A February Special Delivery

Due to the twins being in the NICU- Nick & I have been driving back & forth to the hospital everyday so I am just now trying to blog about their special delivery & it has been 3 weeks! So unfortunately, I know I have forgotten a lot of the details & dates of when things happened, but I'm hoping to at least document the bulk of our experience.
We were fortunate enough to have some family travel down from Indiana to South Carolina for our special twin delivery. My dad, mom, & older sister, Tera left Tuesday night in order to arrive Wednesday (Feb. 3rd). I didn't want them to rush down knowing that they had worked on Tues. but at the same time, I didn't want them to miss the delivery either. Thankfully, my Doc felt that as long as I was in the hospital & she could monitor me & the babies that we could wait until the afternoon time on Wednesday for the C-section. It was great to see my family early Wednesday morning, although they were exhausted from the drive down & I needed to rest so they didn't stay at the hospital very long. They visited a bit and then headed up to mine & Nick's house to shower & sleep before returning that afternoon.

As I slept off & on throughout the morning & early afternoon, Nick kept our friends & family up-dated on our progress & was kind enough to eat his lunch out of my room since I wasn't permitted to have any food or water. During my pregnancy, I felt like a fish out of water most of the time! It was crazy how much water I drank each day so that was the worst part about waiting for the surgery.....I wanted my ice water! At some point that morning, Dustin wheeled Abbie into my room so that we could say Hi to each other once again. She was already well on her way to recovering from her earlier twin delivery. After Nick was able to remove all my jewelry- including my 2 toe rings that haven't been off since they were put on some 10-12 years ago, we were ready to be moved to the "recovery room" to prepare for the c-section. Although my surgery wasn't scheduled until 5pm, they wheeled me back at around 3pm. As we passed one of the waiting areas, I remember waving to Abbie's family. Once my parents & sister arrived back at GHS, they came back to see me as well. While waiting in the recovery room, Nick & I finally made the decisions on the twins' names, but didn't share them with anyone until they were delivered. My Doctors were absolutely wonderful! They all helped me feel comfortable about the c-section by telling me what they were going to do, how it was going to feel, & what to expect throughout the surgery. Normally, the Doc's only allow 1 person in the delivery room with the patient, but my Doc also allowed my Mom to come in with Nick. She said that if my mom had come all the way from Indiana, that she had earned her spot in the delivery room. I think it helped that my Doc knew that my mom was also an OB-nurse.
At first, they wheeled me into the delivery room, lifted me onto another bed & had me sit-up to do the spinal. It was a weird feeling, it felt like what I assume it would feel like to be pinched by a lobster. Within 2-3 minutes, I was numb from my chest down...a feeling I hate! Quickly, my blood pressure dropped & I started feeling really sick, but thankfully as soon as I mentioned I wasn't feeling well, my doc was pumping medicine into my IV to help my blood pressure and I started feeling better. Soon Nick & my mom came in decked-out in their blue surgery outfits.

Nick & I in the operating room about to become parents!

Mamaw & me in the operating room

I also recall at the beginning of my surgery, the docs making a comment that I had 2 hernia scars, of which are 23-28 years old so I was shocked they noticed them. Nick & Mom both would stand-up & peek over the blue curtain that was hanging in front of me & shared with me what was taking place. Nick was amazed at how much moving my lower body was doing & yet when he would look down at me, I wasn't reacting to the movements at all. He would say, "Wow, you didn't just feel her do that jumping jack on your belly?" No, of course not or I probably would be screaming!! He was also impressed by the amount of fluid that came flowing out when they would break "my water" each time. It seemed to take several minutes for them to get started, but once baby Hadlee came out screaming at 5:36pm, it was just a short 60 seconds and baby Owen came out screaming as well! I got to give each one of them a quick kiss & then they were sent on their way with their own team of docs & nurses.

Hadlee Maelynn arrives first

Getting to give Owen Kooper his first KISS

My Doc informed us that there were 17 doctors & nurses in my delivery room, plus me, Nick, & my mom. It was a full house! Although Hadlee came out screaming, she quickly stopped & turned purple-ish. It wasn't long though & they had her breathing once again. Nick got up & went over to announce to the teams of docs & nurses what their full names were: Hadlee Maelynn and Owen Kooper. This was the first my mom got to hear their names as well. Once they removed the twins from the delivery room, they had Nick & my mom leave too. This is about when I remember yanking out my oxygen tube from my nose because I started itching. I always have trouble handling the medicines & my first side-effect is always the itching of my face & neck. As they finished up my incision, my doc gave me some medicine to try & control the side-effects & then wheeled me to my recovery room, where my Dad & sister were waiting with Nick & my mom.

