A Wild Delivery Ride

 Hey All!

The twins are here!! I can't believe it! They are here, and they are beautiful and healthy and perfect! Seriously, I could not be more thankful for their health and well being! I should forewarn you though, this birth story isn't pretty. If you get anxious really easily or worried about your own birth, you might not want to read my story. If you do become worried, please remember my story is NOT typical. I have had two other babies, and their births were nothing like this one. By now you're probably wondering "what the heck happened to her???" Well, let's start at the beginning.

The sweet family pic my friend took for our maternity shoot! 💓

About a week before the scheduled C-section, I had a false alarm. It was not fun. I had consistent contractions almost the entire night, by the end coming every 2 to 3 minutes. Baby girl actually went from transverse to head down, but she was not the one closest to the cervix. Baby boy was breech and pretty high up, not at all interested in engaging in my pelvis. So that meant my contractions went absolutely nowhere. Not only that, but I had sciatic pain on the bottom right of my back, and it was killer, especially in those hospital beds. I stood up and walked as much as I possibly could. Then when I went to the bathroom around 3am, baby girl decided to flip back head up in the span of a few minutes! Sigh. So nothing came from that adventure even though the midwife was almost positive I would be leaving with babies. They didn't want to go ahead and do a C-section because baby boys need as much development time as possible in vitro because they do not develop as fast as baby girls do. Science is fascinating isn't it? I was sure I was going to go home and pretty much labor again for like a week or two like I did when I had that false alarm with Joshua. Thankfully that did not happen. It was still pretty miserable and difficult, but not as bad as I had thought.

A pic from the false alarm. Sporting a WarCraft mask. 😎

Man, looking back, I can't remember my stomach being that huge. HAHA! So basically that next week went fairly smoothly. By that point, I was pretty sure I was just going to go ahead and do the C-section. I didn't want to be induced and then be stuck having one vaginally and one via emergency C-section like a lot of twins are born. Especially with my sciatic nerve. March 15th was the magical day, and it came pretty fast! This was me the day before the C-section. 

We dropped off the kiddos with my sister and brother in law, and we headed for the hospital on that beautiful Monday morning! I was fasting and got to drink a Gatorade three hours before the surgery. We got there and got ready in triage. Took a bit longer than planned thanks to silly misprinted labels. I could tell the nurses were irritated. Gotta love technology. For the nurses sake, can someone make a program that works better with the help of a nurse? I know that's too logical for big companies, but it sure would be helpful. LOL

They did an ultrasound and found out the babies were head down! Stinkers! So my OB asked if I wanted to do an induction instead. At this point I kind of wish I had taken it... haha. But at the same time, I don't know if it would have made a difference, and it may have made matters worse. You'll understand what I mean in a moment.

I decided to go for the C-section anyway, so they wheeled me back to the OR and got me prepped. I got the epidural in, and they exclaimed, "Wow, you did so well with that!" And I'm like, "Yeah I get that every time. Apparently I handle pain well." (The irony will not be lost on me soon.) I mean, who messes around when they get a needle into their spine?? But I digress. So they laid me down and put up the tarp. (I didn't mind this at all. I don't handle blood well. I was never meant to be a doctor as fascinating as I find the medical field. LOL) They taped my stomach up, which was weird, but I totally got because it would make it easier to get babies out. It was uncomfortable though, which should have been my first warning. The anesthesiologist did a cold test on me and it wasn't necessarily cold water I felt, but I still felt the water below, but it wasn't cold, so apparently that was fine. I felt my OB testing the pain, and it didn't feel painful or anything, but I still felt it. 

JD came in, and we got ready to begin. I felt the cut as soon as she started, and I was like, "Ouch!" She was like, "You felt that??" So needless to say, this wasn't beginning well. Suddenly I was getting a lot of general anesthesia and they were talking about what they needed to do. I guess at this point, redoing the epidural wasn't an option. Pain wasn't bad anymore, but the pressure as they pushed the babies out was almost unbearable. A nurse will push down on your upper uterus to move the baby towards the exit. With a better epidural, I don't think it would have mattered as much. But it was pretty awful. I was just praying for the babies to come out at this point. Felt like an eternity. I was SO relieved when I heard my sweet babies crying their hearts out! I bet that was quite a shock to go from nice, warm water world to cold, icy air. 

