Birth story

Since I'm alone in my room for now, it is probably a good time to write out our birth story!

Robert and I had our nanny come super early this morning so that we could be at the hospital for the c/s by 7:30 am. When we got here, we signed a few consents and a nurse took us up to the antepartum floor and got us settled into our room. I was put on monitors, had some vitals done, got my IV in, they took some blood, and so on. We also met with the anesthesiologist briefly just to touch base. Dr. Wall came by to get stuff going, too. Although it doesn't seem like that much was going on, somehow it took so long to do all of that stuff that we ended up being late to the c/s! A nurse actually held the elevator for us while our nurse rushed us downstairs so that we could get down there faster! It was pretty funny, really.

As soon as we got to the OR, Robert put on the silly looking jumpsuit they use here, and I got into position for the spinal. I was worried about the spinal because I've had issues almost every time and, last time, it took 45 minutes of trying to get the dang thing in. This time, we had the exact same issue at first. He tried multiple times to get it in and kept rooting around during each try. One time, he hit a nerve and this AWFUL electric shock feeling went down my leg. My foot is actually still painful, which seems nuts. But, after taking a breather and then having the nurse push my feet into a very tight ball, he got it right in. PHEW!

After that, things moved quickly. I hate the feel of the tinglying and numbing process, and I also felt very pukey. In fact, I was already pukey from no food and had to get Phenergen as I walked into the room! I felt pretty awful for the first bit of the c/s, but started to feel better (after more Phenergen and some Reglan) right about as the babies were ready to come out. I had a great view of their actual birth through the little window in the curtain, and it was just awesome to see.

Sophia was born first and came out feet first! They took her right over to work on her, but she was crying and had good color, so it was obvious that she was doing well very quickly. Robert was able to hold her, bring her over to introduce her to me, and even carry her up to the NICU!

Lydia was born second and came out head first. They also worked on her right away, and while she was a little dusky, she also looked pretty good. She was having a bit of retraction when she breathed, so they brought her up to the NICU in an incubator, but I was also able to meet her before they left. I didn't get to have Alice or Charlotte brought to me in the OR, so that was a great experience for me!

Robert went with the babies to the NICU, and I just laid on the table with my eyes closed and tried to relax while they closed me up. I felt pretty tired from the drugs, so it was nice to just lay there and think about my little ones for a bit! Once they got me all closed up, they took me back to my room and got me into my bed. Robert came and showed me pictures of them before going back to be with them, I was subjected to various pokes and prods on my poor belly, and I just hung out in the room until I was able to get up and go to the NICU.

I had a very hard c/s recovery last time, so I've been worried about this one. However, it's been a breeze so far! I got up 4.5 hours after the babies were actually born and wasn't even really in much pain at all. I'm in almost no pain just sitting in bed, too. I hope it continues this way, that's for sure!

When I first got to the NICU, I was able to hold both babies. I held Sophia first, and she is such a doll! She just cuddles right in and I swear that you could cuddle her forever! She is also showing off a good suck, so hopefully that will translate to actual BF'ing. She gets to start eating tomorrow! I've pumped five times already, but there are only a few drops of colostrum so far, so hopefully that picks up soon. Lydia feels way heavier than Sophia, which is funny since they are so close in weight! She seems much chunkier, too. I still don't know their exact heights, so I think that maybe Lydia is just shorter.

Earlier, we had our nanny bring Alice and Charlotte by to meet their new sisters. They were so darn cute with them, and so interested! It was adorable! The older kids came by tonight since they had afterschool activities this afternoon. Robert and my dad took them out to dinner as a celebration, and then they came and saw me and then went to see their sisters. They made a really cute sign for their door, but they left out the "h" in Sophia, so we need to get that fixed before we hang it!

I just got back from another trip to the NICU. They are both maintaining their temps, Sophia is still just chilling with no oxygen or anything. She looks totally perfect. Lydia has room air in the CPAP, with no extra oxygen. She breathes quickly, so this helps her to breathe easier. I wish that I could just hang out there all the time, but I can only sit up for so long at this point. I really look forward to having a bit more stamina tomorrow. But, I did walk back alone so I'm doing mighty well already! Sophia got her first sponge bath while I was there, which was super cute. She, however, was not a fan!

All told, I feel so grateful that we have two beautiful girls joining our family and that they are doing so well. I have a bunch of pictures, but I'm super tired now so I'll just post those tomorrow. I have to be up to pump in 1.5 hours, so it's sleep time!