Me, Mom & Tera in my recovery room after my C-section

I was in the recovery room just a short while when I started feeling bad once again. It was apparent to me something wasn't right, when my nurse quickly waived for a few others to come into my recovery room & when Nick just about passed out. He turned all green in the face & I kept telling him to sit down. Finally my Doc got him to sit & gave him a soda to drink. This was the beginning of my blood not clotting correctly. My doc & a few nurses worked awhile on me & then allowed me to be wheeled through the NICU quickly to see my twins. I do remember one of the NICU nurses holding Hadlee up off her bed for us to get a picture with her, but other than that I do not remember seeing them that night. Back in my regular room, my family congratulated us & Tera even had a bag of gifts for the twins. Unfortunately, I do not remember any of this--just know it because of pictures. However, I do remember drinking some water finally & then within a matter of minutes getting sick from it....and about that time my family decided to go so that we could get some rest. Shortly after that, my Doc was back in my room checking on me & the war of the blood clots started. Poor Nick was attempting to eat his dinner, but had to stop to help. After receiving a few shots, my Doc believed she had it all under control for the night, but if I remember right my nurse had to call her back to the hospital at around 11pm. My uterus was up near my right-side ribs & should have been down around my belly-button. Dr. Hogan worked hard pushing down my uterus and worked on controlling the blood clots until 2 or 3 in the morning. This is when my memory gets really bad and according to Nick & my Doc, that is a good thing. What I do remember is having to use a wet washcloth to scratch my face due to the itching from the medicines! My face got fully exfoliated, that is for sure! Nick said that Dr. Hogan eventually had to call surgery for some specific supplies and as Dr. Hogan explained to me later, it was as if I had delivered the twins by c-section and vaginally. My "easy to pass-out at the sight of blood" husband had to witness a whole lot more than either one of us ever expected! Thankfully, he got used to it & said that he found it fascinating!?!? Also at some point that night, we received a phone call from the NICU saying they were having to put both twins on ventilators to help their breathing. They had just started off with C-pap machines to assist them with getting oxygen, but that was no longer enough for them.
After more blood work at 5am Thursday morning, Dr. Hogan came in to explain to me that I was going to need a blood transfusion due to losing so much blood throughout the night. My hemoglobin had dropped to 3 something and normal is around 10. Throughout the day on Thursday, I slowly received 3 units of blood. It was quite irritating b/c with each unit, my nurse gave me pain medicine, which of course knocked me out. During this time, Nick had to sign papers for the NICU docs to place PICC lines in for the twins. They kept pulling out their IV's so the docs felt it would be better to just place the PICCs in. Finally, late that afternoon, I was able to pass on the pain meds & have a conversation with my family & eat some dinner (I think). Later that night, my night nurse removed my catheter & had me get out of bed for the first time! Oh my goodness! The pain was unbearable, but I managed to get up, walk to the bathroom & then back to the wheelchair so that we could go see the kiddos. It was hard to see them because they were in the isoletts with vents in, biliruben lights on them, & black goggles over their eyes to protect them from the bili-lights, but either way it was great to visit them. Hadlee Maelynn weighed in at 3 lbs. 12 oz. and 16 3/4 inches long and Owen Kooper weighed in at 4 lbs. 4 oz. and 17 inches long. They were so tiny!!!


