XP: Had my boys 8 weeks early (long)

cutebride73

I wanted to let you ladies know that I had my twin boys very suddenly last Tuesday August 14th.  Samuel Joseph weighed 4 lbs. 5 oz. and Luca Vincent weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz.  They were both 18.5 inces long.  So far they are doing really well, all things considered. 

On Monday I had a friend come and visit in the afternoon and after she left I started having some braxton hicks - pretty typical though, as I was having them every day or so.  I had them on and off throughout the evening, but they always stopped when I laid down.  I even asked DH to time them at one point, just because I was feeling slightly more uncomfortable than usual, but still nothing significant.  And even though my DD was born years and years ago - I still vey clearly remember her labor and it was nothing like this.  When DH timed them they were very irregular - not progressing at all.  They woul dbe 6 min. apart, 14 min apart, 6 min. 20 min, etc...  Then I drank a lot of water and they seemed to stop completely.  We went to bed and since I had an OB appt the next afternoon, I figured I would ask her about the discomfort I had felt a few times then. 

I got up several times throughout the night to go to the bathroom and whenever I got up I had maybe one braxton hick and then once I got back into bed I had nothing.  I got up at 4:45am to use the bathroom and at that point I noticed I had some brown spotting in my liner.  Now, I had brown spotting 2 weeks before and was checked in L&D and sent home, so I wasn't immediately concerned.  Then I wiped (sorry TMI) and there was brown and red blood (not a lot, but still) - so I immediately called the OB on call and he called me back within minutes.  He told me to head over to L&D to get checked, but he later told me he hadn't really been worried and didn't think I was in labor when I talked to him on the phone.  So we got to the hospital pretty fast and I was upstairs by 5:20am or so.  They hooked me up to the monitors and I heard both heartbeats right away and so I was relieved.  They were also really great hb's - no distress.  A nurse came in to do a cervix check and as soon as she did it she left the room.  I asked if I was dialated and another nurse said she thought so.  Then a 3rd nurse came in and said she was going to check me.  I said someone else already did and she said she was going to just double check.  I guess that should have clued me in that things weren't good, but it didn't. 

She checked me and told me that I was 4-5 cm and that she felt a foot and that I would be having the babies - that day.  I was like - what?!?!  Mind you - I wasn't really feeling many contractions and they certainly weren't painful - just a little crampy.  Then I kept saying that I had to be transferred to the other hospital.  The hospital where my OB's deliver does not have a level III NICU, so the protocol was always - call OB, get checked at the hospital they are at and then if needed get transferred to the hospital where my MFM's are - if it was before 36 weeks.  After 36 weeks I would deliever with my OB.  The nurse said we had to wait until the OB got there to check me before they made a decision.  In the meantime I got a shot to slow the contractions, plus a mag drip and a steroid shot for the babies lungs.  Then the anesthesiologist came in.  Again, I guess I should have clued in, but I was still in denial that this was happening.  He started talking about getting me ready for a c-section and I was like, no, no - I am getting transferred to the other hospital.  The OB got there about 6:00am and he checked me and he told me that I was already 8-9 cm.  I was in shock!!! 

I asked about going to the other hospital and he said it was too late for that.  I asked how I could possibly have gone from 4-5 cm to 8-9 cm in a half an hour with NO PAIN.  He told me not to worry about that.  So DH was on the phone calling DD and my mom (he had already talked to them both once) and then they were throwing scrubs at him and wheeling me down the hall.  The NICU unit was on the way from the other hospital.  They got me in the OR - I was scared to death - and gave me a spinal.  DH was brought in and the boys were born at 6:22 and 6:23am.  The were intibated right away and the NICU team arrived.  Even when they were done sewing me up and they took the curtain down I couldn't see the babies because they were surrounded by so many doctors and nurses.  They had to give the boys a shot to mature their lungs.  I got to kiss one of them and saw them both in the incubator and then they were life-flighted to the other hospital.  I was put in recovery and I was just a mess.  I was so upset.  I couldn't believe that my babies had just been born - I had only been at the hospital for an hour.  DH was great though - so sweet and supportive - I couldn't have asked for more from him. 

My mom and DD got there right as they babies took off in the helicopter.  They had to wait in the waiting room until I was out of recovery.  I was put in a post part. room and another one of my OB's fought All.Day.Long. with my insurance company to get me transferred to the other hospital.  They denied it at first.  The dr had it peer reviewed, it was denied again and finally at 6:00pm she got them to give in.  DH went over to be with boys after I was settled in my room in the morning.  It was so hard to be without him and without the boys.  At least he was allowed to be in their rooms with them.  The NICU they are at has 6 "pods" or rooms with 6 babies max per room.  When they admit a baby they don't ever admit 2 babies to the same room - so the boys were in different pods. 

They were on vents the first day, then weaned to cpap machines, then to nose cannula's and now they are finally off oxygen.  They lost some weight, which is normal, but they are starting to gain a little back.  They are now on feeding tubes and they are getting both formula and breast milk - Luca is almost up to an ounce every 3 hours and Samuel is at about 1/2 an ounce.  They had phototherapy for a couple of days for jaundice, but they are both off of that now.  They are also in the same room now and that is really great!  I was discharged on Friday and we are now getting used to our new life and routine of going to the NICU every day.  They haven't given us any idea of when the boys will be released yet, but they do seem to be doing really well.  I am hoping that it will be a month or less.  There is just no way to be certain at this point. 

I have gotten to hold them both and have kangeroo care time with them.  Having them in my arns is the best feeling in the world.