Monday, March 1, 2010

Photos and Birth Story - Part 1 of ??

Time is not my friend these days and I have been wanting to share my birth story with all of you along with some photos of the girls and I have decided to do a few minutes here and there and get down what I can in that time as opposed to nothing at all.

First of all, here are photos of my precious miracles:

Victoria:



Caitlyn:


I blog anonymously and for those of you who wonder what we look like, we have received the comment over and over again from friends and family that Victoria is a Mini Me DH and Caitlyn is a Mini Me Kayjay. :)

Onto the birth story...

As I had blogged before, that fateful Friday morning, I woke up and felt different. I had a low back ache and I felt crampy in my lower abdomen. Before, any back pain that I had was mid to upper back and due completely to how I was carrying the twins but this time, the ache was definitely lower down. These feelings persisted throughout the day but it subsided during the afternoon and then returned with increasing persistence in the evening hours. My DH and I were talking on the phone that evening and by mutual consent, we decided not to put off running some errands until the next morning "just in case". I still didn't know if this was labour or not but we wanted to be somewhat prepared just in case.

By 10pm that evening, I was definitely feeling uncomfortable. Every time I tried to lie down, I felt like my uterus was hanging by a thread and the effort it took to lie on one side or another made me feel like my belly was going to snap free from that tenuous little thread. So, I sat upright at the side of my bed and wondered if this was labour because other than being a little uncomfortable, I wasn't in any real pain. I also found that if I got up and walked around slowly, the feelings with abate a little. However, there was still something telling me that something wasn't right and I finally called the nurse at around 11:30pm. She thought at first it was false labour because if you can alleviate the "pain" simply by shifting positions, than what I was feeling weren't true contractions.

I lasted until about 1:30pm at which time I called the nurse again and had her page the on call resident. Something just wasn't right and I was beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable with each passing hour. I was having very irregular contractions at that point, some lasting a few minutes to others lasting a few seconds in no set intervals. The sensation of a contraction is much like period pains except for worse...kind of like a bearing down sensation that involves your lower abdomen and culminates into intense pressure "down there".

The resident came and checked me out and did an internal exam to determine whether or not I was in labour. Remember - with my ruptured membrane, internal exams are avoided as much as possible because the risk of infection increases with each exam. I wanted to be sure that I thought in my own mind that I was in labour before I took the chance of increasing infection.

I was already 2-3 cm dilated and effacement of my cervix (thinning of the membrane) was already well underway. I was officially in labour and not a day too soon - the girls waited until they were 34 weeks exactly before deciding that it was time to make their appearance into the world.

I called my DH at 2am and asked him the question I have been waiting 7 long years to ask - "Are you ready to meet the girls honey?"

To be continued...

12 comments:

Sarah said...

Oh, they are so precious! Can't wait to here about the rest of their arrival.

Kate said...

How can you leave us hanging like that??
Your girls are beautiful!

Lost in Space said...

They are so beautiful, kayjay!

Jill M. said...

What little cuties Lefty and Righty are!!! Great to hear an update from you and can't wait to hear more. Hug your babes for me.

lastchanceivf said...

They are really really beautiful! I squealed with delight (literally) when I saw their photos! Luckily I am here at the office at 6:45 am and no one heard my strange squeal :)

Karen said...

OMG.....Congratulations.How absolutely perfect and beautiful they!......Blessings.....Karen(been lurking for awhile now as my son and his wife battled infertility but just had to de-lurk to let you know how precious your little ones are!)

Meant to be a mom said...

Oh how exciting. I love hearing birth stories. It always reminds me of the best day of my life. When I met my son.
I'm so happy for you guys. Your girls are just beautiful.

I can't believe you were so strong without your dh there while you were in labor at home. Good for you!

R. said...

Your girls are gorgeous. Can't wait to hear the rest of story. I hope you are doing well.

Kris said...

I am in such suspense!!:)

In response to your comment on my blog...When Caden and Colton failed their hearing test at the hospital they told us that it was most likely fluid too. But when they were tested at six weeks they failed again. I am not sure if they would still have fluid in their ears or not?? I need to ask more questions, but the more in depth hearing test is scheduled for the end of March.

Anonymous said...

So perfect! Can't wait for part 2!!

Andrea

Phoebe said...

Your girls are so beautiful. Congratulations again!!

Linda said...

I am beyond thrilled for you! Your miracle babies are absolutely perfect!!! I can't wait to hear the rest of the birth story. Congratulations, mama! You did it!!!