September 16th

The morning of September 16th began as any other had over the past 2.5 years. We woke up, I cooked breakfast (for everyone else since I could not eat or drink due to my impending surgery), and took the kids to school. I let them know that Grammy and Papa would pick them up and that today was going to be Landon and Scarlett’s birthday. Shortly after that, we packed our things and went to the hospital, anxiously awaiting our new family members.

I checked in, got final weight and proceeded to my room. I got hooked up to monitors for contractions and both babies’ heartbeats, just like a non-stress test. People came in and out and explained what was going to happen: spinal tap, csection and a complete removal of my tubes. Then, I waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally, they brought me back, which I remembered well. I went alone as Justin stayed outside the operating room for as long as possible (not because he wanted to, simply because that’s the protocol). I climbed onto the operating table and hunched over as much as possible while they did my spinal. After that, things started moving very quickly. Justin came in, as well as….about 16 people. Anesthesiologist x 2, NICU doctor x 2, NICU nurse x 2, 2 doctors for me, then maybe some other people. Or maybe there were only 8 other people, me, Justin and the unborn babies. I asked repeatedly that they not start until I was numb, so they did many tests to make sure, then let me know they were going to start.

The biggest concerns were if anything weird happened with the placenta and the babies’ health. It took a lot longer to get the babies out this time, with the placenta and the errant scar tissue from my previous delivery. Scarlett was the first one out, she came out crying so I thought she was okay. However, I knew that they were concerned about her pretty immediately. They assured me nothing was life threatening but she was having issues breathing. At the same time, they were still yanking around in my insides to get Landon out. He came out and also gave a quick cry. Everyone was talking about how big he was as I was asking if Scarlett was okay, and if the placentas were out. They said they needed to take Scarlett out, so Justin left with Scarlett while Landon stayed with me as everything was finalized: the placentas were uneventful – thank goodness – and the removal of my tubes was about 13 minutes or so. Landon sat with me as I got sewn up and I continued to hold him as we left the OR.

They took us immediately to the NICU to see Justin and Scarlett which was a relief. She was doing okay and they explained that she had a pneumothorax- basically a tear in her little lungs so her oxygen levels were low and she needed oxygen for the time being. I was devastated, but was thankful it didn’t seem to be life changing. Landon was 7lbs and Scarlett was 5lbs 11oz. We started the same routine we had with the first set. Every feeding, we packed up the whole room and went to feed her all together. The first few, I got to carry my bag of pee and my IVs. Part of the reason I think my recoveries have been okay is that I get up and walk constantly.

The rest of the hospital was a blur. Scarlett stayed in the NICU the whole time and I again begged for us all to go home together. We didn’t get to stay in the room with her, but ended up being discharged all together to go home.

It was wonderful to introduce our two new team members to the rest of the team. ❤️