Monday, 11/15, started with my 36 wk appt at 9:00 where my doctor found that I was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced. He said that we were going to have these babies today and sent me to the hospital. About 10:30, he broke the water of the first twin and offered me the choice of having an epidural. He said he wasn’t going to make me have one based on my prior birthing history and the fact that both twins were head down. I opted at this point not to get the epidural. Over the next few hours, my contractions increased to about every 3 minutes but I was stuck at 8.5 cm. We decided to start pitocin to help move things along. Having had pitocin labors twice before, I opted to go ahead and get the epidural which for me was a very big decision since I was terrified of having a needle stuck in my back but my need to want to be comfortable this time out-weighed my fear this time especially since I knew I was looking at having to go through delivery twice. What a wonderful experience the epidural was. About 10 minutes after it was put in, I no longer felt any pain. The only way I knew I was having a contraction was the pressure I felt on my cervix. About 2:15, I was moved to the OR in preparation for the babies’ births. A quick sonogram was done before I started pushing Baby A, and it was discovered that Baby B had turned into a transverse position. A second doctor was brought in at this time to help turn Baby B into a head down position as Baby A was delivered. After a few pushes, Taylor Matthew (aka Baby A) was born at 2:46 pm weighing 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 in long. They took him to get cleaned up as I got ready to deliver Baby B. When the doctor went to break this baby’s water, he discovered that the baby’s hand was the presenting part so he couldn’t break the water with the baby still in a transverse position. He and the other doctor then proceeded to try and manipulate the baby into the correct position. While doing this, the water ended up breaking, so then the doctor needed to make sure the cord didn’t come out. By this point, he had his hand inside up past his wrist trying to get the baby turned. I was very, very thankful for having decided to get the epidural because at least I couldn’t feel any of what was going on although it did look like I had an alien in my abdomen between the doctor’s hand and the baby moving around inside. I started getting concerned when the doctor asked a few times where the baby’s heartbeat was because we could no longer hear it. It turned out that the ultrasound they were doing to keep track of the baby was interferring with the fetal monitor and once the ultrasound was removed, the baby’s heartbeat came through loud and clear. Thank goodness. The baby finally decided to cooperate, and with a little help from the vacuum, Tyler Montgomery (aka Baby B) was delivered at 2:53 pm weighing 7 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/4 in long.

Taylor did very well after birth, while Tyler had some problems with his breathing (breathing too fast and very squeaky) and a couple of hours after his birth, he was sent to NICU for monitoring. Thankfully, his breathing cleared up after a few hours in NICU and he was able to return to me and his brother later that same evening.

We were all released from the hospital on Wednesday, 11/17, although Tyler ended up being admitted into the Pediatric unit on Saturday, 11/20, due to jaudice. He stayed under the bili lights all day Saturday and Sunday and by Sunday afternoon, his levels were low enough that he could return home again.

Since then, things are going very well. The boys have gotten the hang of breastfeeding and they are now gaining weight. Both are past their birth weights at this point. I think we are finally done with the trips back and forth to the pediatrician and the hospital everyday and we can now enjoy our two wonderful boys.