One year ago:
It was another restless night. I can’t wait until I’ll actually be able to get some sleep again. Today marks a week since I was admitted into the hospital. The morning was pretty quiet and I was really looking forward to taking a shower and my nurse had brought me fresh towels and a clean gown. Since my blood pressure has been on the rise, I’ve only been allowed to take a shower every other day. Right before I was ready to take my shower, I was paid a visit from my
As soon as the doctor left my room, I called Eric, who was at work. I told him the news and he came over to be with me. Once my parents got off work, they joined him. My Aunt Debbie also ended up coming over to the hospital as well. At 6:00pm, they took me upstairs to the Labor and Delivery floor to start prepping for the delivery. 7:00pm came and went and I was getting more anxious by the minute. Eric said I kept asking when we were going into the operating room. I had known since I found out I was having triplets that I would be having a c-section but all of a sudden, I got very nervous. Eric slipped off to get dressed into his blue pants, shirt, and mask, as well as a hairnet in order to prep for the surgery.
Finally, around 8:00pm, they wheeled me into the operating room with Eric at my side and as soon as I got there, I was put into position and I was given my spinal anesthesia. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought but it wasn’t very pleasant either. I was amazed at how quickly it took effect. Eric wanted to watch me receive the spinal but they had him sit over on the other side of the table on a stool and he held my hand. Dr. Bird and her team entered the room, introduced themselves and got down to business immediately. A fabric barrier was placed between my face and my stomach so Eric couldn’t see what was going on unless he stood up and I could not see at all. I was lying nervously anticipating when they were going to start only to realize that they had started minutes ago.
When they were ready to pull out the babies, a mirror was placed so that I could see the delivery of each baby. All of a sudden, at 8:27pm, I heard some gurgling sounds and saw a tiny head of dark hair followed by flailing arms and legs accompanying a disgruntled cry and gasps for air. Baby A was out, a girl, weighing 4 lbs. even and measuring 16.5 inches long.
Within seconds, they presented her to me wrapped in a white towel and then whisked her away to be warmed and evaluated.
Immediately after that at 8:28pm, Dr. Bird pulled Baby B out, a boy, whose limbs were spread out like a frog but who had a head of hair as well. He weighed 4 lbs. 3.5 oz. and was 17 inches long.
He too cried but his breathing was very labored. A sense of concern was immediately apparent. They gave me a one second flash of him before taking him away to assist him. Within the same minute, Dr. Bird had to reach in deeply, up to her elbow, to pull out Baby C, a girl, weighing in at 2 lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 14.5 inches long.
You could see right away that she was quite small compared to the other two babies but she gave out a great cry and also had a fair amount of hair. Since she was doing so well despite her tiny frame, I got a chance to see her for about a minute before she was evaluated.
By that time, the room was permeated by the sound of echoing cries from three babies. My eyes were wet and my heart was full with what had just transpired. It was amazing!
Eric was taken to be with the babies in the other room, who caught a glimpse of a large container of placentas as well as my open stomach on his way out. I was then stitched up and taken to the recovery room. Meanwhile, Eric was watching as the staff members were actively assessing each of the babies. One of the nurses was giving him the status of each baby but he was also distracted because he was taking in all of their tiny features, starting with Baby A, then Baby B and finally Baby C. Eric told me later that as he looked at the babies one by one, each took a part of his heart.
He was excited and fascinated he felt a lot of empathy for the burden they had of adjusting to this new and strange world and trying to breathe comfortably. He wished he could have traded places with each one of them but he also acknowledged that this was the beginning of many experiences that they would have to go through in life, this being the first trial and that they would not remember how miserable things were after a short time.
He had the opportunity to take a picture with each baby and cutting a piece of each baby’s umbilical cord. Each cut made him realize the magnitude of his responsibility as the father of three infants. At the same time, he was concerned about my status in recovery. The staff encouraged Eric to accompany the babies to the NICU. Within the minutes after the babies were stable and secured to their equipment, my parents and my aunt were invited into the NICU to see the babies. They zigzagged from one baby to the next in awe of each precious life.
After about an hour spent in recovery, Eric was able to meet me and on the way back to my room, they wheeled me on my bed into the NICU to see my babies. They were absolutely beautiful but so tiny! I wanted to stay and visit all night but I had to get back to my room to rest and get started on my magnesium sulfate drip, a medication to prevent me from having a seizure or stroke following delivery, which I was on for 24 hours. It had been an exhausting day and I was grateful to finally get some rest but I hated being away from my babies and longed to be with them again. Eric came in and showed me photos and videos of each of the triplets, my heart swelling with pride and then I drifted off to sleep, content to know that my children were in good hands.
1 comment:
I'm so glad that you wrote about your experience. I love it. They are beautiful children and happy 1 year to you all!
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