Sophie and Addilyn’s Birth Story

October 21, 2014 by Holly Blau 3 Comments

I can’t believe I finally get to write the birth story of my beautiful twin girls. They are such tiny and perfect little miracles. I feel so blessed.

Now, on to the birth story.

We chose to be induced at 38+1 weeks for the safety of the babies. We didn’t want the placenta to die and the chance of a possible stillbirth was increasing. Apparently these girls were not planning on coming on their own, so we needed to give them a nudge.

I won’t lie, having your baby’s birthday planned is really nice! I spent the entire day before we went to the hospital deep cleaning my house, packing, and spending extra time with Logan.

Then at 5 a.m on Tuesday October 14, 2014 we headed to the hospital!! After filling out some paperwork, they got the IV and everything going. Everything moved really quickly. Once they got the heart rate monitors on my belly and found both baby’s heartbeats they also strapped on the contraction monitor. Apparently I was already having some fairly steady contractions, I just wasn’t feeling them! I was dilated to a 3, 70% effaced, and ready to go. So it may have ended up being baby day anyway! The pitocin was started by 6:15 and the contractions picked up within 15 minutes.

The day went by really quickly. Dr. Allyn came in around 8:30 and broke Baby A’s water and said I was at a 4. The contractions were fairly steady and were at a manageable pain level. Dr. Allyn also screwed a scalp electro to Baby A’s head to keep track of her heart rate. Trying to keep track with the straps wasn’t working well because every time I moved we would lose a heart beat because the strap would move. This worked out much better!

By 10:30 the contractions were awful. The nurse asked if I was ready for some pain relief. I asked her to check me. I was still only at a 4. I really didn’t want to get an epidural so soon, but I was really hurting, so I agreed to it.

The anesthesiologist got there fairly quickly and got the epidural placed by 11:15ish. It was extremely painful, but that was one heck of an epidural! Before I knew it, I felt nothing. I was so numb, I couldn’t even move my legs or wiggle my toes.

Now that I was finally comfortable Coltin ran home to visit Logan and get him laid down for a nap. I got to FaceTime with him for a few minutes which made me so happy! This was my first time being away from him.

I tried to take a nap while Coltin was gone but I started having a slight pain in my side that was uncomfortable enough to keep me awake. I had a button I could push if I felt like I needed more pain control in my epidural. I finally pushed it and I felt better. At 12:50 I decided to look at the monitor. My contractions were coming fast and were mean looking on the monitor. I took a picture and sent it to Coltin.

He text back immediately that he would head back to the hospital. He was back in about 15 minutes. 5 minutes later, Dr. Allyn came to check on me. He checked to see how far I was dilated. I was scared the epidural may have slowed things down. He asked if I was feeling any need to push and I told him no. He looked at me and said I must have an amazing epidural because I was at a 10 and it was time push! The nurses instantly started getting everything together. Coltin got nervous and you could see how scared and excited he was! I was just so thankful he had made it back to the hospital and I was so happy I got the epidural an hour earlier!!

I started pushing and the nurse kept telling me to keep going. I finally stopped and said no, I need a break. I need to breathe! Apparently at that point, Sophie’s head was already out and I just didn’t realize it. They told me just one more big push was all I needed. I pushed and they had to yell at me to slow down! So after only 5 pushes, Sophie was born!

Dr. Allyn immediately began pushing on my belly to help Addilyn turn head down. After about 10 minutes of attempting, I heard exactly what I didn’t want to hear. She went feet first and was not budging. I had to decide right away if I wanted to risk a breech delivery (which had some big risks) or have a c-section. I seriously thought I was going to cry. Coltin was so reassuring though and encouraged the c-section and kept telling me I could do it and everything would be ok. Out of safety for Addilyn and all of Coltin’s comforting words, I agreed to the c-section.

They moved fast to get me ready to wheel to the OR. I carried Sophie the whole way and was heartbroken when they took her away from me. The operating room was freezing and I was shaking uncontrollably. They were giving me blankets for the top half of my body, but nothing helped. They finished prepping me and Coltin was finally able to come in the room. I was so numb but I could feel all the pressure and the tugging. It was definitely uncomfortable, but in about 3 minutes, Addilyn was here at 2:11 p.m. I didn’t get to hold her, but they put her by my head for a minute so I could see her. Then they took her and Coltin had to leave so they could stitch me up. I was so cold and so tired. I fought so hard to stay awake at this point. It took about 30 minutes for them to finish up and then I was wheeled to a recovery room.

After nurses pushing on my stomach and checking my vitals, I finally got to hold Sophie again. A little later Coltin got to come see me.then they brought me Addilyn and I was so happy. I was still shaking uncontrollably from being cold and was running a fever. It took a long time for me to get any feeling back.

I finally got taken to my hospital room and was beyond happy to have both my babies! I am very happy with my decision of trying for a vaginal delivery and with my decision to have a c-section and not risk anything happening to Addilyn.

Sophie Nicole Blau was born at 1:36 p.m. weighing 5 lbs 10.5 oz and was 18.75 inches long.
Addilyn Grace Blau was born at 2:11 p.m. weighing 5 lbs 6.2 oz and was 17.75 inches long.

They are so perfect and I am so happy to have finally welcomed them to the world.