Thursday, September 22, 2011

Taco Bell and the Baby Timeline.

So I'm not pregnant anymore. Thank Heavens. I was going to post about being 36 weeks along. But I didn't want to have to edit for language and negativity. So we will just be grateful that I never got the chance to post that one!

I spent weeks 32-36 saying I was desperate to get these babies out of me. On Tuesday, Sept 13th, I had three appointments in one day. As I dropped Hailey off for music class that morning I joked that I had three chances in one day. I simply had to manipulate one of the three doctors into saying that I needed to be induced. I had all the confidence in the world that I could talk someone into seeing it my way and putting me out of my misery.

First came the check up with my OB at 1pm. Dr. Julie Grover has been amazing. She has been patient, understanding, professional, confident, reassuring, compassionate, concerned, and probably 20 other adjectives that every amazing doctor needs to be. My appointment with her was pretty much the same as the last three appointments. Things are going well with no incident. Then she decides to check my cervix. There is always a look on her face after that part of the appointment that makes me start laughing and makes Brandon pee his pants just a little. Every time she checks me she starts into her speech about how she is nervous to send me home. And how bad it scares her that I can't feel contractions. And how she doesn't like the idea of babies on the side of I-15. (Ironically, less than one week after I delivered, a woman delivered her fourth child on the side of I-15. I was glad it didn't happen a week earlier. Brandon would have died from shared anxiety!) Anyhow, I was still at a 4 (and had been for the last three weeks) and 80% effaced. But she told me to go ahead and go to my other appointments. But that if anything strange happened AT ALL, I was to go immediately to Labor and Delivery. Her quote was, "even if it isn't labor, we'll make it be labor." She was nervous.

Appointment number 2 was an ultrasound at Maternal Fetal Medicine. I had Dr. Julie Gainer. Again, amazing. I think there must be something I like about young mothers named Julie who happen to practice medicine in Provo. She has been one of my favorite people during this pregnancy. I had an ultrasound with her at the end of July. She spent forever watching my two little girls in awe as they moved and swallowed fluid. She made me look at the girls in a whole new way as her fascination was horribly contagious. So on Tuesday she seemed just a pinch concerned about Caitlin's growth. Caitlin was measuring a full two weeks behind Abigail. Dr. Gainer stressed over and over that the babies did not have to come out right away. She let it be my choice. But she also expressed that she was concerned. She pointed out that they had stayed inside for much longer than we could have hoped and that we had officially reached a point where sometimes the babies can be safer outside than in. There was no pressure. No scare tactics. Just calm, sweet Dr. Gainer telling me my options and telling me that if I wanted to have babies that day that I was allowed to.

Dream come true, right? You'd think. But what does a hormonal pregnant lady do? She cries and suddenly gets all nervous and can't decide what to do. Brandon was floored. "What do you mean, you need to think about it?!?  Last night you begged me to take them out myself. At home!! Now you have a doctor offering to do it in a hospital and telling you it will be safe. And you have to think about it?!?" He wasn't annoyed or pushy. But he was so confused. Apparently he has never been pregnant before. Pity.

So I went on to appointment number 3. A non-stress test. We have only done about 20 of these at this point. But this one was different. This one went smoothly and helped my mood go from frantic and confused to calm and reassured. Or maybe it was the prayers and a steady stream of text messages between my mom, and Kimberly and myself that changed my mood. Who knows. Either way that appointment ended with the nurse coming in and saying that she would be escorting me to Labor and Delivery. The Julie-doctors had called each other and decided it was in everyone's best interest to have babies. Now. So here we go!

We checked in to L&D at 4:00pm. I was hooked up to monitors. At 4:30, my cervix was checked again. In 3 hours I had advanced from a 4 to a 5+. (Good thing I didn't go home?) We sat for a while and watched contractions on the monitor for another 2 hours. At 6:15 they hooked up my epidural. I think Brandon got in trouble because I was shaking like a leaf and scared out of my mind. I looked to him for love and support and he was sitting there texting away on his phone! I threatened to kick him in the head which was only funny because right then then anesthesiologist played with the needle in my spine and made my left leg twitch just so. I really almost kicked Brandon. In the head. It was great. As soon as the epidural was hooked up, they started the Pitocin into my IV. At 7:00 I was at a 6+ but loving life because of my best friend, the epidural. Have a mentioned before that I love epidurals? I was so loopy and relaxed. It was fabulous. At 7:45 I was at an 8 but for some reason my contractions stopped. At 9:20 Dr. Grover came in and broke my water. At 10:05 I was a 9+. And at 10:29 I was complete and ready to go. I sent Brice a text message to meet me in back in my delivery room in 20 minutes with Taco Bell. One minute later they wheeled me into a freezing cold operating room. I just remember shaking like a leaf and Brandon being very concerned about it. He was all dressed in his little OR outfit. Very cute. At 10:47 things were ready and I pushed a half of a push to deliver Miss Abigail. Caitlin was a slightly bigger concern. She had flipped over (which we learned she liked to do about twice a week). She was in a breach position and we weren't sure how it was going to work in terms of needing a C-section. Dr. Grover decided to try a "breach extraction" which is every bit as awkward and creepy as it sounds. She reached right up there and grabbed Caitlin by two feet and pulled her right out. My little girls were three minutes apart, the entire process took about 10 minutes total, and I pushed a total of 0.5 times. As soon as the girls were born they were whisked into the next room where a team of experts did tests and determined that neither girl would need to go to the NICU. I laid in my room with Dr. Grover while everyone else (including Brandon) followed those little girls off. I went back to my room and about two seconds later Brice and Braden showed up with ten tacos, ten burritos, and enough caffeine to rival the amount of adrenaline I had coursing my veins.







5 comments:

  1. How amazing to deliver both girls without a c-section! You are super woman! Grover was my ob with Kiera. Those girls are perfect- you guys make one beautiful family!

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  2. Wow. WHAT a birth story. 0.5 pushes? Craziness. You are awesome for enduring two babies for 36 weeks. I am so glad the delivery went so well and I am happy the babies didn't have to go to the NICU. That is a huge blessing. Congratulations to you and your family :)

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  3. Wow, what a story! CONGRATULATIONS! They are cute baby girls. On another note, I am sad to not work with you anymore. Good luck with that boy staff....
    Again, congratulations!

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  4. Congratulations!! The babies are beautiful and I am so glad that everything went well, what a story though!! It sounds like you were in the right place at the right time. I had Julie Grover as my OB before I moved to PA and I loved her too, granted I only got to see her three times before I left but I remember that I liked her a lot! You have a beautiful family, miss you guys!

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  5. Brodie, I love you. This is a fabulous and happy story! I love the first picture of you on here---such a cute face! I am so impressed that you looked so good with TWO babies inside of you!!

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