Should Have Posted Earlier

but I was very busy today. HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY to my baby girls! Here is their birth story as written for the iVillage expecting club I belonged to back in the day:


At 35 weeks 1 day Averill Rose, 6 lbs, 19.25 in, and Lydia Grace, 6 lbs 12 oz, 19.75 in arrived Friday, July 7th at 2:52pm and 3:08 pm respectively. Labor was shorter than my other two, only about seven hours, but the delivery itself was very scary and traumatic for everyone involved Dr's and nurses included. My story maybe a little disturbing for some I'm not over it yet but have come to terms with what happened, that said please read on with caution. 

Labor was very routine and I quickly progresses from 3cm at triage at 8am to fully dilated at around 2pm. We headed off the deliver in the OR which is standard for twins. Averill had turned head down from a transverse position and so had Lydia for the most part so we decided to go vaginal w/ the c-sect option for Lydia if needed. With just three sets of 3-4 pushes A was born, they did a quick u/s to see what L had done in her new found space. She had turned breech unfortunately but my Dr knowing I had previously delivered a 9+ pounder thought doing a breech extraction would be no problem. They did try to turn L with an external version but my uterus was too floppy and she just flipped back. I'll spare you the gory details but the short of it is Lydia came out feet first with her arms straight up above her head. She got stuck at the arm pits for about 4.5 mins and they had to break her right arm to get her out. She had heart tones but was not breathing, they had to bag her for about 30 secs before she started breathing on her own. Neither of their APGARs started out great 4 A/3 L but at 10 mins they were 7 A/8 L. They went straight to the Special Care Nursery (no nicu here) where they got puffed with some oxygen at first for mild Respiratory Distress but then went to room air within the hour. They were put on ivs, and monitors so they did not come to my room until Sunday morning around 10am. The best part was getting to take care of them on my own, for the first time I finally felt like their mom.
The Dr's say Lydia's arm should be healed within 2 weeks and she should have no permanent damage as a result. She is pretty tender and we're watching her for worsening jaundice. Averill is just perfectly petite and very mellow so far. I'm getting around OK considering I got an episiotomy in the 3rd degree as part of the deal. OW! Thank goodness for a perfect epidural! 

What that doesn't mention is that during the 4.5 mins Lydia was stuck I was literally folded in half with my knees damn near behind my ears to try to open my pelvis further. It was too late for a c-section I suppose. I listened to every instruction they gave me and followed it. I was the calmest person in the room, probably because somehow my brain knew I didn't want/need to know and closed out a lot of what was going on. What I remembered right after is pretty vague. I know my primary Dr pulled as hard as he dared and attempted to maneuver her out manually. Finally his partner reached in with just two fingers (at least that's what he flashed when he explained what he did to me) hooked her right humerus and jerked hard, knowing it was going to either break her arm or collar bone. It broke her humerus and she spent 2 weeks with a tube sock like sleeve holding her arm down. Thankfully she got away with just the broken bone and jaundice from all the bruising which was treated at home on a bili-bed. Even now I don't like to think about the other possible outcomes or complications she could have had.

Today we celebrated their first 5 years with cupcakes for breakfast, burger-fries for lunch (that's how they refer to McD's Happy Meals), pizza for dinner, and cake & ice cream for dessert. They played with the Zhu-zhu pets my mom got them and took a dip in their new pool despite the 65 degree air temp. :)

Holy cow! I just found the hospital archives for their birth announcements! Check these out!
Averill
Lydia
Awwww

34 wks pregnant - June 29th, 2006 - Daddy's graduation from college

July 8th, 2006

Holly holding Lydia

Wyatt holding Averill

4 or maybe 6 wks old - Hubby was on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico for an internship.

November 2007

Av, me, & Liddy on their 2nd bday

Av & Lid two weeks after turning 3

 

4th Birthday!

The day before their 5th Birthday!