Anytime you have anything going on around the first of April, it never fails that the old adage of April Fools jokes come into play...and so when it involves birth, one can only imagine how hard it is to convince others that you are not joking...babies are actually coming (more on that later)! So, for us, April 1st was to be a day in which we had our last scheduled Dr Appt with Dr. Shirley followed by a trip to the Olive Garden for a "Last Supper" prior to Friday's (Apr 3rd) planned induction date. You'd think this "late" into the pregancy we'd have been prep'd for the "go to the hospital call" (and in most every respect we truly were)...but we honestly didn't feel that we'd hear those words at our appt...Gena's contractions up to that point had never stayed consistent for any amount of time and never were closer than 7 minutes. As our appt finished up and Dr. Shirley pondered the decision, she looked at both of us a few times and then said "I want you to go to the Hospital." Today? Yep, today. "What did you guys have planned this evening?"...to which we replied with our Olive Garden plans. "Yeah, you need to get something quicker and get over to the hospital." Wow, this is really happening...and now :-) So off we went in an organized scurry to Chic-fil-a for a protein-laden grilled chicken sandwich...and then home to do some final packing before heading off to the hospital. While we were on the road, we made the phone calls to our parents to let them know we were on the way. Mom-Tutt having already played an April Fool's joke on Dad-Tutt, the call to them was comical at first because she thought we were playing the joke back on them..."Okay then, mom"...I said, "we'll just send you pictures of the little ones and maybe you'll believe us :-)! No doubt that we were flooded with a wave of prayers as we drove to the hospital. As a husband and father, I was glad that I did not have to do one of those mad-dashes to the hospital because my wife was about to give birth any second. Our trip was rather peaceful and every bit surreal.
We arrived at the Women's clinic at Houston Medical Center here in Warner Robins just a few ticks before 6pm on the 1 Apr. First stop was the registration desk, where we tackled 30 more minutes of paperwork...this time mostly for the babies. After reading, signing, and reading-and-signing some more, we were directed around to the side of the waiting area and met by our nurse, Kyra.
Passing the nurses station on the way to our room, you'd have thought we were from another planet with all the looks and stares we were getting...well, that Gena was getting. And maybe it's that a mom who is carrying twins and made it to 38 weeks and wants to deliver naturally isn't from this "planet."...a rare trifecta that definitely had the entire medical staff's attention and interest. For me, though, that very notion actually made sense but in a different way....my Gena isn't from this planet...but rather an angel sent from Heaven who is a such an amazing person in every way possible. And it was never really surprising to me at how amazing she did throughout the pregnancy.
It was more administrivia as we got settled into the room...Kyra took some initial vital signs and setup the monitors to get an idea of how the little angels were doing. From that point on, we were under what would turn out to be quite a grueling schedule of monitoring...30 minutes on the monitors (which meant Gena had to be in the bed) and 30 minutes off (cleared to move about the room as desired.) Our Doula, Wilma, arrived about 30 minutes after we got checked into our room. And so began the “official” laboring process…official because we were at the hospital. Gena being 5cm, we had preferred to continue to labor at home…but we trusted in Doctor Shirley’s medical opinion and faithfully followed her guidance.
You know, it’s a neat thing when people are so interested in your situation and care when it’s so genuine…and it truly was with Kyra, our head nurse. She joked with us about “what took so long” for us to get there…and we soon found out that her shift ended at 7pm….which meant she only had an hour with us before she was tohandoff to the night shift. So just after 7pm, Kyra said her goodbyes with some sadness about missing out on the birth of the twins…and we were now under the care of Leslie and Karen. Over the course of the next 5 hours leading up to midnight, I helped Gena go through many of the “helping” techniques that we learned in our classes with Wilma. We had soothing music playing, the lights down low, and fragrant oils which all gave the room as soothing a feel as a hospital room can be (which in principle isn’t much, as we all know.) By midnight, Gena was 7cm and handling everything very well as far as the pain went...as time went on, the pain never got the best of her; it was the fatigue that continued to pile up as she entered the double-digit hour mark of the laboring process.
That is, of course, after having had little sleep almost every night for the previous weeks leading up to the big day. All to be expected when a party of TWO is literally throwing a party in your belly J . 2-3AM seemed to be Evan and Taryn’s “agreed-upon” time to party like it’s 2009!!
