37 weeks. Technically, yesterday would mark 37 weeks and the babies would've been here by mid-morning (according to the scheduled c section we planned). As many readers may already be aware, that was no longer the plan. For those who aren't Facebook or real life friends, let me fill you in on the last few weeks. Apologies in advanced for the mega-long post.
I had a blog post started for 35 weeks. Mostly a familiar update. Uncomfortable but managing. Visit with the specialist again showed the babies looking good. My swelling and blood pressure were the main causes of concern. Spencer was cleared to walked in his boot without a walker. Physical therapy was making a real difference in my mobility and comfort. Final countdown was underway for the kids to arrive. Less than 2 weeks, single digits. Well, let's just say that post never got finished because life just doesn't like to go as planned.
Sunday, July 9- I started to get a contraction every hour or so. Not my first ones, but these were different that what I'd had before. They would last a few minutes, but only happened about once an hour or so and didn't progress. I didn't actually feel them in my tummy; it was more my back would hurt and when I'd realize that I'd poke at my tummy to feel how tight it was. I drank more water and spent most of the afternoon lounging and resting. My blood pressure was on the high side still, but not high enough to meet the doctor's orders to go straight to the hospital. I decided I have an appointment on Monday, I could wait until then since my symptoms didn't quite fit the concerned criteria.
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| 35 weeks and 5 days |
Monday, I went to physical therapy in the morning. I actually felt rather good in most of my usual problem areas; it was just my back bothering me from the contractions. The therapist worked on my back, helping to work out some of the knots in my lower back. I left feeling good, but off. I went home and put in an hour of work to finish up a project I'd been working on before leaving for my next doctor's appointment with Spencer. We had to wait for quite a while to see the doctor, as per usual. By the time we got back to the exam room, my blood pressure had gone up quite a bit. The specialist kept telling me that if it got up to 160 for the upper number, I needed to go to labor and delivery. My blood pressure at the beginning of the appointment had spiked to 161/something. We continued the appointment and saw the kiddos on the ultrasound. After the appointment, the nurse took my blood pressure and it'd barely gone down. The doctor wanted me to go to labor and delivery for observation and told me not to eat or drink anything until further notice.
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What a pair we make right now-
one with dangerously high blood pressure and
one with a bum foot |
Spencer and I walked across the hospital to labor and delivery. This was Spencer's first time there (my third for those counting). We got to go in the normal way instead of through the ER like I'd been the last two times. I checked in with the lady at the desk who filled out a bunch of paperwork with us. I was shown back to a room and told to change and leave a urine sample. I was hooked up to the heart monitor to watch the babies heart rates and measure for contractions. The doctor had also ordered several blood tests in addition to the urine test. Once those results came back, we'd have more of an idea of what the next step would be. After about an hour or so, we were told that my platelet count was low, my creatinine ratio was high, and that the babies would be coming that day due to pre-eclampsia. I was admitted to the hospital and the nurse started prepping me for the c-section. It was at this time that I felt like I was on the first big hill of a roller coaster- scared to death of the drop and what's to come but no way to get off. Mom, Dad, Spencer and I hung out for a few hours until the doctor finished her day at the office; then, she came over and delivered the babies.
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| Our happy little family |
The c-section was a very weird experience; I was very glad Spencer was there to keep me calm. It was so cold in the operating room and so many people buzzing around doing their things. I got the epidural and laid down. Spencer came in and sat near my head while the nurses installed the drape to keep us from viewing all of the gruesomeness of surgery. The doctor came in and the procedure started. Everything happened so fast. All of a sudden, we could hear Owen crying, then a few minutes later, Elizabeth came out crying. Each baby had their own team of doctor and nurses who took them and checked them out. Owen was 5 pounds, 3 ounces; Elizabeth surprised everyone by edging him out at 5 pounds, 4 ounces. They wrapped up the kids and handed them to Spencer to hold. We both got to see them and take a picture while my procedure finished up. Then it was off to the labor and delivery room to recover. We got to do skin to skin with the kids for about an hour. We tried to breastfeed for a little while, which both seemed to do ok with me fumbling around trying to figure out what I was doing. After skin to skin time, the nurses cleaned up the babies some more and then focused on my recovery, which took a little longer because I'd been on baby aspirin, which caused more bleeding than normal with a c-section delivery. Spencer got more pictures of the kids and sent them out to friends and family. His mom drove down after work and was the first of the family to see the kids. We thought that they'd need to go to the NICU immediately, so we'd been telling family that there wasn't too much point in stopping by that night. Turns out our kids our fighters and avoided the NICU altogether.
More to come later on our recovery and homecoming.
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| Meet Owen and Elizabeth |
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