Proud Parents & Miss Hadlee

Stopping by Hadlee's bed for the first time

Stopping by Kooper's bed for the first time

Hadlee Maelynn 02/03/2010

Owen Kooper 02/03/2010

Surviving the last night of my pregnancy

After visiting with Abbie & her family, I unfortunately had to go back to reality, where the nurses & my Doc started preparing me for my last night of pregnancy. Since my liver function level was at a dangerously high level, they had to put an IV in & start running Magnesium through it. I was warned that this could make me even more miserable. I actually found the cath more annoying; however, the magnesium did make me extremely hot. I believe I froze Nick, my Dad, Mom, & Tera out of my room. Poor Nick had to sleep in my room & the temp. was set at like 65* or something and I was still hot. I barely slept at all Tues. night. I kept praying to our twins & tried to ignore the cath & those stupid leg pumps to keep my blood flowing....they made me itch like crazy. Plus, they had my belly strapped with a monitor for each baby & one for my contractions, so I could not get comfortable for anything! Needless to say, I was happy to see the blood work lady at 5am just so I had someone to say hi to. Thankfully though, I did get some good sleep Wednesday mid-morning, once my body was too tired to do anything else. As Nick said, my nurse Wed. during the day was Ms. Doubtfire & she made sure no one interrupted me while I slept unless they were a Doc. As you can see in the pics, I made Nick or who ever had cold hands place them on my face to help cool me off. The magnesium was overwhelming hot and of course I wasn't permitted to have anything to drink until after the delivery. That part was really hard!!!
(And NO, I did not agree with my husband's choice of a foo-man-choo, but he doesn't listen well to me sometimes!)

Last belly pics before delivery

The first picture is of me & my friend, Abbie. As I mentioned in a few previous posts, Abbie and I completed our MED's together and became great friends. She & I were both expecting twins in March. It is such a great coincidence that she was already at the hospital when I arrived Tues. Feb. 2nd. Abbie was 2 weeks ahead of me (35 wks) & was scheduled for her c-section at 1am Wednesday morning and I was scheduled for 5:00pm Wednesday evening. When Nick & I arrived at GHS Tuesday night, I begged my nurse to take me to Abbie's room to see her. Thankfully, my nurse was a nurse I had the previous week while I was in the hospital & just by chance, we found out that she also graduated from USI in May of 2004 just like me! It is such a small world! When I got down to Abbie's room, her whole family was there so we got to visit a few minutes with them as well. Abbie's has an older sister, Amber. They're relationship is much like mine & Tera's....except I doubt they fought as much as we did as young kids. Amber too is a great friend, so I was so very happy to see her. Their family is great & prayed for our twins just as much as they prayed for Abbie's. By the way, Abbie successfully delivered her twin girls at 4:11am & 4:12am. While we were at the hospital, I was in the high risk wing & she wasn't, but we still got to visit each other's rooms so we could share our stories & pray together each day. It was a great support system!!!

The second picture- Nick took right before we left the house Tuesday night. I am 32 wks. & 6 days pregnant....and suffering from preeclampsia, I was miserable! The sad part, is shortly after leaving our house, we hit a dog on our way to the hospital. As everyone knows, Nick & I are dog lovers, so it wasn't a good feeling to have especially since we were already a nervous wreck about the twins coming so early!

Picture three- was taken on January 19, when I was 30 wks. and 6 days pregnant.

Prayers & thoughts to my Twins

Dear Twins,
Today is Feb. 2, 2010. Your daddy & I are both very excited about becoming your parents. It seems like yesterday that Marley & Gage were telling your Daddy that he was going to be a Dad. This pregnancy has went very fast. We are both very thankful to our wonderful families & friends who have helped us get better prepared for your arrivals. At this point, I do not feel ready, but there isn't much time left. I have been on strict bed rest for over a week and Dr. Hogan has decided after further testing that my preeclampia is progressing and that it is time to take action before something bad does happen to either of you or me. Today, the at home health nurse recorded my blood pressure, of which was up to 140/90 (higher than my dr. wants it to be) and my Dr. received my blood work results from yesterday's appointment and my liver function/enzyme is at 77, which is also way too high. With this being said, I am being admitted back into the hospital tonight. Dr. Hogan wants me close for better monitoring and she is also wanting to give me magnesium through my IV to help my liver function. I am extremely nervous. I pray that this is the right decision for the two of you. At this point the c-section may occur as early as 8am tomorrow! I just cannot imagine you two being delivered already. I pray that the steroid shots have helped your lungs develop. We have called your grandparents so they also know that you two will be arriving soon. Hopefully, they are able to safely travel down & be here for the delivery. Your daddy & I will need lots of help, support, & advice. We look forward to deciding on your names as well! Please know that we love you both so very much already and cannot wait to see you soon. May God Bless Us All!

First major "hiccup" during my pregnancy

Sorry to all that were looking for this post last week. For some reason, it didn't "publish" so I'm trying to up-date ya'll now.
Sun. Jan. 24th- Sunday night was a rough night for me. I was up from around 1am until about 5am with what I found out later were contractions.

