I never really documented the twins' birth story, but I feel like I should write these thoughts down if only for my own personal record. Looking back to the events 10 years ago, I have either forgotten or simply blocked out a ton of things. Hence, here were go...
The Plan
Nearing the 40 week mark of my pregnancy, I was given a few options in regards for Arthur's birth. My previous c-section did not preclude me from trying to have a VBAC. Or I could schedule a c-section. After some reflection and discussion with my doctor, I decided to try for a VBAC. I have nothing against c-sections and had a decent experience last time. I just wanted to leave my options open for this baby. While we wanted to shoot for a VBAC, the next question concerned what to do if we hit 40 weeks with no baby. I had the feeling that Arthur was not going to come early or even on time. Turns out, I was right, but we'll get to that later. After talking with my doctor, I opted for a scheduled c-section instead of inducement. My doctor hasn't had great results of induced VBACs. Usually labor does not progress well and the patient ends up having a c-section anywhere. So the plan was to hope for a VBAC and then schedule a c-section for the 40 week mark.
Birth Day
The 40 week mark arrived and no baby had arrived. So we checked into the hospital at 11:30am for a scheduled 1:30pm c-section. We settled into the room and the nurses proceeded to run through the preop questions and procedures. Multiple times they remarked that I was very quiet and calm. I found that to be very funny. What else should I be like? Being crazy and crying? There was nothing for me to do but lay there, answer their questions, and get my body prepped for surgery. At 1:00pm we rolled into the OR for surgery. I was given my spinal tap and slowly started to lose feeling in my lower half. They started the procedure and I felt the same weird pressure/tugging sensation but no pain. It's definitely an odd feeling... After what seemed like forever, the doctors informed me that it was going to take a little longer to get him out. Turns out that after my c-section, I developed a ton of scar tissue. The scar tissue is normal and healthy in terms of healing. It just turns out that my amount of scar tissue was a bit excessive. The scar tissue was attaching my uterus to my abdominal wall. This resulted in a smaller space in which to pull the baby out. After more tugging and pressure and bit of vacuum usage, the baby was pulled free. Just like last time, as soon as I heard the crying, I burst into tears. The anesthesiologist was concerned, especially after me being so quiet and calm throughout. Nothing was wrong, those were tears of joy.
After doing the initial screen, the doctors brought Arthur over for some skin-to-skin time. I didn't get that with the twins. This was definitely the way to go. I got to cuddle with my new baby boy while the doctors finished patching me up. After a few minutes, the doctors wrapped up their business and baby and I were whisked away to our recovery room. We stayed in the recovery room for about an hour while the nurses did their monitoring of both of us. We then made the move to the mother/baby unit for the rest of our time.
I have no idea why, but as soon as they got me into the room, I started throwing up. It was a horrible feeling... The next few hours are a bit of a blur. We tried to breast feed a bit. I tried to sleep a bit. I threw up some more. Eventually later that night, I managed to keep down some jello and beef broth. I was in and out of consciousness. Anytime I was awake, we tried to breastfeed and get some bonding time in. I thought things were going fairly well.
In the early morning hours, the nurses removed my catheter and got me standing to start the healing process. I absolutely hate that feeling of helplessness. Eventually the nurses got me up to use the restroom and wash my face. The pain was intense, but I was expecting it. I don't believe it was more or less than last time. The level seemed just right for major surgery. Wednesday passed in much the same way. Lots of crying, eating, some sleeping. And of course, we had the parade of hospital personnel through our room. I started to have more and more pain around my incision and in my breasts. They switched me to Percocet and Motrin every few hours.
Going Home
The doctors cleared me to leave on Thursday afternoon. All we needed to do was finish our checklist (vaccine, hearing test, peds check, birth certificate, etc). At around 11am, I tried to continue breastfeeding, but the pain had become extreme. I couldn't get Arthur to latch correctly and every time he tried, I had shooting pains through my entire breast. Not good! The nurse called for a lactation consultant to come visit me before we left. Her visit was absolutely horrible. She was pushy and did not give me any real plan except to stay in the hospital another day. I wanted, no needed, to go home. I needed a shower, my own bed, and some sort of routine for all of us. I told the LC that I would keep working on it, but I needed to get out of there. I also decided to ask the Peds resident for formula to feed Arthur. I had a feeling that a lot of his fussiness was from a lack of food. And I was right! As soon as he got an ounce of formula in his system, he calmed down and was content to hang out. So they let us go home with some formula. I wanted to continue trying to breast feed, but I was in so much pain that I needed a bit of a break to reassess.
We arrived home Thursday afternoon where i promptly showered and ate. That was the best shower I have ever taken in my life. I felt like a new person! And it helped with my pain (probably all in my head, but I'll take it). Throughout the night, Arthur woke and ate every two hours. Between J and I we each got a bit of sleep here and there although the transition was a bit rough.
Friday
After a bit of a restless night (for our first it was pretty good), we woke up and started to prepare to head out to our Newborn Club appointment. Kaiser schedules a Newborn Club visit 1-2 days after being discharged from the hospital. They are there check baby's vitals, set up peds appointment, discuss on any issues/problems/questions, and discuss breast feeding. Can you figure out which one I spent a ton of time on? After explaining to the LC all of my issues with breast feeding so far and checking out the physical evidence, she became very concerned and helpful. So different than the LC that had visited me in the hospital. She was most concerned that it looked like I was developing mastitis (infection of breast tissue) and my breasts were definitely engorged. I was to keep baby off my breasts for 48 hours and pump every 2 hours to relieve the engorgement. They made another appointment for Sunday to reassess the situation. Hopefully...
In the mean time, we are settling into a routine and getting to now each other. Looking forward to what comes next.
