Announcing the birth of Lily Mei Chuang born July 23, 2012 at 5:48pm weighing 5lbs 8oz, 19 inches long and Lucas Liam Chuang at 5:50pm weighing 5lbs 9oz, 19 inches long. They came into this world with the most beautiful cry, not just from them, but everyone in the room. It was perfect.
I had been having pretty consistent contractions for a few days but they always stopped. On Sunday July 22nd I was exactly 36 weeks pregnant. Around 6pm my 8 year old son cut his finger on a kitchen knife and we headed to Banner Gateway ER to get him stitches. By the time we got there I felt the contractions begin. As we went from triage to xray to the procedure room they had become 2-3 min apart. I kept telling the ER staff not to worry that I did this but they would stop and just to take care of him but you could tell my contractions were making them uncomfortable. They had us in and out as quickly as possible and insisted on my going to OB triage to be checked. I called my parents to come get the kids because I knew they would want to monitor me for a while and it was 830pm and they needed to go to bed. My dad took the kids home and my mom stayed with me.
The triage nurse put me on the monitors and checked me around 9pm and I was dilated to a 3. I had had contractions 4 days before and was dilated to a 3 and they stopped labor with terbutaline so I wasn't thinking this was any different. They monitored me for 2 hours and my contractions were consistently 1-2 min apart. At 11pm she checked me again and I had made no progress so she walked out to call the doctor and get discharge orders. She barely shut the door when my water broke.
I called James and Jessica to tell them and then called my birthing doula. They moved me into a labor room and everyone arrived. I knew I was nowhere close to full labor so the parents went to the lobby to sleep while my doula, mom, and I worked on natural ways to keep my labor going. My doctor ordered constant monitoring so I was able to roll on the birthing ball, try the peanut ball, stand, and try different positions within the limits of my monitors. My contractions progressed as the night flew by. Sometime early that morning my doctor came into to check on us. I wanted VERY badly to avoid a c-section so I had made every preparation possible including choosing to labor without medication. However they insisted on placing an epidural catheter "just in case" we needed to move quickly in an emergency. As we talked to my doctor he seemed to be indifferent to my plan and made it very clear that if Baby B was not head down he would not really try to flip him after Baby A was born, I would need to have a c-section. This did not change my mind to try to deliver both vaginally and he left saying he would be back around lunch.
6 hours passed and my contractions grew more intense. They checked me again around 11am and in the 12 hours I had been in labor I had only dilated 1cm to a 4. Not the answer we all expected and the doctor encouraged me to take a low dose of pitosin to "get things moving." There is a risk of infection 24 hours after your water breaks and you have had vaginal exams and I did not want to put the babies or myself at risk for c-section. I had also labored with my daughter on pitosin for 13 hours without an epidural so I knew I could still do it but I wanted to get an Ultrasound to see the position of the babies. Being that the doctor had stated that I would have a c- section if a baby was breech, and 4 days before the second baby was, I wanted to make an informed decision with the parents and my birth team.
The ultrasound tech came in as I was realizing I may have to come to peace with a c-section, and just to throw a curve ball, Baby B had flipped again and was head down!! Both were back in place and on board to have my vaginal delivery I wanted so badly. I knew everything was working out how it was supposed to. My resolve to go the distance came just a strongly as the contractions did as they started the pitosin.
By 2 o'clock (15 hours into labor) my contractions were so strong I could barely breath through them. Between every one I wondered how I would make it through the next but still knew I could do it. I could deliver these babies naturally. The nurse came in at to check me. We all KNEW I was getting close. She looked up at me with the most empathetic eyes and said "5" in the sweetest voice I had ever heard. At that moment I completely lost it. Tears of pain and and exhaustion just started pouring out of me. A 5!? How could I only be a 5? I still had 1/2 way to go?? My spirit was broken. I could'nt even talk through the contractions as they were still on top of each other a minute apart. My head was spinning. I didn't want to let anyone down and I felt in that moment I was letting myself down as I whispered the words, "I want an epidural" As soon as I said the words I knew I had made the right decision for me.
