The Taylor Family: My Labor Story -Twins 2011

I woke this morning as usual, to the sound of my alarm clock going off at 5am. I got up and ready for work and started my day. When I got to work I was greeted by a large amount of evidence from a search warrant the day before. The morning went pretty quickly with all the work I had to do and my weekly appointment at SCSO and before I knew it it was lunch time. Since I hadn't brought anything for lunch I decided to meet Peter for a quick bite. We just got Wendy's since I had to be back at work by 1pm for a news conference regarding the evidence from the search warrant. Right before I left I started feeling some small contractions that were stronger than the Braxton Hicks I had been feeling but not so painful they prevented me from doing my normal activities. I returned to work and the contractions stayed fairly consistent. I decided to wait a little bit before I called the IPs because I didn't want them to head out if this wasn't the real thing. The intended mother (IM) beat me to the call though when she called me out of the blue just to see how I was doing. I told her about what I was feeling and we decided she would call back in an hour to see how things were. I made sure to get everything set up for if I were to go into active labor and not return to work for a while. I told my boss that I didn't think I would be coming in the next day and sent out a couple emails to tell people about what to do in my absence. The IM called again and I told her things hadn't changed much; that the contractions weren't stronger but also had not subsided. She said they would get things together and head our way. I stayed at work until my normal time and left just before 4pm. I was still having contractions but they weren't getting stronger but I was feeling a lot of lower abdomen pressure. I still wasn't sure if this was prelabor or not. I had called my mom to tell her this could be it so that she could get her things together and come to the house to take care of the children if we had to head to the hospital. When I got home I wasn't really sure what to do. At one point the contractions stopped for at least 30 minutes but then would come back at 2-3 minutes apart but not real strong. Just before 5pm I called the doctor's office and my doctor called me back just after 5. I told him about the contractions and how they had stopped and started up. I wasn't sure what to do but he told me to come in. I told him it would be a while and he said that was fine. Mom made it to the house and I took a shower as Peter finished packing my hospital bag. Once I was out and dressed I was ready to get going. I wasn't in much pain still and could still walk and talk and be normal during the contractions. I kissed the kids goodbye and hugged mom and then Peter and I left for the hospital. It was about 5:45 at this point and Peter said we should get something to eat on the way. I wasn't hungry but I knew that if they decided to keep me they wouldn't let me eat until after the babies were born. We stopped at Chick-fil-A and then got on I-4 to head to the Halifax Hospital in Daytona. We made it to the hospital and went up to the maternity ward where we had to stop and register before we could go in. It didn't take very long and we were sent in around 6:20. When we got to the front desk they directed us to a triage room where I changed into a gown and got hooked up to the fetal and contraction monitors. My contractions were peaking around 60 and were about 2-3 minutes apart still. I still really wasn't sure if they would keep me or not. At my appointment last Friday I was 3 cm dilated and I knew that it probably wouldn't take much to have me dilate more. The nurse

asked me to rate my pain and I told her it was about a 2 (on a scale of 1-10). I was still able to talk and laugh even with having to stay in bed with the monitors on. I was back in triage for a half hour or so and once the nurse had me monitored for while and had gotten my previous pregnancy history she did an exam and said I would be admitted because I was 5 cm dilated. An ultrasound was performed to find the position of the girls to see if a VBAC was still possible. Baby A was still head down (yay!!!) but B was breech and happy. I was unhooked from the monitors and moved to a labor/delivery room when it was just after 7pm. I got all hooked up to new monitors and was told that I would actually be delivering in an operating room since I was having twins. I already knew that so I wasn't upset or surprised which was nice. I told the nurses very early on that I wanted an epidural so they started an IV for my fluids and put me on the list to receive the epidural. There were a few other things going on in the hospital so there weren't any anesthesiologist available right away. The pain was still minimal but I bumped up my rating to a 3. The contractions were getting to about 100 at this point and still about 2-3 minutes apart. In this next hour my contractions really started to get strong and some were peaking off the charts for a while before they would come back down to where we could see them on the screen. Having had Javan at home with no medication at all I knew the contractions could and would get a lot worse so I think I told my nurse my pain level was about a 5-6 at this point. The IPs made it to hospital but I was so much pain I couldn't talk to them. The contractions were really close together, some never fully relieving itself before the next would start and I just had to breath through each one and try to ready myself for the next one to come. There were a few that were very hard and almost made me cry but again, knowing what they could be, I knew this was not as bad as it was going to get. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived to do the epidural and not a moment too soon. I was definitely ready for some relief. The anesthesiologist told me about complications, what to expect, and he made sure I understood what he was telling me. I sat on the edge of the bed as he prepped my back and tried to hold still while he inserted the numbing medication. I didn't remember the pain that went with this from having the girls so I was a little taken back but the pressure and burning of it. I was trying really hard to hold still but I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Finally, he inserted the catheter that would administer the medication and then taped me up. Just knowing that relief was coming was enough to give me a breath or two even though I knew it would take a little bit before I would really feel it. A few minutes after the epidural was in my doctor came in to break my water and to do another exam to see where I was at. He broke my water and found I was at 6 cm, much less than any of us had expected. He said he may give me potocin to strengthen the contractions and get me dilated faster but then decided he would wait an hour or so before doing that. I was really glad to hear he would wait because I have never heard anything good about potocin labors. By the time he left the room, around 9:30pm, I wasn't feeling any pain. The IPs came back in the room and I was finally able to greet them and tell them I was okay. Since we were to be in the operating room Peter and the IM had to put on scrubs.

