Good thing I did one pregnancy blog entry since I didn't get around to doing any more of those :) I honestly did mean to do a Week 34 or 35 post, but I was so overwhelmed with wrapping up my work duties before my maternity leave that I never got around to it. Below is the last known photo of me before the babies were born (tear).
Friday, May 4 was my last day of work and there is no telling how long I worked that day but I know it was very late into the night and I still didn't finish everything I wanted to get done. I figured I would wrap everything up over the weekend but on Sat I woke up and decided work could wait until Sun. I wanted to enjoy the first day of my maternity leave! Brad and I drove to Greenville to get some baby shopping done and later that afternoon my friend Bridgett and her husband Michael came to visit us and we had a great Cinco de Mayo eating Mexican that night.
This picture isn't from that night, but it was only a few weeks before. Bridgett and I both pregnant with twins on the day of my baby shower.
After Bridgett and Michael left Brad and I watched some tv and I started to feel a little strange. I tried to time the contractions, but I couldn't so I let my fears go and when I got sleepy around 2am I just went to bed. A few hours later I woke up and the bed was soaked with fluid so I woke Brad up and told him we needed to change the sheets. He just looked at me and said he thought we should call the doctor first. I don't know what I was thinking at the time - I didn't feel anything so I was just going to go back to bed. I was told by the nurse to go into the hospital, but I still didn't feel anything. I even wanted to take a shower but Brad wouldn't let me. I think I was lucky just to get my contacts in!
At the hospital I went into a triage room where we sat for a very long time. I was so hungry, tired, bored and thirsty. It was clear the nurses didn't think my water had broken and were going to send me home. Brad and I talked about going to Bojangles for breakfast on the way home and if we should go to church that day or not. Really I just felt so dumb for coming in or even calling because at this point it looked as if I had just wet the bed. Right before I thought they were going to release me I asked for my urine to be tested for protein. I'm not really sure what made me ask for this, but looking back this one question actually changed the course of that day, and really my life, forever.
Since my doctor had been out of town the week before I knew, that on a Sunday morning at 6:30am, he did not know that my previous urine test had shown some protein. So when they did find blood and protein in my urine they called him back and sure enough he came in to check me out. After checking my reflexes and taking one look at me his exact words were "It's a good day to have babies".
Shortly after I was moved into a labor and delivery room and the process was started with IVs, epidural, etc. It was close to noon at this point and I was told that it might be late into the night before the babies were born. I did not know how I was going to make it because if I thought I was hungry and thirsty before, the ice chips had only made it worse. Plus not getting the Bojangles, obviously.
The doctor came to break my water and he attached a monitor to the top of Baby A's head. It was pretty busy in my room with a lot of nurses coming and going and Brad on the phone with everyone and their brother. I told one of the nurses that I was still feeling some contractions and some weird vibrations and they did a cervical check and found out that Baby A had switched to a breech position. It turns out the monitor on the head was not appreciated. At this point everything was kicked into high gear. They put an oxygen mask on me, had me rolling onto my sides and people were suddenly rushing into the room. I really didn't know what was going on, but I guess my blood pressure went up very high and so at that point the doctor suddenly appeared and said we were doing a c-section. Everything happened so fast. Within a few short minutes I was put onto another bed, rolled to the operating room and the anesthesiologist was there again.
The nurses were all great and tried to keep me calm the entire time. They were telling jokes and making guesses about the sex of the babies. I was just trying to process how I went from peeing in the bed to delivering babies within a few short hours. I was supposed to have taken juice to Sunday School that morning, I had meant to finish work that afternoon...I was planning on spending a week or two of my maternity leave writing thank you notes, organizing and cleaning. Plus I had been looking foward to doing nothing but dreaming about my babies coming, reading books on how to take care of babies and sit in their nursery and just do nothing!! But instead I was on that operating table embarrassed because I hadn't taken a shower or prepared in any way for this birth.
I couldn't see how many people were around me, but it felt like a lot. I knew I was naked or mostly naked and it felt like everyone was staring at me. I think this picture supports that theory.
I guess they weren't really staring, but it felt like it. At some point Brad showed up again and by miracles of all miracles he had sent my mom to our house to get the camera and she had shown up and found a nurse who delivered it to Brad while he was waiting to come in to see me. He sat with me behind the curtain and we just waited.
It was only a few minutes later and then we saw Baby A - the one who started all the chaos. It was a boy - just like I had suspected!! Bowen Cooper Sain, weighing 5lbs, 1oz born at 3:10pm.
Baby B was a little girl - also like I had guessed!! Faith Catherine Sain, weighing 3lbs, 12 oz born at 3:11pm.
It was a moment I will never forget as the doctor held the babies over the screen and then the nurses called out their weights. We heard the babies cry a little and then the NICU nurses wrapped them up and showed them to us again as they were whisked out the door. That's all I remember about the c-section. Everything was just a blur after that!!
I was taken to a recovery room and the babies went directly to the NICU. It was a little sad that I didn't get to hold them or touch them before they were taken out and I will always be somewhat heartbroken about that. Brad was able to take some more pics later that night at the NICU, and they are a little scary looking, but it's just appearance. The babies only needed some extra TLC and I'll write more about that later.
Bowen
Faith
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