In part one of our birth story, I described our pregnancy and delivery with our first set of twins. When our boys turned one, my husband and I began discussing the timing of having another child. We both felt that our family was not yet complete. I wanted to experience the baby and newborn phase at least one more time. We discussed the logistics of how we would manage two toddlers and a newborn. It seemed manageable to us and something we were ready for. My husband is seven and a half years older than me and nearing forty. We both felt that the sooner we got pregnant, the better.
In late February or early March, I made an appointment with my OBGYN to discuss going back on fertility medication. I was still having extremely irregular cycles and ovulation was unpredictable due to having Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. If you want to know more about this, check out my blog post titled "Overcoming Infertility: A Personal Journey to Twin Parenthood." My doctor recommended that we start on the middle dosage of Letrozole for the first round. When trying to conceive with our first set of twins, Clomid did not work and we needed to use the strongest dosage of Letrozole. My doctor recommended this dosage of Letrozole due to my previous history.
We ended up conceiving with our first round of Letrozole which caught us very off guard. We knew we were at a higher risk of having twins due to needing fertility medication and having twins already. However, the odds were still in our favor that it would be a singleton pregnancy. On my twenty-one day blood draw, my progesterone levels came back extremely high, similar to my first pregnancy. When I got this phone call, my husband and I looked at each other and had an "oh shit" moment. We could not confirm yet that it was twins or that I was even pregnant but things just seemed a bit too similar to our first pregnancy. You could say we had a hunch. About a week later, I had a positive pregnancy test but was in denial and convincing myself that it would be a singleton pregnancy. I was still playing the statistics game. According to my Google searching, the likelihood of having twins while on fertility drugs was one in thirty-five. My thinking was that there was no way I would be the one in thirty-five twice.
It was again at our eight-week ultrasound that we got the news of twins again. Covid restrictions had lifted and my husband was able to join this time. Our appointment was first thing in the morning but I had intentionally taken the entire day off from work knowing that could be getting some overwhelming news. We explained our situation to the ultrasound tech and how we were hoping for one but knew there was an increased likelihood of having two. It was seconds after she put the ultrasound wand on my stomach that we were able to see two sacks with two little heartbeats. This time the panic hit a little harder. We knew what newborn twins entailed. I just came out of a really difficult postpartum experience, and I was realizing that I was going to have to do it all over again. After the shock that we were having twins again wore off a bit, my husband an I began planning what our future family would need to look like. We shopped for a new vehicle and converted my sewing room to the boys' new bedroom. We figured out how we would financially make it all work. I was much more intentional this time because we knew what to expect.
Like the first pregnancy, we scheduled our c-section for when I was thirty-seven weeks. I was scheduled to deliver on a Monday. I woke up the day before, not able to feel fetal movement in Baby B. I decided to go to the hospital to be safe around 10:00am. I went by myself while my husband watched our boys. I called my parents to give them a heads up that I as going in and to be on call in case we needed them to come watch our oldest set of twins. Once at the hospital, they did a non-stress test but everything looked normal. However, they were a little concerned since I still could not feel movement from baby B. The doctor decided that since my c-section was scheduled for the next day and I was already there that they would deliver the babies that day. They told me that there was a couple other c-sections and a twin delivery in the operating rooms that day so it would be a couple hour wait. They said an OR would probably be available around 1:30 or 2:00.
I called my husband to update him to let him know we would be having our babies but that he actually did not need to rush this time. He could take his time and call his parents and buddies. I let my parents know that they would need to watch our boys a day earlier than planned. Once my parents got to our house, my husband came to the hospital. At this point, I had been sitting in a triage room for a couple hours hooked up to fetal heart monitors. Any pregnant twin mama knows that sitting in one place for an extended period of time can get quite uncomfortable. The nurses came in and kept telling us that it would be a little later than originally planned.
At around 3:00, a nurse came in start prepping for the c-section and start an IV. Let me just tell you that I have giant veins. Finding a vein for and IV or blood draw has never been an issue for me. Nurses love me for this reason. However, this time the nurse struggled for the longest time to find any vein. She tried five times prior to calling another nurse in to assist. At this point, I was beginning to feel like a very uncomfortable pin cushion. Once they finally found a vein, they continued with surgery prep.
