My Birth Story!

One year ago this week I was admitted into the hospital to be put on bedrest and I thought I should recap what happened so I could share with the twins when they are older…

I found out I was pregnant in November 2007. I did not know it was twins until my 8 week appointment which was a shocker but such a blessing after our long battle of infertility. At my 12 week appointment is when we found out it was a girl and a boy! I was the happiest women in the world! My pregnancy was very uneventful and smooth sailing. I was told that my original due date was July 31st…but my doctor said right away with twins that I would most likely have a c-section around 37 weeks…maybe 38. Secretly I was hoping they would be born on 4th of July! I knew I was blessed to have such a great pregnancy but I would tell people that I just felt like something was gonna happen. I never even had morning sickness!

I loved working and was determined to work right up until the day I delivered. I would waddle my way around the office and loved showing off the belly bump in my cute outfits! I took pictures of my belly each week too. I really was so excited! At 3 months pregnant I had purchased the cribs and had them set up right away! I had their nursery ready to go! I would go in there every day and daydream about them playing in there and sleeping. I could not wait until my ultrasounds and doctors appointments just so I could see them or hear their cute galloping horse sounding heart beats. I would get so excited seeing “my girl” and “my boy” and would have tears of joy every time. I would always ask the doctor to make sure it was still a girl and boy too. The funniest part is hearing from different doctors and ultrasound technicians that my boy was packin! LOL - his dad loved that!

Until my appointment on June 2nd 2008 came!!!!!

I went to the doctor for another routine appointment. I started feeling like these weekly appointments were becoming a waste of time but whatever I had to play by the rules. Plus I got to hear their heartbeats and every now and then I would get an ultrasound! YAY. Anyway, I went pee in the cup…she checked my vitals and blood pressure and sure enough it was high! She told me to lay down on my side so we can do it again. So we did it again and again …still HIGH! I start to worry. She leaves the office and comes back in. She tells me that I need to go check myself into Memorial Hospital for Pre-clampsia and hypertension and that she has a team of doctors there waiting for me. I didn’t quite know how to respond but just asked “does this mean I am going to be having my babies today?” She said, “yes, Jeana I am sorry but they are going to have to do a c-section immediately upon your arrival. The reason I am sending you to Memorial is because they have a wonderful NICU that will take great care of your premature babies” I was shocked scared, fearful for my babies life and mine. We had originally planned on delivering at Los Alamitos and even did the tour there. But whatever I know Memorial is the best. The problem I had is that my doctor wasn’t going to be able to deliver me. I was so bummed by that. She was basically referring me off to Memorial for good. I called Andrew and told him what was going on and he started to panic so we kinda got into a tiffy because I needed him to be calm to keep me calm. I quickly went back to the office to get all my important stuff including my laptop. My doctor called me in a panic because I was taking too long. I realize this is very serious and I rush home crying but trying to be calm so my blood pressure would go back down. I get home and Andrew takes me to the hospital. We both were quiet all the way there thinking that our little miracles could arrive in this world in a matter of hours. All I could think of was its too early … they aren’t ready to come out!

So we get there and check in. Andrew is a nervous wreck. I am too but trying to be calm. They put me in the ICU with this nurse with an accent. She was hilarious which eased my mind a little bit. They quickly ask me to change into a gown, check vitals, take blood, start to monitor babies heartbeats and some other unpleasant testing. UGH. She comes back in and says that the test shows that I would be delivering within the week based on the results. I am thinking HUH? Theres no way. The test is wrong. I am fine! So she continues on to say and because you have all the signs of pre-clampsia and hypertension we are checking you in to stay. She said the doctors would like to monitor you so we are going to see how things go and if they feel necessary they will do an emergency c-section. If you stay stable than you will be here until you deliver. Knowing my due date is July 31st and it being only June 2nd. I start to panic. I can’t possibly live in the hospital for that long are they nuts!? Why can’t I just be on bed rest at home like everyone else? I have so many things to do at home and work and … get over it…it isn’t gonna happen. scratch the calendar and get ready to relax at Hotel De Memorial Hospital!

