My OB, Dr. Murray, had scheduled me to be induced on Nov. 6. The boys looked good and we were going to call it on Nov. 2 whether I was going to have a c-section or try for a vaginal birth. For a few weeks I had been feeling a lot of pressure as Aaron made his way into my cervix. At around 3:20 am on Halloween I started having contractions and tried all the tricks- drinking water, changing position and going potty. Nothing worked and the contractions went from 10 mins apart to 5 mins apart. So at 4:30 I gave in and woke Mike up and called the on call dr. She told me to come to the hospital. Mike and I showered and got ready, called our neighbor to come be with Emma and off we went to the hospital. We get to Labor and Delivery and the on call doctor checks me and I was 4 cm dilated and 70% effaced. The week before I was nothing. So I get a nice fancy delivery room to hang out in while they pump fluid in me and hope to stop my contractions. At this point let me say that I did not understand how critically important it was for the boys to stay put. I was 35 weeks 3 days pregnant. After about 5 or 6 hours, the contractions stop and unfortunately my blood pressure is now high and I am showing signs of preeclampsia. Combine that with being 4 cm and I found myself admitted to the hospital. The thought was that I'd be there until my scheduled induction.
I was not happy about this. I was not prepared to be in the hospital so long and hadn't even prepared Emma for this. The neonatologist came in to talk to Mike and I about what we could expect when the twins finally made their arrival. We were in shock to realize that our boys were most likely going to endure a NICU stay. At no point did we expect this because every week my perinatal doctor told me the boys looked great. I took that to mean they were developing well and would be ok. What it really must have meant was that they looked great for their age. Not sure if we didn't ask the right questions or if we were just too naive. In any case, this was a surprise and something we both struggled with the rest of the night.
Mike left around 5 to take Emma trick or treating with her friends so we could keep her life from being disrupted too much. I watched bad tv and finally tried to go to sleep at around 10. really thought I'd pass right out since I had been up so long but no such luck. So at around 11:30 I asked the nurse for Ambien. Finally I passed out around 12:30. Around 3:30 I started having cramps that woke me up. As I shifted in bed to try to find a comfortable position to ease my discomfort, I felt a gush of fluid. At first I thought I must have peed on myself since Aaron had been pushing on my bladder for a while. I quickly realized that my water had broken! I called the nurse and she tested the fluid and it was indeed my water breaking. From there things happened very quickly. There are things I don' t remember and things I probably remember out of sequence. Remember I was like 4 hours into having taken Ambien so I was out of it. Contractions started almost immediately after my water broke and they came fast and hard. I didn't really feel strong contractions with Emma because I was induced and had my epidural early. Let me just say that holy cow contractions are the worst pain I have ever felt.
I called Mike at 3:45 and told him what was going on. He asked how much time he had and I told him to take his time. Thank God he didn't go back to sleep because he so didn't have any time to spare. The nurses got me onto a stretcher and off I went to Labor and Delivery. The on call doctor came in and checked me and I was still at 4 cm but 50% effaced. They had to take some blood because my platelet counts were low and that makes a big difference on whether or not you can get an epidural. So at this point I'm laboring and it hurts and Mike is not there and I'm scared. My nurse is trying to help me through the contractions by telling me to control the pain, breathe through them etc. I just wanted to hit her to be honest. I never intended to labor naturally and was completely unprepared for dealing with this. In hindsight, the nurse was awesome and exactly what I needed.
Around 5 AM, Mike gets there and is immediately at my side, holding my hands and trying to comfort me as best he can. Shortly there after, the anastesialogist (no idea how to spell that) comes in and explains that my platelet count is low which increases the risks of putting in the epidural. I could be paralized or bleed out and not stop bleeding etc etc. But he said that he'd still tell his wife to get it. Enough said. So I sit on the side of the bed and in between the excruciating contractions he puts in the epidural. Immediately I get some relief. I am laying on my right side letting that side go numb for a few minutes and then as I start to go numb they put in a catheter and tell me to lay on my left side so that side gets evenly numb. At this point it is around 6:15ish, I roll over and as I do I feel a weird pain down there. I tell the nurse and she checks me. She calmly tells me to hit my call bell to call the nurses. When someone answers, she says she needs help stat. She then tells me there is a head peaking out. Once again, things happen crazy fast. Apparently when you have twins you don't labor and deliver in the room you are in but in the OR just in case baby B goes into distress. So they don't even put me on a stretcher but just push my bed into the OR and move the existing bed in the OR to the side. Mike comes in dressed in a jump suit and hair cover. The dr does a quick ultrasound to make sure both boys are head down and turns around to get ready to deliver. I apparently have a huge contraction and feel something coming out of me. I tell the doctor that I swear I'm not pushing but the baby is coming out. Sure enough, the doctor looks and gasps and out comes Aaron with absolutely no pushing!
The NICU team quickly takes Aaron away and start doing what they do. Mike runs and gets the camera as we wait for baby B. Ben is still pretty high up and so a nurse is pushing on my stomach pushing him lower as I am told to push. The doctor might have also used forcepts to pull him down but I'm not sure. Three pushes later and out pops Ben. The NICU team takes him away too and Mike snaps pictures.
So three hours start to finish and three pushes later and both boys arrived on Nov. 1 at 6:30 am and 6:45 am. Both boys were breathing on their own and their apgar scores were both 9.9. Aaron weighed 5.4 lbs and was 17.5 inches long and Ben was 5.2 lbs and 17.5 inches long.
The days that followed the birth of the boys has been a roller coaster. The boys started off in the NICU and when I called down around 2 PM to see if they were there or in the PCN I was told that they were going to the regular nursery at 7 pm. Then a nurse told me I was moving to the post partum unit because the babies were moving to the nursery.When we went to see them, they were in the PCN! And they weren't eating well. The next day both boys had feeding tubes in their noses. Then, Ben got an IV to dilute his blood and yesterday he got put under the phototherapy lights. But his little light bulb for feeding has gone off and now it is just getting him to suck more efficiently. Aaron is doing well but his little light bulb still hasn't quite gone off for feeding yet. I'm hopeful that it will soon.
They are absolutely adorable and I spend every morning with them. My favorite thing to do is called kangaroo care where I strip down to my bra and strip the boys down to their diapers and we snuggle skin to skin with blankets and a hospital gown over us. The boys love it and they really love it when they get to do it together.
So there you have the whole story. More to come as this story continues. We do appreciate all of our friends, family and others who have sent messages and prayers our way. Keep them coming. In the mean time, here are a few pictures of the boys.
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| Benjamin Michael Toscano |
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| Aaron James Toscano |
