Everyone always talks about the pain of childbirth, but let me tell you, I thought childbirth was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. I did make it until my induction date, on May 19th. I was 38 weeks 4 days with twins. Guess that bed rest probably wasn’t so necessary after all! Oh well, it’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Kevin was great and took off work on the 18th so we could spend our last day together as just us. We went out to breakfast, and went over to the mall and just walked around for a little while. Then we came home and just hung out, made sure that we had everything together that we needed for the hospital, and ate dinner. That night we celebrated the end of my pregnancy by going to ColdStone Creamery and getting some really fattening ice cream. I was good throughout my pregnancy, and needed to indulge at least once!
The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed off to the hospital, we were scheduled to arrive at 7AM. Once we got there, we had to wait and few minutes and then were checked in to the birthing room. Once I got changed, I got started on my pitocin drip and IV. The only bad thing about being on the pitocin was that I was not able to walk around at all. My nurse, Pam, checked me when I arrived and I was 2 cm dilated, and 90% effaced.
 |
| Last Prego Profile Picture |
 |
| Self-pic! |
 |
| Mom, Dad and I in the morning |
Around 9:30AM I went to the restroom, and when I went to leave, I realized my water broke. I was encouraged, and thought maybe this wouldn’t take as long as I thought it was going to! When I was checked again, I had dilated to about 3 cm and was still 90% effaced.
It was a long afternoon, and I didn’t really progress on Pam’s shift. (Even though I did sit on the exercise ball for about an hour). At 3PM, Pam’s shift was over, and I was handed off to another nurse, Jean (who also happens to live across the street from me!) She was also great! She checked me around 4:30 or so and I was about 4.5cm and was in real pain at that point. I was getting NO break from the contractions. They were one on top of the other. They didn’t notice how frequently I was having them since they had an internal monitor in me, and it wasn’t doing a great job of tracking the contractions or their strength. At that point, I asked for the epidural. If I would have had a break, I could have gone longer, but I wasn’t even getting 10 seconds between contractions, and didn’t feel like being miserable anymore.
The anesthesiologist came in to administer my epidural. It was AWESOME! It started working almost immediately. Kevin said I was a different person once I got it! I would definitely recommend it. Jean took out my internal monitor and put the belt back on to monitor my contractions. At that point, she realized that they were coming on top of each other, and backed down on the pitocin.
At 6:30PM, Jean decided to check me one last time on her shift and said I was at 5cm and 100% effaced. At that point I got my third and final nurse of the day, Amanda. She was amazing! Amanda, Kevin, my parents, and I were all chatting for a while, when Amanda asked if I was feeling any pressure. I realized that I was a little bit, so she decided to check my progress again, (it was 8:30PM). When she did, she said “you’re not going to believe this, you’re complete!” “What?!?” was Kevin and my response. She informed us that I had dilated to 10 cm and was ready to start pushing. She called my doctor, and started getting everything prepared. My parents came in to wish me luck, and the doctor arrived. I started pushing at about 5 minutes to 9. Kendall Anna was born at 9:17 PM, 6lbs 1oz, 19 inches long. Then, the doctor began the process of getting “Baby B” in place. He broke her water and moved her into position by pushing on my stomach. Kevin said it was one of the craziest things he’s ever seen. After she was moved, her heartrate started dropping, so we needed to get her out ASAP. The doctor guided her in to place by using a vacuum and I pushed her out in 4 pushes. Kylie Ella was born at 9:25 PM, 5lbs 10oz, 19 inches long.
The aftermath was such a blur to me. The placenta ended up not coming out in one piece, so I ended up having a D&C right there. That was hands-down the worst part of the day for me. My epidural had worn off by that point, and I felt everything. Although, now I cannot remember details, I just remember being in pain. I think I blocked it out…(good thing!)
 |
| My two girls and I |
 |
| Kylie - L Kendall -R |
 |
| Daddy kissing his two newborn girls! |
 |
| Wedding rings on the toes :) |
The rest of the stay at the hospital was great. We had fantastic nurses, and overall it was a great experience. We ended up going home Saturday afternoon…and were definitely ready to get out into fresh air.
 |
| From the professional photographer in the hospital |
Since then it has been a blur of family, friends, neighbors, diapers, feeding, and (no) sleep! The girls are overall doing well. The biggest issue I had was the fact that my milk took almost a week to come in. No one warned me that this may happen, so when I noticed the lack of dirty diapers, and some fussiness, I started supplementing with some formula. Now I am back to nursing them almost exclusively, and they get 1-2 bottles of breast milk a day (more for my piece of mind).
At their two week appointment, Kendall was almost back up to her birth weight (6lbs .5oz) and Kylie was a little over hers (5lbs, 13oz). Other than that, they overall seem to be pretty content babies. They definitely have their fussy times, but that usually seems to revolve around when they are hungry, or after they eat when they just want to be held. Kendall also seems to dislike wardrobe changes. The change from day clothes to sleep clothes (and vice-versa) always seems to get a few screams from her. Kylie likes to get fussy in the afternoon, and always seems to get extra fussy just as we sit down to eat!
The hardest parts for me have been the whole breast milk thing, and the lack of mobility. I am a very get up and go type person, and that has taken some adjustment. We have gotten them out though. They have been to Babies R Us, Costco, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Panera, and the mall. They seem to love riding in the car, and thus far have been really good every time we have taken them out! It also helps me so I don’t feel like the walls of the house are closing in on me.
I’m sure I will be writing more and will have more fun pictures to share as these beautiful girls of ours get bigger! Here is a link to Kevin’s blog about them too
http://www.genxcolumbus.com/pages/kevin.html. I have the best hubby and he has been amazing and supportive throughout this whole process! He even got me a beautiful necklace with two emeralds and a diamond and gave it to me the day after I had them. It was wonderful. I am definitely a lucky girl!
Here are some more super cute pictures of the girls taken by a photographer friend of ours!
 |
| Yes, they were a bit fussy! :) |
 |
| My fav! |
 |
| Hangin in the Pooh blankets! |
