A lot has gone on in the past 72 hours. Everything is good even if it didn't go like we had hoped.
Coinciding with the scheduled birth of our daughters was one of the worst storms that the Southern US has ever seen and a pretty bad storm by north eastern standards.
The day before my parents were scheduled to fly out, 2,000 flights we cancelled in anticipation of several inches of snow in Georgia accompanied by an ice storm. There is no snow removal equipment to speak of in the south, nor are the cars or drivers equipped to handle true winter weather. Over the next 48 hours another 3,000 or so flights were cancelled, and all the roads were closed due to ice accumulation of almost 2" inches in some places. My parents were scheduled and rescheduled eventually a total of 5 times before successfully getting on a plane and arriving 2.5 days late.
But wait there's more. On the way into Atlanta Thursday, my parents totaled their truck! While driving on a completely iced over highway, they lost control of the truck and hit the center median head on.
Other than cuts and bruises, they are just fine. But they didn't want to worry us, so we didn't find out till they showed up on Friday night.
Which brings me back to us.
We showed up early, 0530, day of delivery. Wife went in just before 0800 for her epidural. The first epidural did not work so another attempt was made. This one worked, very, very well. When I walked into the OR, to sit next to her, the first thing I noticed was the mask on her face, and the anesthesiologist assisting her breathing with a bag. This was terrifying! And confusing! Was she ok? Was she awake? Was I supposed to be there?
Turns out, Wife had what we call a "high" spinal. When the medicine finally worked it slowly spread upwards. Shortly after laying down she noticed trouble taking a deep breath. Followed by her arms and chest going numb. Soon she couldn't take normal breaths and the numbness spread up her neck to her face and the anesthesiologist had to assist her for about 15 minutes.
Section went fantastic. Babies were out quick, 2 min apart. No significant bleeding, which was a huge concern of ours considering how stretched her uterus was with two babies and extra fluid. The docs estimated 5+ liters of amniotic fluid in there with the two babies and placentas!
Kyle Kathryn, born 02/13/14 at 8:39 am, 6lbs15 oz and 20 inches long.
Ryan Michelle, born 02/13/14 at 8:41 am, 6lbs9 oz and 21 inches long.
Both babies were evaluated and cleared by the neonatologist to go to the regular nursery. However, a short time after arriving, Kyle was proving to be a trouble maker. Kyle wasn't able to clear all the amniotic fluid out of her lungs (less common with vaginal births as it literally gets squished out). She continued to require small amounts of oxygen, so after a few hours she was transferred to the NICU.
I'm late posting all of this because my parents were MIA and I didn't want to tell my parents until they could see her. Nothing like hearing your brand new granddaughter is in the ICU and you can't see her to see she's ok.
After just under 24 hours of oxygen, Kyle was doing much better. She was taken off oxygen and later that day allowed to nurse for the first time. And man was she hungry!!!
On day two she came off the IV and day three (today) she was moved to a nursery. It's like the regular nursery but with NICU nurses. Here she remained "property" of the NICU. After a morning and afternoon of back and forth with different docs about whether Kyle could go home despite needing nothing for 48 hours and having normal labs, we got the all clear!
It's been an adventure, an it's not over yet, but we are well on our way!
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