What a crazy week! Matthew was diagnosed with jaundice, so we had to take him back to the hospital for phototherapy to bring his numbers down. We have been to the doctor's almost every other day, his poor feet have turned into pin cushions. But he is doing much better and even has passed his birth weight!
Here is my birth story if you are interested, sorry that it is so long:
I started feeling a little off Saturday morning, and I noticed I was losing my mucus plug. As the day went on I started really feeling contractions around 3 in the afternoon. But since they were all over the place and DH wasn't feeling well, he went to lay down while I paced the house timing the contractions. Around 10:30 at night I noticed I was bleeding a lot and by 11 the contractions were almost every 5 minutes.
I put a call in to my doctor and he said to come in to the hospital in the next hour or two if the contractions didn't get farther apart. So DH packed his bag and off we went to the hospital a little after midnight on New Year's Day. They checked me and I wasn't dilated but I was bleeding a lot, they said I shouldn't worry that much because there was mucus mixed in it. They said they would check me again at 6 AM to see if I had made any progress. They gave me some meds to help me sleep and at 6 AM they checked me and I still hadn't dilated, but I was having strong contractions. The doctor came to check me and he said it looked like my cervix was scarred and that was why I wasn't dilating. I have no idea how that happened since I never had surgery on it. He said because I was still bleeding they didn't want to send me home, even though my contractions were no longer 5 minutes apart. They broke my water and the fun began
Two hours later I was 3.5 cm dilated and I was able to get an epidural. I was so petrified of the epidural but it was totally painless and once the meds kicked in I had no idea when I was contracting. They like to prop you to one side when you have the epidural, and the side that is not elevated goes numb. Well little Matthew did not like it when my right side was propped up and not flat, his HR would really drop. So they made me lay on my right side. That side got so numb, it was crazy.
The entire time I was joking around with the staff and our families but around 3 PM I felt more serious and focused. When they came to check me I was 7.5-8 CM dilated. Not long after that I was at 10 and it was time to push. I wasn't making the kind of progress my doctor wanted so he said if I didn't deliver in the next 45 minutes he would recommend we proceed with a forceps delivery. It wasn't what I had envisioned, but I knew it was the best way to get Matthew out safely since my pushing wasn't doing it. 45 minutes came and went and it was time for the doctor to intervene. I was then told that I only had a few tries at pushing otherwise they will have to do a c-section. I pushed through two contractions with all that I had, but he still wasn't coming out. My nurse said let's push just once more even though it wasn't a contraction and I pushed with every ounce of strength I had and Matthew was born! He cried immediately and I couldn't stop crying. They suctioned his nose and mouth and put him on my stomach to finish cleaning him up. When they went to take him to be weighed and measured my doc informed me that I had a third degree tear. An hour later, I was all stitched up and I was finally able to hold Matthew. He was so handsome!
Since he was the first baby born in the new year at our hospital we were contacted by the local paper and Matthew got a lovely gift basket from the hospital. Here is a link to the article if you are interested.
http://wilmette.suntimes.com/news/97902 ... itals.html
AND
I was ao swollen with fluid it was gross. I stayed in the hospital another 3 days, and then was discharged on BP medication. My babies were in NICU at the time and I seriously had trouble walking to and from the unit because my feet and legs were so swollen. But, after a few more days, the water started to come off and in one week I lost 25lbs!! All water of course, but I felt so much better. By my 6 week check up I had lost another 10lbs and my BP was completely normal. Hang in there. Don't overdo it. Keep an eye on your BP, but with time all should be well. AND-_CONGRATS on your beautiful babies!!! Enjoy every minute--twins will keep you busy and on your toes, but loving every minute. PM me if you want.
Daddy ended up changing a diaper in the booth. It was fun! Glad we were the only ones there.
