Life at UAMS-Welcome Grant & Ethan

On Wednesday, Feb 18, 2009 we got the call that it was time to deliver my twin boys, Grant and Ethan. We had known that they would be delivered by C-section and the closest I had ever been to surgery was having my wisdom teeth cut out, so I was a bit nervous! Also, we knew that there would be medical issues with "Baby B", now known as Ethan and there would likely be issues with "Baby A" as well, being a little over 5 weeks early.
So, that evening I went back to the labor and delivery section of the hospital and they prepared me for surgery. Originally we were told I would be completely out, under general anesthesia, because my platelet levels were so bad, but it turns out I was able to have just a spinal block, with Duramorph (and it worked great!) They were just about to administer that when they noticed my IV was blown. My wrist looked like it was about to explode, so they had to change my IV again. They got that done and the spinal block in and things went quickly from there.
Grant was born at 9:52 pm (and he really was that red!)
I hardly even knew they had started the procedure when I heard Grant's first cries. Michael stood up and snapped a picture or two and he was gone.


Ethan was born at 9:53, a minute later.
It seemed like only seconds and he was out and taken away. Ethan did not cry when he was born. My poor baby had so much fluid around his abdomen he was having trouble breathing (thus the breathing tube in the picture above). A few minutes later, it seemed, I was moved to recovery and after a while, each boy was brought in seperately for Michael and I to see. Each was in an incubator, and we didn't get to touch them. We just saw them for a few minutes each and they were wheeled away. Even though I had just given birth to these two beautiful boys, it didn't yet feel real because I hadn't even got to touch my babies. After recovery, I was taken back to the 6th floor (labor & delivery and the NICU are both on floor 5) and was put on magnesium and straight bedrest for the next 24 hours, so still... I did not yet feel like a mother. During that time, Michael did get to go down to NICU and see the boys. In the beginning they were both on "Minimum Stimulation" so he could not even touch them and they really didn't want him to talk to them even! Grant didn't stay on "Min Stim" long, but Ethan is still on it. Hopefully soon, he will be off of it, as well. Anyway, at about 11:30 pm Thursday night, I was finally able to see my boys! I even got to hold Grant for a little while!