What a whirlwind two days! I went to the
doctor on Monday afternoon (January 30th). I had a massive headache, was
very swollen, and extremely uncomfortable. I found out I gained 8 pounds
in one week and was weighing in at 212 pounds! I was surprised I had
ended up gaining so much since weight gain was minimal during the first part of
my pregnancy.
The appointment started with an ultrasound. The tech didn't get any good
pictures of the boys' faces, but was able to get measurements of them.
When it was time to meet with the doctor, my blood pressure was taken and
it was super high again. The high blood pressure combined with the
torturous headache and swelling made the doctor think I needed to head to the
hospital for observation and testing.
I called Seth at work and he wanted to go with me. We gathered up my
hospital bag and packed a few things for him and headed out the door. The
hospital had free valet parking so we dropped off the car and checked in.
I was put in a wheelchair and taken to my room on the 2nd floor (Room
2222).
They had a snack room with popsicles and crackers. My favorite thing was
the cranberry juice with chewy ice.
Every 4 hours my blood pressure would be checked and the boys would be
monitored. They kept track of contractions (wasn't really having any) and
their heart rates. They drew my blood several times, checked my
"fluid" levels over a 24-hour period, and gave me the steroid shot
for the babies' lung development.
With the way the doctors and nurses were acting, I thought everything was going
to be okay and I would be sent home and put on bed rest. We ended up with
quite the surprise on Tuesday afternoon!
Dr. Journey (the on-call doctor from my clinic) came in right after I ate lunch
around noon. She said with the results from my tests combined with my
headache they did not want to wait too long to take the boys out and that we
needed to mentally prepare ourselves because they possibly could be arriving
that evening. She also told me not to eat or drink anything the rest of
the day! Seth and I thought that meant the earliest the boys would arrive
would be around 9 p.m. or so, but my actual doctor had other plans. Dr.
Hardy came in even though it was her day off! The nurse came to my room
at 4 p.m. and started prepping me for surgery. I was wheeled to the third
floor and put in a room so Seth could change. Dr. Hardy came to talk and
check on me. She walked with me to the operating room (I was wheeled by a
nurse). Seth was told to go to a waiting room and they would come get him
in a few minutes.
The operating room was really
cold. I didn't think they would start my spinal block/epidural until Seth
came in, so I was in for a shock when the nurse told me to hold onto her and
the anesthesiologist stuck the needle in my back. I thought we were only
practicing! The pain shot up my back and hurt until the medicine started
to work a minute or so later. The anesthesiologist did some checks to
make sure I was numb and then had me lay down. That's when things got a
little crazy.
Extreme pain started radiating from my neck and shoulders. I couldn't get
comfortable because the table was so narrow. All the doctors and nurses
started getting mad at me for moving around and I kept trying to tell them how
much pain I was in. Eventually they had to hold me down and I got a panic
attack. Since I was freaking out so bad they gave me some drug that put
me in a major haze. FINALLY, they let Seth in and I calmed down but I don't
really remember much of the boys' birth. I only recall the doctors saying
blood pressure is dropping and next thing I know Seth was holding the boys next
to my face.
I was so happy to finally see them! They immediately went to the NICU
since they both had low blood sugar and James was having trouble breathing
(grunting) since there was still some fluid in his lungs.
They wheeled me to recovery
and I hated not being able to feel my legs nor be with my boys. It was
such a crazy and scary feeling. I felt helpless which led to another mini
panic attack. Luckily Seth was with me and helped me breathe through it.
Since I couldn't see the boys myself, Seth went to the NICU to FaceTime
and get pictures for me.
I thought my swelling was bad
before the C-section but I ballooned up afterwards! I have lots of
stretch marks on my behind and legs because of the swelling! The nurses
all commented on how swollen I was too. The swelling made my legs
and feet painful to touch. I honestly felt like I would pop like an
over-filled balloon! On February 9th I could finally start feeling
some give to my skin, but was still puffy for about a month afterwards.
I was surprised how sweaty I was after they were born. I asked why and
they told me I would be sweating and peeing out all the excess fluid in my
body. I was so swollen none of my shoes fit and I could only wear the
hospital's no skid socks around. Even those were a bit small!
The pain from surgery was pretty unbearable the first few days. I could
not sleep. Every time a nurse would check on me I would be up in pain or
pumping. They finally gave me Norco and I could manage better and
actually get rest.
One upside of my hospital
stay--besides having my wonderful twin boys--was that I really enjoyed the
hospital food. The room service menu always had several very tasty
options. My favorite meal was the sliced turkey, baked potato, and
veggies. I think I ate it 4 or 5 times!
I pumped every 3 hours even though nothing would really come out. My milk
finally came in after a week and a few weeks later I was producing a surplus.
We would take my milk to the NICU and the nurses would mix it with
formula to give to the boys.
We stayed at the hospital for
6 days and left at the very last minute. It was so hard leaving the boys
there. We had my room until midnight and stayed in the NICU until 11.
We then packed up and the nurse helped us carry our stuff down. On
the way home we filled my Norco prescription at the only 24-hour pharmacy open.
While there we picked up a heating pad with auto-shut-off so I could use
it for my back pain.
When we finally went home (on
Saturday, February 4th), we thought we lost our house keys. We had the
Tile app and tried using it to find them. The app said they were at a
Spin class I hadn't been to since before I was pregnant so we knew that was
wrong. I tried calling the hospital to see if they had our keys in lost
and found, but wasn't having any luck. I finally just called the
emergency line at our complex so we could get in. It was supposed to cost
us $60, but Ernie ended up letting us in for free. Thank goodness our
boys were not with us! That would have been quite the welcome home! Seth
eventually found the keys at the bottom of his bag a couple hours later!
While I was getting prepped
to have the boys, Seth wrote me this email while he was waiting (on 1/31/17 at
4:49 PM):
Carlie--
I'm sitting in the waiting room but wanted to write this now so you have this
when you get done.
Know that the last ~8 years have been the best of my life. You've made me so
happy and make me complete. I know the last few years have been rough on you in
many different facets but just remember that we got through it together and
we'll keep doing that for the rest of our lives. You've been so incredible at
staying positive and resilient in the face of incredible mental, emotional and
physical pain. You certainly all the best for the love and dedication you've
maintained!
Now that we're adding to our family, I'm so happy that you'll be the mother of
our children. You'll love them and teach them how to be a good, caring person
just like you. You light up my life and you'll light up theirs. There will be
many sleepless nights (mostly due to the abundance of nightlights!) but just
like everything else, we'll get through it together. I love you more than
anything. I'll love them both more than anything. I love you all, forever and
for always. Looking forward to sharing every day with you and our family!
-Seth
Sometimes I still can't believe I survived the IVF process and pregnancy. With all the shots, medicine, timing, multiple ER visits, some scary health situations, and a not-so-average delivery--I'm grateful for modern medicine. These boys are literal science miracles. I am amazed every time I look at them and think about the process and time it took to get them here. It's unbelievable sometimes, but I am so grateful. They are my perfect little babies. I'm so glad I get to live my dream job of being a mom now.
