The Twinkies

J. and F. were born on July 7, 2006.

J. was born at 6:30 PM.
6lbs 8oz
19 inches long

F. was born at 6:32 PM.
6lbs 13oz
20 inches long

Everyone is fine.

Proving that the best laid plans go awry, on Friday, July 7 we headed off to the hospital. I had been in “false” labor since 11PM Thursday and thus had not slept since a nap Thursday afternoon. It was my third bout of this false labor. Friday at about 11 AM I called B. and told him that I wasn’t sure if this was false or real, but it was bad enough that I wanted him home.

We labored at home for a while, and by 1 PM the contractions were coming right on top of one another and were vicious. I felt really dehydrated and was drinking huge amounts. B. called our wonderful doula, Deby, and told her we were ready for her to come and help us through this. She heard me on the phone and said “I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

B. called my OB/midwife practice and somehow got the answering service which informed him that it was not business hours and to call back after 2. Yeah. He called again, as per Deby (I was in no place to tell him OB practices are never closed to women in labor) and got through. We were told to go to their office at the hospital to be monitored and they would see whether I was ready to check in to labor and delivery.

At the office my blood pressure was normal, temperature was normal, but the babies heart rates were very high and indicated distress. Additionally, after all that labor I was still only 1 1/2 cm. dilated. While in the examining room I threw up, and we were sent over to admissions.

By the time I was checked in and in an L&D room, my blood pressure had shot up and my temperature was 102.7 and the babies heart rates were still elevated. I continued to throw up. I continued to not dilate. I continued to drink, though now I was chewing on ice chips. I was hooked up to IV antibiotics and a fetal monitor and B. and Deby helped me with some pain control. It helped, but since most techniques I knew involved movement and/or hot water, and I was tethered to the bed, it didn’t help enough.

The OB came in and told me it looked like I had a chorioamniotic infection and she recommended immediate surgical birth. I agreed, and as it turned out it was a very good thing I did. My group B strep had colonized both placentas, despite no ruptures in the amniotic sacs. J. came out screaming lustily and had an apgar score of 9. F.’s was a 2. By 5 minutes, after she was given some oxygen, her score also went up to 9. Her white blood cell count was elevated and she was placed on IV antibiotics for 2 days as a precautionary measure.

After a picture perfect pregnancy, I got to be very high risk right at the end. Recovering from major abdominal surgery qualifies as miserable, but it sure beats the alternative. If we had delayed birth I would probably, at best, be sitting in a NICU right now with very ill babies.

I will try to post photos as soon as I can, but right now I am typing one handed while holding J. who refuses to settle down but conks out the moment I pick him up. It is the middle of the night and I have another pumping session to do. So…photos later.

NOTE: I asked my OB whether the infection had anything to do with the pregnancy being a twin pregnancy and she said no.

Still to come: high stress adventures in breastfeeding (or what to do when your nipples become open wounds) and the day of jaundice.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 11th, 2006 at 8:12 pm and is filed under 0 - 3 months. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.