Monday, September 26, 2011 Dave and I woke up early to head off to Holy Cross hospital for our scheduled induction. I went from holding the babies in my belly that morning...
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| Packed up and ready to roll |
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| All settled at the hospital and ready to get this show on the road |
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| Woo hoo, one boy and one girl coming up! |
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| Proud Papa holding his babies for the first time in the operating room |
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Suzette Yvonne Traxler
Born @ 10:58pm / 6lbs. 12 oz. / 20 inches long
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| Ian Grant Traxler Born @ 10:59pm / 6lbs. 9oz. / 20 inches long |
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| Suzie getting her first bath |
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| Pretty girl all clean and smelling so sweet |
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| Ian getting his first bath |
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| So fresh and so clean, now it's time to relax |
to holding them in my arms that night! This is my heaven on earth :)
And now for the details - at 33 weeks I was 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced. As a precaution I received a steroid injection to ensure the babies lungs would be developed in case they decided to make an early entrance. Little did we know at the time they'd hang out until begin fully cooked at 37 weeks! At my 36 week appointment I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced so it was decided an induction would be scheduled since labor was not starting on its own and my OBs didn't want these guys hanging out in there too much longer.
When checked by my doctor Monday morning at the hospital I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. It was assumed by him, the nurses and us that labor would progress quickly after being induced since I was already primed and ready to go, so to speak. Dave and I decided to have my water broken first to see if that would bring on contractions. So we did that and waited...and waited...45 minutes later no contractions. Then the pitocin was started at a very low dose and I was checked every hour to see what my comfort level was - i.e. if I was feeling contractions yet. Two hours and 2 dose increases later and still no consistent contractions. After a third increase of pitocin (max does is around 30mg, I was only at 9mg by this point - to give a little perspective) I finally started to feel some contractions.
Fast and strong is how they came. Dave got out our iPod and played the relaxation music playlist we'd prepared, I got out of bed and swayed from side to side and I did the breathing exercises we'd learned. All of those offered LITTLE relief and after a few hours of that and progressing only to 5cm I decided okay, time for the epidural! Having twins I was strongly encouraged to get an epidural anyways, just in case a c-section would be needed. After the wonderful anesthesiologist administered the epidural (such a quick, easy and pretty painless procedure - who knew?!) I was all smiles again, well mostly.
I was having consistent contractions and seemed to have established a pretty good active labor pattern. I started to feel lots of pressure and began to vomit a few times. I was thinking, woo hoo I'm transitioning, maybe it'll be time to push soon! I was checked for progress again - 6cm. Blah! Seriously, it was early evening at this point and we all thought the babies would have been close to coming by this point. I'd only progressed 2cm from the time I entered the hospital that morning! An internal monitoring device was put in to measure the strength of the contractions. And all the while the throwing up did not cease. It got bad, really really bad. The cherry on top was that the device was showing the contractions to have very little strength. I was ticked because I could totally feel them and to know they weren't doing much was a pretty devastating feeling.
Twelve hours from the time I was induced, I'd progressed 2cm - at that rate I wouldn't reach 10cm until Wednesday! Dr. Band said it seemed very possible my uterus was stretched so far that it just couldn't produce strong enough contractions to push the babies down and cause further dilation (knowing now that there was over 13 lbs. of baby in there makes sense). The thought of increasing the pitocin and waiting for who knows how long just to see if he was wrong did not seem very appealing to me at the time. Dave and I said a prayer and felt peace about having a c-section.
Once the decision was made I was so happy and relieved to know I'd be seeing my babies soon. I was prepped for surgery and wheeled into the operating room. Everyone was so good about explaining what was going on and reassuring me things would be okay. I felt safe and calm. Dave gave me exactly the support I needed as he sat by me the OR. Once the first incision was made we only waited what seemed like minutes when we heard, "Baby A is a blondie!" Dave was able to stand up and snap a quick photo of Suzette being born. Next, "Baby B is a towhead!" Dave captured the moment Ian was born as well. I could turn my head and see Suzette being cleaned off. What a rush of emotions! That precious perfect baby just came out of my body, what a miracle. Dave was able to take photos of the babies being weighed and cleaned which was great for me to go back and look at afterwards. When I saw him holding both babies in his arms I felt so known and loved by my Father in Heaven for blessing us with this beautiful eternal family. For ever and for always I will be Suzette and Ian's mommy. Next to marrying Dave in the temple this was the happiest moment in my life. Perfect. Complete. Content.
