Hellobee

As I recently shared, the Hopscotch twins arrived! Already a few weeks old, I want to make sure I get their birth story written down so that I don’t forget the details.

Here I am right at 37 weeks pregnant – whoah! I still can’t believe I got that big, however, I had two big babies in me so it makes sense. I’d meant to take one at 38 weeks but that didn’t happen as the babies arrived right at 38 weeks!

The last couple of weeks of my pregnancy were incredibly uncomfortable. I felt like I was completely out of room; it was difficult just getting in and out of bed and the babies were pushing and kicking in every direction. I was working from home full time because I couldn’t handle my commute to work anymore or sit at a desk for any amount of time. And because Mr. H is a wedding photographer, we had the extra stress of worrying whether or not I would go into labor while he was working a wedding. On Saturdays when he was working we had family in to help with Miss H and I would spend the day laying in bed watching tv, hoping I wouldn’t start having contractions!

I was fortunate to have a very “easy” twins pregnancy – low blood pressure, active big babies, no contractions, no swelling, etc. So my doctor decided not to schedule an induction until 38 weeks, despite my obvious discomfort at my 37 week appointment. However, the day before I was to be induced, I started the day in a lot of pain. Cramps, low back pain, extreme discomfort. Mr. H and I decided to just head to the hospital rather than take any chances.

We got there around 8:30am and I was hooked up to the monitor. I wasn’t really having any contractions, but since I was obviously very uncomfortable and because they had all of my paperwork for my induction the next day anyway, they decided to admit me. I was dilated to 4 cm, but had been for about 3 weeks. Eventually a room freed up for me (it turned out to be a VERY busy day in Labor & Delivery) and we got settled in.

Still no real contractions, I was majorly uncomfortable laying in that hospital bed. There was just too much baby inside of me! The plan was to get my epidural and then have the doctor break my water. The hope was that breaking the water would jump start my labor, but if it didn’t they would use Pitocin to help move things along.

6 P M  –  E P I D U R A L

After a few hours watching show after show on HGTV and eating tons of Jell-O (I was so hungry!), I finally got my epidural. I didn’t have one with Miss H so I didn’t know what to expect. The process, for me, was overwhelming and a bit scary. I had no clue it would take them as long as it did (probably only 15-20 minutes but it felt much longer), that I would be overcome with extreme shaking as they did it, and that I would just feel irrationally scared during the process. Fortunately I had a great nurse walking me through the process, and once the epidural kicked in I felt amazing! I could move my legs and wiggle my toes but still feel numb. I was able to rest and relax – it was perfect! I lost track of time when I actually got the epidural, but I’m guessing it was around 6pm or so.

9 – 1 0 P M – B R E A K I N G  W A T E R

Unfortunately, it took a lot longer than planned for the doctor to break my water. As mentioned, Labor & Delivery was really busy, so my doctor kept on getting pulled into other deliveries along with an emergency surgery. Because they were worried that my labor could/would go fast after they broke my water, they didn’t want to do it when the doctor was going to be tied up in the operating room. Finally around 9/10pm they broke my water. As my epidural was still perfect I didn’t feel a thing!

P I T O C I N

My contractions didn’t pick up very well on their own from that point, so they did add some Pitocin to my IV. The Pitocin got my contractions going so rapidly that they ended up turning it off and let my body take over. From that point my contractions were regular and close together and the next time they checked me I was dilated to 8 cm!

However, the more my labor progressed, the more I started to feel some pain despite my epidural. As we moved past midnight we knew we were close to me being fully dilated and ready to push, so they had the anesthesiologist come and “re-up” my epidural. This ended up pushing things way overboard because once it kicked in it eliminated any of the pain I was feeling, but also made my legs far more numb and difficult to move/lift.

Once I was fully dilated, everyone sprung into action and I subsequently got more nervous and was shaking again (probably partly due to the epidural “re-up”). The hospital’s policy for multiples is that you deliver in an operating room. It’s partly in case you need an emergency c-section, and partly because they need a larger room as there is a team of doctors and nurses for each twin, plus the anesthesiologist, the OB, the OB resident, the OB intern, nurses for me, etc. It was quite a crew!

T H E  O P E R A T I N G  R O O M

They wheeled my bed into the operating room and then had me “scoot” myself onto the narrow operating table. This was no easy feat and I was borderline annoyed that they couldn’t somehow drag/lift me over there as it was so difficult to move! My birth experience with Miss H had been a lovely experience in a dimly lit, calm room (as lovely as an unmedicated birth can be!). This experience was the exact opposite. The operating room was brightly lit and I felt like a spectacle on display. Everything felt very clinical. I also could feel nothing due to the epidural so I felt absolutely no urge to push. They had my legs up in these medieval-looking stirrups that were incredibly uncomfortable. Fortunately they decided those weren’t the best and just had me hold my legs back.

5 A M  –  B A B Y  A

As suspected Baby A – Miss Hop – was “sunnyside up” which meant it was a slightly more difficult delivery because you’re pushing out the largest part of the head first. Fortunately she has a little head! I’m not sure how long I pushed for but I do know my doctor was getting a little frustrated with how long it was taking. In any event, at exactly 5am Miss Hop made her appearance weighing in at 6 lbs, 4 oz!

B A B Y  B

Of course, we were only halfway done! When we were admitted to the hospital we had to sign various waivers. One waiver was for a “breech extraction,” basically meaning they had the option to pull Baby B (Mr. Hop!) out by his feet if necessary. This would likely be in the event where he shifted positions too much after Miss Hop was delivered (both babies were head down for most of my pregnancy). While I knew there was the possibility they would reach in and reposition him, I didn’t know until signing that waiver that they might try and deliver him breech. My doctor had never discussed it with me at any of my appointments!

I’m sure you know where this is going. After Miss Hop was delivered Mr. Hop apparently shifted around a lot. Since there is also the possibility of the cervix closing up after delivering the first baby, my medical team decided to act quickly. I experienced one of the strangest feelings of my life when the OB resident reached inside (thank goodness for the epidural!) and moved Baby Hop around until he got his feet and began pulling him out. It was disturbing and strange.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hop’s head was too large and got stuck. In fact, it was stuck for a few minutes, which really panicked my doctor. She looked stressed and everyone was acting fast. With the aid of forceps, an episiotomy, and ultimately a 4th-degree tear, Mr. Hop was born at 5:07am. Weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs 9 oz. Mr. Hop was “stunned” from the delivery and it took a while for him to finally make his first cry. After that he was 100% ok!

We are incredibly lucky that both babies checked out just fine – perfectly healthy and considered big for twins. After footprints and measurements were taken and after I was all stitched up (I won’t lie, it took a while and made me very nervous), I had to “slide” myself back onto my hospital bed. I was handed two bundled up babies, and we were wheeled back to our room to get cleaned up before heading upstairs to our recovery room.

My recovery hasn’t been as bad as I would have thought it would be. I did have some bad muscle strain in my left leg that kept me from being able to lift it for about a week, and my right leg still has some places that are numb (from the epidural? nerve damage?). But overall I feel like I’ve bounced back really well.

After a couple of days we left the hospital. Miss H met her brother and sister for the first time and was just elated! She is struggling with these new additions but each day it’s getting better.

Miss H holding Miss Hop for the first time!

Almost immediately we learned the different personalities of our two babes – Miss Hop is super spunky, has a voracious appetite, and takes forever to settle down while Mr. Hop is laid back, trusting, and full of snuggles. We love them both so much and are hopeful they’ll start being a bit more cooperative at night and sleep longer stretches!