For my own memory...

...here is how Monday, April 12th came to be known as a "birthday" around these parts...

• 9AM - Dr. Appt with Dr. K at the perinatologist. We were hopeful that today would be "the day" so we went ahead and packed the car with our bags and the car seats. Sure enough...Dr. K said that Caroline's fluid (I think) looked a little low, they were both good size babies, and my BP was a little elevated. I think Dr. K felt sorry for me a little after looking at my massive cankles and decided it was time to call Dr. T (the OB).


• Blood Pressure taken again before I get the news...my nurse says it looks like you are being induced...right as the BP cuff was going on. Induction? What? Can you say C-section? I was not prepared for that word to come out of her mouth. "But they are both head down," she said. My BP instantly went up I think. The last time I saw an actual number it was 159/100. Kinda high. But, we then get the news that it will be a c-section and Dr. T is on her way over to the hospital.


• We go upstairs (the peri is on the bottom floor of the hospital) and get checked in. I had breakfast so we were told it would probably be late afternoon in order to get my food to clear. Call mom...she is on her way to the salon...sure mom...plenty of time. No problem. See you this afternoon.


• Get checked in and changed in pre-op...hooked up to monitors and such. Nurse gets me to sign a million "just in case" forms. We are getting excited. Nurse comes in again and says anesthesia is on the way up...looks like we are doing this sooner than later. What?


• Nick calls my parents and sister and his parents...no one is prepared to be at the hospital so quickly. Everyone makes it though...just in time. So I have been told my mom cried the whole way to the hospital thinking she was going to miss it.


• Anesthesiologist comes in and says they think it is better to go ahead and get the babies out than wait for my food to digest. In goes the epidural...not bad at all...but the shaking begins instantly. Brr....


• Before I know it I am being wheeled to the OR...Nick is dressed in his scrubs and I remember saying to him...be sure to take a picture of yourself.


• I am moved from the my bed to the operating table...man I put lots of trust in these people because I was numb...and there was no way I was going to be able to stop myself from hitting the floor if they dropped me. (But they didn't.)


• I was prepped in no time and Nick appears at my head. (He was one of two important people at my head...the nurse anthesist was crucial too...I feel sick...medicine goes in...I feel pain...medicine goes in.)


• Nick takes a picture of my head and gets fussed at (time for pictures was apparently later) and then he gets fussed at again for standing up and taking a peek at the beginning.


• I think they are still prepping me and before I know it I start to feel lots of pressure on my tummy.


• "Lots of pressure" later...out comes Miss Caroline Grace...11:52am. I could hear her cry which of course leads to tears from me.


• Parker Man was born just one minute later...11:53am...he had turned into a breach position by the time he was delivered. I couldn't distinguish his cry from Caroline's...man I was getting sleepy...but Nick assured me everyone was okay and doing well.




• The nurses begin taking pictures for us...and before I knew it I was being wheeled into recovery.


• That's when it all starts to become a blur...but I want to get down everything I remember.


• The shaking got even worse...warm blankets were placed all over me...I looked like I was being mummified...but they felt so good.


• I vaguely remember Dr. T saying that she was putting me on magnesium sulfate (to prevent seizures) just in case...and that she was keeping me on the high-risk floor overnight. No post-partum floor for me...which also meant no nursery. (More on that below.)


• Once the magnesium sulfate was started I remember next to nothing until about 7pm the next day. Man that stuff was crazy.


• I can remember the nurses working on each baby...Caroline was in a bassinet to my right and Parker in a bassinet at my feet. The nurses were incredibly nice...and eventually Nick and the babies leave to go to the nursery. One of the nurses mentioned she had twins...and I launch into a full-blown conversation with her about breastfeeding...and if she was able to make it work. Couldn't tell you a thing she said...but I remember having the conversation.


• Eventually I get wheeled to a room...they kept me on the high-risk floor instead of sending me to the postpartum floor to keep a more watchful eye on me. I know I had a few visitors, but I was really out of it.


• I did not hold my little babies until later that night...closer to midnight I think. It was a bit of a fiasco because I was on the delivery floor and they were on the floor above in the nursery...to bring them down to me security had to be notified and a security guard had to escort the nurse down to the room and take up post outside. Thanks to my sister for "urging" the nursery nurse to bring them down to me.


• I spent the remainder of the night in some pain...not so much from the surgery, but from where they unsuccessfully had tried to start an IV earlier in the day in my wrist. They must have hit a nerve or something...I kept asking the night nurse to take out my IV to provide some relief, but instead was given an "ice pack" of sorts...the fancy ones they apparently give to when you deliver vaginally.


• The next day I had the best nurse ever (who I didn't think I was going to like but she was great) who helped me get out of bed and freshen up...I swear I couldn't be a nurse. Made it to the bathroom and back before getting a little lightheaded.


• I was moved to a postpartum room Tuesday evening...the smallest room possible I do believe.


• I liked being on the postpartum floor much better...open up the door and you could see the nursery. The nurses were also amazing on this floor...so helpful and kind. (I miss them and keep saying how it would be nice to go back for a few days.)
  
• We were the "rock stars" of our area on the the first floor. I think mainly because they were expecting us to be high maintenance with twins, but we weren't. And we were nice. And friendly. Unlike the people next door.
  
• We had many visitors...Tootie, Poppie, Madison even got a sneak peek (shhh...), Aunt Katie spent lots of time with us and even spent the night with me one night so Nick could go home for a night.
  
• The babies had to do a car seat test because they were under 37 weeks...and they passed!
  
• We came home on Friday...just beating rush hour traffic on I-285...whew! Aunt Sissy (my sister Katie) graciously rode in between the car seats on the way home...I just wasn't prepared to squeeze myself in there after a c-section.

• We made it home without any problems...and our lives have never been richer.

I am sure I am leaving out a ton of details...I will add more as I remember...it's weird how certain things trigger memories from that week.

If you made it this far in this long post...kudos to you!