I was both excited and nervous at the same time! I couldn't believe this day was finally here!
Just after 11am, Deb and I walked through the double doors into the theatre waiting area, while Andrew got dressed in his scrubs! I was met there by our Ob, Dr Y, and Dennis the Anaesthetist again to go through some last minute details. A few minutes later, I was wheeled into theatre with Andrew by my side, and before I knew it, I was numb from the stomach down. The spinal was a little uncomfortable, probably more the fact that I had to curl up with my huge belly in the way, but it wasn’t as painful as I’d imagined. Such a relief. Dennis explained how I would feel a lot of pressure, but no pain. He was fantastic during the c-section and talked us through what was happening.
Once they got going, things happened all very quickly! I felt quite a lot of tugging (I think at one stage I said I felt like I was on a rollercoaster!), and heard a loud vacuum noise (as they removed the amniotic fluid). Then Dennis told us that one of the boys was out and lowered the sheet so that I could see. It was 11.46am and Will Keona (previously known as Twin 1) was out in the big wide world! Then, less than 2 minutes later at 11.48am, Jonah Bane (previously known as Twin 2) had also made his entrance!
Their middle names are both Hawaiian, and we chose the names based on their meanings. Keona (pronounced ‘kee-oh-na’) means ‘God’s gracious gift’ and Bane (pronounced ‘bar-neh’) means ‘Long awaited child’.
Deb had our camera and took a heap of photos for us. Then when Deb was busy checking the boys, the Assistant Anaesthetist took over as our photographer! We got around 25 photos in theatre, which is great as I couldn’t see what was going on most of the time!
Dennis mentioned that once the boys and placentas were out, I might feel sick and light-headed with all of the extra blood rushing around my body. He was right! But he fixed it right away with some magic drugs in my drip! While I layed there and waited for Dr Y to stitch me up again, Andrew cut the cords and we got a few more photos before the boys were taken away for weighing etc.
Andrew and Deb went to the nursery and weighed the boys. Will weighed 5lb 6oz (2440 grams) and Jonah weighed 5lb 2oz (2330 grams). I stayed in the recovery area for about 30 minutes, and was back in our room by 1.00pm. Shortly after, I had 2 tiny visitors! Andrew was wheeling the boys into our room in a double crib!
Deb took their temperatures and tested their blood sugar levels. Unfortunately, both of their temperatures were quite low, as were their blood sugar levels. Due to this, and their low birth weights (both under 2.5kg), they were admitted to the Special Care Nursery (SCN). This was disappointing, as it meant they wouldn’t be able to stay in our room. They were both put under heat lamps to increase their body temperatures, and Will was put on a drip for his hypoglycemia. Poor little guy…it looked so uncomfortable. They were also both having issues feeding, so they had nasogastric tubes (NGT) inserted. Andrew kept going between our room to spend time with me, and the SCN to spend time with the boys. It was so frustrating that I still couldn’t walk due to the spinal, so I had to rely on reports from Andrew and the nurses.
At about 6am the following morning one of the nurses brought Jonah into our room so I could have a cuddle for an hour or so! Will was still on the drip, so he had to stay in the SCN.
At 11am, after my drip and catheter were removed, I was able to walk (very slowly mind you!) to the SCN to visit our boys!
