Aug 18, 2010
Trying to catch you up on my life: The Birth, Pt 2
I was just getting a shot of pain medication and then instantly was told that I was at 10 centimeters (ready to push). The resident ordered that I be transported to the operating room STAT!
So without any further adieu, I present:
The Birth, Part 2
With twins you deliver in the operating room, so that if a c-section ends up being needed, everyone is right there and you don’t have to wait for anything or anyone. There’s an operating room right within the labor and delivery wing so that’s where I was heading.
Now, when we were discussing how this would all go down, they made it sound so leisurely. “When you get to about 8 centimeters, we’ll take you down to the O.R. You can hand your video camera off to a medical student and show them how to work it, blah, blah, blah…”
However, they were wheeling me out of there like mad women, yelling to each other down the hall. It seriously felt like something out of a medical drama. One of the nurses tried to cover my lower half so I didn’t flash the whole labor & delivery wing, but the doctor with me said, “Don’t cover her in case we have to deliver in the hall!” Basically, no one was expecting for me to go from 7 cm to 10 cm in a matter of minutes.
At this point I was still just lying on my side in the fetal position, calling out to Abraham from time to time to make sure he was still with me. They threw one of those painter’s suits at him and told him to get in it. He was so stressed out by this point, and his shoes kept getting stuck while he tried to put it on! He was so afraid he was going to miss it!
They got me into the OR and hooked me into these CRAZY moonboot stirrups. At this point my calm-as-a-cucumber doctor came in. She gave some instructions to the people in the room (there was over a dozen people there, I’m not exaggerating) and then she gently told me, “Okay Molly, whenever you want to push, just take a deep breath and push. You’re gonna see your babies soon.”
I was more than eager to follow her instructions, so a few pushes later, at 1:54pm, I heard the cries of Cadence Felicity. I was SHOCKED by how much dark hair she had. They put her right up on me so I could hold her. It was an awesome moment. They just let me hold her. I guess I suspected they would be whisking the babies away right away, so I was pleasantly surprised to just be able to snuggle my little girl.
Also at this point, I was getting majorly hopped up on the narcotics that I had just been administered, but had almost no time to work for me during labor. I suppose it must have relieved a little of the pain of delivery (maybe) but I’m not totally convinced of that, because I felt most of it.
I wasn’t really able to engage emotionally too much at this point, due to a) narcotics and b) having to focus on another baby coming out.
Baby B was a straight breech, so they decided that, instead of trying to turn him, they would just do a breech extraction. My amazing doctor was guiding the chief resident via ultrasound. It was a very strange experience, I’ll tell you that and spare you the gory details. Let’s just say, he was delivered in the following manner: one foot, butt, other foot, body, one arm/shoulder, other arm/shoulder, then head.
And then at 2:00pm I was seeing Whitsun Robert for the first time. He didn’t cry right off the bat, so I was very worried. Very worried. The doctors were assuring me that they’d just heard a nice little sneeze and he was doing fine. But it wasn’t much comfort to me until they put him up on my chest.
They took him over to the table and did a little tune-up on him, then a few minutes later, I was holding both of my babies for the first time!
Whit had to go to the special care nursery for a little while because his breathing was a little bit fast. Cadence was able to stay with us pretty much right away, aside from going for a little bath to get cleaned up.
In the hours after the birth, after the initial high had worn off, the drugs really hit me full-force and I spent the rest of the day vomiting and sleeping, in and out of a groggy haze. So, all in all, I would not recommend an intrathecal narcotic shot. Either go for the epidural or just go natural. There’s really no middle ground that does enough to make the drugs worth it, unless you’re going to go full-out and get some real relief (ala the epidural).
Also, one of the first things I exclaimed to my parents and in-laws when I saw them in my drug-induced stupor was, “I’m not pregnant anymore!!!!”
So that’s the story, folks. There was no shortage of drama during the pregnancy with them, so how could I expect that their birth would be drama-free???
Thanks again to all of you who prayed for us, for these special little babies, and for our delivery. All in all, your prayers were answered. We got two beautiful, healthy babies, an undeserved grace from God!
I love a good birth story, and this was a great one! Congratulations on your beautiful babies – God is so good and faithful!
That was awesome! Very awesome! Thanks so much for sharing! I am just thrilled you did not have to have a c-section!
So excited for you guys. What a blessing! God is so good to us.
Congratulations! Such beautiful babies! Wishing you much joy!
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile! I am so happy everything went well with your delivery! Congrats on the two precious bundles! They are beautiful and such a gift from God!!
