The day finally came to start baby led weaning with our twins and it was such an amazing experience! Unlike tediously scooping spoonfuls of puree into their mouths like we had with our older kids I sat there speechless watching our girls excitedly exploring something new. I also recorded the whole thing on video for you to enjoy as well! The video is a little long but between the adorable twin interaction and my mini freak out when Mia bit off a big chunk of carrot, it is a fascinating video! Our girls are a few days shy of six months and have been aggressively trying to steal food off of our plates for months now. I am pretty sure this was the best day of Mia’s life and I am not sure if Everly understood that it was food.
In the video Everly is on the left and Mia is on the right. Yes, they are twins, despite being very different sizes and looking nothing alike! Watch how Mia looks to Everly each time she accomplishes picking up a carrot or eating it. Everly was more interested in stealing Mia’s carrots (sibling rivalry is starting already) than actually eating. The whole thing is so interesting, adorable and very helpful to prepare other parents who are planning on trying baby lead weaning.
A couple of tips for a smooth start:
Skip the huge high chairs and use Bumbo chairs with trays. We tried the high chairs the night before and It was too difficult for Mia and Everly to reach their food. We will re-introduce the high chairs when they are a little bigger and have more of a hang of eating.
Skip the bibs. Bibs were proving to be too distracting so I found the best approach was have them stripped down to a diaper.
Don’t wait until too late in the day. The day before we didn’t offer Mia and Everly their food until just before bedtime and they were not interested in it at all.
You can read about why we chose baby led weaning for our twins here. Don’t forget to follow Nesting Story on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter!
5 Things To Stop Doing To A Woman Pregnant With Multiples:
1. Stop acting like you are the expert on a multiples pregnancy because you have googled it. Until you have grown a basketball team inside your body, carried them around for months and experienced all of the pain that goes along with carrying multiples you don’t know what you are talking about.
2. Stop telling her she’s going to have her hands full. Do you think she was planning on having one baby raise the other(s)? Of course she knows it’s going to be busy.
3. Stop telling her that your cousin’s friend’s mother knows someone who had multiples. Just stop, she doesn’t care.
4. Stop asking her how much weight she has gained and if she has any stretch marks yet. Just because you know her body is being pushed to the limit doesn’t mean every war wound should be public knowledge. Let the woman keep some shred of dignity.
5. Stop comparing your singleton pregnancy to her multiples pregnancy. It’s not the same and she may stab you.
5 Things To Start Doing For A Woman Pregnant With Multiples:
1. Start taking her out to restaurants. She has probably been instructed to pack on the pounds. She might as well be doing it with good company.
2. Start offering to drive her to her millions of doctor appointments, non-stress-tests and ultrasounds. Chances are she is finding it hard fitting behind the wheel, getting light headed while driving and let’s face it, a little lonely at all of those appointments.
3. Start cooking meals for her. Between the smells of cooking putting her nausea into overdrive and standing on her feet cranking up her braxton hicks contractions, the last thing a soon-to-be mama of multiples wants to do is spend any time in a kitchen.
4. Start taking her older children off her hands for a while. They are probably so bored of watching T.V. while mommy lays on the couch multiplying like gremlins.
5. Start telling her “she’s got this”. Remind her how strong and brave she is and that you know she can rock this mom of multiples role!
To all of the well meaning friends, family and in-laws in my life!
Throughout my twin pregnancy I was very hopeful that I would be able to have a vaginal delivery like I had with my two previous children. My OB said she would give me the green light as long as baby A was head down. Because I had a “proven pelvis” it didn’t matter what position baby B was. Going to my ultrasounds week after week both girls were doing a lot of gymnastics. In fact almost every one of my ultrasound technicians commented on how unusually active they were especially when they each moved from head down to up to down again all during one ultrasound. In the end Baby A decided to plug the exit with her bum and their fate was sealed… a c-section it was.
Although I always knew that I had a much higher chance of having a c-section with twins, to actually wrap my head around it was a different story. I had seen many shows on TV where they show a birth via c-section but to keep it entertaining they always skipped the mundane and icky details building up to the doctor holding this pink baby in the air like Simba from The Lion King announcing their arrival. That’s when a million questions about logistics, timing and surroundings started swirling around in my head. I went to two of my best friends who had had c-sections and asked them to walk me through every tiny detail even having them back up when I felt they missed a part. Knowing all of these intricate details helped me immensely but to actually deliver two babies instead of one like each of my friends had put a slightly more dramatic twist on the big event.