For those who have kept up with us on the blog, you know how much we think of Dr. Shirley…how blessed we are to have been under her care for Gena’s pregnancy. And, well, I have to say that I was extremely humbled and wowed by her dedication to Gena and her efforts to provide personalized and exceptional care. While she may have done it for other patients too, she spent the night at the hospital just so she could be close at hand…Doc was awesome.
And as the sun started to come up and the 7AM hour approached, 7cm was still the count…through the wee hours of the morning we had tried everything we could to get things to progress further for Gena. And while there would be moments of “hope” and shades of progress on the monitors, things seemed to be in a holding pattern. So Doc Shirley stopped by and said that she would give things until lunchtime and check back with us to see where Gena was at. 7AM also meant that Leslie and Karen were headed off shift….and Kyra was back with us again J She had a really big smile on her face, knowing that she hadn’t missed out on the big occasion!As the hours rolled on, I watched in amazement as Gena battled the fatigue as best as she could…as best as anyone could. With each passing hour, I had a newfound respect for the laboring process and ever-growing admiration of my wife for all that she was enduring as our miracles neared their arrival. It’s baffling to me, both on a medical/physical standpoint and a logical level that laboring moms are placed on an ice-chips only “diet.” A few hours…okay…but for 10…12…18….20+….are you kidding me? I don’t find much sense in having someone essentially “fast” while they are going through one of the most, if not THE most, painful and draining events of a lifetime. No wonder it doesn’t take long to get tired…you’ve got a full “belly” on top of an empty stomach. My efforts to combat this logic-defying hospital procedure are “classified” in case any of the hospital staff finds their way to our blog J (but I can tell you in person when I see you next.) Arlene had arrived a couple of hours before lunch to be there for the birth time. I checked with Gena and then got her back to the room to spend some time with us before Doctor Shirley was to return.
As the lunch hours approached, Doc returned at about 1pm to see where things stood. Our status was: Mom: Tired; Evan and Taryn: Good. In an effort to get things going,
Doc Shirley decided to drain the water out of little Taryn’s pool; and gave Gena some pitosin on top of that. It sure didn’t take long for things to start moving along. As prescribed, the contractions started coming more often and with far greater intensity. Knowing what was ahead, Gena made the request for the epidural…and I just gave her my support and said that I thought she was doing the best thing at that point. She had labored wonderfully and battled fatigue so valiantly for so many hours. At a time when I knew it was best to be at her side, it was so hard for me to be asked to leave the room while they got the epidural going. Those were some tough minutes for me just waiting outside…praying for my bride and our two angels was all I could do to keep my mind occupied. What seemed like an hour later, I was allowed back in the room…told as I entered that the epi had gone well. I turned the corner and saw Gena…far more relaxed and peaceful. Over the next two hoursGena continued to progress…and though fatigue was still squarely weighing on her, she was managing things better than before due to the help with the epi. 4:45PM showed on the clock and I went out to the waiting room…it was the agreed upon time that I would give Arlene an update…and all I had was that things were moving along but there was no definites yet. We exchanged a hug and she departed as she was stopping by our house to tend to Nash and Teebo and then heading home to get ready for work the next day.
As I passed the nurses station during my return to the room, Kyra saw me and held up both hands indicating the number “10”…and smiled as she dialed a number on the phone….10cm!!...and she was calling Dr. Shirley. It being 5PM, Doc had asked Kyra if she had time to see her last two patients…to which Kyra replied “I can see Taryn’s head!”
I scurried to the room and Gena gave me the “10” notification as well. ….it was only a matter of time now. In a matter of minutes, it was as if the subway had stopped outside our door as a flood of people entered the room and began setting things up for the final delivery. In no time at all, there were two teams of nurses ready…overseen by Pediatrician Dr. Blevins. Kyra was the head nurse and was aided by Pam, a chief RN from the nursery….and of course, Dr. Shirley. With Taryn well down the birth canal and crowning, Doc coached with each contraction on monitor. I stood at Gena’s right side, and got to touch Taryn’s little head when it was first visible. There were strands of beautiful hair. And with each contraction and push, I watched our little angel “inch” closer to the world. It was an absolutely amazing experience. And with Gena’s and Doc’s efforts, at5:57PM our beautiful Taryn arrived to this world. What a surreal and simply unexplicably amazing experience to see her! And as her shoulders became visibile, Doc looked at me and said “Well go get your baby Dad!” …and I reached down, clinched Taryn below her shoulders, and pulled her out. I’ll never forget that moment of seeing her little face and bringing her out and up onto Gena’s belly. I was quickly handed thescissors and cut her cord. Already wanting to help her Daddy and in an action all her own, Taryn reached up her right hand and grabbed onto the scissors as if to help me cut her way to freedom.
