Prim & Hagen Birth Story Part II

Continued ....

After a VERY long sleepless night in labor and delivery we met with my OB.  The drugs I was given when I first arrived had worked and I was no longer in active labor.  Our first goal was to make it 48 hours so that I could get both doses of steroids to help the babies lungs develop.  Every single day at this point was beneficial to the twins development.  I was not allowed to sit up or walk.  I could get up to go to the bathroom as needed but otherwise I was to be laying down.  Holy cow!  How was I going to do this for three weeks?!?  My amazing nurse found me a room with a big window and a beautiful view of the mountains.  Once we got settled in Erik went home to shower, pack our now needed hospital bag and check in with work.  Sometime mid-morning I realized that my school had no idea what was going on.  I had just not shown up to work!  Oops!  So I sent them a text with a lovely picture of me in the hospital.  And just like that my 15 year career had come to an end.  My dad was in the hospital in SLC receiving cancer treatments.  Luckily he was going home that afternoon and my mom could come be with me.

Later that afternoon I was taken down to see a maternal fetal medicine (MFM) doctor.  It was confirmed that it was baby A (Prim) that broken their water.  Both babies were looking healthy and not in any distress.  Baby A still had plenty of fluid around her (did you know that you keep making amniotic fluid even after your water has broken?) The doctor believed there was no reason why I couldn't make it the hoped for three weeks.

I also met with a neonatal doctor who talked to me about what to expect if I didn't make it to 34 weeks.  It was late in the evening, I was tired and don't really don't  remember most of what she said.  But I do remember her saying, "At this point we don't talk about IF your babies will survive but just how much assistant they will need."  This, of course, was a huge relief.

The next couple days were pretty uneventful, well other than being very uncomfortable.  Both babies and I had to be on monitors 24/7.  If I moved or a baby moved my nurse would have to come in and adjust the monitors.  I was still on a mag drip which was VERY unpleasant!  It burns as it goes through your veins.  I was lucky to have some visitors that helped distract me;  Dana Hardman, Shannon and Casey Child, Erik's parents, my mom, Jennie, Josh, Lisa and Tanner all visited me.

Saturday morning I started having "cramps" again.  When my OB stopped by to check on me I told him what I was experiencing.  He wasn't worried.  They were not regular and I was still only dilated to a one.  He said I could get up and take a shower when Erik got there (it was like Christmas morning!). Erik was spending the morning at home getting some stuff done.  It was the BYU vs UofU game that afternoon and he would come watch it in my hospital room.  I continued to have cramps, aka contractions, all morning and into the afternoon.  As soon as Erik got there I took a shower and even washed my hair.  He brought me a BYU shirt to wear for the game.  I am not sure if it was the being up or what but my contractions started to get harder and closer.  We managed to get a picture in our BYU shirts before I asked to get back into a hospital gown. This is the last picture taken before I had the babies and we didn't get a belly shot!  I am still so sad about that.

Looking back I realize that no one ever said the words "you are in labor."  I don't know if I was in denial or what but I really didn't know that I was in labor.  At some point in the afternoon I whispered to Erik that I thought these babies are going to come soon.  Like it was a secret.  Erik started logging my contractions.  He made me promise that I would not have these babies until the game was over!  During commercial breaks we would monitor my contractions and practice some breathing. My dad called me right before the game started asking if Erik wanted to watch the game at their house and my mom would come down and hang out with me.  I told my dad that I was having too many contractions and that I didn't want Erik to leave.  Unfortunately BYU lost that game.  I asked Erik to spend the night at the hospital with me.  I didn't think he should be 30 minutes away.  I think Erik could see the writing on the wall a little clearer than I could.  He had no intention of  leaving me at this point.

After being updated my OB wanted to try and stop my labor one more time!  I was given a new drug late Saturday night.  It
seemed to work ..... for a few hours anyway.

To be cont.