The date was set and despite me constantly thinking I must be dialating from all of the intense pain I was experiencing my cervix was like fort knox. Finally 37 weeks rolled around and it was time to evict these darling tenants of mine. The night before my c-section I was filled with nervous excitement and despite my best efforts I only slept for thirty minutes. The alarm clock finally went off at 4 AM and it was time to start getting ready to roll. I wasn’t able to have any food, coffee (my lifeline), or water after 12 AM so I was glad that I was only having to wait until 8 AM for my c-section. I took one last belly pic; goodbye belly! My mom arrived to take over watching the older kids and my husband Mike and I were off to the hospital.After arriving at 5AM as requested by my OB, we registered and were sent over to the pre-op area. I changed into the hospital gown I was given and Mike had a seat beside me. The nurses then began prepping me for surgery: inserted my IV (ouch, it took a few tries because I have rolling veins) and prepped the area where the incision would be made. In case you were wondering, the incision is made below the bikini line, in the pubic area. So yes, two piece bathing suits can be worn after a c-section… something I didn’t realize before mine. Here is where things started to differ from what my mommy friends were able to prepare me for. Nurse after nurse and doctor after doctor came in to introduce themselves. All of them were on their way into the operating room dressed head to toe for the occasion. It felt like a scene out of E.T. These very friendly nurses and doctors (including the anesthesiologist and the male doctor my friends and I call the “the man” who pushes the abdomen to guide the baby toward the incision) began to tell me what team they were on: baby A or baby B and what their role would be. This team consisted of approximately 10 people. At this point my heart rate started to pick up a little and I began to think “holy crap, this is really happening!”
Then the OB doing the c-section entered the room to discuss the day’s events. Due to some last minute scheduling changes I had to switch from my regular OB to another (both of whom are rockstars). Following a little small-talk she started to explain that after taking a closer look at my ultrasounds she was a little concerned about how she was going to get baby B out. You see, baby B had been pushed way up out to the side past my ribs by baby A who decided to get very cozy and take up all of the real-estate. My OB continued to explain that if the they have exhausted all of the tricks to help get baby B out including using gravity by rotating the hydraulic table to an angle (another thing I had no idea they do) she would have to make an additional vertical incision. I was also warned that there may be a twenty minute difference between when baby A and baby B came out. At this point I decided not to freak out and know that the name of the game is about getting both girls out safely. Any idealistic thoughts I had of delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin did not take precedence anymore.Our girl’s positions in the womb, the shape my belly took, ultrasound showing their heads together At this point I was to temporarily say goodbye to Mike and walk into the operating room pushing my IV along the way. I have had surgery before and my friends described the operating room to me but I really was not quite prepared for what I walked into. Massive bright lights, tools layed out covered with small sheets and the biggest thing that took my breath away… an entire area designated for the babies including two warming beds. Anyone who has ever given birth before can probably relate to that moment when you see the warming bed ready and waiting for your little one while they are still in your belly. It’s surreal! To see two warming beds with additional equipment on standby, unlike when I had delivered my older two, shot a rush of adrenaline and put me into this speechless-shocked state. You know the kind; where you are literally having to remind yourself to breath in and out? The nurses helped my big belly and I up onto the table and into a sitting position to receive my spinal epidural. As they curved my spine over and held my shoulders down the nurse in front of me began asking me completely irrelevant questions obviously trying to distract me from the intense situation. I could barely string together a sentence as my body started shivering.
While all of this preparation was going on, Mike was given his own daddy operating room garb to wear and waiting on pins and needles. Excitedly he waited for ten minutes before he was ushered into the room by a nurse.
Mike sporting his very fashionable operating room garb and looking super pleased about it!
When my epidural was in place they had me lay down on the table and buckled me in across the thighs, calves, chest and arms (so they could tilt the table). Then they pinned a sheet up right near my face so I couldn’t see what was about to unfold. I settled in with my head turned to my right to face where those two empty warming beds sat so ominously while the anesthesiologist sat to my left. Although I was quite numb at this point I could still feel a little bit which they had told me is normal. I could feel them rubbing the iodine all over my belly and then I could feel what felt like tiny pokes. I spoke up letting my OB know that if that was them testing if I was numb enough to start then no, I could still feel a tiny bit. My OB filled me in that they were already under way, the incision had been made and they were starting to make their way to baby A!!! This was the point that Mike was ushered in through the back door behind my head to avoid the gore and because he wasn’t sterile. He was instructed to sit on a stool to the right of my head, near the warming beds. My OB was making small talk and again trying to distract me by asking random questions and after attempting to make small talk back I gave up and zoned out. I vaguely remember her mentioning that I wasn’t listening anymore and she then switched her attention to Mike and they continued the chit chat.
