her about the bleeding and she tried to play it off as normal saying that sometimes this happened with progression..  I have never had bleeding with any of my previous pregnancies and this amount of blood couldn't be normal.

I'm a little blurry on some events.. I know I was checked and was at 4cm sometime in the triage room (yay progression, since I was still 3-3.5 at my trip to L&D the day before). I also know that they changed the pad under me once or twice because of all the blood.

 We got moved into the labor room and my nurse took me to the bathroom to get cleaned up.  What a mess that was! lol.  When I got back into the bed, my nurse placed 3 pads down so that if we had to change one we could just pull the bloody one out and I'd still have 2 in place and I wouldn't have to get out of bed.   I also got my lovely IV.. I hate needles and therefore HATE IVs. *shudders*

My IPs arrived shortly after we got settled into the room.. I think they were both pretty nervous. I can't blame them!  We had just been there the day before and were sent home... This time it was real. I love my IM to pieces, she was always asking how I was doing.. Was I okay?  We took a few pictures and joked about waiting all night.. *T* and my other friend arrived back to the hospital with some items we had them grab from the house when they dropped the kids off there.. Our room was getting full and I was picturing a fun party atmosphere while we waited for the babies to come. I have always had long labors and despite the blood, I assumed since we didn't go straight to c-section that this would be another long labor.  My nurse was my room pretty much all the time which at the time didn't seem abnormal to me.  Looking back, I realize she was keeping close eye on me and the babies monitor.  She changed the pad a few times and we attempted rolling to my side to pick up Baby A's heart rate better..   The dr made her appearance again and checked out the babies monitors.  While they played it off well, you could tell they were a bit concerned.  We all started making new guesses on what time the babies would be born.  I had arrived at the hospital at 6:30pm , by now it was 8:30-9pm and so the bets were on if they would make it on the 29th or wait til the 30th. The dr -when pressed- guessed within 2hours and then said if we hadn't progressed by then we might be looking at a c-section b/c Baby A's heart rate was gong down with contractions some.

Since they were watching Baby A's heart rate closely and with the threat of c-section looming, I asked my nurse if I should go ahead and get my epidural because I definitely wanted one!  She agreed that it would be a good idea and went to let the anesthesiologist know that I would be wanting one.  Naturally he was with someone else, so we would just have to wait our turn.

My nurse decided we should get me up and try to use the restroom one more time before I got my epidural and couldn't get up..   I was still feeling gushes of blood at this point and ended up walking to the bathroom with one of the giant bed pads held between my legs.  My nurse took it and gave me a wet down towel to try to clean up with again while she cleaned the bed up.   She joked that I was such a good patient b/c she could tell me to go pee and I immediately did it.. Ha..  I never had problems needing to pee- pregnant or otherwise :) .  Once all done and cleaned up, I made the mistake of standing up and immediately had blood gush all over me again.  *sigh*   We cleaned things up AGAIN and walked back to the bed with a towel cleaning up the mess trailing behind me.  I am so thankful I wasn't the one who had to clean it up. I was starting to get a bit concerned about all the blood because it was not stopping.. My nurse had put 5 pads down on the bed in hopes of not having to lift me up to put new ones under, just pull a bloody one out.  

Settled back in bed and the anesthesiologist showed up to put my epidural in.  They kicked everyone out while he went to work.   The epidural itself wasn't too bad, I mean no one likes a needle stuck in your back and the pressure was horrid during a contraction but it was a means to an end.  The contractions had been getting pretty painful and closer together so I was ready to be done with this and be able to enjoy the rest of what I assumed would be a long labor.

I finally got settled into how they wanted me to lay (on my back- ick) and enjoyed a few contractions without feeling them..  Dh was allowed back in the room but he reports that the IPs & my friends stayed in the waiting room (I'm fuzzy on this part). Then the shakes began.. ugh I hate the epi shakes.   My blood pressure started getting lower, Baby A's heartrate was reacting more to the contractions and so my lovely epidural friend was turned down some hoping that it would help both issues.  I was rolled to my right side to see if it would help matters and it did seem to help a tad.  The anesthesiologist stayed close by and requested another IV just in case we needed it.  My poor nurse - who reportedly is the one that is usually called for a hard stick- blew three of my veins trying to get another IV in.. She looked at the anesthesiologist and said I am NOT sticking her again, you try.   Luckily he got one in but boy did it hurt!

