It's 11:00 p.m. on a Thursday night and I am chugging my second cup of coffee and watching the last episode of Nashville that I recorded. The late night feeding that Kris usually handles will be in about an hour, but we are hitting the road to Nashville in the morning so I sent Kris to bed early so he is well rested for the drive. Colton and Abby are hanging out in their vibrating chairs, which are without a doubt one of the greatest baby inventions ever! I just look at them and I sometimes still can't believe I gave birth to these two precious angels. Our life has been turned completely upside down and I am more tired than I ever thought physically possible, but I look at them and I am totally and completely in awe of how incredibly blessed we are. They are perfect! Babies are with out a doubt one of God's greatest miracles! They are six weeks old today and I haven't had the time or the energy to share their birth story until now. I mainly just keep this blog for my children to read when they get older. That and it helps keep our family connected to whats going on in our lives. So...the story of Colton and Abby begins here.
I spent 18 days at Balyor Medical Center in Dallas. I spent 15 of those days in Antepartum and to say I was ready to give birth is a major understatement! The nursing staff that took care of me during my stay were awesome, and they tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible. In hindsight I know that those 15 days made all the difference in the health of me and the twins, and for that I am extremely thankful! I am thankful that my amazing Dr. thought it was best for me to stay in the hospital and get as much bed rest as possible. I am thankful that during that time the babies gained weight and were born healthy and we didn't have to spend any time in the NICU. Had I not stayed in the hospital most likely the babies would have been born two weeks earlier, weighed less, and we probably would have went to the NICU for at least a little while. So for all those reasons I am SO-SO thankful that we did what was best, however...it was not an easy 18 days. I only got to see Scout for about an hour most days and poor Kris drove back and fourth multiple times a week. It wasn't easy. Not to mention I was incredibly uncomfortable! My belly was stretched to the max! It was a definite test of my faith and patience.
On November 20th I woke up at home feeling nauseous. I was also very sleepy and achy. That morning Kris took Scout to school and I spent most of the day laying on the couch. By the time the afternoon rolled around I had managed to shower and eat a little something but I still wasn't feeling great. My blood pressure had been great throughout my pregnancy, but this day it was running high. I checked it throughout the day ant it was 150-160/80-90. Up until this day it had been consistently in the 110-120 / 60-70. Just to be sure I was accurate, I drove to CVS around 2 o'clock that afternoon to compare readings. It was still high. It was then that I decided to call my Dr. and see what she thought. She told me to go ahead and head to BUMC and she would meet me in triage. Long story short...I was severely dehydrated, mild preeclampsia, and already dilated to a 4. For all those reasons my Dr. thought it was best to admit me in the hospital for bed reast until the babies were born. At the time she didn't think I would last another week....15 days later I was still there...waiting...miserably uncomfortable and ready to be home. After a coupe days in the hospital my blood pressure went back to normal, other than occasionally spiking if I was up for too long. I had to do weekly 24 hour urine testing for the preeclampsia and by week two I was technically no longer preeclamptic. I was still having contractions off and on every day, but nothing consistent so we just waited. Our friends and family so so wonderful when it came to helping with Scout or sending me meals and other treats. I can thank our awesome neighbor Susan ( who is waiting the arrival of her 6th baby any day now) for the babies gaining to much weight during my stay. Susan sent me something yummy to eat every few days and I was so bored and lonely I managed to eat more in that 18 days than I did the 34 weeks prior. I gained about 50 pounds total with the twins and 16 of that was gained while in the hospital. True story. Between all the food people sent me and the fact that I had been really active throughout my pregnancy and then my activity level decreased to getting up to walk to and from the bathroom. I'm sure some of that was fluid...but still. That's a lot of weight.
On December 5th it was a typical day in the hospital for me. The nurse came in that morning to put me on the monitor for half an hour to listen to the babies hearts and also to monitor my contractions. I had been having contractions off and on since the night I was admitted. My sweet husband posted updates as they came on facebook to keep friends and family informed. Since I have already forgotten most of the details I am just going to copy and paste what he wrote.
