Here ya go!
I had a c-section scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on July 6th. I had a pretty decent holiday weekend before that. Mom and dad came to the house and we grilled some brats, had strawberry shortcake and ice cream, etc. We live in a pretty pyromaniac-ish town, so fortunately every year some neighbors a few streets in front of our house have huge firework display battles. Each house tries to out-do their neighbors and it all ends up just as good as going to a city sponsored fireworks show - all from the comfort of our home and driveway. I was so miserable there was no way I could have gone anywhere, so this worked out great!
Monday morning rolled around and we had to be at the hospital an hour before my surgery time. Kevin had dropped Evan off at Nonna's (grandma) house the night before to make things easier on us. I slept surprisingly well and was actually quite relaxed when it came time to make the trip down the hall and into the operating room.
Kevin waited outside while the anesthesiologist did her thing and then was brought into the room so the surgery could begin. I have to say, in retrospect it was a weird experience. I'm not sure if the power of my mind did this, or if it was an effect of the drugs, but I was super calm and the whole day is quite foggy.
I remember Dr. K asking if I could feel anything and after answering no, she proceeded to make the incision. Fourteen minutes later Brennan Michael was born at 9:44 weighing 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured 19.7 inches long. A minute later at 9:45 Carter Matthew entered this world and weighed in at 6 pounds and 1 ounce, measuring longer than his (slightly) older brother at an astounding 20.5 inches.
I very distinctly remember hearing their first squeals (no, they were not cries) and I remember saying that I must have given birth to little baby pigs. I peeked over to the nurses and saw that I had adorable baby boys instead, thankfully. I also recall one of them peeing while Dr. K was handing him to a nurse - right over my sterile field and open belly. Thank goodness pee is sterile, although I'm not sure if any of it actually landed inside of me.
They ended up suctioning more than five pounds of fluid from me while on the table. The nurses were quite shocked. I remember asking them if that was a lot and they all replied with a resounding yes.
I couldn't really hear what the staff was saying while I was in surgery, but I could hear them talking. I later found out that my blood pressure was really high. My doctor attributed it to me being nervous about surgery, but also commented on how calm I seemed. Somewhere along the line they also found that my uric acid levels were elevated. If you don't know where this is going, they found out I was pre-eclamptic while on the operating table.
I was wheeled into a recovery room and barely remember any of this part. Grandparents came to visit and later that evening I was sent to a postpartum room. It was HUGE! Much better than my tiny little shoebox of a room that I had when Evan was born. I guess they had sympathy on me for getting two babies at once. We definitely needed the space.
The nursing staff continued to check my blood pressure and it was almost never anywhere near a good level. Later that week after my levels never dropped, I was placed on some medicine to help stabilize it.
We came home that Friday morning and I am happy to report that at 7 or so weeks later, I feel great! The boys are growing and putting on weight, although they had a rocky start due to some breastfeeding/letdown issues. I am now almost exclusively pumping, but am unable to keep up with what they are consuming. They get all mommy's milk during the day and formula for two to three bottles at night.
I am SO glad I didn't have the twins as my first pregnancy, otherwise we probably would have stopped with them. It has been a much easier adjustment since we already knew what to expect (although not multiplied by two!) and we are settling into our new life with our wonderful family.
No comments:
Post a Comment