the craziness of arrival of Maya and Max...

So some of you have asked about the details of the delivery. On the twins' two-month b-day, here's a quick rundown (written in third person because it almost seems like we watched it happen more than we experienced it, especially the last hour or so).

Tuesday, May 13
6:00 PM - Lonnie gets home from work and helps Alisa cut up veggies for friend's baby shower.
6:45 PM - Alisa leaves for baby shower, leaving Lonnie with a list of things to get done before the weekend house guests arrive.
7:00-8:00 PM - Alisa enjoys talking to friends at the baby shower. Lonnie works on a few things around the house, including an attempt to fix a toilet with a shaky base.
8:10-8:30 PM - At the shower, Alisa moves to sit next to a friend on the couch when she beings to feel a peeing-your-pants sensation. She even states out loud, "Oh my goodness, I think I'm peeing my pants." She stands up and a lot more than pee is pouring down her leg. Her friend says, "Did your water break?" Instantly, Alisa realizes that she is not peeing her pants, but yes her water had released. She quickly goes into the bathroom, and the women at the baby shower go into an excited frenzy. Alisa tries repeatedly to call Lonnie, but he doesn't answer the phone because he is in the middle of fixing a toilet. After the phone rings for the fourth or fifth time, Lonnie cleans up his hands and makes his way to the phone. The phone number on caller ID is unfamiliar so Lonnie goes about his business. He then decides he should call Alisa just to make sure she is okay, not even thinking she has gone into labor. Alisa answers his call and informs him that the babies are on their way and that she is getting a ride home so they can go to the hospital.

8:35 PM - Alisa arrives home and finishes packing her labor bag while Lonnie takes a quick shower. Alisa is very happy and excited and can't wipe the smile off her face. Alisa calls her doctor's office and her doula. The nurse from her OB's office tells her to go to the hospital.
9:15-9:30 PM - Alisa and Lonnie drive to Memorial Herman Hospital in Katy, Texas. They talk happily and at ease about the babies and the beginning of labor. They go to the hospital with the expectation that labor will progress throughout the night and the babies will arrive sometime the next day.

9:30 PM - Alisa and Lonnie arrive at the hospital and check in at the ER. Although Alisa's water has released, she is only feeling light contractions and appears happy and calm. The nurse at the ER seems skeptical that Alisa's water has released but checks her in.

9:45 PM - Alisa and Lonnie are taken to the labor and delivery section of the hospital. Initially, the L&D nurses seem skeptical that Alisa is in labor based on her happy appearance. After running through the list of water broken, twins, cervical cerclage to be removed, etc., the L&D nurses get more serious about checking Alisa into a room.

10:00 PM - While getting checked into L&D, the nurses are in contact with Alisa's OB office. Another OB besides Alisa's is on call for the office this night. Alisa and Lonnie are informed that the other OB will come into the hospital. One complication...the OB on call is not willing to do a vaginal delivery with twins where one is breach (as Max had been positioned for several months based on the ultrasounds). Therefore, the OB will come into the hospital to remove the cerclage, and then Alisa will remain on meds to keep the contractions down until the morning when Alisa's OB will be present for the delivery. Immediately after being informed of this situation, Alisa's OB calls into the hospital and says that she is coming in to remove the cerclage.

11:00 PM - Alisa's OB has arrived and performed an ultrasound to have a look at the babies' positions. Where Maya and Max had been positioned vertex and breach, respectively, just a week before, Maya is now positioned transverse with her spine against the cervix, and Max is still positioned breach. The OB says C-section is the only option, nurses start running around in preparation for the surgery, and Alisa and Lonnie understand the need for the unexpected change but still feel the disappointment in preparing for a delivery that is very different than what they anticipated.

Wednesday, May 14

12:20 AM - The past hour and a half have been a blur of preparations for C-section delivery. During the preparations, Alisa was initially given a spinal block, but she still had some feeling sensation. So the doctors topped off the spinal block with an epidural. (We later found out that this hospital's normal procedure is to go with general anesthesia if the spinal block doesn't take, but the anesthesiologist gave an epidural so Alisa could be awake and Lonnie could stay in the room during the delivery.) The epidural took so now it's down to serious business, and Lonnie is let back in the room for the delivery.
12:25 AM - Maya is born!!! Immediately out of the womb, she starts crying as loud as she can muster. Hearing Maya's cry, Alisa feels the joy that the first baby is okay.
12:26 AM - Max is born!!! Max begins to cry as loud as he can. Tears are flowing down Alisa's face with happiness that they babies are breathing and crying. Somewhat in shock at the tiny babies before his eyes, Lonnie struggles to find the words to tell Alisa what is happening. With two newborns, the room is a flurry of nurses and doctors checking babies and getting Alisa put back together.
12:30-3:30 AM - Lonnie goes with the babies to the newborn intensive care unit while Alisa is getting sewn up. Maya measures in at 4 lbs 4 oz and 16 1/4 inches, while Max is 4 lbs 2 oz and 16 inches. After Alisa gets out of the OR, she spends a couple of hours in recovery before being taken to post partum. On the way to post partum, Alisa is wheeled through the NICU to see the babies.

All in all, the delivery was a crazy experience. Of course, we feel so blessed that Maya and Max arrived healthy and strong enough to breathe on their own, but at the same time, we (particularly Alisa) feel some sadness that the delivery turned out differently than we hoped it would be. We knew that the delivery of twins presented greater risk, but Alisa had spent many hours in preparation for a vaginal delivery. It may sound kind of crazy, but she really wanted to experience labor...and it was not to be during this delivery.

For my part, I would have liked to help Alisa have a delivery that fulfilled her hopes and desires, but I am as proud of her for the way the delivery worked out as I would have been if it had happened another way. As all women do, she sacrificed her body to bring these little ones into the world, and I'm grateful for her courage and strength to bring these lives to our family.

-Lonnie