At first my accommodations were lovely. I loved my room it was in huge and hardwood floors a couch thing for Andrew to sleep. It had a table for my guests to eat at. I had my pictures up and all my flowers everywhere to cheer me up and brighten the place up. I was on the same floor with other high risk patients. When they realized I was gonna be there for the long haul they tried to move me into a smaller room. It was on the wing that they are doing construction and it was so tiny and dusty. I was miserable. I was allergic to all the dust and it made my nose bleed and gave me migraines. I told the nurse I wanted my old room back because all they were doing was making me upset which made my blood pressure rise and that was NOT healthy for my babies. All the nurses referred to me as the girl that is allergic to carpet! As soon as my doctor came to check on me I balled my eyes out to her and she had me moved back to the nice room I loved where I stayed for the duration of my stay! J I am not sure why but some of the nurses thought that I was related to doctors there or something because I was getting such special treatment. It was just because I wouldn’t settle until I got my way. I know I sound like such a b**** but I just wasn’t comfortable or happy and I needed peace of mind during that time.

Andrew stayed with me everynight. He was working two jobs. One for the City and construction. His goal was to save as much money as he could so when I had the babies I could take some extra time off to be home with them. His days were long but his nights were longer. Sleeping on the darn uncomfortable hospital couch getting woke up by nurses that were poking and proding me and checking vitals all night long. It was loud in there with all the beeping and bright lights didn’t help either. He was a champ though and stuck it out with me through and through. It was so nice to have him there I don’t know what I would have done without him. When he left sometimes I would cry. Then when he came back I was so happy and my blood pressure would go down. Andrew and I quickly began thinking of names for our babies that were going to be here soon and were always referred to as Baby A and Baby B or “my boy” and “my girl”… we had thought of a bunch of names but I was in love with Noah and Sophia which he was not sure about. He fought me until one week before they were born and eventually he turned to me and said “well whats wrong with Noah and Sophia?” Like as if I hadn’t been asking him that question for the past 8 months! Once I heard that it was like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.
While I was gone I missed my dogs terribly. During this time Andrew Jr. turned 9 and just because I was in the hospital didn’t mean we weren’t gonna have a party! The nurses helped me decorate and my dad and brothers brought the cake and food. It was so nice. I really enjoyed it. Normally you are not allowed that many guests at one time but the doctors gave me permission as long as I didn’t get up and start dancing and stuff. LOL. Andrew Jr wanted to stay in the hospital too. When his dad told him I was being admitted in the hospital he started to cry. :(

During my hospital stay I had many wonderful visitors. Which I will list because each person means the world to me… andrew jr., christa, dad, shelly, aunt annie, uncle bob, aunt helen, aunt claire, katharine, tessa, mariann, tommy, daniel, andrew, greg, jackie, beau, erin, eric, joanna, reanna, nathan, jeanie, karen, pastor kevin, heather, joe, teresa. Many of these people were there the day I had my surgery as well. The best day was when Andrew brought BRANDY & PEEPERS! I was able to get wheeled out to spend time with them and it was so nice.
My blood pressure was stable and I had no signs of going into pre-term labor so the doctors just kept me on heart monitors for the babies and would come in every so often to check my vitals. They realized pretty quick that I was not going to be getting an emergency c-section and took my IV out so I could go to the bathroom on my own without having to ring for my nurse. THANK GOD! After that most of my day was spent eating, having visitors, going online, watching television… every so often I would get up and look out of my window and straigten up my room. (I couldn’t help it!) I would take long showers and sometimes refuse to wear the stupid hospital gown and put cute lounge clothes on. I would do my hair and makup and put on all my jewelry. Jeanie even came and gave me a pedicure bec I had to have pretty feet when I delivered. Who doesn’t? I just wanted to look cute! Every chance I could get I would beg the doctors to let me go home. They always said NO because if something were to happen the safest place for me to be was there! I got over that and started to beg for just 30 minutes a day to go outside for fresh air in the wheelchair. They eventually gave into that…THANK GOD! Andrew, Christa, Dad, Tommy, Aunt Annie, and others would come visit and I would get to escape it was awesome and much needed. Sometimes I would be late to return back and they would start paging me on the loud speaker throughout the hospital. I was such a baby. I remember one day calling my dad crying saying he had to get me out of there! I was going nuts. I felt like I was in a mental institution. The walls were closing in on me and it made me psycho. Some days I would be there all by myself and would page the nurse just to get someone in there to talk to me. Andrew had to work but I bet he would have stayed with me 24/7 if he could. He brought me yummy food (as did many others… don’t think I forgot about that chicken salad and snacks from Jeanie, or that fettachine alfredo from erin, or the peanut butter and chocolate ice cream from christa or the subway sandwich from aunt annie or the el pollo loco from tommy, the taco bell from joanna, or that in and out babe!!!!) I just had to have food everyday because I could not stand the hospital food AAAAAT ALLLL!!!!!! It was gross. The only thing that was OK was the pancakes, fruit, oh and sometimes they had enchiladas that were ok too. I would always smile at the nurses that brought in food and then glare at them when they would ask why I wasn’t eating it. I would tell them straight out it was disgusting. They agreed most of the time. The nurses… most I loved but there were some that were just super annoying. Most we became really close with. Except for the one who told me I had to take my flowers home because they were a fire hazard. I did have a lot of flowers from loved ones and they were sooo beautiful.
Here was an e-mail I sent to Joanna –
“hey we are both good. Based on my bloodwork they may induce me or do C-section tomorrow. They were going to do it today but my lab work came back ok. thank goodness. Anyway, I will find out prob early in the AM tomorrow. I am 33 weeks today. Blood pressure has ranged from 134 to 165. SO, I will keep you posted. Try to check your emails often bec I am going to draft one email to close fam and friends and send it out before I go in and andrew will be in there with me so he won’t be able to make phone calls. I am hanging in here can’t believe it’s already been 6 days. I have had lots of visitors and Andrew stays with me every night so it helps pass time. although, the past two days I have had migraines so I had to cancel visitors bec all I wanted to do was close my eyes and relax.”

