Birth Story - Rachel's twins!

Rachel was due to be induced on Sunday, August 5th, but when she called the hospital as directed, the nurse told her not to come in. They were simply too busy. Rachel had a good cry, then spent the day with Mike, visiting the children at the campsite and trying to stay cool.

On Monday morning, Rachel was told to be at the hospital by 8:00 am. When we arrived at 8:30, they checked the babies and Rachel in Triage, then moved her to her room - 224 - the same room that Stewart was born in. The OB was busy with a c-section, but took some time to come in and break Rachel's water, around 9:30 or so.

Nothing much happened for a couple of hours, but by noon, the contractions were strong. Rachel did beautifully, breathing through them, relaxing her muscles as much as possible. They were about 6 minutes apart for the first while, but gradually increased in intensity and duration. Rachel was beginning to feel nauseated, and was shaky, trembling in her hands and legs, so the nurse was sure she was getting close to transition. We were so disappointed when they checked, and she was only 5 cm dilated. The head was right there, however, so Rachel soldiered on.

The contractions became harder and longer. Mike helped Rachel by putting a cold cloth on her head and giving her ice chips. She could not find a comfortable position, and she complained about the bands that held the monitors in place. They really hurt during contractions, but the nurse insisted that it was imperative to monitor the babies continually. Heidi kept running away from the monitor, flipping and turning...so someone had to hold the thing in place and tilt it towards the baby!

After another hour and a trip to the bathroom, they checked and she was only 6 cm. Rachel decided that she was done. She couldn't handle the pain any more. The nurse offered her the gas. "No!" Then how about a shot of Demoral? "NO!"

"I want an epidural!"

Are you sure this is what you want? With your first pregnancy it didn't take, and you were numb in your legs but felt the uterine contractions and backache. Are you sure?

"YES!!!"

The doctor came and administered the epidural, and within 15 minutes Rachel had dilated to 9 cm! They moved her to the operating room as a precaution. She was lying there, totally calm. She had colour back in her cheeks. The stress level in the room had diminished. The doc checked, and she was fully dilated.

They got her to push...BIG BREATH, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8....let it out...another breath.... With each contraction, Rachel pushed three times. Only four contractions later, Matthew's head was crowning. Rachel gave little pushes as the OB requested, and once the cord was removed from around the baby's neck, out he came, crying before the cord was even cut. He was 6 lbs, 7 ounces, and 9, 9, 10 on the apgar score!

Heidi began to hide, swimming away from the doctor. She first presented with her arm up over her head. Not good. Then there was a hand and a foot, then a knee and a hand.... Finally, two feet! Doc pulled on baby's legs while Rachel pushed to help. It was so amazing to watch this long skinny baby hanging feet first from Mom...seconds later, her head was born and she was here!

Heidi didn't breathe right away, but didn't take long. They did have to bag her, but only briefly. She was 8, 9, 10 on the apgar score, and weighed in at 5 lbs, 9 oz.

The placentas came away with no difficulty. NO tears. Rachel is fine, babies are fine, Mike is fine, Granny is fine, although a little teary even today. Both Mike and Granny were crying in the delivery room. It was such a beautiful moment to witness the birth of these two precious babies, and to know both Mom and babes were healthy.

The epidural, in this case, was just what Rachel needed. There is no way she could have handled the pain of the doc fishing for the second twin. Her dilation was proceeding too slowly, and she was at the point of panic, so the epidural calmed her down enough that her body could do what it was supposed to do. I am thankful that she chose to have this medication.

Both twins are nursing well. The Lord provided a mother of twins as Rachel's night nurse. She was a real encouragement, as she nursed her boy/girl twins for a year.

Truly, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Truly, we are blessed.