Some 30 seconds later, as Taryn was being whisked over to the warmer under the care of Dr. Blevin and Nurse-Team #1, there it was…the sound so beautiful and heart-warming….her cry. It brought tears to our eyes and Gena and I gazed at each other and silently agreed with a nod about the miracle that had just been realized. I will never forget that moment…my ears had finally heard what I had longed and hoped for for so many years and it resonated in my heart like a beautiful symphony. You talk about seeing God’s wonder firsthand…it doesn’t get any more real or clear than that!
As they cared for Taryn, there was still work to be done :-) Quickly, the ultrasound monitor was swung into place to get a picture of what Evan was doing. It had been our prayer all along that Evan would follow Taryn and move from his transverse orientation to a head-down position once Taryn cleared the way so he could be delivered naturally as well. It only took five seconds and Doc Shirley shouted out to the room with elation “We have a head!!” You’d a thought someone had just won the lottery based on the chear that was let out by the 16 people that were in the room. Evan dropped quickly and the contractions and pushing resumed. I saw and got to touch his little head as he neared the world…and just 10 minutes after his sister, there was Evan making his arrival. As with Taryn, I got to reach down once his shoulders were clear and pull him out and up onto Gena’s stomach. He was a beautiful boy!! Once again, an image and moment I will never forget. A pro at this point and needing no assistance as I did with TarynJ, I cut Evan’s cord and off he went to Nurse-Team #2. His cry filledthe room within seconds and it didn’t take long before his sister and he were doing “sound checks” in stereo surround sound. After a couple of minutes with Gena and assuring that she was doing okay, I left Doc to her work of caring for Gena and I went and checked on our little twangels. It was a cycle of nurses and events as they were checked, cleaned, diapered, and warmed. Everything was checking out wonderfully and Dr. Blevins gave them a clean bill of health…music to our ears.
With Evan and Taryn settling, I focused on Gena…as there were some medical complications she was experiencing post-delivery. The excitement of the births was tamed by the situation she faced. And I said silent prayers as Doc Shirley continued to work diligently to shore things up for Gena. Within an hour, Gena was stabilized…and the “crowd” in the room had dwindled down to just a few. The 7PM hour had come and Kyra was handing duties back to a now-elated Leslie and Karen. They were sad they had just missed the big event, but happy to be back as our caregivers. Gena was resting and the remaining nurse was finishing up things with Evan. After being assured that things were okay for Gena for the time being, I wheeled little Taryn to the nursery in his bassinette…for his official tests, measurements and first bath. 20 minutes later, I went back and brought Evan over to the nursery. After a nice bath (which they both tolerated extremely well) and some time suntanning under the incubaters to bring their body temps backup, I was able to wheel them back to our room for their first feeding.
We’d end up spending another 40 hours at the hospital…mainly focused on Gena’s recovery and also for Taryn to complete some monitoring due to her birth weight. Some of the creature comforts of local cuisine (Atlanta Bread Company, Chic-fil-a, Cold Stone Creamery) helped to offset the hospital food and brighten us up until we could get home. While a shower helped, the thought of our own bed and the comfort of our home was so inviting and calling our name.
Our children are simply amazing…beautiful in every right. But I must say….talk about a new appreciation and love for my wife….Having labored for more than 24 hours, birthed twins, tackled an “are-you-kidding-me-ice-chips-only-diet”, endured a blood transfusion, and successfully passed some 30 hours of wearing every type of monitoring device I think the hospital possibly had….Gena was amazing; she personifies the word “MOM” in a way few can….if LOVE itself has an earthly-personification, in every way it is truly to whom I am married.
The care at Houston Medical Center was absolutely top notch! We had awesome doctors and RNs taking care of us from the moment we arrived until the moment we stepped out the door. To the following team, we gave our prayers and owe a lifetime of gratitude:
OB: Dr. Victoria Shirley
Pediatrician: Dr. Blevins and Dr. Stewart
Head Nurse: Kyra
L/D Nurses: Leslie, Karen, Tanya, Akila
Nursery Nurses: Danielle, Linda, Patty
Doula: Wilma Matos
What a bookmark in a beautiful journey! We love our Evan and Taryn.
1 comment:
Chad- I love to see your posts from a dads perspective! Gena and Twangles are very lucky to have you!
Hugs and love Amy
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