Tuesday, March 12, 2013

What had happened was . . .

The title of this blog is a common phrase in my household,  frequently said by Christopher. On a typical day I'll ask Chris about something and he responds with "Well, what had happened was . . ." Chris is know to suffer from a serious condition called ADOS (Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny!) So I feel this phrase is an apt title to give the details of why we delivered the quads at 29 weeks and 3 days. Plus I have another 45 more minutes to kill before I can pump again!

So to give background I was not having any signs of preterm labor on February 3rd. I say the OB on call and she said everything looked great.  We watched the Super Bowl and my loving husband brought me Newks. It was a normal Sunday in hospital jail.  My mom and I talked that day and she made me promise not to have the kids until she got back from San Diego on Wednesday.  She was flying out the morning of the 4th for a NAMB meeting. I told her the doctor said she thought I could go until 34 weeks and everything was fine.  I remember talking to mom that night and I think both of us were having second thoughts about her leaving.  However neither of us listened to our premonitions and she prepared to fly out as planned.

Now we are fast forwarding to 2 a.m., I remember waking up and my back was hurting.  I thought I was having gas pains because I was all hopped up on ambien and could not remember if I had had a bowel movement that day (okay I know that was TMI but I have always been honest on this blog and shared all details.) So I used the restroom and went back to bed.  Needless to say I got up every hour or so until it was time for Chris to get ready for work.  Once again premonition to call my mom and say I don't think you should leave town. Once again I do not listen to my body and blow it off while convincing myself I am being a big baby. While he was in the shower I went in there to discuss what was going on and requested some coffee to make my stomach feel better (pain was getting worse.) So I went and laid back in bed and started watching the clock.  I realized I would have pain for 30 seconds and then nothing for a minute or less then pain again.  At this point I realized that gas pains did not operate on a synchronized schedule, but contractions can. I tell Chris what is going on and he goes and gets the nurse.  This is a Monday morning and I see the perinatologist and get an ultrasound  at 7 am.  Our ultrasound tech comes in and goes to do my cervical ultrasound which I see her face get a look of horror.  So now I am really panicking that I am about to have kids and my mom is on a plane.  I convince Chris to call my dad and find out if mom has flown out yet or where she is.  My dad tells Chris my mom is on a layover at DFW. The ultrasound tech tells me my cervix is completely gone (dilated) and we could still be awhile away from having babies so not to panic. The perinatologist comes in looks at the ultrasound and my contractions then tells me I am going to have kids today.  I have no cervix left, Adley is out of room and Jaxon has very little fluid left.

This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Chris to call mom and get her here now.  I tell the doctor the situation and tell him we are not having kids until my mom gets here.  Chris is calling my mom at this point.  Now I need to explain Chris, he likes to joke around and unless you really know him sometimes you can not tell if he is joking or telling the truth.  Most people's first inclination is that is joking with them.  So Chris calls mom as I am talking to the doctor and I hear him say "Erin, she doesn't believe me and she wants to talk to you." I am now contracting more regularly and now officially panicking so I take the phone and tell her "I am in labor, we are having babies today, get on a plane." Needless to say Mom believed me and she found a flight.  Mom arrived in Shreveport at 9:30 and dad met her at the airport. They arrived at around 10:00 and we rolled to the operating room at 10:30.  I never expected to be in labor so Chris and I did not do any Lamaze classes. By the time my parents got there I was in hard labor.  The nurses had given me a shot of Demerol that did not phase the pain.  The first thing I said to my mom was "How did you do this?" She explained that she had prepared for this and then tried to coach me in breathing. I was not having it and probably was a little testy to everyone. So to all the women who give birth naturally, I am super impressed by you! I however have never been so excited to have a spinal!

I will not give you any details of the c-section other than some back story and the kids birth times. My dad's family all has girls first.  It doesn't matter if you married in or not you are going to have a girl first.  I told my doctor that I had to have a girl first.  He informed me he could not control that but he would lie if he had to and say that one of the girls were born first. Well luckily Grey decided she was going tired of being baby B and decided to come out first.  So I continued family tradition and my first born was a beautiful baby girl. Grey Alexandra Owens born at 11:04 am, weighing 2 pounds 9.6 ounces and measuring 14 inches long. Next came Jaxon Douglas Owens, he was born at 11:05 am, weighing 2 pounds 3.2 ounces and measuring 14 inches long.  Adley Grace Owens was born at 11:05 am, weighing 2 pounds 7.6 ounces and measuring 14.5 inches long. Last was our sweet little Dexter Charles Owens, born at 11:07 am, weighing 1 pound 10 ounces and measuring 13 inches long. The best sound in the world was hearing my children cry.  That is a major thing for 29 weeks! Here are pictures of the kids the first time I saw them:

Jaxon Douglas
Grey and Adley
 We had a large group of people that showed up to make our day special.  Chris's parents and my parents came, as well as Chris's brother and sister in law.  Aunt Kathy, Aunt Sherrie, Aunt Kim and Aunt Lesli were there as well as Uncle JT.  Nana, Aunt Sheri D, Melissa, Aunt Julie, Jaycee, Aunt Karen, Dana and Ainsley all drove in as well.  We had a full house and we were so happy everyone was there to experience the day with us.

That in a very long abbreviated is our "Well what had happened was . . ." story of our children's birth.  So sorry it was long, but there was a lot of details. I promise I will try to update this blog more frequently, but it has taken me 5 weeks to write the delivery story so I am making no promises. Please keep praying for our children and us as your prayers are coveted. 

Erin



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