Sarah’s Twin Birth Story

When we found out we were having twins we knew very well of the risk of them coming early. I had been induced at 39 weeks with my first due to Type 1 Diabetes and was hopeful I would go into labor naturally, but not too early. Our high-risk doctors stated that they would induce by 37 or 38 weeks depending how well I was doing and of course, how well the babies were doing.

At 35 weeks our high-risk doctors measured our babies and stated that they were comfortable with them coming any time. I was in agreement, but they stayed put all the same. I was terrified of their weight as well because doctors had estimated that their birth weights at 38 weeks were going to be about 7lbs each!!! That would be 14 pounds of baby!!!

Both babies were head down and had been for a long time. They had no room to move. Our plan was for a vaginal delivery. Doctors had prepared me for the scenario that Baby A might deliver vaginally and Baby B, with suddenly lots of room, might decide to flip and the doctor might be able to pull her out depending on her size and position. Otherwise Baby B would be an emergency c-section. This was my worst case scenario….to have both a vaginal delivery and C-section to recover from. 

Well, we were very blessed that they were not early, but no such luck going into labor on my own! As much as my body was genetically predisposed to get pregnant with twins, apparently my little 5’2” frame is capable of carrying them forever. Or so it felt. I battled with severe perinatal depression the entire pregnancy (another post one day maybe), but the days prior to my induction were some of the hardest. I was walking around 3cm dilated for 5 days, in pain, depressed, and so beyond ready to meet my babies.

Left: 39 weeks pregnant with my oldest son
Center: 38 weeks pregnant with twins
Right: 48 hours postpartum with twins and loving that cute not-a-baby "baby" bump

One of my many OBGYNs, Dr. M, who delivered the babies, had the nerve to tell me at week 37 that I was doing SO well he’d let me go to 39 weeks. I about took his head off, but simply responded, “No. I’m delivering at 38 weeks.” Don’t get me wrong, I was very grateful and blessed to have made it so far with twins and had such great blood sugar control, but I was ready.

If I had only known then how beautifully the induction, labor, and deliver would go, I might have held it together better.

We arrived to the hospital early on January 11^th for our scheduled induction and checked in promptly at 8am with family watching our oldest son at home.

The nurses set up my IVs to start Pitocin, the doctor stripped membranes, and by 11am they slowly started the Pitocin.

My doctor had said I could have the epidural whenever I wanted. I knew I wanted it already just based on preference, experience with my first, and also very importantly, in case there was need for an emergency C-Section. Having the epidural in place already would mean that in the case of an emergency C-section I would not have to be put under for delivery.

Epidural was placed around 12pm and after an hour or so it was not working well. So the anesthesiologist came in to discuss options. One of which was to add Fentanyl to the epidural drip….which I didn’t even know you could do.

I asked to be given an anti-nausea medication as well because they don’t let you eat and my body hates that. I threw up during delivery with my first and did not want to do that again. I also got severely itchy, so again, bring on the medication for that.

I had mints to “snack” on and the nurses brought me tea and broth. The chicken broth was my saving grace at one point!

Doctor checked me throughout the afternoon and I was steadily dilating. By my own inaccurate calculations, our babies were going to arrive close to midnight.

We updated family members around 7:30 that they’d probably hear from us in the morning because it was going to be a few hours. Well, right after the doctor came in and not only was I fully dilated but Baby A was ready to make his debut. Or to get away from his energetic sister who had been kicking him for the better part of 38 weeks.

I was to deliver in the operating room in case of an emergency. The nurses gowned up and rolled me off, asking me to please not deliver in the hallway. I didn’t realize how serious they were until we were in the operating room.

There were nine staff members in the room. My doctor and nurses and a doctor and nurse for each baby. An anesthesiologist was on standby in the hallway in case the need for an emergency C-section arose.

The nurses told me afterwards that their nurses’ notes read that we left my hospital room at 8:01. Baby A, our boy was born at 8:16pm. I swear he was there in two pushes. I held him on my chest in a love bubble while I began to push for Baby B. Baby B took a little bit longer because she was not in the canal, but she was also head down, didn’t flip, and came with a few minutes of pushing. Those few minutes  felt like forever. She was born 21 minutes after her brother at 8:37pm.  Our boy was 6lbs 5oz and our girl 6lbs 1oz. Nowhere near the 7lb estimation. Everyone told us “wow, so big for twins.” Haha, no! Considering I was told they’d be 7 pounds!!!

Our boy had come out screaming and my daughter quiet with the cord around her neck. Even when they handed her to me, she was quiet. I kept asking if she was okay. She was and found her voice quickly after.

Nurses had us back in our hospital room by 9pm, almost exactly an hour since we’d left. It went as easily and smoothly as an induction with twins could go in my opinion and my recovery in the next few days was blissful as well. I felt immediate relief from both the physical and emotional pain I had been in.

For the first eight days I had a very easy recovery. Then 8 days post-partum, I had a severe and traumatic uterine hemorrhage and had to be re-hospitalized. Again, that is an entirely separate post maybe, but that scary and difficult experience helped me slow things down and allowed me to remind myself to enjoy every 3am feeding, fussy baby, and needy toddler. That traumatic event gave me the gift of a very full and grateful heart to be alive, happy, healthy, and home with my three children and husband.

(If anyone’s ever curious to see a picture of the amniotic sacs for both babies, our doctor held it up for us after delivery still partially intact and showed us the septum that had separated the babies.  He told my husband to take a picture. It’s bloody and gross, but also very cool. The NICU nurses had us text it to them, so any medical nerds who want it, message me. I’m just not going to post it! The thinness of the membrane is insane!! Magic. True Magic.)

For my fellow diabetics out there: My doctor let me mainly manage my own care, I had my Omnipod and Dexcom in place the entire time. My husband wore my Apple Watch and was able to monitor my blood sugars for me, they let him take it into the Operating Room as well. My doctor in my opinion gave me too much Dextrose and I did spike after delivery, thankfully nurses listened to my demands to please turn it down. I did not do an IV insulin drip with my first either. I'm kind of a control freak with my diabetes and obviously in an emergency or if I was not able to manage it they had my permission to do a drip.