Anikonjo
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- Apr 22, 2012
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My girls are 7 weeks old now so I figured I'd share my story before I forget.
My pregnancy was pretty uncomplicated for the most part...don't get me wrong, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I was blessed to not have any serious problems other than some mild previa earlier on. I spent a few weekends at the hospital towards the end for contractions although they never amounted to any real labor, thank God.
The high risk Dr told me at my gender scan that he didn't want me going into labor and mentioned something about twin A's umbilical cord being attached funny, but didn't go into great detail. I was scheduled to have a csection at 37+5 weeks. I was so miserable towards the end...I couldn't walk, sleep, my belly was stretched to bleeding. I spoke to one of the high risk Dr's at one of my last scans and he wasn't happy that I'd been scheduled past 37 weeks. Turns out there was a discrepancy in my due date at my OB. We corrected it and I made some calls and was rescheduled to 36+1.
It was explained to me later that twin A had what is called velamentous cord insertion which refers to how the umbilical cord is attached to the placenta. Instead of attaching as a solid cord with arteries inside, the arteries are exposed and splayed out; attached to the placenta on their own. This makes it weak and susceptible to rupture during labor. I wish the Dr's had shown more concern over this because had I not pushed to reschedule delivery earlier and gone into labor, it could've been very serious and even fatal. No one seemed to pay it much mind until after delivery and they were all saying wow good thing we got them out when we did.
Anyways, Monday January 14 we were at the hospital by 6:30am. I was surprisingly calm and we were all laughing and chatting with the nurses. My OB was late to arrive and we got started around 9. I hated the surgery room. So white and stark and I refused to look at the table full of operating tools. Getting the anesthesia was weird but the man was really nice and supportive. There was a med student there putting in hours and I found myself grabbing her hand since my DH hadn't come in yet.
He came in and they started. The tugging was weird feeling, but not too bad. I thought to myself this isn't too bad, I can get through this. Then my body started freaking out halfway through. Everything that wasn't numb started hurting so bad. My head, arms, chest. Then the nausea kicked in and I was dry heaving off to the side. Obviously I had no power in my abs so I couldn't even through up, I just kept heaving. I felt like I was dying. The anesthesiologist was doing his best to help me feel better with different meds. DH said they were getting ready to put me under because I was getting distressed.
Amelia was born at 9:22am and Brianna was born at 9:24. DH was torn between staying with me and going to see the girls get cleaned up. I told him to go see them. He brought them both over to me, but I felt like death and was faced the other way heaving nothing into a towel. I wanted to look at them but physically could not make my head turn. I regret that so much even though there was nothing I could do. I didn't get to see them for the first time until a few hours later. I still cry every time I think about it and feel I missed out on their first moments.
They were smaller than estimated at 5lb4 and 4lb11 and needed some oxygen so they went to the NICU. They were there for 2 1/2 weeks just to catch up on a little growing. They had to be able to take a bottle/nurse, maintain their breathing, heart rates, and temperatures, and gain weight. It was the hardest day of my life when I was discharged and we went home without them. I cried the whole evening.
The day I went home, I came down with Bells Palsy which is where half your face goes numb due to stress and/or a viral infection causing the facial nerve to become inflammed. Apparently pregnant and post partum women are at higher risk for getting it. It usually only affects one side of the face, but I was one of the lucky 1% and a few days later the other side went numb too. It was awful. I couldn't speak coherently, eating was very difficult, I couldnt show any expression. I got a bit depressed about it...I couldn't talk to my girls or smile at them. I look like a zombie in the pictures we took. Everyone kept telling me how tired I looked, not knowing why I didn't return their smiles. DH was my rock through it all, catering to my every need and being so supportive and of course I had my girls to keep me going. The numbness peaks at around 2 weeks and slowly slowly starts healing. I have a few small areas on my face that aren't fully "defrosted" still, but it is almost back to normal.
Having twins has been the most difficult experience of my life and I went through a lot. If what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I must be pretty darn strong by now lol. The girls are home and healthy and while its still challenging, they are worth everything I went through. I'm scared to have any more kids now.
If you made it through this whole thing, good job and thanks for reading. Finally, here are some pictures.
In the NICU, holding them both for the first time:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/9e6f8c0ba71a9f9347d9e639d6258761.jpg
1mo old:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/2842e974e54d416ad396516b58b4dc7a.jpg
Valentines Day
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/057edcf8202e60620a1a5c350e2f704a.jpg
Now:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/2f9af0f2b3bc161531cd30b31f213d97.jpg
My pregnancy was pretty uncomplicated for the most part...don't get me wrong, it was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I was blessed to not have any serious problems other than some mild previa earlier on. I spent a few weekends at the hospital towards the end for contractions although they never amounted to any real labor, thank God.
