Before I even begin writing this, I'm warning you... it is going to be long. But I find as every single day goes by, my memory gets worse and worse. These babies have done a number on my brain. I need to put this in writing before my memory totally goes. :)
After a fairly easy pregnancy (aside from being exhausted and huge), I had high hopes of making it to 28, then 32, then 34 weeks. Since my pregnancy was so "good" (no problems with early labor), I didn't think I would have any issues making it much farther than 26 6/7 weeks.
However, at my 25 week appointment, I had elevated blood pressure and a high level of protein in my urine. Both are signs of pre-eclampsia. My OB-GYN, Dr. K, told me to have my bags packed at my appointment the following week. If my BP and/or protein levels were worse, I would be moving into the hospital to be monitored for the duration of my pregnancy.
Well, the following week, my BP was higher and my protein levels were double what they were the week before. So after many tears, I moved into the antepartum area of the hospital. They did blood work upon arrival and found that my platelets were low, which was of concern since platelets are what keeps you from bleeding too much (which would be a problem with my impending c-section). Dr. K said that if my platelets fell to 110, then I would have to deliver. Mine were at 119. The next several days, they wavered between 118-122. On the morning of September 12, Dr. K came in and told me he was surprised how steady they were holding and that I "just might make it to 28 weeks".
That night, however, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I called the nurse around 1AM to tell her. She listened to my lungs, said everything sounded okay, and gave me an Ambien to help me sleep. The Ambien didn't help anything. I still couldn't sleep or breathe. That morning, September 13th, my day nurse came in and said she heard how my night went. She had talked to Dr. K about it, and he ordered a chest x-ray to check everything out. An hour or so after the x-ray, Dr. K walked into my room and told me that I had fluid in my lungs and that my c-section had been scheduled in 3 hours.
This is where my mind starts to get fuzzy.
Bill was at work, so he rushed over to the hospital. My favorite antepartum nurse started her shift and helped me shower and get ready for the surgery. Our pastor came and prayed with us. I cried about the entire time from when I was told the surgery was in three hours to when it actually happened.
I was worried about the babies, since I would be giving birth so prematurely. We had been told that 28 weeks was the "lucky" number that I needed to make it to. At 28 weeks, the babies would stand a 90% chance of making it. And I was over a week from that goal still.
The anesthesiologist came in to talk to us about an hour before the surgery. He was nervous and awkward as he told us that they (doctors) were still currently debating where the surgery would take place. The anesthesiologist wanted it to be in the downstairs operating room where he would have access to anything he might need should my health continue to deteriorate. In his words, "everyone in that OR is worried about the babies. My job is to take care of you." He said the neonatologists wanted the surgery to be in the labor and delivery OR, which is close to the NICU. He also said he was debating whether to proceed with the planned epidural or if he should put me under general anesthesia. If he put me under general anesthesia, then Bill wouldn't be able to be in there. He said that under general anesthesia, should I start to crash, he would have more options in helping me, rather than with an epidural.
Until this point, I had not realized just how serious my condition was. But hearing the anesthesiologist stutter and nervously stumble around his words really brought it to mine and Bill's attention.
They ended up deciding to do the surgery in the labor and delivery OR (which I was pleased with - I wanted my tiny tiny babies as close to the NICU as possible). They took me in an hour later than planned. The anesthesiologist put an arterial line in my wrist that went all the way up my arm so he could monitor my BP closely. He told me it would be painful. And holy cow! He was not joking. I am not exaggerating when I say that it was the most painful part of the day. (Although watching them yank the 6-inch long line out of my wrist while in recovery later wasn't too pleasant either.)
I was given the epidural, then the surgery began. The entire surgery, I felt like my legs were hanging over the sides of the table. Although, I was assured by Dr. K and Dr. M (another OB-GYN assisting in the surgery) that my legs were laying flat on the operating table. The OR was very crowded. They had Bill sitting up by my head, and there were 30+ other people in the room as well.
I know it might seem silly, but not much about my pregnancy was "normal". And I knew ahead of time that not much about my birth experience would be "normal" either. I had been warned that because the babies would be so small and their lungs so undeveloped, they probably would not cry as they were born. But I had prayed that they would. For some reason, this was important to me, and it seemed that it should be a "normal" part of childbirth - hearing your baby cry for the first time.
But back to the surgery. I felt lots of tugging and pulling, then I heard "Baby Boy 1 is born at 4:15pm". No crying. Baby Finn was out. More tugging. "Baby Boy 2 is born at 4:17pm." And he was crying! A tiny, but beautiful little cry! Baby Max was born. Again, more tugging. "Baby Boy 3 is born at 4:17pm." And Beck, too, was crying! Then, finally, more pulling... And "Baby Girl is born at 4:18pm". Baby Stella was also crying! The only baby I got to see in the OR was Beck. Once all four babies were born, Bill was able to get up and take pictures of all of the babies. He cut three of four umbilical cords... and he couldn't tell you which one he didn't get to cut. Probably best not to know. :) They rushed all of the babies down the hall to the NICU, and Dr. K finished up my surgery. Despite my declining health beforehand, the surgery went as well as possible. Dr. K told me afterward that they were prepared with bags of blood in the OR to give me. But not only did they not have to give me any blood, he said I actually bled the same amount, if not less, than the c-section of a singleton pregnancy. Amazing.
William Finnegan - 1 lb 14 oz, 13 inches long
Maxwell Jefferson - 1 lb 10 oz, 12 3/4 inches long
Beckett Franklin - 2 lbs 1 oz, 13 1/2 inches long
Stella Grey - 1 lb 15.8 oz, 13 inches long
So there it is... a very long version of the birth of our babies. If you're still reading, yay for you! :)
