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As you can probably guess by the lack of updates, things became hectic in the middle and later months of my pregnancy. My local OB decided he did not want to cooperate with an out of town OB, and after refusing to coordinate needed treatment during an episode of premature labor, I abandoned him altogether, opting for out-of-town treatment. This was a good thing, as I was having many aspects of my health neglected. I had been VERY tired, and the local OB had refused to take an iron count. He even sent records to my new OB saying that he had!!! This resulted in no testing until I was so ill that a subsequent test showed extreme anemia. I took heavy doses of Chromagen, an iron/vitamin compound easier to digest and absorb than traditional iron supplements. Even so, I was still anemic going into delivery.
Third Trimester
Another problem was my breathing and swelling. At the time, it was thought to be pressure on my diaphragm caused by the babies, in addition to traditional 3rd trimester water retention. At 30 weeks, my left leg ballooned, and I was sent to the emergency room, where I was also found to be in labor. I was put on bedrest and prescribed anti-labor drugs. So much for working until my water broke! I remained on bedrest - both locally, and at times in Medford, until the babies were delivered.
On bedrest at the Cheney House
I was set up at the Cheney House - a hospitality house serving patients coming to Medford for medical care - a week after that preterm labor episode. After a week, I was so stir crazy that I came home, against doctor's orders. I agreed to return 5 weeks before my due date. It was a good thing I did, as 2 1/2 days after I had arrived for my second stay, my water broke and I went into immediate labor.
Autumn and Jakob were born on October 20th between 6 and 7 pm. My labor was rapid, aided by Sarah who was a GREAT birth attendant, and Autumn was born, using a birthing bar, "normally".
A very fresh Autumn
There was a bit of a hitch with Jakob, however. While pushing Autumn out, Jakob had flipped. The OB on call was willing to perform a breech extraction. In fact, flipping is so common that she had arranged for an anesthesiologist to be on standby so that she could safely perform the extraction. This is where the problem arrived. The anesthesiologist disappeared! Pandemonium broke out in the delivery room as everybody called everywhere imaginable, trying to locate the missing doctor. The OB was furious, and repeated aloud that her window of opportunity was closing. As the clock marched forward, the support staff began to give up, and started to prep me for a cesarean section. 44 minutes later, an anesthesiologist was found. The OB reached for the baby, only to find a closed down uterus. Scalpel in hand, she did an emergency c/s, and delivered Jakob into the hands of a neonatologist who rushed him into the NICU.
Jakob is rushed to the NICU
I was unable to see my babies for nearly 24 hours. During that time, they were put on a CPAP and monitored for heart rhythms. Neither knew how to suck, and were fed by NG tube. According to the bill that I just received, Autumn also needed to be recussitated at one point. Nice to have mentioned it only on the bill....
Autumn and Jakob
I was released on the 3rd day post delivery, and returned to the Cheney House, where I stayed when not visiting, kangarooing, and nursing the babies in the NICU.
Sarah and I with the babies
However, I wasn't doing very well. My swelling was increasing, it was very difficult to breathe, and the night of day 6 I awoke shaking violently and feeling as if the room were a freezer. On day 7, I happened to run into my OB at the hospital. He had me come to his offices immediately, and a chest x-ray was ordered to see what the breathing problem was. The x-ray happened to show my heart as well, which was enlarged. I was re-admitted to the hospital through the emergency room, and sent to the heart unit, where I was diagnosed with postpartum cardiomyopathy and septic pelvic thrombosis. I stayed another week as they fought the swelling and infection. In the meanwhile, the babies learned to feed, maintain their temperature, and breathe regularly, so they had to be released. Sarah once again pulled through, and took the babies "home" with her to the Cheney House while they waited for my release. My sister, Rebecca, also pulled through, and put her work in L.A. on hold to fly to Oregon, where she helped Sarah with the babies, and subsequently helped in the running of my house the first week I was back home in California. Her help was invaluable!
Jakob and Autumn at the Cheney House
In retrospect, I think the difficulty breathing from 3 months on, and the horrible swelling from 30 weeks on, may have indicated the beginning of heart difficulties. I am now home with the babies. All in all, we are doing well. Once in awhile, I feel some strangeness in my chest, so I take it easy. I have requested an extra month of maternity leave. It is without pay - which is not really good, as this was a $100,000+ pregnancy, and not entirely covered by insurance - but I need the chance to feel fully recuperated and to bond with my babies before returning to work full time. Doctors have warned me to never get pregnant again (no problem there!), and I am being closely monitored, as I turned down treatment with an ace inhibitor that would have prevented nursing. Part of me feels there is no problem, but once in awhile, my body reminds me otherwise.
At home with the twins
