Week 34: Introducing...

Nora Lane and Ellie Lynne - our beautiful twin girls!

They were born on Wednesday, June 3rd at 3:58pm and 4:00pm

The Labor Story:
Early Monday morning I had some pretty painful and regular contractions. They decided to move me over to L&D just in case this was it! By 34 weeks they don't really do anything to stop labor. The contractions slowed way down and were almost completely gone by the evening. They kept me there overnight, however. Talk about the worst sleep ever! Along with my exhausted and uncomfortable body and the other ladies in the unit screaming through their labor, I had to somehow manage to get some sleep in those awful beds with continuous monitoring of the babies and my contractions...imagine being strapped down and poked at all night long. Yeah it was miserable.

The next morning my doctor came in and decided since my contractions had slowed so much that they'd go ahead and move me back to my antepartum room. Even though I was still contracting every now and then, we treated it kind of like any other day. Richard stayed with me most of the day just in case things changed quickly. A friend came to visit, which was wonderful - I needed some distraction and I hadn't seen her since I was admitted! Richard ended up going home that evening and I went to bed early to try to catch up on my sleep...

Again, really early the next morning the contractions were back and more painful. I called Richard and, naturally by the time he got here things had slowed a bit. Since Monday I had been checked for dilation several times...with no change. After having started laboring for that many days I was getting frustrated that not much was happening when there should have been at least some change. The doctors had just done a shift change when we met with one of my doctors. We discussed delivery options. Originally we were planning on trying to have them both vaginally - A has been head down for awhile and we had talked about trying to turn B from transverse to head down OR do a breach extraction with B to avoid needing a c-section as well. The doctor on that day felt less comfortable dong a breach extraction and this is why: they had an ultrasound done that morning to see both positions of the babies and A was head down and B was still transverse, but her spine was down, which limits the doctor's ability to grab onto anything (hands feet) to either turn her or take her out by her feet. There is a chance she could be turned but it's much more risky especially with the possibility of the umbilical cord wrapping around her should something go wrong. We really wanted to avoid to delivering both vaginally AND by c-section. After discussing this with the doctor, he called several of my MFM doctors to get their opinion. The three he spoke with all agreed he should do a c-section that day given how much I had already labored with no change.

So, what just happened? Yeah. We just scheduled a c-section to meet our little girls for Wednesday at 2pm (based on their birth times, we were a bit behind schedule - there's a lot that goes into prepping for surgery)! I was excited, nervous, and relieved, but wasn't really able to fully process what was happening until I was brought into the operating room. Y'all. I bawled when I stepped foot into that room. It was a mix of fear - because surgery - and a mix of reality hitting me that we were going to meet our precious babies very soon!

Recovery:
I survived delivery! It was incredibly emotional once both of them were out and I was laying there waiting to hear them cry and get to see them before they whisk them off to NICU. They looked so good, I just wanted to snuggle them. We were able to get a couple pictures before Richard left with them to get them to NICU. I was sent to the recovery area for what should have been a couple hours, but turned into about 4 or 5 hours because my postpartum room wasn't ready yet. At this point I hadn't slept in about 3 days and I.was.spent. I did finally get to see the girls in NICU at 1am after my first attempt to stand up after surgery. Holy mother, is it painful! I'm doing much better today, but Wednesday night and Thursday was difficult. Thursday I had a nurse that really tried to push me (within reason), so even though she did help a lot with things I hadn't realize I'd need help with after a surgery like that, I did do some stuff on my own and moved around a bit. By last night I was beyond exhausted, took some good pain meds, and just slept. I woke up feeling much better this morning.

Here's the scoop on the girls...

Nora:
Nora Lane was born first (baby A) at 3:58pm and weighed 5lbs 2oz. She came out breathing on her own and has done awesome with that since. She does have a "skin tag" on her neck. It is most likely just cosmetic, but we are waiting to hear from a specialist to make sure it's nothing more or would require a CT scan or anything. We don't know yet at what age we can have it removed.

