Happy one week birthday bebes! Yay, I'm finally feeling human enough to sit at a computer and update the blog :) I'm going to start with a post about my labor/birth and then will go into more details on Nina and Claire's first few days.
As I had previously posted, Nina and Claire had been scheduled to arrive on Thursday, June 19th at 8:30am, by c-section. Seeing as this was in my 36th week (4 weeks early for those counting) and my pregnancy had been rather uneventful, my OB and I weren't really thinking about preterm labor as a possibility.
Well Claire and Nina apparently had their own agenda...first evidence of them working together perhaps (?) and I went into real, honest to goodness labor early in the morning on Wednesday June 18th. It all started with lower back pain....lots and lots of lower back pain. After 10 or so hot showers and several back massages from Jason, the back pain became periodic, and at that point, around 5:30AM, Jason and I checked into labor and delivery.
By the time I got there, I was 5-6cm dilated and in very very nasty pain. I was having really heavy contractions that were less than a minute apart and since I had spent no time researching this "natural birth" thing, there were no fancy breathing or relaxing techniques for me. My mother, an experienced "natural-birther" arrived and helped me through.
The next step was pretty routine, they got me ready for a c-section (though may I add that having a needle repeatedly inserted into your spine while you are having back labor is not highly recommended), Jason got into his moon suit and the doctor got started.
The surgery part went great, everything was very routine. The first bebe part I saw was Claire's butt as she was lifted out of me. After that, I saw Nina. They wrapped her up and we were able to make eye contact which was magical (see previous post). The girls were born 24 hours ahead of the previous schedule.
Things from here are a bit of a blur, but here's what I've pieced together. Jason went with out with the bebes and my OB stitched me up. Then suddenly there was a lot of commotion in the room as comments like "she's not clotting" and "do you bleed easily? do you have a bleeding disorder" were circulating. I got very light headed and at some point was quickly wheeled to recovery. I was there for a short time and was able to reunite with my mother and with Jason. Doctors were everywhere and told me that I had lost a lot of blood and all of my blood tests looked very bad. Then comes my stay in the ICU.
At the time, I still hadn't seen Claire (except her butt of course) and had only seen Nina during the surgery. As I was wheeled to the ICU, I figured it wasn't a big deal and they had just run out of rooms or something. After several hours there without any bebes, it became clear things were more dire. After pleading with the nurses, they agreed to wheel me to the special care nursery to see my girls around 1am the first day. Needless to say that day was one of the longest and saddest in my life.
I was in the ICU for a couple of days and got to see the girls one more time on the second day (though they limited my to 20 minute visits). After getting lots of IV's with platelets, various drugs, etc. the bleeding problem resolved and all of the blood tests came back normal. My kidneys started having serious issues, however, and they couldn't release me until that stabilized too.
As a friend of mine mentioned later, the whole thing was like an episode of House. To this day, the doctors don't know what happened...but whatever it was, it cured itself. I'm just grateful I had decided on a c-section as it would have been even more dangerous if I had attempted a vaginal birth.
The day the doctors took me from the ICU to the normal maternity recovery was amazing. I had a private room, was able to reunite with Jason and other family and was able to visit both girls in the special care nursery whenever I wanted.
Claire joined us in the recovery room later that day and we spent the next two days together with lots of visits from my friend Cassie and both sets of new grandparents. After all of this craziness, I was released 4 days after my c-section, which is normal timing. Sunday, Jason, Claire and I headed home.
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2 comments:
My darling first bebe, Julia, did fortunately not realize what trouble she was in right after birth but Jason knew and I knew and we never spoke about it: we could not afford to fall apart, we had to stay strong;
I was at Zouzou's side the whole time and so was Jason; I was watching the monitors: as a trained RN, I knew too much; as a mother I kept faith and a serene attitude; Julia was still under the effects of sedation and oblivious to the trouble she was in; let's just say it was a close call!
Her blood pressure dropped quickly and to dangerous levels, her blood would not clot, she was light-headed; I watched her like a hawk, I did not panic, I chose to believe she would be fine; She had ER and trauma MDs and RNs (9 total)at her bedside; I am grateful that she was at the Stanford University teaching hospital and in the hands of an extremely capable and exceptional team.
I thought I would cry and be all "mushy" meeting my grandbebes but I could not rejoice: I had my own bebe to attend to. I had to postpone celebrating.
Being naturally very healthy, Julia recovered quickly, exceptionally fast considering her kidneys were not functioning properly on day 2: it took one extra day for her to recover; As she mentions , she went home after 96 hours, the expected release time for a non-problematic c-section.
She has thankfully forgotten the worst of it (hello drugs!!!); Today she said: where were you when I was in the ICU? I said we were there the whole time: they relaxed the rules for her: she had a private room....and we all visited most of the day for all the days she was there:Jason's parents Karen and Vincent, Charlie and I and Cassie but it is a fuzzy memory for her.
Today, Wednesday June 25 is a glorious day: Claire truly latched on while attempting to breastfeed and really "got" it for the first time(yay!) and I saw Nina this morning post surgery in the Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) and she was fine and beautiful: no crying, no fussing, her vital signs were within range.... She may come home tomorrow or the next day and be reunited with her twin Claire who is a serene, peaceful bebe.
I am reminded of a Violetta Parra poem: :"Gracias a la vida": "Thanks to life that gave me so much!!!!"
When I look at Claire and Nina I am absolutely certain that life is a wonder.
I know I am gushing: I have earned the right!!!!
Come see the Woertink bebes!!!
Dear Julia,
What an episode!I would have been in shock out of concern for you. I can't imagine how Jason and you mom managed to be so composed. I guess they arose to the necessity of the situation! You were so fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful family, friends and professionals and I am so relieved, in retrospect, that you pulled through it all so well. My heart gave a tug at hearing of separation from your bebes for even a minute and delighted at the magic of the eye contact. That is one of my strongest memories from childbirth.
Rest and be well - wow! two beautiful girls. They already look like interesting young people.
and . . . Danielle . . . I am so happy for you, nothing could make you happier, I am sure. Your account was so good to read and not to worry about gush - It's not gush it's love and very good indeed.
Love and hello to Jason as well : )
Patt
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