Taking a break from books today, we want to celebrate E2 and E3's 3rd birthday! I say this all the time but I just have to say it again, "Time flies!"
So in the spirit of celebrating their birth, I wanted to share with you a shortened version of E2 and E3's birth story. Warning: There are some rather graphic descriptions in this post, so if you are really squeamish about these things, please stop reading now!
This is the picture that changed our lives so drastically and initiated us into the world of multiples! When we went in to get my first sonogram, E1 was only about 8 months and my husband and I thought, "OK, we've done this before, it should be a walk in the park." Little did we know about 2 minutes into the appointment, the sonographer said, "Guess what, I have a surprise for you! You're having twins!" We were completely surprised since we would have never ever guessed we would be parents to twins!
We also found out that we were having identical twins since they shared a placenta and I would need to be monitored more closely and would be going in for sonograms and non-stress tests. It was quite a whirlwind pregnancy but I really enjoyed being able to see images of them throughout the pregnancy, since that usually doesn't happen with singleton pregnancies.
Now we knew that they would be arriving earlier and I most likely would not make it to 40 weeks. So when I started to feel contractions around 36 weeks and 6 days, I knew they were most likely the real deal and our little girls were ready to come into this earth. Good thing my mom had arrived a few weeks before, so we could leave E1 with her when it was time to go to the hospital. After feeling mild contractions almost all day, things started to get more intense during the evening, so I called my OB and he suggested that I didn't need to rush, take a shower, make sure everything was packed and then go to the hospital.
By the time we arrived at the hospital it was about 11pm. Since they didn't have the results of my Group B strep test, I had to be hooked up to antibiotics which would take a while to go into affect. So I opted to get an epidural and tried my best to get some rest. Both of the girls were head down so I had decided that I would try to deliver them natural if it was possible.
At about 6am in the morning, my OB broke my water and I started to get really strong contractions and was ready to start pushing pretty quickly. I was rolled into an operating room (standard procedure for multiple births) and gave birth to E2 at 6:57am. But right after she came out, that was when everything went south. E3's cord was starting to come out and in medical terms that is called a prolapsed cord. It is potentially very dangerous for the baby, so my OB pushed the cord back in and started to order everyone in the room to get ready for an emergency C-section. My husband was quickly ushered out of the operating room. I was given more anesthetics and very quickly prepped for a C-section. My OB is usually very cool and calm, so seeing him on high alert actually got me a bit freaked out and I remember that everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I kept praying that God keep E3 safe and to give the doctors the wisdom they needed to make sure everything went smoothly. They poured some red antiseptic liquid on my belly and started to make the incision which resulted in quite a lot of red liquids dripping down from my belly which totally freaked my husband out and he thought at that moment he might lose his wife! After 11 minutes, E3 was born via C-section on 7:08am. At first she wasn't breathing and we were really worried. But the NICU doctors were working on her immediately and got her to start breathing very shortly after she was born. I only got to catch a quick glance of her from the corner of my eye and once she started breathing they rolled her off to the NICU.
They brought me E2 and ushered my husband back in, so I could bond with E2 while the anesthetics wore off. And then after about 1 1/2 hours I was wheeled into the NICU to meet E3. She was so small and had a few wires and tubes stuck in her, which was just heartbreaking! But the doctor reassured us that she was doing great and was a little fighter.
We ended up staying at the hospital for about 5 days, since E2 was dealing with some jaundice but after 5 days we were able to go home with both of our baby girls which was such a blessing! The doctors and nurses at Bryn Mawr Hospital were great and really helped make this difficult time much easier.
I'm happy to share that they have grown to be very adventurous and lively little girls despite this rather crazy start. So on this 3rd birthday of E2 and E3, I give my thanks to God for watching over them and me during this eventful birth and pray for many more years of joyful memories! Happy Birthday girls!
Zi