She's still beautiful 

Thursday Richard and I were able to go see her. Richard took her temperature and changed her diaper then held her swaddled for a bit. As with most preemies, she sleeps a lot and is a bit jaundice. Her blood sugar is a little low so she's given nutrients through an IV. Last night they started bottle feeding. She's a little slower at it and doesn't quite finish the 9ml they have given her, so they feed the rest through a tube in her nose. Today they upped the amount to 14ml. She's going to need a bit more practice learning how to root, but a lot of the struggle is because she's so sleepy it's hard to get her to be alert enough to stay focused and work at it. She has great startle reflexes! Some noises startle her, but she calms down very quickly.

Today I was able to go in the morning to see her. Since I was feeling better I was able to stand and take her temperature and change her diaper before getting to do kangaroo care with her (skin to skin for about an hour). It was so precious to have that time with her and see her know her momma. Her heart rate slows down when she's held and I love it!

Peek-a-boo!

Today they also started dressing her in clothes, cap, and swaddle to begin helping her adjust their own body temperature without needing the incubator. She's done pretty well, settled down quickly when I was holding her, and then threw a fit when she had to be put back in her bed. I could totally relate - I wanted to keep snuggling with her!

Ellie:
Ellie Lynne was born second (baby B) at 4:00pm and weighed 4lbs 15oz. Just like her sister, she came out breathing on her own and has done awesome with it since. She has had a few breathing episodes where her heart rate drops, but she's able to regulate her breathing on her own, thankfully.

Our little spit-fire!

Thursday Richard was able to take her temperature and change her diaper then I got to hold her swaddled. Her hair is longer and darker than sister's. She also has low blood sugar and is on an IV for it as well as a bit jaundice. They started bottle feeding her last night also and has done remarkably well! For some reason, smaller babies tend to do better. Her first couple 9ml bottles she couldn't quite finish on her own, so she has been fed the rest through a tube in her nose. Sounds like she has finished all her bottles since until today when they upped it to 14ml. She does really well rooting and suckling and knows when to refuse it when something's up (gas, spit up, swallowing, etc).

I went this afternoon to do kangaroo care with her. I was also able to stand and take her temperature and change her diaper. They also started dressing her in clothes, cap, and swaddle to help her adjust her body temperature without needing the incubator.

These girls know their momma - both opened their eyes when I first started snuggling them. She was a little more fussy and too a bit of time to get her settled and asleep, but once she was I didn't want to let her go. Naturally, she started crying when it was time to put her back in bed, but once she was dressed and swaddled she calmed right down. I so love holding them like this. I almost took a nap with her this afternoon, it was so peaceful and comforting to have her so close to me again.

What's next?
Mom has met the girls, of course! She's going to come down tomorrow and spend some time with me and the girls. Richard will probably bring Josiah down for a bit at some point so we can take him to meet his sisters. Kids/siblings are only allowed in the NICU for 15 minutes per week, but he's been asking about them. Praying he's in a good mood and will enjoy getting to finally meet "E-wy" and "No-wa" :)

As far as we know, I will be discharged Sunday sometime. After being in this hospital for over a month, I am ready to be home, but I know it will be an emotional day for me to leave our girls. We don't have a schedule set up yet as I'm not sure how I'm going to be feeling with this recovery. I'm going to really try to use this time to rest and recover before the girls are discharged, but I know I'm going to want to see them often. We'll just have to see how it will work out best. We don't know yet about when the girls will get to come home. They're doing really well for 34 weekers and NICU always tells you they will be there until their due date, but they will likely not. We're hoping they'll only need to be here for another week or so, but we'll keep you posted.

Continue to pray for sweet Ellie and Nora, their development, weight and nutrition, all that good stuff. Also, please pray for my recovery and adjustment to being home without our girls. We're so grateful to the Lord for how well we're all doing - prayers that it continues!