So day 6 has come and gone and we are still waiting on Colton and Abby Callahan to make their entrance into the world. Jill's BP continues to spike periodically, but it goes back down and she hasn't shown any other symptoms that would make them go get the babies. Her contractions are coming more frequently, but they are not strong enough to get the Doctors attention. Jill is ready to be done and back home, but she also wants what's best for our babies so she's fighting through the boredom. They moved her to a better room and she actually has a view (It is of the parking garage across the street but it is better than what she had). I am home so that I can take care of Scout. I'm working from the house, and then I go get Scout and we drive to Dallas to spend some time with Jill. She loves the elevator and enjoys coloring with her Mom on her bed. They also have a fish tank in the waiting room so we make a couple of trips down there every visit so she can make her fish face. We have been so blessed with people offering to watch Scout, or bring food, or send stuff to try and keep Jill busy and I hope you all know how much we appreciate it. Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers and I will try and update again tomorrow
Day 7. Well we have finished up another crazy day. Jill is still experiencing BP spikes and they come at all times. She can be laying down doing nothing and all of the sudden she actually feels her BP rise and her pulse elevate. She is doing everything she can to stay busy (as busy as you can be in a hospital bed with bad basic cable and a shoddy wifi connection) and she seems to be in good spirits. She had a couple of visitors today from the hospital. The chaplain came in and talked with her for a little while and then prayed over her, and the lactation nurse came in and started prepping her for nursing two babies at once. We also were able to get a NICU tour from the wonderful Lisa Wiggins Stone who was kind enough to walk Jill and I (Jill rolled) through the NICU floor and answer any and all our questions. I will say this, that was one of the most sobering experiences in my life. It's amazing how they are able to help those tiny babies and to sit there and watch these little things that are smaller than your average baby doll kick and move is amazing. We saw one baby through the window who's hand was smaller than the tip of my index finger, but he was kicking and moving up a storm, and it made me thankful that if we have to go through that ordeal, we and our babies will be very well taken care of. Thank you Lisa for taking the time out of your day to do that for us. I also want to thankMandi Akens Phillips for watching Scout so that I could go. Scout was very excited to go inside one of the BIG BUILDINGS downtown and she loves spending time with Aunt Mandi. They will begin another 24 hour urine collection tonight to check Jill's protein levels and then she will have her labs done again tomorrow to check her platelets. The Dr. told her this morning that the longest she will have to wait to have the twins is the 16th of December, but she doesn't think she'll make it that long. So we will continue to watch and wait. I'm having no problem staying busy and I told Jill tonight that I have a whole new appreciation for all that she does here at home. We miss having her here but we know that she is where she needs to be and that She and the twins are in great hands. Thank you all again for your support and prayers and we should have more information tomorrow!
Day 8. So today was a day of mixed emotions. Jill had another sonogram with the Maternal/Fetal Dr. and both babies looked great. Granted, the weights they give you when they measure your baby on a sonogram rarely end up being correct but , Colton is weighing 4 lbs. 12 oz. and Abby Callahan is weighing 5 lbs. 12 oz. Colton is still measuring in the 20th percentile but he has been staying there for a while so that is good. He also has a good amount of fluid which means that he is getting nutrients and his kidneys and bladder are working well. We were very happy to hear that both of the babies are doing well. At the same time, Scout and I miss having Jill here at home and Jill is going stir crazy in the hospital. To be honest, neither one of us ever thought she would still be in the hospital right now when we went in last Tuesday. The only way it even crossed our minds was if she had gone into labor and had the baby. So the fact that we might have two and half more weeks of this is a little daunting. Scout and I went and got our flu shots today and made it up to the hospital to see Jill earlier than normal so that we could go to the sono. Scout is being such a trooper. She has put in some serious car time but she loves seeing her mother and it helps Jill to get some time with her. She has colored some pictures and we hung them on the cork board in the room. She tells everyone that it is her wall and that it's so beautiful. Anyways, we've almost made it through the week and Mom is coming in for her birthday and is going to watch Scout so that I can stay at the hospital with Jill. We know that God is in control and that he is watching over us so we are going to have to be patient and trust in him. Thank you again for all of your comments, thoughts, and prayers
Day 9. Jill and I were talking today and it's hard to believe that it's been 9 days. I am getting to stay with Jill tonight (Thank you Mom) and it's been nice to get to spend some time together. Scout and I were able to take Jill out in a wheel chair so that she could get some fresh air and Scout could run around. Seriously, the girl is the energizer bunny. We were outside for 30 minutes and Scout didn't sit still for any of it. Jill is still experiencing BP spikes and her diastolic pressure was 101 on her reading this evening but it came back down so we are still waiting. They are going to run her labs again tomorrow morning to check her platelets and see where we are. The babies have really dropped. It's amazing how much they have moved in the past few days. Jill still looks great as she is carrying everything in her belly, but she is pretty miserable. I do want to thank everyone who has offered to help. It's been overwhelming how many people have offered to watch Scout, or bring food, or watch knox (our dog), and I hope you know how much we appreciate it. I wish I had more to tell everyone, but we are pretty much stuck in a holding pattern and it may be this way for a while.
