Birth Story Part I

October 18, 2012 @ 8am

Nick and I showed up for my induction-can you see my excitement mixed with extreme tiredness from carrying twins full term? :)

In our Labor & Delivery room. Our nurse, Ginny, is attaching the heart rate monitors to my belly. She also attached a contraction monitor.

The monitor tracking the girls' heart rates and my contractions. The two lines above are their heart rates (Vivian is the yellow line and Helen is the green line). The line below is tracking my contractions. You can see that they were still not very strong or frequent at this point. 

Waiting for the Pitocin to start working in order for them to be able to break my water. In the background is one of our awesome nurses, Ruby. We had the best medical team, they were so amazing!

Nick and I waiting excitedly. He was so supportive, I couldn't have asked for a better person to help me through the contractions as they rapidly increased.  

This picture is of us is right after I received my epidural. I thought that the choice to receive an epidural was going to be really tough to make-it wasn't. My contractions had gotten so strong that it was causing me to vomit and my body to shake from the pain. The Pitocin medicine they gave me to induce labor causes the contractions to be stronger than usual, and since things were moving so quickly, we had to make the epidural decision pretty quickly. The nurses did say that it is unheard of for women with inductions to not get an epidural since the contractions become so strong, which made me feel really good about my decision to have it done. We also were told that if I didn't get an epidural and I ended up having to have a c-section, they would have to put me under full anesthesia. I definitely did not want this, I wanted to be fully alert for the arrival of the girls! Let's just say that the epidural is a marvel of modern science! :) It allowed me to go without any other pain medication!

My parents were able to come and keep us company as we waited for the girls' arrival. It was so nice to have them there!

Headed into the Operating Room! With twins, it is hospital policy that once you are at 10 cm, they take you into an Operating Room. There is such a high chance of complications leading to c-section that being in the Operating Room already makes it so much safer for all of us involved. In my case, my labor progressed so quickly, that even the nurses were shocked! Less than 6 hours from the start of my induction, they were prepping me to deliver the girls! 

Timeline:

8:00am-Check in to Labor & Delivery-2 cm dilated

9:15am-Start my Pitocin to induce my labor

11:00am-Vivian's (Baby A's) water is broken

12:00pm-Receive my epidural

1:00pm-6 cm dilated

2:00pm-9 cm dilated

3:00pm-Start pushing and are moved to the Operating Room