Mon. Jan. 25th- I ended up going to work, but not going in until late. Even before I left for work, my legs were already swollen with fluid even though I had only been up on my feet for about an hour. Nick mentioned that morning that he thought this week would be my last week of work (he knew I had a drs. appointment later in the day). While at work, I was miserable, exhausted, & ready to go to my doctor to see what was going on. I wasn't at my drs. office more than 20 minutes when they sent me onto Greenville Memorial Hospital to be admitted. My fluid was no longer just in my lower legs, it was up past my knees & also in my hands & fingers. My blood pressure was 158/98, which was too high and my urine dip was showing protein. So I was admitted into the hospital & they started more blood work & testing. It took 2 nurses and 4 tries to get an IV started...I had so much fluid on me that my veins wiggled around when they would stick me. They also had me start collecting my urine for a 24 hr. protein test. As they monitored the twins for a non-stress test, they also determined I was having contractions every 7 minutes. Thankfully, they were able to give me a shot that slowed them down & kept me from feeling them as much.

Tues. Jan. 26th- At about 2am, the nurses came in & placed Potassium in my IV drip. My blood work had showed that my level was below normal for potassium and above normal for my liver function/enzyme. At about 5am they came in to due more blood work and 6am for vitals & weight. By Tuesday evening, I was feeling better, my blood pressure was dropping & the NST for the twins was going well, with little to no contractions. I also had an ultra-sound done with the MFM. Baby A (girl) was still breached & measuring 3 lbs. 8 oz. and Baby B (boy) was head-down with his feet kicking my ribs, as usual. He was measuring 3 lbs. 14 oz.

Wed. Jan. 27th- By Wednesday, I was feeling lots better, but my Dr. did determine based on my protein/urine test that I have Preeclampsia. She told me it was a mild-case at this point & that they thankfully did not need to do an emergency C-section; however, they did want to go ahead & give me 2 steroid shots to help the babies' lungs develop in case they are premature. The 2 shots were to be given 24 hrs. apart, so she also informed me that I wouldn't be discharged until Friday or possibly not at all depending on how safe she felt it would be.

Thurs. Jan. 28 & Fri. Jan. 29th- They continued to monitor the babies, my contractions, blood work, etc... but it was very nice to finally see my shins, knees, ankles, & feet once again! I was feeling so much better after several days of strict bed-rest. My IV had become occluded, so they also removed it & allowed me to take the potassium orally instead. It was so much nicer to shower & sleep without the IV in my arm! By Thurs. night I was so ready to go home since I was feeling better than I had in a few months. Friday morning, Dr. Hogan said I could be discharged as long as an at home health nurse was available to come out to my house to check my blood pressure and to do the NST on the twins. It was so very nice to get home Friday evening. As I was driving home, it started snowing so it was great to come lay down on my couch & look out the window as the snow flakes were falling.

Sat. & Sun. Jan. 30-31- We ended up getting about 4 inches of snow & sleet/ice on top of it so of course we lost power around 5am. Nick's gym was closed for the day, so he got up & built a fire and then went & purchased a generator. This was pretty needed since he was going to be gone Sat. & Sun. at competitions for his gym, plus the salt-water fish tank needs to stay at a specific temperature or our fish could die. I of course, took full advantage of sleeping in my own bed & resting pretty much the entire day. Sunday, Nick was also gone at a competition, so thankfully our friends, Corby & Katie, live only about 15 minutes away. Corby came up & put more gas in the generator & also took me to their home so that I could take a hot shower & visit with some people while I was just laying in his reclining chair. It was nice to eat dinner with them too & not by myself. Nick got home late that night & thankfully our power had come back on so the house wasn't freezing.

Mon. Feb. 1st- Dr. Hogan had scheduled for me to come in for an appointment to follow up on lab work, blood pressure, NST, etc... to make sure my strict bed rest was doing ok. Nick went with me just in case the results weren't good & I needed to return to the hospital. Thankfully, other than feeling a few contractions & seeing some black spots, I felt like I was doing much better. My blood pressure wasn't great, but it was a lot lower than a week ago & the NST was showing good rates on the twins so other than Dr. Hogan asking for me to do another 24 hr. urine test, we were pleased with the results. However, after eating lunch, I was feeling pretty bad & couldn't wait to get home to lay down & rest. Which is exactly what I did. I got home, Nick got my ice water filled-up, the DVD player hooked-up, and I watched a movie while he went off to work.