The doctors did an ultrasound on the day I was admitted but said they could not do another one until 30 more days had gone by! It was torture. I was listening to their heardbeats daily but was anxious to see them on the screen. Eventually 30 days went by and the doctors compared the two ultrasounds … “my boy” was not getting as big as “my girl” this was a huge concern for doctors because that meant he could poss not be getting nutrition and it could be only going to her. At that point they decided it would be in his best interest to get him out and feeding. So on Friday, June 27th they informed Andrew and I and began preparations for my c-section. I waited patiently, packed my stuff, put make up on, and threw my hair in a ponytail! Here is Andrew ready for surgery!
***As a side note… also, on Friday, June 27th, I found out I was going to be layed off due to downsizing at my work. That was wonderful for my bloodpressure but Andrew quickly reassured me that everything was going to be fine and that I would take this time to enjoy being home and a mother to my kids. Which made me feel like the happiest women in the world. This all was totally unexpected. During my whole pregnancy I was always stressed thinking of having to go back to work and missing my babies grow up and all their firsts. It was such a miracle in disquise.

Here is my last picture taken pregnant with twins. No I am not trying to look cute with leggings. These are stockings to prevent blood clots. ugh.

Anyway, I couldn’t believe it was all coming to an end and they were finally gonna be here. I was so scared for my son. During my whole pregnancy I knew my daughter was fine for some reason. Anyway, I was so anxious but scared to death of the surgery. As soon as they had me pack up all my things and put the IV in I started to shake uncontrollably. They wheeled me in the delivery room and there was a team of doctors and NICU nurses ready to take the babies. It was so scary. They eventually gave me meds that helped a little throughout the process. The c-section surgery was actually not that bad. It was the healing process that sucked. I just remember finally when they let Andrew finally come in to be with me I felt such relief. He held my hand and I looked up at him and he had this look on his face like he was going to pass out. I kept telling him to stop watching what the doctors were doing and just look at me. The doctors kept telling me it was going great and next thing I knew I felt a some pressure and heard the doctors say do you want to cut the cord to Andrew. He said yea with excitement and the doctors said well get over here then because its time.

All of a sudden I heard my baby girl cry for the first time … they quickly showed her to me and whisked her away to clean her up! I remember thinking she is so beautiful. They said she was 4lbs and 10oz and perfectly healthy. One minute later my son was born and they showed him to me for a second and whisked him off to the NICU. I remember thinking Look at all the blonde hair and he is so handsome. They said both are fine and healthy but because Noah was only 3lbs1oz they put him in the NICU to simply gain more weight. I was sad but knew he was in the best hands possible. I started to shake really bad after the surgery and they drugged me up on all kinds of meds. here are some of the visitors that night that came to see our new arrivals. Unfortunately, I wasn't coherant enough to chat with any of them afterwards.Finally got back to my room later that night at 12 or a little after. It was a smaller room and was for a few days so I didn’t mind at all. I wanted to heal and go home!