 
Even with the pain, I was just so relieved and so thankful! I was crying tears of joy despite the surgery not going as I had planned. I couldn't believe we were finally at the end of the journey of my pregnancy with these sweet rainbow twins! (Or so I thought...) When they started sowing me up, I just couldn't take it. They told me if they gave me the meds through the IV, I probably wouldn't remember much. They were right. I vaguely remember meeting Leon. I don't remember meeting Elyannah. And unfortunately, I guess the pic JD took didn't get saved or it didn't take. I did get one of my meeting with Leon though! I was hoping I wouldn't have to wear the mask, but that's a pandemic for ya! (I had also originally planned an all natural birth possibly at home, but then I found out it was twins. LOL) 

Leon James Davis was born at 1:55pm weighing 7lbs 10oz! (I know, he was bigger than Aayla at 38 weeks than she was at 39 weeks!!) Elyannah Carol Davis was born at 1:56pm at 6lbs 12oz! They were big and beautiful for twins! Bigger than some singletons! Seriously amazing! God was so good! 

I was out of it for probably fifteen minutes or so. By the time I came to, I was being moved from the surgery bed back to the gurney. (They have this air and inflation plastic they now use to move you, which is really cool, but I digress again.) We were moved back to triage, and I realized there was only one baby in the room with me. When I asked, they told me they had already told me, but little boy was breathing too fast and had to be moved to NICU. They had every hope he would be returned to me that night. It was hard to hear, but at that point, I was still recovering, and I just wanted to hold at least one of my babies. Elyannah was quickly given to me, and I cried as I looked at her sweet face. She was beautiful and perfect and she was HERE! I went ahead and started breastfeeding, and she latched on like a champ! I was overjoyed! 

We were finally moved to our room, and I gladly enjoyed some dinner while baby girl napped from the exhausting journey from womb to real world! The nurses were happy we were not first time parents and we all figured this would be a pretty easy recovery and care. Oh how wrong we all were... They told me baby boy was still in the NICU, and I should call around 1am to find out how he was doing. He was still breathing fast, and they were worried about an infection. The thing about the birth canal is that it does actually aid in squeezing out that extra fluid that might build up in baby's lungs. Isn't it amazing that even though so much can go wrong with birth, the actual process really does help baby if everything goes well. God really is amazing. And thanks Eve for making the process painful... 

We settled down to get some sleep. However, around midnight, suddenly I had to throw up. I got JD to quickly grab one of those bag to throw up in. We called the nurse, and suddenly I was throwing up again. I was feeling woozy, about to pass out. Suddenly I was nodding and JD had my face in his hands looking really concerned. So a funny fact about me, when I pass out, I HATE coming to. When you're passed out, you have bizarre split second dreams and everything feels good and warm. I'd much rather stay out than come back to the buzzing pain of consciousness. Suddenly had all the nurses and doctors rushing in. My OB came in looking really concerned. She went ahead and had my blood checked and ended up giving me a blood transfusion. I also kept throwing up the entire night, and I could barely take care of myself, none the less a baby. So with a heavy heart, I asked if there was formula we could give Ely girl. Now, to be honest, I am not a big breastfeeding fan. I will definitely do it, and even enjoy it sometimes, but I mainly feel like a human milk vat for about a year or so. haha. It's got great benefits for you and baby, but it's still not my favorite activity. I know that hurts for you mamas who love it, and I promise I am not downing breastfeeding and its benefits at all. It's just not my favorite, and that's just being honest. However, I wanted to, at the very least, make it a few months breastfeeding. And there was still the possibility of doing so, but at that point, I could not even hold my head up, none the less hold baby and feed her at the same time. I was put on a strict IV diet, so no eating or drinking. At one point, I didn't have a bag in time, and ended up throwing up all over myself. Let me tell you, every time I threw up, it was super painful having just had a C-section.

On a more bright note, I found out one of my techs was from South Korea, and my doctor was super excited to find out I am a secret Asian because she was half Chinese! So me, the sweet tech (I could tell by her accent that she was not a native speaker), and my OB all talked about Asian food (they have a Korean fried chicken place nearby and talked about Korean BBQ closer to Atlanta), dramas, and animes. 💓 It was the one bright spot on that difficult night. I loved being able to share my love of Asia, especially with those who love Asia as well! It cracked me up just how excited my OB was to find out I was a secret Asian. We even discussed how I wanted to marry a Japanese guy, but ended up marrying the American version of one with my hubby. (JD has excellent work ethic, is always on time, and can be very polite when he wants to be. LOL) The whole next day was painful since I couldn't even take pain meds because I couldn't keep anything down. It was miserable.