Suddenly I found myself in agonizing pain in my right shoulder, which couldn’t move because my arms were restrained. A slight bit of panic began to set in and this was the first time I took my concentration off of those warming beds. I told the anesthesiologist and he reassured me that “gas pockets” are normal which was the cause of my shoulder pain. He immediately injected a analgesic (pain killer) into my IV. That’s when I couldn’t breathe! It was like whatever he gave me froze my lungs for a moment. Apparently that is also normal. That passed quickly and by that point the OB was telling us that baby A was about to make her exit. At 8:08AM she held up this adorable screaming squishy little baby we proudly named Mia.
Mia was passed off to a nurse and unlike my previous deliveries, we were still waiting for another baby! Mike tried to stand up to catch some of the action and the anesthesiologist firmly put a hand on his shoulder and told him to sit down because if he fainted they would just leave him. He was the fourth most important person in the room after all! He quickly complied. I could feel pushing, pulling and tilting and without making that second incision the OB reached her entire arm up into my abdomen, right up to her shoulder and scooped baby B out of my ribs. At 8:09AM a squished and screaming sweet little baby was held up and we named her Everly. As the OB began to close me up I could see some commotion coming from the warming beds and noticed that all of the nurses had left Mia and were gathering around Everly. I immediately knew something was wrong. I could hear Mike asking questions and the nurses calmly telling him that she was in-drawing which means she was having trouble breathing and that she would need to head to the NICU. They then turned to me to fill me in and I quickly stopped them explaining that I heard everything and without hesitation instructed Mike to follow Everly to the NICU.
While Mike was with Everly in the NICU the doctor and nurses finished closing me up, cleaning me up and moved me back to the pre-op room. About closing me up; there had been a debate with my doctors deciding between staples or stitches. I had preferred stitches because I had previously had a bad experience with scaring from staples but my OB reassured me that she thought staples were the best route. In the end I decided to go with what she recommended and I am glad I did. My incision healed really well and it is just a thin line today. While shivering and in a bit of a daze a nurse brought Mia over to me to have skin to skin time. We settled into a wonderful cuddle and she started nursing right away. During this time Mike came back to tell me that Everly was breathing well on her own and was now just being monitored for a little bit before being brought back to me. What a relief! My shivering intensified and it started to become almost impossible to take my blood pressure which ended up delaying my move to the maternity ward by over an hour.
Everly was eventually brought to me and although I was over the moon holding my precious daughters I was still finding it difficult to recover from the shock and shivering. I couldn’t stop starting at their tiny faces studying their perfect but very different features. Although Everly came out very squished looking (which is VERY common with twins) she was quickly rounding out into this adorable little baby! I was eventually wheeled in my hospital bed to the maternity ward holding my two new bundles proudly attempting a smile through shivers as people ohhh’d and awww’d over our twins. Thanks to the most incredible nurse ever I was quickly warmed up by her enveloping me in a pile of warm blankets and because our girls were having a hard time regulating their body temperature we were instructed to have skin to skin time… for the most perfect cozy three hours of my life!As a parade of visitors flowed into the room to meet the two new additions of our family my very protective nurse made sure that my girls stayed put on me much to my delight and the disappointment of their grandparents! During that three hours this incredible bond formed between the three of us as my girls cuddled and hugged themselves into my body. This was it, the result of those agonizing eight and a half months of hard work and determination. The prize could not have been sweeter! It was so important for me to write this blog post with as much detail as possible. When I knew that I was going to be having a c-section I looked high and low for as much information I could find on what to expect. Although this story is specific to our experience I hope that my journey with our girls can help other mamas to prepare for what’s ahead. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have in the comments section below and I would love to hear YOUR birth stories! I will be blogging soon about the days following the birth of our twins and all about the recovery of a c-section so please don’t forget to subscribe to Nesting Story and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter so you don’t miss it!
There is a curiosity about a pregnancy with multiples. It’s understandable. A body is creating more than one person at once. Not only is there the mind blowing fact that (in my case) multiple eggs have been fertilized, your body then knows to create two placentas, two amniotic sacs, more blood, more amniotic fluid and your skin and muscles can stretch and stretch! It truly is amazing. I have read that people who’s bodies produce multiples are more evolved than others. I am not sure if I buy that. I personally think that God has a hand in every pregnancy, one baby or more.