Oh Molly. I have part one bookmarked in my “Need to Comment” folder (the one for posts I read while nursing but can’t comment on due to my lack of hands). But OH MY STINKIN WORD, what a story this is! Drama, drama, drama.
At the small town hospital where I delivered Connor, epidurals weren’t even offered. They did, however, do intrathecals, which my OB tried to insist was a worthy substitute. (Interestingly, she was the ONLY person I talked to who gave a good review.) In the end, Connor was born too quickly for me to even get medication (my worst nightmare come true). I am so impressed you were able to deliver two babies without any real relief and while fighting off the narcotics side effects.
Oh Molly, I’m crying tears of joy for your family. Sorry you spent part of the day vomiting. Praise the Lord.
What a great story! I’m amazed that you delivered two babies! I just had our girl a week ago and can’t imagine gearing up for a second delivery moments after the first and breech! You’re every woman!
I’m so happy for you, Molly. This was fun to read. I was dying to know your feelings on all of this (I knew I would hear it or read it sooner or later)…..just knowing you went through 3 deliveries with the epidural and then this one without. I was the same. I had two epidurals and then with Josie I did natural. Craziness. :)
Wow! What a fabulous story! I’m so VERY happy for your family — and praising the Lord with you! Blessed be Adonai who gave such a beautiful gift of these two precious lives!
I must say that I’m super impressed that you delivered twins without an epidural. I’ve had two natural births (I’m not a hater, it was just the best decision for our family…), but couldn’t have done it had I not been prepared. Holy cow! You’re an amazingly strong woman :)
Wow! The breech delivery sounds scary! I wonder how that feels! And I soooo get the exclamation of “I’m not pregnant anymore!” My hubs said after my last one, the look of relief on my face was intense. So glad prayers were answered!
God is so very good. My heart was in my throat when reading about Whit’s breech birth, even though I knew everything turned out OK. What a relief! Praising God!
I’m crying! So happy for you guys. I’m pretty sure I exclaimed, “No more heartburn!” within minutes of delivery…and I wasn’t all hopped up. Yikes. Great story-telling, and a super happy ending!
Yay! You’re not pregnant anymore! (lol) I’m so glad for these beautiful little ones!
Thank you for the reminder in your perspective “2 healthy babies,an undeserved grace from God.” It takes a woman really submitted to the will of the Lord and trusting in His good hand in her life to say that after losing your Felicity.
Molly, thank you so much for sharing this story with us. It is such a testament to God’s grace and faithfulness! I’m so glad for you that you were able to deliver the twins without having a C-section (and with one breech!)… I imagine it made recovery so much easier. And I’m so, so thankful for your family that they are both healthy and safe!
I’m totally an epidural mom… I was in active labor for about 7 hours before I got mine, and the relief it gave me was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. They are a gift from God!
P.S. I’m glad I read this AFTER giving birth to my first baby. Otherwise I probably would have been completely horrified. ;)
That’s quite a story! :-) Praising God with you!
Great Job!! I am not surprised that it went fast for you since this was your fourth and fifth deliveries! So cool that they were able to deliver Whitsun breach. Never heard of that, must be a great doctor.
Awesome! Thanks for the update Molly!! I love how varied everyone’s birth stories are :) I can’t wait to meet your new babes!! God truly is GOOD!!
Amazing! I got a bit teary reading this…so grateful for two sweet, healthy babes!
amazing story. speechless (almost)
I LOVED hearing the story, Molly & enjoy your writing so much. I can almost hear you saying this…
I laughed out loud when I got to the part about you telling your parents & in-laws, in your narc-ed state, that you weren’t pregnant anymore! Praising God for His grace along with you, sister. He is so kind. Love you!
I cried tears of joy when I heard you had your babies. What a great God we have. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Praise be to God. He loves you so much!
Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us your birth story! I can relate to the hectic feeling– Levi would have been born in the car, had it not been for sheer willpower on my part (and Wally running a few stopsigns)!
Thanks for another testimony of God’s faithfulness.
Oh, I love birth stories! I can relate to dilating really quickly — I remember at 4 cms they told me I had “hours” left. So an hour later I got an epidural…and literally AS they put it in I was like “I have to push. RIGHT NOW!” Sure enough — he was born 20 mins later! Honestly, I’d rather have it that way than wait for hours and hours…don’t you think??