I found out Leon was still in the NICU, and I felt like an awful mother because I wasn't even able to call and find out what was going on. I trusted them to take care of my baby, and I knew he was in excellent care, I just felt like an utter failure. JD was a rock star taking care of our sweet Ely girl. The two of them bonded quite a lot, which I was super thankful for. Elyannah also wasn't a screamer like her older sister, so that helped. 😉

I was so thankful he was there, especially since no other guests were allowed. That whole day was a blur because I didn't have any calories in me other than what came through the IV. It was miserable, and I'm pretty sure this whole thing was set off because of all the extra anesthesia I got because of the epidural failure. (Apparently it's called a dry block.) I had a little bit of a reaction after my surgery when I got my reduction in 2019. Anyway, I couldn't even pick up my phone to update everyone and reply to messages. People who know me know how bad off I must be if I can't even pick up my phone. I started feeling a little better that night, and we slowly started solid foods again. I still couldn't look at foods though, and I maybe ate a few crackers and drank a bunch of water. My appetite was pretty much gone.

They added that adorable bow to Elyannah's hat finally! I love it!

I knew I was doing better though when I was able to hold and feed my sweet girl that night! I felt okay enough to go to the NICU the next day and finally got to hold my boy! Although it was bittersweet because I could hardly keep my head up, none the less hold him for long. He was beautiful, but I felt like I couldn't even enjoy it because I felt so awful. I wasn't able to stay long because I didn't want to pass out in the middle of the NICU. It broke my heart. It was also hard to see him connected to so many wires. However, his nurse was excellent, and she knew just what he needed. I could tell she picked up on what babies needed really fast and was very talented. 

I was better off the next day as we prepared to leave the hospital. My appetite was still rocky, but I was starting to feel better. I had to feed him at least 3/4 of a bottle before we could leave. I didn't have much luck with the first bottle, and he made an absolute mess. HAHA. The second one went a lot better, and he finished the entire thing! Of course, just as we were getting prepared to leave, I started getting this awful headache. Nothing seemed to help, and I felt pretty miserable. I pushed through though, and we were able to leave that Thursday. I told JD not to talk to me because my head hurt so bad. (I know some of you may be screaming about pre eclampsia at this point. lol)

JD was a rock star through the whole process!

Our return home was disastrous! I had told the family ahead of time we were coming home, but they were not able to meet us right when we got there. I was feeling heartburn, so I took some tums as soon as we got in. I heard the babies screaming and went downstairs to hold them. I yelled at JD to bring me a bag because I could feel what I had eaten coming back up. So there I was holding two babies and throwing up into a Kroger bag. Luckily my family came to the rescue soon after and I crashed in bed! (My mom took so many of the late night feedings, and my dad kept things afloat in their home.) That did help with the headache and so did caffeine. Thanks to a wonderful friend, we figured out it was a spinal block headache. (She has a brother who is an anesthesiologist.) I did go to check with the doctor that day to see if I needed a blood patch or not and to double check and make sure it wasn't postpartum pre eclampsia. This was the one time I think a doctor's staff asked me if I wanted a coke to go for my headache. LOL. We decided to see if it would go away on our own since I would be going back to the doctor on Monday to check my incision. My brother in law came to the rescue that Friday morning since we had ironically ran out of coffee. The horror! 😆 So I put him to work! He was more than happy to! He'll make a good daddy! 

The night we got back, I was terrified that this could all be permanent. I was worried the damage would follow me for the rest of my life. Early that next morning, I heard my little Leon crying, and I went to go pick him up. He instantly calmed, and I felt relief. As I sat with him in the dark nursery, I cried out to God. "God, please don't let this be permanent. My family needs me. I can't do this. God, please..." He answered my prayer, but I knew even if this had been permanent, He would have taken care of us. If something goes wrong in the future, He will still care for us. He will provide. He always does. 💓

By Sunday night, I was doing a lot better. Even had my appetite back! Things were finally looking up! My other sister and brother in law were really great who kept the big kids and even helped with the babies while they were visiting! JD had to go back to work on Monday, so my brother in law who brought the coffee and had the week off took me and the babies to my appointment and to the pediatrician! Seriously, I have the best family! 

