Just like with Lachlan's labor, I had been having lots of Braxton Hicks for at least a couple of weeks before I went into real labor. Sometimes I'd get a little crampy, sometimes they'd start to come regularly, and some were strong enough to take my breath away. But they'd usually start at night, be mild enough that I could sleep through them, and stop once I got up in the morning. The nights that I went on walks with my mom seemed to make the Braxton Hicks a little stronger.
My goal of 35 weeks came and went. I officially didn't have to go to Peoria any more - for check ups or the delivery. It just turned into a waiting game and I guessed that the boys were both over 5 lbs. My mom was there, and we were shooting for the weekend that of 35 weeks or 36 weeks because then Mia wouldn't be gone at Girls Camp and would be able to babysit Noah, Susie, and Lachlan, especially if I had to go during the night. Also, my doula wouldn't be on vacation. But Lachlan got sick the night of Saturday the 21st and there was a crazy storm that made the power go out for a few hours Sunday night so I guess it wasn't for the best. I was having some pretty strong Braxton hicks that Sunday night, some enough to take my breath away and sometimes I felt a little crampy so I was hoping they'd say I was in labor at my scheduled Monday morning appointment but the nurse just said it's "irritability". That bummed me out.
Monday night I had a meltdown because I was so uncomfortable and felt like I was past due. I wondered if I was going into labor soon on Wednesday because I felt extra tired/low energy that day and was having more Braxton Hicks during the day, instead of the regular ones at night. We went to Noah's scout pack meeting Wednesday night and I had Bear look up acupressure points to rub to send me into labor. We tried them with Lachlan and nothing happened. But maybe they worked this time, because I woke up at 4 am Thursday morning the 26th with some back labor.
The contractions were about 5 minutes apart, very similar to Lachlan's labor. Again, I got out of bed a lot because I have to move when I'm in labor and I wanted to let Bear get as much sleep as he could. Bear had a job interview that morning in Carthage and I was supposed to go in for an NST (non-stress test) anyways so I was even thinking that maybe I still could ride out the contractions in the car while Bear was in his interview, then we'd go to the NST and then they could tell me if I was in labor or not and we'd be at the hospital anyways. I packed the hospital bag just in case. I took a warm shower to let the water run on my back. I woke up my mom at about 5:30 to tell her I thought was in labor. I soaked in the tub for a while too. My water never broke, but soaking in the tub/taking a hot shower always seems to make my labor really progress because I could tell this was the real deal even though I hadn't been keeping track of the contractions. I knew they were coming very consistently and getting closer than 5 min apart.
Our dilemma was Mia wasn't home to babysit. I really felt like I needed to get to the hospital, so Bear called the emergency room, tried to get a hold of my midwife (and failed), gave me a priesthood blessing right before we left at 6:30 am and my mom stayed behind to figure out what to do with the kids. Luckily there's no worry about bad traffic at any time of day on the way to Carthage and Bear sped the whole way. What normally takes a little over 30 min, took us just over 20 minutes. I knew Bear was nervous because he was talking about the corn growing in the farmers' fields the whole way there, even though he wouldn't care about it in a normal situation. We got to the hospital about 7 am and could tell my labor was progressing faster than Lachlan's was. And I got proved right. The contractions were so close I could barely walk into the emergency room and the nurse there asked how I was feeling and I couldn't even talk to her. She said my face looked like I was in labor, but that happens to a lot of people and this might trickle off and they might have to send me home. I still couldn't say anything through all of this because I was trying to be calm and relaxed. But I knew this wasn't just going to trickle off.
I wanted to get checked right away, but she slowly hooked me up to the monitor and seemed to take her own sweet time to check me. Then all pandemonium broke loose. I hear her say, "I'm having a hard time finding her cervix....wait...she couldn't be fully dilated, could she?!!!! Call Dr. Jones right now!!!!!" as she runs out of the room. It ends up I was at an 8, so not fully dilated, but this was the real deal. We called my mom and she quickly found someone to check on the kids and she came as fast as she could. I had asked her to take picture of the labor and delivery.
I already knew this ahead of time, but I had to deliver in the OR just because there is such a greater risk for an emergency c-section with twins. They immediately wheeled me in there and my doctor had to get woken up on the phone, and he drove there going 110 miles an hour from his home in Quincy. The other OB in town - Dr. Davis had to come in the mean time and him and Dr. Jones were both there for the delivery.
Let me tell you, it's not very relaxing to deliver naturally in an OR with the bright lights, on a super skinny and hard OR bed, and seeing my mom and Bear in scrubs. Between my epidural with Lachlan (and not being able to feel how I was supposed to push) and his giant head getting stuck in the birth canal for 3 hours, I wanted to try going natural so that I could push faster and I knew that there was no way their heads were going to be as big as Lachlan's. But my contractions were killing me. So I got an Intrathecal - still administered like a shot in my back, but right into the cerebrospinal fluid instead of between two disks. It was enough to take the edge off of the pain, but I could still feel the contractions and where I needed to push. They broke my water and Orson came out in 2 rounds of pushing/contractions. That was at 8:38 am. It all happened so fast and it was crazy to think that if there was only one baby, I would already be done.
Everything looked good with Orson, but now we really needed to focus. They gave me drugs to slow down my contractions to be able to monitor the situation and figure out what needed to be done. We were hoping Lennox would turn head down after Orson was born, but he turned breech. Dr. Jones hadn't delivered a breech baby vaginally since his residency and didn't feel comfortable doing it. Neither did I. At this point, they kicked my mom out of the OR. We really didn't want a C-section either. But Dr. Jones was able to turn Lennox completely around because there was so much room in my uterus. It was crazy to see how hard he was straining to turn him, but it didn't really hurt me. They were also worried that there was a lot of fluid under Lennox and a little bit of the cord. So they were worried that if they broke my water again, the cord would get in the way. But it got out of the way and he dropped way down where he was supposed to be. My contractions were slowed to down to every 15 minutes at this point, but because everything had turned out perfectly they gave me Pitocin to start things back up. I only closed back up to a 9 and it didn't take long to get my contractions back to 2-3 minutes and back open to a 10. Dr. Jones wanted me to hold on and not push through a contraction but I couldn't help it and out popped Lennox super quickly too. At 10:48 am.
And that is the story of how Orson Foster (5 lbs 8 oz) and Lennox David (6 lbs) came into this world. There were a lot of similarities in their labor and Lachlan's (including throwing up my breakfast), but the pushing was a completely different experience. The only issue was I seemed to have a reaction to the Intrathecal and my face was super itchy during and after delivery. There was no rash, but I couldn't stop touching my face - especially my nose. And I was so thirsty and hungry during delivery but then I kept throwing up every time I tried to eat again that night. So now my face is all red and blotchy and my nose is rubbed raw but I have an appetite again and haven't thrown up all day today. Lennox has a tiny bit of jaundice but they are super healthy otherwise. They literally want to eat all day and all night. And we can go home tomorrow!
