I'm finally getting to the twinkies birth story. The last 10 days or so has been a whirlwind. It all started on Monday, March 21st with a high blood pressure reading at our normal appointment. The NST test went well that day. There was no protein in my urine. The doctor (not mine, as he was on paternity leave for his new little guy) wanted me to go back in for a recheck of my blood pressure on Wednesday. I wasn't expecting anything different, but it was around 168/100, not very good at all. The doc then said that since it had gone up over 30 points in 2 days, babies needed to come out sooner rather than later. There was now a trace of protein in my urine. She scheduled our c-section for Friday, March 25th, rather than waiting until our initial date of April 1st. She also sent me home with a gigantic jug to do a 24 hour urine collection to get a more accurate protein check. We thought it was pretty neat that the twinkies would have the same birthday as Baby D, my first surrobabe!! How neat is that?!
On Thursday, the doc called about the protein results from the 24 hour collection. She said that was a lot of protein now and that I needed to head to the hospital right away and anticipate babies to be born that night. I tried getting ahold of S&G, but they weren't answering. I figured they were out having a last "hurrah!" before the scheduled c-section the next morning. Brad and I got to the hospital, got all situated in our room, had my vitals checks, a vaginal exam (closed) and an ultrasound to see the twinkies were still transverse. My blood pressure was up even more. I definitely had pre-eclampsia now. It didn't take long for the doc to let us know that I would NOT be delivering there. She stated that the aggressive onset of the pre-eclampsia and the fact that it was twins, they didn't feel they could handle the delivery there. My hospital is quite small, but I love it. They informed us that I would be transported via ambulance to Madison. I was nervous. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. They started me on a magnesium sulfate drip...nasty stuff...to help prevent seizures. S&G called my back and said they'd meet us in Madison. Brad left to head to Madison so he would be there when I got there. I hated seeing him leave. The ambulance trip was rough, like, super bumpy and my butt was numb by the time we got to Madison...eh, the least of my worries, right.
Once we arrived at the Madison hospital (around 11:30pm), everyone was so nice and reassured us they would take great care of us. By the time they got me all prepped for the c-section, it was after 1am on the 25th. The c-section itself wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The "not knowing what to expect" was the worst. Brad was right there by my head to comfort me. Twinkies were born quite quickly. Baby boy S was born at 1:40am (6 pounds 10 oz), followed by his sister Baby T at 1:41am (6 pounds 9 oz). They both came out screaming. I didn't get to see them, but was happy to hear their cries. They finished me up and rolled me into recovery.
I don't recall how long I was in recovery. It was pretty much a haze. Brad was with me the entire time. They said I lost lots of blood and kept weighing pads. I was still numb, so I had no clue what they were doing. I think I kept going in an out of sleep, too. The doctor did tell us about the twinkies. She said Baby T was doing very well, but Baby S was in the NICU. She said he had a heart defect that we didn't know about and that he would be transferred to the children's hospital about a mile away for surgery. My heart absolutely sank. I know there was nothing I could have done to prevent it. I just felt (feel) so horrible, first the pre-e, then the urgent c-section, then this poor little newborn baby needing heart surgery.
I ended up getting 2 bags of blood and 1 of plasma. Brad said he almost lost it at one point when the doctor had her arm up inside me up to her elbow to try to stop the bleeding. I didn't realize just how bad things were. It was pretty touch and go for awhile. They spoke of a hysterectomy. They put a Bakri balloon inside my uterus to help with the bleeding. My uterus was the worst pain, still is really. They said they wanted to try something else before a hysterectomy was strongly considered, an endometrial (uterine) ablation. This is where they cauterize the arteries that were bleeding in my uterus. I was wheeled up to that operating room to have that procedure. They didn't want to put me under all the way due to my blood pressure, so they heavily sedated me. I don't remember a thing. I was in the ICU for the next day or so. The procedure and balloon seemed to help with the bleeding. Removing the Bakri balloon was such a relief.
I was then moved out of ICU and onto the OB floor. It was so much more comfortable and quiet there. S&G let me know that Baby S was having another heart surgery that Monday the 28th. He had a bit of difficulty coming off the bypass machine, but has improved. S said he's relearning to drink his bottles and is doing well. He's such a fighter!! S&G brought Baby T over to see me once I got out of the ICU. She's just such a doll!! They look so absolutely in love with her! We will get to meet Baby S when he is out of the hospital. I feel like I'm not complete until I meet him. I know the kids are looking forward to seeing the twinkies, too! :)
All the nurses were great. My recovery has been slow. I couldn't get up to walk for the first day or so while in the ICU because of the ablation, so that didn't help. I kept feeling like such a wuss and the nurses, along with all the many different doctors that I saw, said how my body went through a lot, way more than just a normal c-section. I'm on blood pressure and blood thinner meds. I have a checkup on Monday at my clinic. And in case you are wondering, yes, this is my last journey. I had actually decided this a few months ago, but all the craziness that happened totally sealed the deal on that. I tried my hardest to keep these babies baking and have them come into the world healthy. I came pretty darn close to actually losing my own life in the process and couldn't imagine leaving my husband and kids behind. Please continue to pray for Baby S and for strength for S&G to make it through.
