My pregnant belly at 5 1/2 months
My pregnancy was normal...nauseous during the first trimester, feeling good the second trimester and beginning to get miserable starting the third trimester.
Our first visit to the doctor was exciting because that's when we found out we were having twins. It was also a downer because he gave us the lowdown and risk of a twin pregnancy. I praise God for no complications and giving me the strength to make it 38 weeks. I had a scare at 28 weeks though. I was having way too many braxton hicks contractions one day after a long, long day at work. That night I was sitting in a prenatal class and kept feeling my uterus tighten up and get hard as a rock then let down about every 5 minutes. Of course I am freaking out because the teacher is telling the class that more than 5 in an hour should be checked out. So after the class, the teacher told me to go across the street to the hospital. I did and I stayed over night. I was so scared because our babies were only 2lbs each then. I knew they could not come into this world yet, they were way too small. The doctor said my uterus was irritated from doing too much and not drinking enough water. He didn't put me on bed rest, but at that moment I knew I needed to slow down. (doctors, or at least my doctor, will not put pregnant women on bed rest unless something serious happens ) Needless to say I ended up going back to the hospital the next night too... From then on I started drinking a gallon of water a day and the contractions eased off.
I was an elementary LIFE skills teacher, so the work was physical and we are on the floor a lot. There was also a lot of pushing, hitting, and behavior problems in our room that I had to be careful of. I stopped picking up kids, especially ones that were dead weight. My coworkers realized that I needed to slow down as well. I lasted 6 more weeks at work....
My pregnant belly the night before the babies were born
"Full term" for a twin pregnancy is 34-36 weeks. My plan all along was that if I could make it to 34 weeks (full term), then I would stop working and put myself on bed rest. I believed that if I stayed home, I could make it that much longer and, praise God, I did! I made it 4 more weeks. I enjoyed staying at home. I was able to enjoy being pregnant too! I laid around a lot and got bigger and bigger. Walking to the car and back was exhausting. Once I rested for a while, I thought I would do the laundry... wrong idea.... that meant I then had to take an hour nap from exhaustion. I couldn't turn over at night and boy, sleeping was miserable. I was going to the bathroom every hour and Aaron had to push me up out of bed. I was sleeping with every random pillow in the house. Couch pillows, pregnancy pillows, and decorative pillows. It was crazy!
The waiting game was harder for Aaron than for me. I was fearful of the pain and the unknown. With a twin pregnancy, you have to be prepared to give birth the babies early...32 weeks maybe. So every week that went by was a miracle. We thanked God along the way. At every doctor appointment we wondered if I would be dilated, but I never was. The waiting continued. Both girls were head down and so I felt God was allowing me to have a vaginal delivery.... I at least wanted to try. I felt the whole pregnancy my doctor was pushing for a c-section, but I never gave up on a vaginal delivery. I was also realistic in knowing that a c-section was a huge possibility and I was prepared. At the end we were going to the doctor every week and getting an ultrasound. The last appointment I was dilated to a 1cm, so the doctor decided to induce. He felt it was time since I was at 38 weeks and the babies were big and healthy. He also felt that the longer I waited, complications might arise. So the next morning I was induced at 7am.
Aaron and I in the nursery the morning of delivery
We arrived at the hospital at 6am, I was induced at 7am, contractions started about 4pm and at that time I received the epidural. I took a nap, along with Aaron and my dad and enjoyed the meds! The whole process was a lot longer than I thought it would be. The girls just didn't want to come out!! I felt bad because our families were waiting all day in the waiting room. Bless them!! Then at 8pm, I was pumped up, getting ready to watch American Idol when full blown contractions began. Even though I had an epidural, I felt the contractions because I had what they call a "hot spot". I had never heard of that, but it was a place in my body were the epidural was not working. I praised God for that later, because I was able to know when to push and was able to push harder. I told the nurse that I was in pain; that the epidural wasn't working, and she said I wasn't hurting...I couldn't believe it! She said if the pain was so bad, then I should be crying...but I didn't cry before when I got the epidural and the contractions were more painful then. That nurse made me very upset. She made me want to cry!!! The doctor checked me and I was ready to start pushing.... Huh, I wanted to slap that nurse!
"Baby B", Maegan and "Baby A", Sadie in their hospital bassinet
All twin deliveries are done in the operating room, even vaginal ones...just in case a c-section has to take place. So I was wheeled away to the operating room and spent the next 3 hours in there. I couldn't tell you what it looked like because for some odd reason my eyes were closed the whole time. I guess that is the way I dealt with the pain, or maybe it was because of the loads of medication I had pumped inside of me. (needless to say it still didn't take away the hot spot) Sadie was born at 9:51pm and Maegan was born two hours later at 11:46pm. I was able to hold Sadie just for a minute and then they took her to the incubator close by. The two hours in between births flew by and I had to go through labor all over again... yet faster. Most of the two hours was waiting on Maegan to turn. She was head down, but facing the wrong way. She was facing forward instead of facing back. She was content and didn't want to move, which explains her content spirit most of the time. I just can't believe the delivery was a success!! God is good!!!
I had two motivators at the end to help me deliver Maegan. The first motivator was that at 11:30 Aaron told me that the doctor was going to give me three more pushes. If Maegan didn't come out, she would have to be delivered by c-section. Then the second motivator was knowing that it was almost midnight, and she would be delivered on a different day than her twin sister. God gave me strength and determination and both girls made it out healthy and beautiful!! We are so blessed to be able to talk about a success story. It breaks my heart and my prayers go out to those who have babies in the NICU for weeks and months. I pray for them and for their trust in God....All babies are precious in His sight!
Maegan Laverne
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