Our Twins' Birth Story

One year ago today, I was on my way to Northwest Community Hospital with way too many bags and more anticipation than I knew what to do with. Soon, I was going to meet the two little boys I carried around in my belly for 38 whole weeks.

I remember the day like it was yesterday. The night before, we’d gone out for our final date night sans babies. Steve had to drop me off at the door of both the restaurant & the movie theater because walking from the parking lot to the building was too much for my very pregnant body to handle. When I had to go to the bathroom mid-movie (because you can’t go very long without a bathroom break when you’re pregnant), the theater hallway felt like a marathon. I probably missed a good quarter of the movie just making it to & from the bathroom. 

The morning of my induction date was spent washing my hair, finalizing my hospital bag, taking the final bump photos, and writing my last blog post about pregnancy. It feels like yesterday but also like it was a lifetime ago. 

We stopped for burgers on the way to the hospital since I knew I wouldn't be able to eat for a while. Your stomach doesn’t allow you to eat that much when you have 14lbs of baby pushing against your organs, but i ate as much as I could anyway. And then we were off.

After Steve dropped me at the door and made sure I had a wheelchair (lol), we made our way up to the labor & delivery wing. The nurse checking us in made some comment about how we had “a lot of stuff.” Whoops. 

Once we’d settled in our hospital room around 6pm, and after all the usual vitals and check-ins, my OB came to see me. Upon examining me, she told me the news: “well, you’re already 3 centimeters dilated.” Apparently I was in labor and didn’t even know it! All those birthing classes you take teach you all about what to look out for -- contractions timed a certain way, different fluids coming out of your body -- none of that happened to me. I was uncomfortable, sure, but contractions? Never felt ‘em.

My amazing OB, Dr. Springer, told me her plan of starting me on pitocin to move the labor along. Steve and I basically hung out in the room while I let the IV do its thing. I napped on and off, listened to music, and gave Steve the job of photographer.

For several hours I felt the same level of discomfort I’d been feeling for the last few days. But at a certain point I knew I had to call for the epidural. They advised me I should ask for it when I wasn’t so uncomfortable that I wouldn’t be able to sit still for it, and since I had no idea when that point would actually come, I asked for it about as soon as I actually started feeling contractions. 

Did you know that almost all twin deliveries happen in the operating room, regardless of your birth plan? The rate of c-sections with multiples is so much higher so they’d rather start out in the OR and have things go well than start in a delivery room and rush you to the OR. Because of that, they also highly recommend you get an epidural regardless. If you don’t, and end up needing a c-section, they have to go the spinal injection route. Thankfully, I had already decided there’s no prize for going medication-free and opted for an epidural anyway. 

Honestly looking back, getting the darn epidural was probably the most uncomfortable part of the entire delivery. I had Steve sit in front of me and cooly talk me through my breathing. I guess those birthing classes paid off after all. 

Once the epidural kicked in, it was truly smooth sailing. I slept on and off, with check-ins here and there from Dr. Springer. We had started the pitocin around 6pm and I labored until the early hours of the morning. The latest sonogram showed baby A in his usual head-down position and baby B as being breech. 

Our birth plan wasn’t quite so much of a plan but a guideline. My goal: safe babies, safe mama. But my preference? A vaginal delivery for both babies. But I was mentally prepared for the possibility of a c-section. Breech babies don’t make for optimal deliveries, but Dr. Springer had suggested at my last appointment that she try and “flip” baby B in utero so he’d be head down. (WebMD tells me this is called an external cephalic version procedure.)

A little after 5am, the doctor decided my body was ready and it was time for the babies to make their appearance. We all scrubbed up and they wheeled me into the OR. The white lights were a harsh wake up from the dim labor & delivery room I was in. I was pretty much completely numb from the waist down.

“Are you ready to have some babies?” the doctor said. I had no idea what was going to come next. Everyone says delivering a baby is like… well, like going to the bathroom. #2. LOL. 

When you’re ready to “push,” they time it with your contractions. Since I had no idea when I was actually contracting (thanks, epidural), I relied on the nurses to tell me when to push. 

Contraction 1. Push, push push! I pushed with all my might -- as much as you can push while completely numb. I had no idea what was happening down there. Then I rested for a minute or two until the next contraction. Contraction 2. Push...push… suddenly, there was lots of commotion and they put my beautiful baby boy on my chest and my eyes welled up with tears. Joshua was born at 5:58am. 

“I’m not crying because I’m in pain, I’m crying because I’m happy,” I looked up at Steve and said. 

After the usual measurements of the first baby, it was time to focus on the other little boy still in my belly. He was still breech (feet first), so the external flipping was a go. My doctor carefully moved her hands around the baby in an effort to turn him around. She did this for a few minutes at a time. It was uncomfortable in a way I can’t explain. I was still numb, so it wasn’t pain. But it was… something. 

Amazingly, she turned his entire little body around inside of me, but from the outside. After the baby made his way down a little bit lower, it was time to push again. I braced myself. Contraction 1 came. Push, push…. Push… and out he came. Dr. Springer dubbed him “Rocketman” because he came out so fast. And just like that, Jacob was born at 6:21am. 

Steve and I were euphoric. We each held a tiny baby in our arms. We took a few photos in the OR together. Is this real life?

My boys, born just 23 minutes apart in a bright suburban operating room early on a Monday morning. It was an experience I will never forget. After a (mostly) lovely pregnancy, my labor & delivery felt like the perfect ending to my pregnancy chapter. I’m so grateful for all the L&D nurses, Dr. Springer, and of course, my husband Steve who all helped make the birth of our sons the best experience we could have asked for.