When I was told that not only was I finally pregnant after a year of struggling with secondary infertility but there were in fact two little people growing inside of me, fear didn’t set in. At least not until later in my pregnancy when I could barely move without fainting and I knew that I had two older children depending on me. But the idea of twins joining our family only brought myself and my husband Mike feelings of joy and excitement. For the first couple weeks I assumed I was in shock and that the fear would come… it never did.
Before knowing I was pregnant I had suffered from a bout of stomach flu. I thought it had passed and then come back again. Then the nausea wasn’t lifting. When the pregnancy test came back positive it explained the nausea. Only this was very different from my two previous singleton pregnancies (that’s lingo for carrying one baby – you become fluent with these terms when pregnant with multiples). When pregnant with my older two the nausea would come in waves. Often triggered by smells; meat, perfume and cigarettes. But this time the nausea was unrelenting. It was also getting worse every day and contrary to the term “morning sickness” it would go into overdrive starting at 4pm and by the time 9pm rolled around I was having my daily vomit session before bed which would bring just enough relief to get through the night. I remember calling my mom crying saying this was nothing like my previous pregnancies which I had enjoyed. We chalked it up to me now being in my thirties this time around.
Twins had never crossed my mind in my previous pregnancies. Most of my friends had commented about the thought of twins before heading in for an ultrasound, but I never did. But this pregnancy there were a couple of times I commented to Mike in passing, “maybe it’s twins”. Then we would quickly dismiss that thought because when I had my multiple pregnancy blood tests week 4 there were no unusual levels with my HCG levels (we had started to explore my infertility before getting pregnant hence the extra tests). Even the morning before my 7 week ultrasound I commented again about the possibility of twins because of my nausea. Mike nicely said to put that thought out of my head. But after peeking at my ultrasound after my tight lipped technician left the room and saw what looked like owl eyes (two sacs) staring back at me my heart started to race. Once taken into a private room and an exceedingly kind nurse explained that I was pregnant with di-di twins (dichorinic/diamniotic which means separate sacs, separate placentas and they don’t share blood vessels, again more twin lingo). I was reassured that this was the safest type of twins to carry and that most likely they would be fraternal but because they were spontaneous that there was a very small chance that a fertilized egg has split really early creating identical twins… something that we wouldn’t be able to confirm until they were born.
One of the first things I did after finding out we were expecting twins was search the internet for pregnancy belly photos with twins. I wanted to see what a freak show I would become. While scouring Pinterest and other websites I came across a variety of belly shapes. Pointy, wide, low… it truly became an obsession of mine. I had been through two singleton pregnancies and I thought I was huge then. I just couldn’t fathom that my body could possibly carry two babies!
By 15 weeks my nausea finally subsided (It popped up again from 35 weeks on). I had a brief few weeks of feeling somewhat normal before my next biggest symptom set in: braxton hicks contractions. Mike and I had the opportunity to head to Las Vegas when I was 18 weeks and my braxton hicks contractions were brutal! Las Vegas is a walking place. Even in the Bellagio where we were staying it takes about 10 hours to get from the lobby to where our room was. The braxton hicks contractions would start up and feel like a vice on my tummy. I had always read that braxton hicks contractions would only last for a moment but I found that mine would set in as soon as I was on my feet and not relax until I sat down. I was very careful to rest a lot.
My version of a maternity vegas outfit complete with sparkly bling!
Although we thought I had to wait until my 18 week ultrasound what our babies’ sex were (I was convinced it was one boy and one girl) we got a huge surprise at my 16 week ultrasound… both were girls!!!
Once I got past 20 weeks the weight of my belly was incredible. This was the point that I was connecting with other twin mamas online and the most common horrible symptom we were all experiencing was excruciating hip pain. I used a super sexy support belt which helped take the weight off of my hips but near the end of my pregnancy I had to stop using it because it was making my wicked heartburn ten times worse.
My bump would take many shapes. But the biggest difference between carrying twins vs singletons was I always felt “high” and “low” at the same time. I was rocking an egg shape. For the last six weeks of my pregnancy baby A (Mia) was taking up all of the real estate pushing baby B (Everly) up and to the left, past my ribs. Poor thing!
