Things stayed pretty quiet and each week I went in for a check-up to make sure all was still good. For those interested in the details, here's how the days prior to going into labor (again) looked:Sunday: started to lose my mucus plug; no contractions
Monday: continued losing mucus plug; no contractions
Tuesday: nothing to report
Wednesday: went in for ultrasound (baby had been measuring small a few weeks prior); everything looked great; still in shock I hadn't delivered her
Thursday: started having irregular contractions in the evening. (To the right is a screenshot of what I recorded in the OviaPregnancy app.) I didn't even mention the contractions to my husband because I figured they were nothing and would go away. I went to bed and slept the best I had my entire pregnancy!
That leads us to Friday, October 6th. I woke up at 8:06 a.m. (looked at my cell phone, so I know the exact time - ha!). I felt like I was peeing my pants, so I went to the bathroom, but was having trouble controlling anything. That's when I realized my water broke. It wasn't a gush or anything, just like you can't quite hold in your pee and it was trickling out. When I wiped I noticed some blood, so I started freaking out a little. I didn't have contractions, so I was a bit worried. My doctor's office opened at 8:30 a.m., so instead of calling the emergency line, I figured I'd wait the 20 minutes and take a quick shower first. I got cleaned up and as soon as I got out of the shower I started having contractions. They were about 3 minutes apart. I called my husband (who was downstairs) and told him to bring me a crappy towel (because I was bleeding) and go get cleaned up because I thought we'd be heading to the hospital really soon. I then called my doctor and they told us to head straight to Labor and Delivery, which we did. By the time we got to the car in our driveway, contractions were 1 minute (!!) apart. Things were progressing quickly and we were a little concerned that the baby would come while in the car at that point. Thankfully, though, that didn't happen!
The hospital is a quick 10 minute drive from our house, and when we arrived they got us checked in quickly. By 9:06 a.m., I was hooked up to a monitor and had a resident examining me. After the exam, she looked up at me and said, "well, it looks like you're having a baby today! 5 centimeters dilated!" Next thing I know, I was being wheeled from triage to a delivery room and the contractions were intensifying immensely. My husband kept trying to hold my hand and I just slapped at him and told him to leave me alone. Each contraction was some of the most intense pain I'd ever experienced and I just couldn't handle being touched by anyone when it was happening.
Around 10 a.m. a nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. At that point I had had enough of the pain and yelled a quick "yes!". I was 6 centimeters dilated and ready for some relief. They paged the anesthesiologist and we waited. And waited. And waited. I got to 7 centimeters, still no epidural and the nurse sent yet another page to see if it was on the way. Finally, the anesthesiologist walked in the room and they started the process (after some questioning if it was too late to do one at that point!). Thank goodness they agreed it was right at the cut-off point, but they would start the epidural.
If you haven't had an epidural, they ask everyone to leave the room - including your significant other. So, it's just you, the anesthesiologist and a nurse. You have to sit up and be incredibly still while the catheter is being threaded into your spine. Oh my gosh guys - do you know how hard it is to sit still while having intense contractions?! I seriously didn't think I could do it. But I put every ounce of energy I had into concentrating on relaxing, breathing, and staying as still as I could. And you know what? It worked! They put it in and - thankfully, it worked. If you're fortunate enough for the epidural to work, it takes effect immediately. I didn't feel anything else the remainder of labor or delivery.
My husband returned to the room and for the rest of the time, I was fairly relaxed. He watched the monitor and told me when I was having a contraction. The epidural did slow things down a bit and I didn't really start pushing until about 12:30 p.m. We tried some different positions that the nurse suggested. In the end, the one that worked best was wheeling a large bar - sort of like a pull up bar at the gym - above the bed. I pulled myself up using the bar and pushed three times with each pull, then we'd wait until the next contraction and I'd then do it again. I pushed for about an hour like this and when my husband told me he could see our baby's head, I noticed a ton of people start piling into the room. There were NICU nurses and doctors, regular nurses, my doctor, and who knows who else. Just a lot of people! Oh, and mid-delivery the large overhead light bulb blew, so then we also had more people come in to wheel a large light to temporarily use. That was eventful!
At 1:44 p.m. our beautiful daughter, Eva, joined us in the world. I didn't get the experience you hear about in books, blogs, or movies. She wasn't held up for me to see. I didn't know what was going on and the whole time I had tears trickling down my face. I don't even remember hearing the baby cry. I had no idea if she was okay. And while all this was going on, my doctor was there helping me deliver the placenta and also Twin B's sac. (I actually have tears in my eyes typing this, because that was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I hadn't even thought about that being a part of delivery prior to going into labor and just having that reminder again that we lost Baby B was just - heart wrenching.) After the delivery was complete, I was stitched up (first degree tear).
The entire time I was being stitched, I kept staring at my baby at the other side of the room. I waited and waited what felt like forever, but was probably only minutes, for someone to give me an update on our daughter. A NICU nurse eventually came over and told me Eva was doing well, but was going to need some help breathing, eating, and regulating her temperature. I asked if I could see her before they took her away, and a nurse bundled her up and brought her to me and placed her in my arms. My husband and I took a quick picture with her, then they wheeled her off to NICU.
I then took a shower, ate a little something, and just waited alone in the Labor and Delivery room. My husband went off to see my parents and grab something to eat. I sent a few text messages to close friends to let them know Eva arrived and then I just quietly waited for a room to open up upstairs and for someone to tell me it was okay to see my baby. A few hours later I was wheeled up to a room in the Mother and Baby Unit. Everything felt so surreal. I didn't have a baby next to my bedside and I just felt like I was still pregnant. I hadn't really had a chance to see Eva besides that quick photo opp before they wheeled her way. They told us "no news is good news" in regards to updates.
Later that evening we were finally able to go to the NICU and see our daughter. And hold her. Oh boy - that was the greatest feeling in the world. This teeny, tiny, itty bitty love that we created. She was absolutely perfect. We held her for a few moments each, as we weren't allowed to overstimulate her. Then she was placed back in her warmer. We sat next to her and just stared in amazement at what we created. It was absolutely perfect. She was absolutely perfect.
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