My first day of recovery, Saturday, June 28th, I could barely see and hated it. Later in the day I called to have them bring Sophia to me. I kept begging the nurses to stop giving me demarol bec it made me dizzy so they finally did. I wanted to hold my daughter for the first time!!!! Here is the first time she was wheeled in to see me. I heard her coming down the hall because she was crying and I said "mommys here" and she stopped. I cried because she was so beautiful. I thought she looked just like her daddy. Greg and Jackie, Aunt Helen, Dad and Shelly came but I was so out of it I couldn’t even see them. Stephanie and Pete were on there way to come down but Christa knew I wasn’t doing well so she told them not to bother. I literally had to have the nurse put a sign on the door saying “no visitors” because I was so dizzy and felt horrible. My second day of recovery, Sunday, June 29th I was better and was able for visitors so Aunt Annie, Uncle Bob, Aunt Claire, Erin, Christa, Tommy, Marianne, Katharine, Tessa, Joe, Heather, Dad and Shelly were able to come visit and see the babies. I was so glad.

My third day of recovery Monday, June 29th, I was so anxious to see Noah and start getting some time of routine down for breastfeeding and pumping. I begged the nurse to take me somewhere so I could shower so I smelled good for my son and then off I went to see him. I was very emotional. I remember walking to go see Noah for the first time with tears running down my face. People were walking by looking at me like I was crazy. The NICU nurses were great. They really took good care of him and taught me so much. I was so thankful for all of them. The first time I went to see him they were also very kind and thoughtful to me. I had tears running down my face and they knew my heart was broken having to leave him but they reassured me over and over that he would be fine and would even call me to give me updates on him. I felt helpless but again knew he was getting the best care possible. He was so sweet laying there just waiting for his mommy and daddy. They each ate every three hours so I was juggling going to the NICU to feed Noah and then rushing back to my room to feed Sophia. I hated them being away from each other. They kept wheeling Sophia into my room to nurse and then I would go see him. I was able to walk farely quickly with a tough nurse and lots of practice I was moving around pretty good. I wanted stare at them both for hours. My fourth day, Tuesday, June 30th, I was given the OK to leave dispite my high blood pressure. At that point though the doctor came in and said that Sophia was most likely going to have to stay due to jaundice and that they were going to do one more billy test and if it was high they she would have to stay. I LOST IT! There was no way I was going home without her. I broke down and cried to the doctor. I told the doctor if she stays I am staying! So my favorite nurse came in and saw I was an emotional mess. She closed the door and said start nursing Sophia. I was so proud of her for latching so perfectly. Anyway, the jaundice went away! The doctor cleared me to take her home YAY!!!! Then I freaked out because I didn't know what I was gonna do with her once we got home. WHAT your letting me take her home? Are you sure?

Andrew showed up to take his girls home. He had the balloons and all. It was a great departure but bitter-sweet. I couldn’t help feeling so excited to go home after 32 days of hell … but I was leaving my poor helpless son that I so wanted to be with every minute. When we came home from the hospital I was so upset. (TOTALLY HORMONAL!) The house was not clean because Andrew had been staying in the hospital with me for over a month and rarely had a chance to come home and clean things up. I remember flipping out and within an hour it was spotless. I never seen Andrew clean up so fast. HA! I was finally able to snuggle into my bed with my beautiful daughter and relax. I will never forget that day. We had so many people visit and bring us dinner that I didn't have to cook for a long time which was awesome. Andrew helped a bunch too. I was able to get Sophia home and get into the routine of having her while also recovering from surgery. My days were filled with nursing, pumping, nursing, going to see Noah, visitors, and it would start all over again every day. We would load up and go see Noah I would pray he gained weight. His nurses would say he is doing great but hes not gonna be cleared to go home until he is at least 8lbs. I thought that would take forever but it went quick. It was great with Sophia home but I couldn’t help but feel like a piece of me was missing. We finally were able to go and pick up our boy after 31/2 WEEKS! It was the best day ever. I was so excited yet nervous to have two babies. Our family was finally complete!

Next month the babies will be a year old... time has really flown by. I love being home with them and I learn new things everyday. We really have so much fun. I couldn't be more proud of them. The best part is seeing them learn to do new things everyday and watching them play together. They are growing up so fast but it really does get better and better! In the end I have to say I would do it all over again in a heartbeat! I absolutely loved being pregnant and love my babies more than anything in the world. I am so glad that I have kept up with this blog and can’t wait for the day I can share it with them. We have family and friends that live all over the place and this blog has been a great tool for keeping everyone updated on their daily happenings. Many people have told me that they really feel closer to them since following the blog. Keep checking back for updates and watch them grow!