I stayed on my side and my lovely nurse stayed right there with me holding the monitor on the baby b/c it's harder to pick up on your side and they wanted to watch him closely.   The dr came in just as the nurse was getting ready to put my catheter in so they rolled me back to my back & the dr said she'd go ahead and check me.  I was feeling the contractions again at this point (because the epi was turned down) and while I'm sure they weren't full force and the epi was helping some- they were still pretty painful and very close together.. 2 in less than 3mins.   She checked me and said that I was 5cm but it felt like I was changing then and she would wait for the contraction to be over.  She couldn't tell for sure if my water had broken, before it was bulging and now she thought she still felt a sac of water but was not 100%.  With all the bleeding, we had no way of knowing if my water could have broken sometime between checks and was disguised by a gush of blood. The nurse & Dr talked for a few mins while the nurse got the catheter stuff set up.  At this point, I told her to check me again because I was feeling a lot of pressure.  She came over to check me (less than 5mins after the last check) and said I was 9cm !!   OMG.  No wonder I was having so much pain and pressure!  Everyone immediately jumped into action. The dr and nurse raced out to find out which OR we were going to and to get everyone into their scrubs.  DH went and grabbed our crew so they could get back over and IM could get suited up with DH to go into the OR with me.  I was left alone for a few minutes and the pain, shock of everything happening so quickly and emotions got the best of me so when IM walked in with her scrubs on she saw I had tears on my cheeks.  Immediately she was concerned about me.. Omg, Have I mentioned that I Love this woman?  About to meet her babies and she is worried about me.. ha.    We had a few minutes waiting on the OR to take a few pics.  IF took a pic of me, DH & IM.  Then stood a ways in front of us and did a selfie to get himself in it.. lol :)  I LOVE that picture :) 

The nurse came back and it was time to go. She gave me a boost on my epidural to help a tiny bit with the pain I was feeling . Thank goodness!  We said goodbye to my friends and IF.  Only 2 ppl are allowed in the OR (I had to deliver in the OR b/c it was twins) and we had decided ahead of time that it would be DH & IM.  IF waited right outside of the room so he could meet the babies immediately.

When we got into the OR these silly people expected me to move myself from my bed onto the OR bed. Ha Ha Ha!  I laughed at the nurse and warned her that I was feeling way more than I ever had and she had better plug her ears because I knew the cursing would be coming.. LoL.   I did manage to make it to the other bed despite having to stop halfway over due to a contraction..

Legs in stirrups and I was checked and told I was complete.. 5 mins of pushing and Baby A-- baby BOY was born.  He seemed to come out in a sea of blood, my dr's gown was covered in blood.  She clamped & cut his cord and handed him off to his team.  I honestly didn't even get a peek of him b/c his team took him out to the hall to assess him.  We told IM to go with him knowing it would be a few minutes before Baby B would be coming.  

IM came back in just as the dr checked to see Baby B's position. She was a good girl and still head down.  She broke her water and with a few pushes we got her down into place.   That was where she ceased being a good girl. lol.  In reality she made her appearance just under 20mins after baby Boy but it seemed like I pushed and pushed FOREVER.  I remember thinking, they are going to end up c-sectioning her b/c she will not come out!  Finally, FINALLY she came out- sunny side up and sprayed amniotic fluid all over the dr.. LoL.  I was EXHAUSTED.

Baby A(Boy) was born at 10:26pm weighing 5lbs 13oz & 18.5" long.
Baby B (Girl) was born at 10:41pm weighing 5lbs 11oz & 19.5" long.


Both were whisked away to the NICU where they spent almost two weeks before being released..

The monster belly (no my belly button doe not pop) complete with bruising from the inside out  & the adorable Twins

 We had plenty of bonding time and all my friends and family were able to come meet them before they left :)  Snuggling a newborn is amazing and I am not sure how they both ever fit inside... lol.

My actual OB called me the week following their birth when she got back from vacation and saw that I had the babies while she was gone.. lol.  We did talk about the delivery and all of the blood. Initially it was assumed that the bleeding was Baby A's placenta pulling away, but according to the pathology report it was actually his cord. His umbilical cord had attached to the membrane vs the placenta and was pulling away.  I googled that and wished that I hadn't.   Baby Boy is one very very lucky baby!!

I spent the 2 weeks following delivery basically back on bedrest recovering. I lost a lot of blood during labor and looked a bit like a vampire for a while.  I was put on lovely iron pills because my hemoglobin went from 12.5 (when I arrived at the hospital) to 9.1 four hours later at labor.  Yeah, it was a LOT of blood.   Best part of having twins and pumping breastmilk for them?  I'm now 20 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight.. ha. Best weight loss plan ever!


Today is the day they were due to be born and yet they are 5 1/2 weeks old.  They have been home in Spain for a few weeks and are doing amazingly.   Doing what newborns do best and giving their Mama many sleepless nights :-)

Another surrogacy is over with , a new family was made, and a friendship was formed for life.  Do I miss the twins?  Sure.  They are such sweet, adorable babies. I miss my IPs, who we got to know so much better as they stayed with us the week heading up to delivery.  But honestly, I miss being pregnant.  I was completely miserable that last week or so but looking back today, our due date, and I'm feeling a little bit cheated.  I was cheated out of almost 6 weeks of baby movements, kicks, and shoving Baby Girl back out of my ribs.   I am fully confident that with them both being almost 6lbs each and my uterus measuring what it did, I was lucky to keep them in that long... but I'm still feeling just a little cheated that I had to share them with the world sooner than expected.  Selfish? Maybe.  Now they are out and with their family and I couldn't be happier.  I absolutely LOVE newborns but I do not miss getting up over and over during the night.. Ha! That I will leave to my wonderful IM :)

  It was an absolutely wonderful journey, scary at the end but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  And now I will be left debating whether to do it again or not.....