Day 10. So this is getting a little repetitive, but we are still hanging out waiting for something to change. We were able to get Jill out of the room a couple of times today. She and I went down to the gift shops to look for something to do while we are in the room and then when Scout got here, we went outside so she could run around some more. Jill's BP has been pretty steady and we haven't had as many spikes as usual. She will be 35 weeks as of midnight tonight and that is a very good thing. If both babies come out healthy, we will avoid the mandatory NICU visit and would be able to go home pretty quick. We are crossing our fingers that maybe something will happen this weekend and we will have our two newest additions with us soon. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will post again tomorrow if something changes!
Day 12. Well here we are 12 days later, and we seem to be in the exact same spot we were when this all started. BP is slightly elevated, Jill is cramping but not contracting regularly, and we are all ready for her and the twins to be home. I am typing this from home since I have to go back to work tomorrow and my Mom has to go finish her final week of classes before the Christmas break. It is hard on all of us when it comes time for Scout and I to head home. Scout looked back about 5 times as we were leaving and then she asked where Mom was when we were half-way home. I told her Mom had to stay at the Hospital and she asked if that was where we were going. We know that Jill needs to be right where she is, but we are SO ready for it to be over. Jill is now over 35 weeks along and the babies look great on the monitors. We think she will get another sonogram tomorrow, but unless her contractions start picking up soon, she's not going anywhere. We have appreciated all of your thoughts and prayers, and now I'm going to ask you to pray that Jill has healthy babies SOON and we are able to go home.
Day 13. Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming. Jill is starting to show the signs of early labor, and we are praying that she will go ahead and make the step into active labor soon. Early labor can last for a while, but it sure would be nice if she was able to deliver the twins soon. Jill has been walking as much as she can to try and speed things up and it seems to be working. We have been so blessed with all the comments, thoughts, prayers, food, and visits from so many people and I want to thank you all. I hope the next update I give you is telling you about our healthy new babies and the awesome woman who has gone through so much to get them here.
Day 15. We are finally down in labor and delivery. Jill is having contractions every 3 minutes and is 100% effaced. They tried to stop her contractions, but we were secretly praying that she was in active labor. After two different pain meds didn't stop the contractions they determined that she is in fact in labor!!!! So, she still has a ways to go, and it will probably be tomorrow before we meet Colton and Abby, but we are excited that its finally happening, and good lord willing we might be able to take our new additions home this weekend. Keep praying that Mom and babies are healthy and I hope to have some more good news for you soon.
Colton Willis Akens 5 lbs. 3 oz. born naturally and Abby Callahan Akens 5 lbs. 15 oz. born via C-Section. First time that has ever happened to our OB in her entire career. Jill and babies are doing awesome and I will post some pics later this evening. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We should be home on Sunday!!!
So Colton came out super easy! Well super easy considering it was childbirth. I pushed for three hours to deliver Scout so the fact that Colton came out in less than half an hour after pushing was pretty exciting to me. He came out SCREAMING too! That was the sweetest sound! One of the major concerns with preemies is lung maturity since that is the last thing babies develop. It was pretty evident that Colton was ok in that department. After he came out my Dr. quickly did a sonogram (standard for multiple births) to make sure that Abby was still head down. Well... she wasn't. She was completely sideways and doing the splitz! It was as if she was so happy to have all the room to herself that she quickly took full advantage with absolutely no intention of coming out. Dr. Stevenson and her resident were able to position her back head down...which was one of the most violent things I have ever witnessed, but it worked. Thankfully I could only partially feel it. Abby was back head down but she was too far up for me to push. My Dr. didn't want to have to put me through a c-section so she sent me back to the delivery room in hopes that my contractions would position Abby back down in to the birth canal. Once in the delivery room I got to nurse Colton, Scout got to come in to meet her little brother, all the while I am still pregnant. It was bizarre! After two hours Abby still had not moved down so we decided to go ahead with the c-section. Twenty minutes later she was here! They were both healthy (other than some blood sugar issues which we were able to fix within 24 hours) Kris and I were exhausted but completely in love!
We were able to go home after three days with two beautiful , healthy babies! We are so BLESSED! The last two months have been a whirlwind. I have a whole new respect for mothers of multiples. Especially my Mom. Not that I didn't respect her already, but now knowing first hand what it's like to meet the needs of a toddler and two newborns everyday puts things in a whole new light! I love our new "normal", but it is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Just keep us on your permanent prayer list ! :)
My parents spent ten days with us after the babies were born and since then my mother-in-law has stayed with us a few nights here and there so that Kris and I could both get a good nights rest. Our friends and family have all been wonderful to check in on us and we are so, so grateful! Since I started this post I am happy to report that Abby now sleeps through the night (most nights) and Colton will sleep for four hours at a time at night as opposed to two hours at a time. Progress! They are so sweet and I love them more every day! I will post more about Tennessee and just everyday life now when I get the time. (Ha! or when I make the time) Pictures below.
