Birth
Story of Jason and Julianna
We
arrived at the hospital on July 3, at 7:00am, though apparently, this
was not the correct time. My Dr. intended to wait until 3:00 to
begin Pitocin so that he could be there when I delivered. So we got
settled and just waited. I contracted on my own off and on but they
didn't do anything to cause changes to my cervix. Jason's head was
still pretty high -3 or -4 depending on who checked. As planned the
Pitocin was hooked up at 3:00 and it wasn't long until I felt the
contractions consistently. This was to be a VBAC so it had to be
done carefully and slowly. The pitocin was bumped up every 30-60
minutes. After about 3 hours I the contractions were pretty
uncomfortable. I felt like a total wimp considering an epidural that
quickly (I lasted 23 hours unmedicated with Stephanie) but they were
really starting to hurt and I decided that I had nothing to prove so
I went ahead and requested it. (If you are reading this and were
able to do it unmedicated, I don't mean to suggest that you somehow
did have something to prove but at that point, I couldn't think of
one reason to not get it or to wait on it. It was not forced but my
Dr. highly suggested it in case of emergency during delivery.) My
Doctor was going to be breaking my water and hour or so later and the
last time he did that with the baby high up still, her arm came out
and had to be pushed in and I had no epidural that time and it was
excruciatingly painful. So I got the epidural...sweet relief!!! It
was shift change time and our nurse Lisa had to go but Melissa took
over. Melissa happened to be a mom of twins as well (a few of our
nurses during our stay were twin moms). Melissa also shared a common
faith and once we had discovered that, she prayed with us concerning
the delivery and we really appreciated that. My Doctor broke my water
around 7:30 or 8:00. And then we just waited. I began feeling the
contractions again around 9:30 or 10:00 but they were more
uncomfortable than anything and it was right at my cervix that they
hurt. We continued to wait. As it approached midnight, I was
determined to hold off until then because I had hoped they'd be born
on the 4th of July. I wouldn't have chosen that birthday
for them, my Doctor did and at that point I thought it would be a
shame if they were born just shy of midnight. Or I figured, leave it
to me, to have one twin on the 3rd and the other on the
4th. Midnight finally hit. Prior to that I was in no
hurry. I was stuck at 6 cm for the longest time and Jason hadn't
moved down really at all. I asked the nurse if there was any
positions that would maybe help things along and she suggested
rolling on my right side. I did that but Jason did not like that one
bit. His heart rate dropped. (That was scary) I rolled over to my
back. His heart rate came back up. Then tried rolling to the left.
He didn't care much for that either (scary again). I was asked if I
felt pressure, at that point it wasn't extreme but yes I felt like I
was getting there. The resident checked me and said, it's time to
move to the back (the OR). They rushed me off. Jon was left
wondering what he was supposed to do and if he was going to miss the
delivery. I felt bad for him. Thankfully one of the other nurses
noticed and took charge of getting him some scrubs and back to the
OR. Once in the OR, I had to transfer to the OR table. I then was
waiting for them to get everything prepared for just about any
situation that could arise. Waiting to push is torture. I kinda
pushed anyway but I swear they had me on an incline (head down
slightly) to make it so I couldn't push against gravity. I don't
know if it was intentional or not, but it made me crazy. Finally,
they were ready for me to push. I felt like I had lost my “mojo”
at that point, but began to push. I haven't had to count to push
since my first delivery, but did this time. I'd guess I pushed for
10 minutes or less and then I heard the most beautiful
sound...Jason's first cry! He was taken directly over to the warmer
to me checked out and so my Dr. could proceed with making sure all
was well with Julianna. He had to check her presentation. And by
that I mean he had his entire hand in my uterus. (REALLY glad I got
the epidural before enduring that.) I was trying to push thinking it
was Julianna coming out but it was his arm going in. It was then
determined that she was head down and I began pushing her out. Then
just 9 minutes after Jason was born, I heard her first cry...music to
my ears. She was also whisked away to the warmer to be checked out.
My work wasn't quite done yet. Still had the placentas. I felt them
coming out and pushed. It took more effort than I recall in the
past. They actually came out together. Later I found out that they
had fused together. A big gush of blood followed, which seemed to
temporarily alarm my Doctor though after that initial blood gush all
was well. I hated not seeing and feeling my babies but wow, what I
had just done was amazing. I transferred back to my bed and was
handed my two precious babies. What a moment that was! I was then
wheeled back to my room with my double rainbow blessings.
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