My sweet siblings attempted to get a pic of the babies in their announcement onesies since we weren't able to do it in the hospital! The babies didn't cooperate a lot. haha

Of course, the next day with the OB, she saw some moderate swelling. It really surprised me because I hadn't noticed anything till that day. They checked my urine and my blood pressure. (Which was somewhat high, but not out of the range they give post partum women.) Again, nothing showed up. But the swelling was SO weird. I had very little swelling during my actual pregnancy. It wasn't bothering me, so we decided to let it be. My brother and I then ran to the pediatrician (Because I hadn't timed these very well and had to be seen that Monday) and made sure babies were good to go, which thankfully they were doing great! They had lost some weight, but nothing out of the norm of what babies normally lose during that first week of life. (It's so ironic that they lose weight right after birth.) After the pediatrician visit, I noticed how swollen my ankle had become and pointed it out to my brother in law. It surprised me because I hadn't noticed anything till then.

I finally took a pic of the two of them together for the first time!

My mother in law came to visit in the next day or two. She helped feed the babies at night so I could sleep, as well. She noticed how white I looked, and I thought I might have possible C Diff (Which can be caused by antibiotics ironically), so I started taking another antibiotics. I tried to get a sample tested (If you want to know about that mess of a story ask me in person), but that ended up not working out. It felt like the antibiotics helped, but still don't know if it was C Diff or just a placebo effect. So basically, it felt like everything was falling apart. I had no idea that the worst was yet to come...

Grandma loving on her grandbabies! Super thankful she was here, especially with what was about to happen.

The next week was trying to recover, get some sleep, and get used to having two new family members! Ironically, the C-section healing was the least of my worries. With everything seeming to calm down, it actually became more painful. Haha. I tried getting some compression socks to help with the swelling because it wasn't going down hardly at all. That's not uncommon though after a C-section, but it was so frustrating after hardly having any at all during pregnancy. We also had that huge F4 tornado come through our town! We were only about five minutes or so away from some of the major damage, so it was really scary! We actually went to our den during the storm because we got a text saying there was an actual tornado on the ground and the lightening and thunder outside was intense. (Back when we first moved to Georgia, if there was even a tornado watch, we would be in the basement right away. We learned real quick to wait more for actual warnings now. haha) Thankfully our house and neighborhood were left alone, but downtown and my old high school were nailed. Please pray for our city because I have friends who's houses were destroyed and utilities messed up. 

That next Monday morning, I woke up to take some meds and checked on babies. I tried going back to sleep, but for some reason I couldn't. I started having some trouble breathing no matter what position I was in. It was really concerning. My chest felt heavy and lying down just wasn't an option. I started googling and the answers were not good. The options were possible blood clots or pre eclampsia. My mom urged me to call the on call doctor, which I did end up leaving a message. I called the office though too afterwards because they had just opened. When the nurse heard I was having trouble breathing, she told me to go directly to the ER.

Real talk, JD was none too pleased to have to go back to the hospital. Neither was I. I really hoped there was actually something going on and I wasn't wasting everyone's time and worry. We arrived in the ER, and they got me back really quickly. The ER was practically empty too, which was a rarity for me to see having experienced many an hour there as a child. They started by doing several tests and taking my blood pressure and oxygen levels. They even did an X-ray in my room! Technology is so cool! I remember when you used to have to go to a different room to do an X-ray. haha. I had to do another scan too where they injected iodine (I believe) which made me feel like I was peeing myself by the end of test. (Luckily the nice tech told me what to expect ahead of time. haha) The scan showed no signs of a blood clot, thank God! The X-ray, however, showed fluid in my lungs. They did check my heart echo with an ultrasound, and that showed everything good with my heart, which I was thankful for. They also tested my urine and found the protein number to be 500. For it to be pre eclampsia, it has to be 300. My test was FIVE HUNDRED. So they went ahead and diagnosed me with postpartum pre eclampsia. 

In a hospital room but sadly got moved away from my pretty window room.