They had me walk to the operating room around 3:45. I was laying on the table, half exposed, getting hooked up, when the on call doctor got pulled away for another delivery. The doctor asked that I be put back up to the fetal heart monitor while waiting. This looked like me in a frigid operating room, free and breezy for all the nurses who had to hold the monitors on my stomach since they wouldn't stay in place. I laid like this for a solid forty minutes. Once the doctor was ready, the anesthesiologist came in to administer the spinal block. If you read part one, you will remember me talking about the warm, compassionate nature of my anesthesiologist and nurses during my first c-section. The second time around was a stark contrast. Everyone was much more business like and matter of fact. I'm not stating this as a bad thing, it was just so surprising to me since it was vastly different from my first experience.
Once the spinal block was in, everything was very similar to my first experience. However, I found myself to be much more anxious. My arms were shaking and my teeth chattered. I think this is due to waiting around most of the day and gave me time to think and process what was going on. I also had nausea and pain in my shoulder. The anesthesiologist said this was often due to air and gas in my abdomen. The first time went so quickly that I didn't have any time to process. Like before, our babies were born around 5:00 pm. Baby A had inhaled some fluid on the way out and had to suction him. Baby B came out two minutes later. They transferred the babies and my husband to the recovery room across the hall as they sewed me back up. This time all their instruments were accounted for. They wheeled be over to the recovery room to fully hold my babies for the first time. Baby A was named Isaac Louis and weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We named Baby B Emma Irene and she weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 19 inches long.
The c-section was fairly routine and similar to my first experience. It was the recovery that was vastly different. Our nurses weren't quite as accommodating and helpful but this also wasn't our first rodeo. We had a better idea of what we were doing. I also decided not to breastfeed this time for multiple reasons, which meant fewer times nurses were coming in to support. My parents were able to visit the next day while our older sons were in daycare. This was something we did not get to experience with our first set of twins due to Covid restrictions.
It was later that evening that things began to take a turn. Earlier in the afternoon, they removed my catheter. Around 4:00, I began feeling intense abdominal discomfort and the aching pain in my shoulder again. The nurses told me that is was again due to gas and air in my abdomen. They encouraged me to get up and walk as much as possible. Any c-section mama knows that this is no easy or pain free task. To try and take their advice, I tried to walk up and down the hall hunched over a baby bassinet for support. This did not help.
As the night went on, my symptoms got worse and my pain was minimized by the nurses. They kept telling me I was just bloated from the c-section. I tried to go that bathroom but could not urinate. This led to even more discomfort. At this point, I was shaking from pain. The nurse came in to tell me that if I did not pee in forty-five minutes that she would straight cath me, which she made clear that neither one of us wanted. Needless to say, this did not make me feel better. I did end up having to have a catheter again but this did not come with any relief. I tried a shower to see if that would help. It did not. This is also not easy when recovering from a c-section. At this point I was walking in circles around my room, shaking and sobbing. My poor husband did not know what to do or how to help. The nurse took my temperature and I had spiked a fever. It was at this point that my nurse came in with an order for a Covid and Influenza test. After waiting for test results, we learned that I had tested positive for Influenza. It all began to make sense. I was recovering from abdominal surgery while fighting influenza, of course my body was going haywire.
After learning I had Influenza, my mind immediately went to the babies. I had exposed them to Influenza in their first hours of life. Cue the mom guilt. What would I do? We already had the babies in the hospital nursery overnight since I was not feeling well. My husband and I decided it would be the safest option to keep them in the nursery until the we were discharged. The doctor on call agreed that the nursery was the best place for the babies at that time. However, our nurse told us that they would need to bring our babies back into our room in the morning. This led to confusion in an already gut-wrenching situation. We pushed back on this and the doctor again ordered that the babies stay in the nursery. This was emotionally challenging for me. While it was able to rest and recover from surgery and Influenza, I was separated from my newborn babies. My husband also went home for part of the time to minimize his exposure to keep the rest of our family healthy.
I don't write this to impose fear in any expecting mother. My children are healthy and well. My newborn twins did not have any attachment issues due to be separated from me and all is well. I also made sure to write very honest feedback on my hospital feedback form. I write this to educate and inform. I wish I had been more persistent about my discomfort and pain. I wish I would not have allowed others to minimize my pain and make me feel as if I was abnormal or not tough enough. I wish I would not have let other try to persuade me to do something that did not feel right as a new mother. Trust yourself. Trust what your body is telling you and advocate for exactly what you need. Talk to your partner about ways you may want them to advocate for you while recovering because you might not feel up to doing it yourself. This experience taught me that I am in charge of my health and the health of my babies. That I do know what is right and when something feels wrong. It taught me to trust my gut and always advocate for myself and my babies.
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