The high risk Dr told me at my gender scan that he didn't want me going into labor and mentioned something about twin A's umbilical cord being attached funny, but didn't go into great detail. I was scheduled to have a csection at 37+5 weeks. I was so miserable towards the end...I couldn't walk, sleep, my belly was stretched to bleeding. I spoke to one of the high risk Dr's at one of my last scans and he wasn't happy that I'd been scheduled past 37 weeks. Turns out there was a discrepancy in my due date at my OB. We corrected it and I made some calls and was rescheduled to 36+1.
It was explained to me later that twin A had what is called velamentous cord insertion which refers to how the umbilical cord is attached to the placenta. Instead of attaching as a solid cord with arteries inside, the arteries are exposed and splayed out; attached to the placenta on their own. This makes it weak and susceptible to rupture during labor. I wish the Dr's had shown more concern over this because had I not pushed to reschedule delivery earlier and gone into labor, it could've been very serious and even fatal. No one seemed to pay it much mind until after delivery and they were all saying wow good thing we got them out when we did.
Anyways, Monday January 14 we were at the hospital by 6:30am. I was surprisingly calm and we were all laughing and chatting with the nurses. My OB was late to arrive and we got started around 9. I hated the surgery room. So white and stark and I refused to look at the table full of operating tools. Getting the anesthesia was weird but the man was really nice and supportive. There was a med student there putting in hours and I found myself grabbing her hand since my DH hadn't come in yet.
He came in and they started. The tugging was weird feeling, but not too bad. I thought to myself this isn't too bad, I can get through this. Then my body started freaking out halfway through. Everything that wasn't numb started hurting so bad. My head, arms, chest. Then the nausea kicked in and I was dry heaving off to the side. Obviously I had no power in my abs so I couldn't even through up, I just kept heaving. I felt like I was dying. The anesthesiologist was doing his best to help me feel better with different meds. DH said they were getting ready to put me under because I was getting distressed.
Amelia was born at 9:22am and Brianna was born at 9:24. DH was torn between staying with me and going to see the girls get cleaned up. I told him to go see them. He brought them both over to me, but I felt like death and was faced the other way heaving nothing into a towel. I wanted to look at them but physically could not make my head turn. I regret that so much even though there was nothing I could do. I didn't get to see them for the first time until a few hours later. I still cry every time I think about it and feel I missed out on their first moments.
They were smaller than estimated at 5lb4 and 4lb11 and needed some oxygen so they went to the NICU. They were there for 2 1/2 weeks just to catch up on a little growing. They had to be able to take a bottle/nurse, maintain their breathing, heart rates, and temperatures, and gain weight. It was the hardest day of my life when I was discharged and we went home without them. I cried the whole evening.
The day I went home, I came down with Bells Palsy which is where half your face goes numb due to stress and/or a viral infection causing the facial nerve to become inflammed. Apparently pregnant and post partum women are at higher risk for getting it. It usually only affects one side of the face, but I was one of the lucky 1% and a few days later the other side went numb too. It was awful. I couldn't speak coherently, eating was very difficult, I couldnt show any expression. I got a bit depressed about it...I couldn't talk to my girls or smile at them. I look like a zombie in the pictures we took. Everyone kept telling me how tired I looked, not knowing why I didn't return their smiles. DH was my rock through it all, catering to my every need and being so supportive and of course I had my girls to keep me going. The numbness peaks at around 2 weeks and slowly slowly starts healing. I have a few small areas on my face that aren't fully "defrosted" still, but it is almost back to normal.
Having twins has been the most difficult experience of my life and I went through a lot. If what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I must be pretty darn strong by now lol. The girls are home and healthy and while its still challenging, they are worth everything I went through. I'm scared to have any more kids now.
If you made it through this whole thing, good job and thanks for reading. Finally, here are some pictures.
In the NICU, holding them both for the first time:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/9e6f8c0ba71a9f9347d9e639d6258761.jpg
1mo old:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/2842e974e54d416ad396516b58b4dc7a.jpg
Valentines Day
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/057edcf8202e60620a1a5c350e2f704a.jpg
Now:
https://i1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj489/Anikonjo/2f9af0f2b3bc161531cd30b31f213d97.jpg