The anesthesiologist was so sweet as she came in. She knew I wanted to still be able to feel. The meds hit and I think I fell asleep within seconds. I felt like I slept for hours as I woke up I learned I had been asleep for maybe 15 min. The next couple hours flew by again. I could feel the pressure of each contraction but I could breathe and talk again. The intensity had left the room and we all laughed and joked as we got ready for these babies to arrive. At 4 she checked me again and I was at a 9. She called the doctor to come in. We were all so excited the babies would be here soon.
Because I was delivering twins, the doctor insisted I deliver in an O.R. room once again "in case" I needed a c-section. Because of this they only allowed one person in the room with me. I was planning on it being my doula but something last minute told me I needed my mom there. They wheeled me in the room as I waved goodbye to the parents. I wanted so badly to see them as they saw their babies for the first time. That was the moment I anticipated that had kept me going throughout this process. I knew I wouldnt get that moment because I had to deliver in the O.R.
There was a team in the room as I climbed from my bed to the O.R. bed and began pushing with each contraction. Time flew by once again as I tried pushing with a squatting rope and the doctor and nurse helped reach inside to help the baby girl along. I kept saying out loud, "I can do this, I can do this" The doctor stopped me after a while and said in a loving voice full of admiration, "Destinee, I know you want to do this. And the babies' vitals are still really good. So I will let you as long as you want to keep trying. But she's not coming. You've been pushing almost an hour and a half and she has not moved AT ALL." I looked over at the nurse, exhausted, not sure what he meant. She had been so supportive of my vaginal birth. She said, "Destinee shes not coming." So I looked to my mom who had tears streaming down her eyes and said, "Sweety, you need to have a c-section. You've done so good but shes stuck." I started crying. I knew what they were saying was true. My mom continued saying, "You did EVERYTHING you said you would do. You did everything you could" My tears kept coming because I knew she was right. I was at peace. And for the second time I knew; everything was happening how it was supposed to.
As soon as that peace came over me my doctor, knowing my wishes for the parents to be there, asked the anesthesiologist if they could be in there. I glanced up at her and with tears in her eyes she said, "Of course." I then realized most everyone in the room had tears in their eyes. They were all on this journey with us. The parents were in scrubs and in the room within minutes. They had already gave me the medicine needed to numb me and had begun cutting. I was given more meds for heartburn and immediately started puking. I guess I puked for a most the surgery. I couldn't talk. My brain was still in full labor mode. I could hear my friend cheering me on from the back of the room. My mom rubbed my head and held the puke bag as she stood their fascinated by the c-section. I heard the doctor say that the baby girl was posterior and her elbow was up over her head and was stuck under my pubic bone. He showed her to me for a second and I heard nothing but the parents cries and statements saying how perfect she was. He was out within 2 min. He had turned transverse after she came out and had the cord loosely around his neck twice. I was slowly slipping into a deep sleep from all the anti nausea meds. The last thing I got to see was Jessica and James each holding one of them with smiling teary eyes as they took the babies and parents to the recovery room. The moment I had been waiting for <3
About 3 hours later after I was out of recovery, Jessica and James brought Lily and Luke in for me to meet them. They were perfect and healthy. The parent were both beaming. Everything we had worked for was finally here. I learned then that they even got to cut their babies cords. They put our rooms right next to each other and we all spent lots of time together. The nurses knew if they couldn't find one of us we were in the other ones room. The whole staff were so grateful to be a part of our journey and many made sure to tell me how happy and glowing the parents were. They were discharged within 48 hours of being born.
My part of the journey was over. But my role in their lives is far from over. I cant wait to see my friends in their role as parents and to see who these two little miracles become. Their journey into this world wasn't what their mom or dad ever thought it would be when they set off to have children, it wasn't what I thought it needed to be as I went into labor, but I think we would all agree it was exactly what it needed to be. It was perfect.