There were days of my pregnancy that I was fighting depression. Between the crippling nausea in my first trimester to the chronic pain I experienced the rest of my pregnancy there truly were some dark days. It didn’t help that the first half of my pregnancy I was very isolated inside with bored children trying to survive one of the most brutal winters Canada has seen in years. I tried to pamper myself as much as possible and emerged myself in TV series after TV series. Later in my pregnancy I started feeling like my entire day consisted of moving from bed to sofa to bath to bed to bath to sofa and so on. The two things that got me through those last weeks were getting outside in the sunshine (even if it was just lounging by a pool while eating and watching everyone else have fun) and my weekly ultrasounds and non-stress-tests reminding me that all of this suffering was for a very good reason.
Oh and pedicures… lots and lots of pedicures!
I started to get creative with my parenting. Although I was getting a lot of help from family when Holden wasn’t at school and Beau wasn’t at nursery school there would still be a few hours a day while Mike was at work that I had to parent on my own. I would make everyone snacks and the kids beds on the floor while we would enjoy a movie together. That way I could rest with a pillow between my knees to get a bit of relief.
Walking up the stairs would put my heart into overdrive and I came very close to fainting multiple times a day. I was experiencing pre-syncope (almost fainting) and feeling like my heart was going to explode brought me into the hospital a few times around 33 weeks and I was subjected to a battery of tests. In the end it showed that my heart was having runs (racing) at times but the babies were thriving so I had to keep on trucking. The weight of my belly forced me to stay off my feet almost all the time… even in the shower I had to sit on the floor. It was very hard!
This is my attempt at a selfie facelift
By 35 weeks I had a couple of really scary episodes of pre-syncope while driving complete with tunnel vision. I decided that I couldn’t drive any more during my pregnancy and relied on my husband, family and friends to drive me to my remainder of ultrasounds and doctor’s appointments.
During my last week of pregnancy we went out for dinner with friends and headed to an upscale restaurant. After moving us twice because my belly wouldn’t fit into their booths we scored free dessert. But watching those little feet and fists poke out and react when I poked back made it all worth it.
I finally made it full term. I truly believe that if I hadn’t had all of that pain that forced me to be off my feet almost all of the time I wouldn’t have made it as far as I did. It was nature’s way of saying SLOW DOWN! The relief that I had after my girls arrived via scheduled c section at 37 weeks 4 days was incredible! As soon as the doctor pulled each baby out and held them up we could see that they were so different from each other and we knew that they were fraternal. Today I am grateful that I suffered so much during my pregnancy because even on the days when our twin baby girls are fussy and don’t want to sleep, it feels easy compared to when I was pregnant with them!
It was so important for me to write this blog post with as much detail as possible. When I was pregnant with our twins I searched high and low to find a complete twin pregnancy story from a personal perspective instead of snippets here and there. I hope that this story of my journey with our girls can help other twin mamas to prepare for what’s ahead. Please feel free to ask me any questions you might have about being pregnant with twins either in the comments section below or via email at info@nestingstory.ca and I would be happy to answer as best I can! I have blogged about the birth of our girls you can find here. Please don’t forget to subscribe to Nesting Story and follow on Facebook and Instagram!
I want to dedicate this post to our families. You were just as dedicated to this challenge as we were and we could not have done it without your help! Thank you for helping us bring Mia and Everly into this world!
A couple months ago I was sitting down with my website design guy Lucas (who also happens to be my husband Mike’s best friend from childhood) and we stumbled upon the topic of Baby Led Weaning (BLW). Up until this point I had heard a little about BLW here and there from some of my crunchier mommy friends but pretty quickly dismissed it as crazy hippy parenting. Something about it from coming from Lucas made me pay attention. Lucas and his wife Kaylea have an 18 month old son Henry and they had massive success with BLW. Now Henry eats whatever they eat. That sounded amazing to me. That’s right, we have become THOSE parents who cook separate meals for our older kids, especially our son Holden who hasn’t eaten a vegetable knowingly since 2009. Typically when you have multiple children you just continue doing what you know and what has worked in the past, but when it comes to spoon feeding our older kids and meal time we have crashed and burned.Holden after a meal of pureed sweet potatoes
Holden was a sensitive little guy right from when he made his entrance into the world. As Holden grew, his sensitivities turned into anxiety. Holden’s biggest anxiety trigger is food. Spoon feeding Holden purees was a dreaded task in our home. As Holden grew we succumbed to his narrow palette as we were just too burnt out to fight him on it. To this day when we place even one of his favourite meals in front of him just the thought of eating it can set off a panic attack. This terrible habit of offering our kids a very basic menu rubbed off on our fantastic eater, Beau. Although she is much more adventurous than Holden, when she is around her brother, it’s monkey see, monkey do. It truly saddens me that Holden purely eats out of necessity and doesn’t enjoy a delicious meal.