I had to be moved to Labor and Delivery because that's where they kept the magnesium sulfate, or as they called it The Mag. Usually you get pre eclampsia BEFORE you have the baby and not after. And why magnesium works, I don't think they actually know the science behind. They're still not sure what causes pre eclampsia either. They think it could be stress, but I don't know a single new mom who doesn't get at least a little stressed after having a newborn. The scary part is if I had let it go, it could have given me seizures, damaged my organs, and possibly caused death. Postpartum pre eclampsia is nothing to play around with! And apparently it only happens to about 600 people every year in the USA. So SUPER rare. Aren't I special? 😅

The room they moved me to was used as a triage room, and they were in the middle of building more in the Labor and Delivery ward, so I'm sure it will look great once it's done. But being stuck in a little dark room was not my favorite... Especially when you are already SUPER depressed to be back in the hospital, away from your babies, and unsure of what to expect. I had cried at least twice before this because I was just so tired and so at the end of my rope. JD was able to stay with me for a bit, but no one else could come because of COVID rules in the labor and delivery ward, and he had to go back to the house to help with the babies. I also didn't need him there the whole time anyway, it was just a lonely feeling. Luckily I still had several people messaging me, sending out prayer requests, and making sure my family was fed at home. 

In order to treat pre eclampsia, they hook you up to an IV with magnesium sulfate (aka the Mag), and they will probably give you some lasiks to drain the liquid from your extremities, and you get a fun catheter to help drain said liquid so you're not getting up every five minutes to pee. So get this, they rarely if ever saw this, but I had 800ml worth of liquids leave my body! My blood pressure started coming down and the liquid in my lungs was also being drained. Many of you may wonder what magnesium sulfate feels like. It isn't fun, let's just say that. It makes you feel kind of hot and sweaty and bleh. It's kind of like being drunk without any of the pleasant side effects. On the positive side, I had some really great nurses! They were incredibly sweet and took care of my needs and wants. My favorite nurse even told me my babies' blood types! I watched some Marvel Avengers End Game and felt a little more normal. I had to be on magnesium for twenty-four hours, and then I was moved to a regular room (with a big window, halleluiah!). 

The next day after that, I was released since my blood pressure was excellent. My brother in law came to the rescue again since JD had to go to work, and my mother in law and my brother in law both took the babies to the pediatrician that day as well! (Thoroughly confusing the poor staff! 😂) And the next day we were able to take some pictures! I still wasn't feeling my greatest though (you can probably see I'm still a bit white in my newborn pics we took below), and my mother in law went ahead and got me a blood pressure cuff to measure my blood pressure at home. And the next day, low and behold, my blood pressure was high again. So I called the cardiologist to make an appointment and get put on blood pressure meds. It was frustrating because I feel like my body likes to confuse the poor doctors because I saw it was perfect when I left the hospital on Wednesday. It took awhile for the blood pressure meds to take effect, but finally my blood pressure started coming down! I'm hoping to get off of them soon as long as it continues to stay down. I am genetically predisposed though to high blood pressure, so we shall see! I'm hoping to add a lot more protein to my diet and reduce salt intake also hopefully to lose even more weight. I have lost about forty pounds in total since I didn't gain much weight in the pregnancy to begin with. I tried to watch what I ate and tried to stay active as much as I could. I also tried to get as much rest as I could manage. It seemed to pay off, but it may also have thrown my body for a loop losing SO much weight at one time. 

So needless to say, this has been quite the adventure! But I am SO thankful I had the problems and not the twins. Any mama would rather take the pain and medical issues for their babies, and I'm glad it was me and not them this time. The babies themselves have been really good! Some days are easier than others. I almost forget what it's like to have one instead of two. I've been using a Twin Z pillow from a friend who also had twins, and so far that's been my favorite. I've been using boppies and another breastfeeding pillow I have too, and I'm just really thankful for all the gifts of diapers, clothes, and wipes! Seriously, super thankful! The formula has allowed me to be able to sleep and heal with JD taking morning feedings and my mother in law and mom taking some of the middle of the night feedings. The twins are now officially EIGHT weeks old! Craziness! They'll reach the two month mark by the end of the week! They're pretty consistently sleeping from about 10:30pm to 6:00am and 7:00am! They've got adorable chubby legs and chubby cheeks, and I am so in love! Elyanna smiles all the time, and Leon is starting to do the same! Leon definitely wants to be independent already and trying to hold his head up and scooting on his mat already! They both love to sleep together on their stomachs, which cracks me up because neither of my older two liked their stomachs. Again, it's hard to remember when they weren't part of the family! It's quite a beautiful challenge, and I'm so thankful for everything! God has been SO good! More than we deserve! Keep us in your prayers! I think I am out of the woods, but knowing my luck after these two, something could always pop up again. The double rainbow is here in full, and I am so excited for what the future will hold!

Peace to you all!

Keri Lynn