I’m so glad you had two healthy, happy babies. God is so good and generous! He does love you, very much.
i am so happy for you guys! thanks for sharing your birth story. i had narcotics & an epidural with my first (and got sick all day, too), and with my second i didn’t make it to the hospital, so it was super-natural. i can’t imagine doing that (breech) naturally, though – i would have begged my husband to punch me as hard as he could. you’re pretty awesome. congrats, and praise god! xo
just had to tell you how wonderful it was that they did not turn Whitsun! I on the other hand still have the memory 24 years later of Baby B being like the top of a T. But this was a “learning?” experience for the med student and residents to TURN Baby B. 45 minutes it took and they never offered any meds since they wanted me to be fully involved and cooperative….oh sweet memories. I recall even asking my doctor to please deliver breech like he did earlier that month with a friend of mine. God is good.
You’re amazing to birth twins, one breech (!), without pain relief!
Thanks for sharing the story, and I’m saying a prayer of thanks to God for your babies!
The tears came when I read the words, “You’re gonna see your babies soon.” Beautiful story, Beautiful pictures! Rejoicing with you ~
Reading your story about drugs during delivery reminds me of the time I told my daughter the story of her birth. I had been put on pitossin, which I told her was a drug. Not long after this she saw a billboard with a woman’s face that had been disfigured by using meth. My daughter read about the effects of drugs and asked me if I looked like that lady when I had the drugs in the hospital!
Congr
Great story!
I also went from a 7 to 10 in about 5 minutes! Amazing!
Congrats Molly! What a joy to read your birth story of your twin babes! Plus I haven’t heard of anyone delivering a breech baby except by c-section though a number of my aunts delivered breech babies 30-40 years ago. It was good to read that a doctor (yours) still knows how to do that.
We welcomed our little girl in May (baby #2 for us) and I got a shot of Nubain “for the mean time.” By the time my midwife was checking me to see if I wanted an epidural, I had gone from 6cm to 10! “No epidural for you, you’re complete!” (I had an epidural w/ #1) I kept telling her, “It stings… but no, it REALLY stings…” She already knew that.
No idea what I’ll do with the next one (if God sees fit to bless us again!).
Love this story. Thanks for sharing. What beautiful babies!
I had Nubain during transition in my first delivery and threw up the rest of the day PLUS felt scared about baby’s breathing. Not worth it – I agree! KUDOS on an amazing delivery of 2!
Wow! Two beautiful, healthly, babies, an undeserved grace from God. That is beautiful and I will try to think on that more often.
I’m so glad you took the time to write all that down! Woooohooooo for your twinsies!! Now, time for more pics of them! With their big brothers please! Am I being too demanding? ;)
Molly, I started blipping over to your blog occasionally after my husband received a call from you as being interested in our nursing pillow (I’m assuming you have that taken care of now! If not, we’ve still got ours…) Anyway, it was neat reading your story because it was such a strong reminder of what it was like to deliver my twins 16 months ago. I love them so much now, but those cute little newborn pics made me miss those early moments! Enjoy every sleep-deprived moment! Praising the Lord with you for a safe delivery and healthy babies. His grace is truly AMAZING!
Oh, and I did want to say too that I TOTALLY said, “I’m not pregnant anymore!!” to each and every person who walked through my door :) Funny!
Molly,
I started reading your blog after we lost our third child, our only daughter, Amelia, to an unexplained stillbirth. We had our rainbow baby, Archer, on August 3rd. I have loved reading about your family and the roller coaster ride of your twin-pregnancy… It made mine seem less of a roller coaster :) Anyway, I have to take my hat off to you. My boobs hurt from one starving newborn, and although I do love nursing, my toes curl for you when I think of two hungry newborns. Praying all is well in that department. Congratulations on Cadence and Whitsun – love the names!
Definitely a story worth telling! And definitely worth going through!
I recently recorded my little guy’s birth story, come check it out sometime!
It all makes for a great story after the pain and craziness is over, yes? Your drug story reminds me of a friend whose epidural only hit half of her body. Our daugther was born 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital. Some strange man wheeled me up to labor and delivery because my husband had to park the car. I had to deliver dressed in my street clothes and he almost missed her birth trying to find us! Needless to say, I got an earful from the midwife about getting there on time for the next child. Congratulations on your beautiful gifts!
Congratulations….three boys and girl…fun stuff!
Thanks for sharing your story! Having been in your shoes a mere six months ago, this brings back all the memories. Being wheeled through the OB unit as I was about to push a baby out was when I lost the only bit of dignity I had left. As for the OR…I hated those wretched moon boots! (So much for hoping to be able to labor in the most comfortable position possible!)My baby B came out face up which was unpleasant on so many levels and those moon boons only added to it. I kept yelling at them to move them to a better position and I swear they had maybe adjusted them only once or twice before, as they were terrible at it! Anyway, I’m so happy for you guys!