There really wasn't much to do but wait at this point. Baby B was really feisty and dancing all around. It had taken a lot for the nurses to get her heartbeat on the monitor all night, at one point I even held it for the nurse so she could do other things. Eventually they got a decent reading and were able to leave the room and not hold it in place. About this time the IPs left to give me some rest and I tried to shut my eyes. I dozed in and out but didn't really sleep at all and Peter did the same. The nurse came back and checked on me and I mentioned to her that my contractions (on the screen) seemed to be less intense. They were still consistently coming every 2 minutes or so and they didn't seem to be going below the 20 mark but they were also only reaching about 60-80 on the scale. The nurse didn't seem too concerned since they were consistent. She did an exam around 10:30 and found that I was still only about 6-7cm dilated. I knew that because the contractions weren't strong I wouldn't be dilating very quickly. She said she was going to talk to doctor and left the room. I had always been a bit fearful of having a repeat c-section but now I was getting a stronger feeling of it. I knew because it was twins I was at greater risk and since the doctor had broke my water we now had to watch the clock. In the next 30-45 minutes my body decided to kick into gear and at the next exam I was 8cm. The staff started prepping the operating room for the delivery of twins and the possibility of a c-section. Around 11:30pm I transferred to a stretcher and was wheeled down to

the operating room where I moved over to the delivery bed. Once I was all prepped and they did another ultrasound on the babies Peter and Vandita were aloud in the room. My legs were put in stirrups and once everything was in place my doctor did a quick check and found me at 10cm so he waited for a contraction and told me to start pushing. In that first contraction I pushed three times for about 10 seconds each and baby A was born at 11:56pm on 11/1/11. I was glad I remembered how to push, right before we got to that point I thought I may had forgotten or couldn't feel enough through the epidural to do it. Once A was here they laid her on my belly and I got to see her as they sucked out her nose and throat before they moved her to her little bed. Baby B was still breech and the doctor had planned to just pull her out by her feet but he could only get a hold of one. The doctor broke her water as he tried to grab her and at one point she gave him a hand but he couldn't pull her out with a foot and hand. With the help of other doctor in the room and the nurses they performed a version and were eventually able to spin her around so she was vertex. The entire time they were working on getting B into position I was simply praying for God to give me strength and allow me to have her VBAC and not via c-section. Finally, the doctor said she was in position but she was still a bit up the birth canal and her head wasn't quite low enough. He had me push through a contraction to bring her head down and I pushed with everything I had to try and get her where she needed to be. After I had pushed

twice for 10 seconds my doctor asked if I wanted to rest or push one more time, I said push and when that contraction ended she looked to be in a better spot so when the next contraction came I was going to be pushing to have her be born. After a quick rest after that contraction the next one came on and my doctor told me to push again. Again, I pushed 3 times for 10 seconds each and baby B was born at 12:09 on 11/2/11. They put her on my belly and I got to see her tiny little body before they swept her away to her little bed. The doctor delivered my placentas and said I was good to get cleaned up. I had no tearing and only a very minor abrasion from the birth so I didn't need any stitches. The nurses called out that both babies were exactly 5 lbs 6oz (apparently it is rare for twins to weigh the same amount at birth). A measured 18.25 inches and B measured 18.5 inches. After things calmed down in the operating room I was moved to a recovery room and monitored for blood clots and all my vitals.

Since I had delivered twins there was a greater chance of clotting and other blood issues so I had to be checked every 15 minutes. I stayed in the recovery room until about 2 am before my nurse started me towards my staying room. On the way we passed the nursery and we could see the IPs through the window. My nurse asked if I wanted to see the babies and of course I said yes. She wheeled my whole bed into the room and then I was handed A. All I could do was stare at her. She was so tiny and I couldn't hold back my tears of joy (though I didn't try). Finally, I was experiencing the surrogacy I had always dreamed of. After never seeing the triplets when they were born I couldn't shake the doubt that I wouldn't be able to see these babies either. I knew all the circumstances were different: the agency, the IPs, the birth style, the hospital, experience, but even still there was a doubt that had been growing larger as I knew the birth was approaching. There were times I was afraid to even have the babies because I just didn't know if it would be the last time I ever got to enjoy them. The IPs knew about my previous surrogacy experience and I had been assured that this was not going to be the case for this pregnancy. It wasn't that I didn't believe or trust them but having only experienced how terrible the last surrogacy was I didn't know if I could expect anything else. But now, holding this sweet baby in my arms instead of only my belly it was if I was getting

even more closure from the triplets and also getting closure for this pregnancy. God is so good and His love me is so obvious even though at times I don't recognize how he is working in my life. Eventually I asked about B but was told that she was in the NICU because she had a little fluid in her lungs and they wanted to evaluate her. I handed A back to the nurse and was then taken to my room to get some sleep around 2:30am.

Wednesday, November 2

My Labor Story -Twins 2011

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