The concept of BLW is simple: your baby eats finger foods only. No purees. Instead of spoon feeding purees, then lumpy food and eventually graduating to finger foods, your baby gets finger foods right from start and teaches herself to eat. Although this concept has been around for years, Gill Rapley, a public health nurse became curious about this method and while researching it Gill started calling it Baby Lead Weaning. Nancy Murkett, a freelance writer became curious about BLW and decided to put it to use with her own children. After Nancy’s success the two teamed up and put all of their knowledge on the subject into a book: Baby Lead Weaning, The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up to Be a Happy and Confident Leader.
For the first while, introducing finger foods will be all about exploration. Not about filling our girl’s tummies. Mia and Everly are very satisfied with their bottles, so I am completely fine with them getting down and dirty with learning about textures and tastes for a while. I love that the food should be presented on a full tummy, so just after a bottle has been given. That way there will be no frustration. At first the foods need to be longer stick sizes so they can grip it with their fists. Almost any foods go, keeping within the traditional guidelines such as holding off nuts, egg yolk and honey for the first year or so. Also keeping obvious sizes and textures age appropriate as well. It is also important to keep the salt intake to a minimum or none at all as it is difficult for babies to digest at such a young age. Once our girls get a hang of it we can start offering a few different food groups at once. I think our first foods will be steamed carrots and toast sticks. Because we will never be bringing the foods to Mia and Everly’s mouths, they will be in control and should develop a great relationship with food.
Aside from the healthier eating habits and positive experience with food I am really excited about how much time will be saved by not spooning each bite into our girl’s mouths. I look forward to having Mia and Everly join our family at the table for meals in their high chairs and while keeping a close eye on them eating, we also can be enjoying the same meal. The messy exploration that is sure to ensue will also add a lot of entertainment to meal time, especially for Holden and Beau!
We can start BLW at six months when our girls show signs of readiness. Those signs are: they are able to sit up with little or no support, they can bring objects to their mouths and are making chewing movements and gnawing on their toys. Our girls just need to work a little more on their sitting over the next few weeks before they turn six months.
Mike and I are looking at this new journey as an opportunity to overhaul our whole family’s nutrition. We are planning on getting back to the basics, eating a lot of plant based meals and eliminating the pre packaged boxed foods that we have unfortunately have turned to in times of desperation. We will be documenting our journey along the way, including each win and fail. I can truly say I am very excited to allow Mia and Everly to explore food instead of denying them the food they have been trying to steal off our plates for a couple months now.
Let’s start a conversation about BLW! I would love to hear your success stories and struggles about starting solids with your little ones! Follow Nesting Story on Facebook and Instagram for frequent updates!
The day finally came to start baby led weaning with our twins and it was such an amazing experience! Unlike tediously scooping spoonfuls of puree into their mouths like we had with our older kids I sat there speechless watching our girls excitedly exploring something new. I also recorded the whole thing on video for you to enjoy as well! The video is a little long but between the adorable twin interaction and my mini freak out when Mia bit off a big chunk of carrot, it is a fascinating video! Our girls are a few days shy of six months and have been aggressively trying to steal food off of our plates for months now. I am pretty sure this was the best day of Mia’s life and I am not sure if Everly understood that it was food.
Then the OB doing the c-section entered the room to discuss the day’s events. Due to some last minute scheduling changes I had to switch from my regular OB to another (both of whom are rockstars). Following a little small-talk she started to explain that after taking a closer look at my ultrasounds she was a little concerned about how she was going to get baby B out. You see, baby B had been pushed way up out to the side past my ribs by baby A who decided to get very cozy and take up all of the real-estate. My OB continued to explain that if the they have exhausted all of the tricks to help get baby B out including using gravity by rotating the hydraulic table to an angle (another thing I had no idea they do) she would have to make an additional vertical incision. I was also warned that there may be a twenty minute difference between when baby A and baby B came out. At this point I decided not to freak out and know that the name of the game is about getting both girls out safely. Any idealistic thoughts I had of delayed cord clamping and immediate skin to skin did not take precedence anymore.
Our girl’s positions in the womb, the shape my belly took, ultrasound showing their heads together