The goal is to keep the twins "in the oven" until at least 34 wks and preferably 35-36 wks. On Wed. Feb. 3, I will be 33 weeks. So prayers are needed! I came out of work about 3 weeks earlier than expected. Thankfully, I have a wonderful team of teachers & faculty that have been very helpful & supportive! I miss my co-workers already, but I know that the stress of my classroom would not be a good place for me to be. My students will have to understand & know that I will return soon....sooner than some of them may want me to!

Belly Portraits

While I was home in Indiana for Christmas, my older sister, Tera, was kind enough to take belly pictures for me! I knew that I wanted to get some done since I doubt I will ever experience pregnancy again, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money for a professional. On Dec. 22 when I was 27 weeks pregnant, Tera took lots of pictures. Earlier that day my younger sister, Trista, had darkened my hair, so if it looks different than normal, that is why. Also, if you notice my bright red belly in the colored pictures especially, that is due to a minor reaction to some body wash/lotion. I was pretty miserable for 4-5 days since the rash was extremely itchy, but at least it wasn't anything serious. By the way, Tera burned a CD for me of all the pics she took and I had several framed for Nick as part of his Christmas gift. The ladies at Wal-Mart made me sign a paper stating that the portraits were not taken by a professional. My sister Tera is very creative & has always loved taking pictures, so I'm sure she was happy to hear that they also thought the pictures were well done.

~Baby Shower Celebrations~

Wow! Nick & I are so very blessed to have such wonderful families & friends! They all showed us such great love & support through attending our baby showers. We are both still in disbelief at all the great gifts we have received. Baby Shower #1 was given by our friends & co-workers, Lexa & Stacy. It was held at the Clemens' home here in South Carolina on Nov. 14th. It was a "couples shower" so we had fun making the men play Baby Pictionary! Baby Shower #2 was given by my sisters, Tera & Trista, back in Indiana on Nov. 28th. The shower was held during the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but it still turned out to be a wonderful shower. My sister's did a great job with all the decorations, especially coordinating all the colors to match our nursery. Nick & I were fortunate enough to drive my new truck up to IN, so we were able to bring all the gifts back with us. Marley & Gage had to sit/sleep on 2 baby matresses, but they didn't complain too much. Our 3rd baby shower was held at Carrabba's Italian Grill in SC on Dec. 5th. It was a "triple" affect shower, for me and the 2 other teachers from my MED co-hort that are also expecting their babies in March. Abbie is pregnant with twin girls and Tara is pregnant with her own sweet honey bun, but it's gender is still a secret! This shower was special in that we got to have a reunion with several of our co-hort buddies. It is hard to believe how fast our MED went by because during the time we were all taking the courses, I never thought I'd live through it all. Thankfully while I was taking my classes, I made some great friends. And last, but definitely not least, was the Dixon Baby Shower on Dec. 19th in Evansville, IN. My SIL's, Leslie & Shannon, and my MIL Kitty gave Nick & I another wonderful shower. That Saturday was an extremely long day, but well worth it! Nick drove me to the Charlotte airport around 4:30am, but then my flight was delayed 2 hours, so I just walked around the airport until I was able to fly to Indy. One of my greatest friends from high school, Autumn, picked me up from the Indy airport & drove me down to my Mom & Dad's (about 2 hours south). I only had about 45 minutes to get ready & then Mom & I drove down to E-ville for my last baby shower (another 2 hour drive). Leslie, Kitty, Shannon, & several of Nick's aunts worked extremely hard to decorate & prepare all the food for this shower. The tables were covered in stuffed animals, baby toys, blankets, bibs, etc... and it was all so sweet! I loved getting to see so many of our family members & friends that live in E-ville that we now rarely get to see due to living in SC. ALL of our baby shower's were special in their own way & I do not know what we would do without such wonderful family & friends! Our twins have new cribs, bedding, clothes, rocker chair, bibs, blankets, bottles, diapers, pacifiers, stroller, and much much much more all in thanks to our family & friends! THANK YOU so very much to everyone that was involved in helping Nick & I get better prepared for their arrival. I cannot express how grateful we are for everything we've received! I have created a slide show of pictures from the various baby shower celebrations, but I wasn't able to download all of the pictures. Hopefully I will be able to add more later. Hope you all enjoy, xoxo!!!