Late afternoon decision-making.....March 8th, 2012…what a day. Little did I know this afternoon when I sent the blog note out at 2:30pm, how timely it would be.
Today’s Doppler readings, taken by Dr Galan around 4:30pm, and ultrasound showed further distress in baby A. Almost double the amount of fluid in the lung, and some absent diastolic flow. Even saw a little “notching” on the dopplers, all not good. After a brief pow wow with the several other doctors, he came back to tell us we were having babies tonight, like, now…….right now. They concluded that they seeing deteriorating conditions for Baby A, it was time for them to come out.
At 5:15pm Sara was prepping for surgery, and around 6:30pm she was wheeled into the OR for the C-section…The speed at which events transpired this afternoon, after months of stress, no sleep, and worry was amazing. My head is spinning. I can’t believe it just happened.
TJ and Bonnie (our Doula) made it just in time before Sara was wheeled in, and Sara’s parents showed up after we were already in the OR.
The doctors walked Sara in, and Bonnie and I put on our blue coats and masks……We went into the OR, and I sat behind the curtain near Sara’s head. I peaked over a few times to watch, but didn’t really want to see too much (I was already white as a sheet by now).
Within minutes I heard “skin incision”….and then it seemed moments later “Uterine incision”……..Out they came. Baby A (Ashlyn) first, and then Baby B (Hanna)…..They were born at 7:08pm and 7:09pm respectively.
I peeked over the curtain to get pictures of the umbilical cords, which were fully wound complete with a square knot in them. Unreal.
A crowd of about 15 people were in the OR, and they was some furious activity going on for Ashlyn…I later learned the situation was fairly dicey, as they had to quickly drain about a cup of fluid our of her right lung to get her to breathe, and it seemed pretty bad. Hanna seemed stronger.
As they wheeled Hanna out, I followed down the hall to the NICU….I watched as they loaded her up with tubes, monitors, the whole works…kind of hard to watch despite knowing its needed. I felt helpless watching the proceedings, knowing that was not much I could do but pace.
Ashlyn came into the NICU, and a similar flurry of activity….about 10 people hovered over here with very concerned faces. They did a second fluid drain out of her lung, and gave her surfactant (a fluid that helps stimulate lung development). A round of lung x-rays, and then she seemed to stabilize and react well to the surfactant. However, fully intubated.
Hanna, who at first was just on CPAP and seemed good, went downhill after about an hour, and also had to be intubated and given surfactant as well. They both seem stable and good now. The NICU nurses tell us that they are good, and at 29 weeks gestation the things we are seeing are common and normal for this age preemie.
On one hand, I am hugely relived that the babies are out. This rollercoaster ride, since we learned we had MOMO’s back in October, has been difficult, and emotionally taxing. Terrifying is the best word I could really use. I am happy they are here.
On the other hand, the coaster will undoubtedly continue for the next few months in the NICU, and all we can do is pray for the girls to get strong and feed and grow from here.
Born March 8th, the girls are Pisces…..Call me weird, but I found this on the web tonight…..Crazy and very fitting!
Today’s Doppler readings, taken by Dr Galan around 4:30pm, and ultrasound showed further distress in baby A. Almost double the amount of fluid in the lung, and some absent diastolic flow. Even saw a little “notching” on the dopplers, all not good. After a brief pow wow with the several other doctors, he came back to tell us we were having babies tonight, like, now…….right now. They concluded that they seeing deteriorating conditions for Baby A, it was time for them to come out.
At 5:15pm Sara was prepping for surgery, and around 6:30pm she was wheeled into the OR for the C-section…The speed at which events transpired this afternoon, after months of stress, no sleep, and worry was amazing. My head is spinning. I can’t believe it just happened.
TJ and Bonnie (our Doula) made it just in time before Sara was wheeled in, and Sara’s parents showed up after we were already in the OR.
The doctors walked Sara in, and Bonnie and I put on our blue coats and masks……We went into the OR, and I sat behind the curtain near Sara’s head. I peaked over a few times to watch, but didn’t really want to see too much (I was already white as a sheet by now).
Within minutes I heard “skin incision”….and then it seemed moments later “Uterine incision”……..Out they came. Baby A (Ashlyn) first, and then Baby B (Hanna)…..They were born at 7:08pm and 7:09pm respectively.
I peeked over the curtain to get pictures of the umbilical cords, which were fully wound complete with a square knot in them. Unreal.
A crowd of about 15 people were in the OR, and they was some furious activity going on for Ashlyn…I later learned the situation was fairly dicey, as they had to quickly drain about a cup of fluid our of her right lung to get her to breathe, and it seemed pretty bad. Hanna seemed stronger.
As they wheeled Hanna out, I followed down the hall to the NICU….I watched as they loaded her up with tubes, monitors, the whole works…kind of hard to watch despite knowing its needed. I felt helpless watching the proceedings, knowing that was not much I could do but pace.
Ashlyn came into the NICU, and a similar flurry of activity….about 10 people hovered over here with very concerned faces. They did a second fluid drain out of her lung, and gave her surfactant (a fluid that helps stimulate lung development). A round of lung x-rays, and then she seemed to stabilize and react well to the surfactant. However, fully intubated.
Hanna, who at first was just on CPAP and seemed good, went downhill after about an hour, and also had to be intubated and given surfactant as well. They both seem stable and good now. The NICU nurses tell us that they are good, and at 29 weeks gestation the things we are seeing are common and normal for this age preemie.
On one hand, I am hugely relived that the babies are out. This rollercoaster ride, since we learned we had MOMO’s back in October, has been difficult, and emotionally taxing. Terrifying is the best word I could really use. I am happy they are here.
On the other hand, the coaster will undoubtedly continue for the next few months in the NICU, and all we can do is pray for the girls to get strong and feed and grow from here.
Born March 8th, the girls are Pisces…..Call me weird, but I found this on the web tonight…..Crazy and very fitting!
It's a pair of Fish that represents Pisces, a symbol that prompts others to suggest that these people 'go with the flow' and 'don't make waves.' Both of these labels are true, since Pisces are fluid and easy-going, in keeping with the Mutable Quality assigned to this sign. The fact that two fish (as opposed to one) represent the members of this sign also speaks to the duality of Pisces, their yin and yang sensibility. Pisces alternate between reality and non-reality in keeping with their introspective natures; their voyage between consciousness and an unconscious dream state says much about their intuitive, almost psychic natures.
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