My Twin Birth Story, Part 2

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The morning of the twins birth

On February 9th I woke up, and I KNEW the babies were going to come that day.

I felt an increase of pressure and slight discomfort in my pelvis.  It reminded me of the way I felt the morning I went into labor with Theo.

Ben had a huge presentation to give at work that afternoon, so although I wanted to tell him how I felt, I refrained.

There was no need to stress him out for no reason.  The poor guy doesn’t handle stress well.  My mom called to check in, and I described how I was feeling to her.

She told me to call the nurses immediately because mother’s intuition is never wrong.

Although I ignored her advice, I felt so out of it that morning that I skipped my entire hospital routine of rotating from bed to couch to chair.

Contractions

I started to feel contractions later that morning, which wasn’t abnormal.  They became more consistent but weren’t painful, so I kept calm.

The nurse came to do my fetal monitoring, and I didn’t mention the contractions.  They would see them on the monitor and could decide if they were cause for concern.

She came back a few minutes later to ask if I felt any contractions.  “Yes, 4 minutes apart, but no pain at all,” I told her.

They decided to go ahead and check my cervix to see if I was dilated.  5 nurses and the resident doctor all peered into my private parts (not sure why all of the nurses decided to pop in for the show, but it was incredibly uncomfortable and painful).

I wasn’t dilated any further than when I checked into the hospital (1 cm), and they decided that I probably was not in labor.

Or not…

The doctor ordered an IV of fluid to try to stop the contractions.  They told me that they would probably stop within a few minutes, and to just relax.

Ha. I canceled my wild party plans for that afternoon… sigh.

They did tell me that if the contractions became at all painful, to immediately call them.  I still had this little nagging feeling, so I sent Ben a quick text saying ‘I’m having contractions 4 minutes apart, but I’m not dilated and they’re not painful.”

At this point, I felt really conflicted.

My mom called to check in and she although she was able to stay calm over the phone, I could tell she was freaking out.

“I’m not dilated, and they think the contractions are going to stop!” I told her.

She insisted that I should be brought down to labor and delivery regardless.  I had no idea where Theo would stay the night, Ben had a presentation to give, and the doctor said it wasn’t happening, so it wasn’t!

Contractions for real

As I was lying in bed, I noticed that I was having to breathe through the contractions.

They weren’t painful, just laborious.

I had very mixed feelings about having my babies then.  I knew that it was best for them to stay inside of me, but at the same time, I had a little boy at home who also needed me.

It was hard and confusing and scary for him to have his mommy in the hospital and not at home with him.  With every contraction, I felt a small breath of relief for my just turned two year old, as well as panic for my two unborn babies.

The nurses changed shifts, and my favorite nurse came in to chat and say goodbye for the day.

“She’s not acting like herself,” she informed the nurse who was taking over.  “I’ve never seen her just lie in bed all day, and she hasn’t even done her arm band exercises!”

As she said that, I noticed that my contractions were becoming slightly uncomfortable. I still didn’t want to overreact, so I inhaled deeply in an attempt to stay calm.

“They are going to stop, ” I told myself. “I’m going to be here for 2 more weeks.”

Hubby arrived just in time!

Just as I was telling myself that, I got a frantic phone call from Ben.

Apparently, when I texted him, it popped up on his computer. He was working on a project with several co-workers, who all saw my message.

Oops.  Ben didn’t think my text was a big deal, but the head of his department felt otherwise.  She came down and told him he needed to forget his presentation and get his butt to the hospital asap.

“I don’t think she’s having the babies now, I think she’s just giving me an FYI” he apparently told her.

“Pregnant women don’t give FYI’s. Go to the hospital now!” she told him.  Well, praise the lord for that wise woman! By the time Ben got to the hospital, the contractions were very painful.

“Should we call the nurses?” I asked through clenched teeth, “do you think the babies are actually coming?”

We rang for the nurses, who rang for the resident doctor.  The doctor checked my cervix again, and announced that I had dilated to 3 cm.

As a precaution, they were going to move me down to labor and delivery. By the time we reached the elevator, I was screaming in pain at every contraction.

I asked the nurses in between gasps “are they coming? Are these contractions still going to stop?” One of the nurses tried to calm me down by telling me the babies were going to stay for two more weeks.

“Don’t tell her that!” another nurse exclaimed.  “Judging by her face, these babies are coming tonight!”

Find out what happens next in my twin birth story, read the final part.