Thursday 22 January 2015

The Birth Story - Part 3 (last part)

We left off that I had finally reached 10cm and am ready to push these babies out!


They wheel me out of one room and into the OR (all while I'm holding my baby in and trying not to push). In a few minutes there are more people than I can count in this room that's already full of equipment. This was the most chaotic and out of control I felt. There was so much going on around me and so many people and I was getting scared so I just closed my eyes while they got everything set up. My GP was yelling at the nurses to "just get the bed locked" and I then had to move from one bed to an OR table (not that comfy,but whatevs - I'm just having a baby  two babies). Then I get oxygen (oh ya, another tube to add to my collection) which then that tube gets squished by the wheels on the OR table I'm on and the doctors are still freaking on the nurses who just can't seem to get that dang bed into place and locked. Ok. It's in. Then my legs get strapped and velcroed into these big roboboot type contraptions and hoisted up high. Two big, bright lights are pointed you-know-where and my modesty was left at the door. My new favorite person, the original anaesthetist, was out of surgery and back to stay with me through the deliveries. He sat at my head and was so helpful. He asked how the number 7 sounded and I said sure and then I didn't feel anything anymore! That was great. 

Pushing time. Oh wait, the doctor cranks my already spread eagle stance even wider. Great. Did I mention there are 14 people in the room and one peeking through the OR doors? I said too many to count earlier. I lied. 14! 14! Two medical students (one of which was a young man whose eyes were the size of saucers). At one point I announced, "EVERYTHING YOU SEE/HEAR IN THIS ROOM, DOES NOT LEAVE THIS ROOM!". I got a few laughs, but I was serious. A lot of embarrassing things happen during labour and I didn't want to be talked about after the fact. 

Ok, so pushing, pushing. Hard, hard work that pushing. Makes me parched just thinking about it. I wanted water.No water allowed. My GP is allowed to deliver Baby A, which I thought was great. She delivered both Mason and Lucia and we love her so that's all good. She coaches me on when to push since I can't feel the contractions. I really need something to drink. I beg. Dr. R (at my head) gives me this tiny bottle of sterile water and says I can have a small sip. He says, "This is the most expensive water you will every drink". It didn't taste good, but it moistened my mouth and airway enough that I could get a good breath in to push some more. I pushed for 8 minutes (yep, only 8) and at 1:59pm, out came Baby A! She was screaming! They put her on me right away which was a huge surprise and blessing. I had been told they wouldn't do that as they need to get her checked out before B comes. A (later to be named Janelle) was such a good size though that they put her on me for a minute before checking her over. As soon as Janelle came out, Baby B flipped head down (from her previous breach position) and Dr. Mc (who surprised me by being present - she had been operating but came to be there for the deliveries) clamped down on my belly to make less room so B couldn't flip again. My second bag of waters broke (or they broke it? I think they may have broken it for me). It only took about 10 minutes for her to get low enough to push and then I had to do it AGAIN! Good news, she came out in 3 pushes. (Those of you who had long labours, please don't hate me. I had to deliver two, remember?) At 2:09pm, our sweet Clara was here. I got a quick snuggle with her and then she was checked out by the nurses. Two teams of nurses and one pediatrician were there during the birth just waiting for the babies. 
Baby A - Janelle born at 1:59pm Sept.9, 2014
Baby B - Clara born at 2:09pm Sept. 9, 2014

Louisa told me later that she could hear everyone cheering when the babies were born. I remember seeing my GP and she had the BIGGEST smile on her face. I couldn't have asked for a better team. They were all so supportive and I can never thank them enough.








Once Janelle was cleaned up a bit, they sat her up on the warming table so I could see her. "Isn't she cute" the nurse said. I didn't think so. "Ya.." She was all squished and looked like she had no neck so her cheeks were pushed up to her eyebrows. "Really cute..he.he."

They weighed Janelle at 7lbs 4oz! Pretty good size! The doctors cleaned me up (only a few stitches) and then were on their way. There were a lot of smiling faces in our room and I had done it! I gave birth to twins! I felt like a million bucks. No more pain, I could breathe. I was a superstar. 

They weighed who they thought was Clara and she was 7lbs 4oz. JP was adamant that they were weighing Janelle again and when the nurses checked, he was right. They had Janelle instead of Clara. Clara came in at a whopping 7lbs 13oz (which is pretty big for a twin). 

It was the best outcome and we are so grateful to God for giving us a healthy pregnancy, uneventful labour and delivery, and two beautiful healthy babies!


Our faithful friend Louisa and Janelle's first selfie.
Clara on the left and Janelle on the right.


Blessings, 

Tamara

4 comments:

  1. Yay! What a great story! It would be hard to have so many people watching you! Also, I never thought about having 2 bags of water to break. That is a lot of water!
    You are an awesome superwoman, T! It sounds like you really rocked that birth!

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  2. Amazing journey Tamara.! What a beautiful. Family!

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