Twins Birth Story

Let's see if I can remember that far back... I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 31 weeks and came home on bed rest. I had consistent contractions on and off for 6 weeks but my cervix held those babies in! At about 35 weeks I started itching like crazy all over. It was miserable. I was already pretty miserable with pelvic pain, not able to stand or even sit up straight for more than a few minutes at a time. And now with the itching, I was sleeping only a couple of hours a night. So I went to see the OB and they confirmed I had cholestasis and they scheduled me for an induction on Tuesday, October 21. Everyone was pleased and surprised that I made it to 37 weeks!

Early Tuesday morning (the day I was scheduled for an induction) my water broke. My water broke with Graham while on the toilet and I felt a gush. But this time, I literally felt a pop in my belly and knew it was a much different feeling than anything I had felt before. I was laying on the couch, not sleeping, and decided to sit up and see if I felt anything. Somebody had folded towels the day before and left them piled on the coffee table. This was divine because as soon as I started to sit up I had to grab a towel to catch the gushing! I called the OB and then went to wake Matt. When I told him my water broke he said, "of course it did." I was so relieved that labor had started on its on instead of having to be induced.

We stopped by Bojangles at 5;30am and got some breakfast, knowing that once I was at the hospital they wouldn't let me eat. When we got to the hospital the triage nurse was having a difficult time finding the babies' heart beats with the monitors based on where I told her they had been previously. The doctor brought in the ultrasound machine to find the babies and Hallie had flipped upside down in the last week. Ben was first to come out and he was still head down so we planned to proceed with a vaginal delivery. My labor was progressing quickly and the nurse was moving too slowly. I was like look, the babies are fine. Stop chasing them with the monitors and get my IV in to start my antibiotic (for strep B) and get me moved to a labor room for my epidural. I did not have an epidural with Graham but I had been convinced it was a good idea to get one with the twins in case something went wrong during delivery and I needed a c-section. If I was going to get one then I wanted to go ahead and get it!

By the time they came with that epidural I was 7 cm dilated and hurting bad. They immediately took me to the OR for delivery after the epidural was placed. They like for multiple births to take place in the OR just in case something goes wrong and a c-section is needed.

They had me get on the narrow, hard, flat operating table. I was so thankful I opted for the epidural because I don't think I could have laid flat on that little table and birthed 2 babies. I birthed Graham with no epidural but I got to be in the nice birthing bed and get in whatever position I wanted. The OR was freezing and I was shaking uncontrollably from the cold and the stress. By the time they wanted me to push, I couldn't feel anything. They said I was doing a great job pushing so I just kept doing what I was doing. Ben came out with no problems and then the OB brought the ultrasound over and turned Hallie. She had one hand pushing on my belly and the other hand inside me! Again, thankful for the epidural. She got her turned and we waited a few contractions to move her down and 3 pushes and she was out, 15 minutes after her brother. A few minutes later Matt was holding a baby and I was holding a baby. Two healthy babies! Delivered vaginally! Thank you, Lord.

Ben was born at 9:11am and was 6lbs 9oz and 20.5 inches. Hallie was born at 9:26am 6lbs 3 oz and 19 inches. And what a blessing they have been! If Matt and I had known what would be going on with Graham these last few months we would have certainly waited much longer to consider having more children. But the Lord in his infinite wisdom blessed us with two sweet babies to snuggle and bring joy during an otherwise very difficult time.

And now some newborn photos! The sweet photographer has offered to come take pictures of all three kiddos once Graham is home from the hospital at no additional charge!