Here is how it all began....
Sunday morning I woke up and was pretty sure that I may have lost my "plug." Being new to the whole pregnancy thing I looked it up online and felt a bit more certain. The internet said that anywhere from 1 hour to 3 weeks, you could go into labor. Knowing how early on it was, I was assuming I had 3 weeks and was very surprised to have the babies less than 36 hours later. We had friends over for lunch on Sunday and went to Boston to visit Kym and Ross. After coming home late, we headed to bed and I was up around 4 am, just feeling uncomfortable. I finally got out of bed around 4:30 and I started experiencing regular contractions around 5. The contractions lasted about 45 minutes and were 5 minutes apart but didn't seem to last a full minute so I figured I would wait it out. To be honest, I was pretty sure they couldn't be contractions that I was experiencing because in my mind I had built them up to be so much more painful and unbearable. For the next few hours I continued to feel "crampy" and noticed regularity with my contractions again around 9 am. Mike did some research online and we were a bit more convinced that maybe they really were contractions so Mike started timing them. After about an hour and 45 minutes of regular contractions, we called the Dr. to see what they recommended. I had a great morning and managed to clean the kitchen and wrap up a few other small projects, meanwhile Mike timed my contractions and asked me over and over again to finish packing my bag for the hospital. Yes, I am a stubborn polack! I finally gave in and we got to Baystate around 11:30 am. We went to the admissions area where they hooked me up to a contraction monitor and put on two additional monitors to track the babies heart rate. When the contractions became regular, they decided to do an internal exam. This was my first internal exam and the Dr. said that I was 3 cm dilated. Since we didn't have anything to compare this to, it was hard for the Dr. to know if we were progressing at all because she said that I could have been 3 cm dilated for a while and not known it. So, they kept me on the monitors for another hour and with increased contractions, they finally decided to give me medication around 1 pm to attempt to stop or slow down the contractions. An hour later, they came back to check on me and I was 4 cm dilated. They moved us up to the second floor but weren't clear about whether we were being admitted or still trying to delay the labor. By the time we got upstairs and got settled, the contractions were still coming. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable but still expecting much, much worse. The nurses continued to check me every hour and I was becoming more and more dilated. I think it was around 5 pm when we were finally clear that we were staying for good and the boys were on their way! Mike made phone calls to keep our parents up to date and by 6 pm, I was 7 cm dilated. At this point, with the Dr.'s recommendations, I got an epideral. Boy, what a difference that makes! Mike would watch the screen and tell me when I was having a contraction rather than the other way around. About a half hour later, the Dr. came in and broke my first water. What am amazing relief! I felt like I had lost 20 pounds! Within 20 minutes, I was 10 cm dilated and being wheeled into the OR. It all happened so quickly that Mike didn't even have his scrubs on before I was out of the room and on my way down the hall. For twins, they always make you deliver in the OR in case of complications. I was disappointed to find out that they weren't going to let my mom come with us but when we got to the OR and realized there was a party, I understood why. The room was crowded with 5 M.D.'s and over 10 nurses. I remember looking up and feeling like I was on a T.V. show, seeing the huge lights above me. As soon we we got into the OR, they let me start to push. Aiden was born after about 20 minutes and again, I felt great. Mike and the Dr.'s were laughing at me when after pushing Aiden out I remarked "that was amazing..." Aiden came out crying which was such an amazing sound but he had a temp of 103 degrees. They gave Mike and I a quick glimpse (the smiling picture that I posted previously on the blog) then wisked him away. Within about 5 minutes, they broke my second water and told me to let them know when I was ready to push. I was anxious so I started right away. Within 15 minutes, Christopher was born but unlike Aiden, he wasn't crying and was totally limp. Thankfully, being at the angle I was, I couldn't see anything but not hearing anything didn't make me feel any better. Mike and I anxiously awaited as the nurses assisted Christopher in breathing. We weren't able to see him before he was sent upstairs but the Dr.'s assured us everything would be okay and all that we could do was trust them and pray. Worrying and waiting for news about the boys seemed to take forever. I was given 6 stitches and felt pretty good so I was wheeled back to my room. Mike was able to see the boys about two hours after they were born. Meanwhile, I started to have an awful headache, fever, & high blood pressure. The Dr.'s began closely monitoring me and took blood work to determine that I had preclampsia and HELLP. Having no idea what was going on, they put me on magnesium sulfate which totally took the life out of me. It felt as if I was on drugs and in my own world. I was on an IV for fluids, mag. sulfate and an antibiotic for infection. They decided to test the placenta to see why both boys and I were so sick. We still have no heard the results of the tests but within 28 hours, I was off of my drugs and feeling so much better and much more like myself. I apologize to anyone that I may have seen to talked to during that time because, man oh man was I loopy! I wasn't able to see the boys the first night they were born because I was so sick. Thankfully I felt awful enough myself that I wasn't willing to put up a fight. The following day, Tuesday morning, I was brought up to meet the boys for the first time. It was a complete inconvenience that I had to be accompaigned by a nurse every time I wanted to see the boys during the first 2 days.
Going up to meet the boys for the first time was so intimidating. Mike and I kept saying that the experience was not what we were prepared for and definitely something that we had to learn to handle as we went. Seeing the boys was very overwhelming and upsetting. They were hooked up to oxygen, IV's for infection and fluids and all kinds of monitors. They were so small but we were both in love with them right away!
I will update again later with the day by day details of the boys progress. They are doing great now. They are off of the oxygen, IV's and are breast feeding! They are definitely both fighters and Mike and I couldn't be more thrilled to see them progressing so well. More details to come, I promise...
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