It's TWINS!!!
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1st Baby's Name
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Michael (Boy!)
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2nd Baby's Name
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Michelle (Boy!)
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Date of Birth
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December 22, 2001
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Congratulations to the Proud Parents
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Doug and Kay
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And to the Special Surrogate
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Brandy
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Baby's weight
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7lbs and 6lbs
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Proud Surrogate's Comments
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I kept a journal of my surrogate pregnancy and it also includes pictures of the twins and updates on them. The address is http://www.brandyssurrogacy.homestead.com/journal.html
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Birth Story:
I was admitted to the hospital on December 21st for high blood pressure, seeing spots, and being dizzy. I was 38 weeks gestation so the twins could be safely born at any time, but my doctor decided to wait until the morning of the 22nd to see how I was doing before inducing me.
I started to have mild contractions on my own at about 11:30pm on the 21st. They were about every 10 minutes apart and weren't really painful, but they were much stronger than all of those braxton hicks contractions I'd been having for the last 5-6 months. I didn't want to get my hopes up that I was going into labor on my own, so I was still trying to just relax and fall asleep and hopefully wake up with stronger contractions. Of course I couldn't get to sleep and my nurse came in to my room around 12:30am and I told her I was contracting. The contractions were coming every 5 minutes and although they still weren't extremely painful, they were strong enough that I had to breathe through them. A little later I phoned my husband, Jason, asking him to come back to the hospital. It took him a little while to get there, as we also had to phone my mom and wake her up to go stay with the kids and we live 30 minutes away from the hospital.
At 2:00am Jason got to the hospital and the nurses were monitoring my contractions. They were now coming every 2-3 minutes and were fairly regular. The nurse was trying everything to get me to take Demerol, but I didn't want any. I had taken it before and I hated it and swore I would never take it again. I had to tell the nurse 6-7 times that I refused to take it before she left me alone.
They took some blood from me (I'm not really sure what for) and my nurse discovered that I was quite dehydrated. I have no idea how I could have been dehydrated as I had spent my whole night drinking jug after jug of water, but I was. So they started an IV to keep my fluids up. Shortly after that my contractions came to a complete stop. Everyone was disappointed. I was upset because I thought I was going to have the babies after all this time, and because I had called Jason in to the hospital disturbing his sleep and it was false labor. The nurses brought Jason a big mat to sleep on and got us settled in to get some sleep. It was about 4:00am when we finally fell asleep.
The on-call doctor came to the hospital at 8:00am. He checked me out and said I was 3-4cm dilated. He didn't want to induce me since I was scheduled to be induced in a couple of days anyway with my regular doctor, but said he would induce me if I insisted. I said "Okay, I insist" He then tried a little to talk me out of it, but when I explained how I had fallen down the previous morning because I was so dizzy and I didn't want to go home feeling like that for the rest of the weekend and possibly having another fall he agreed to induce me.
He broke my water and told me I was definitely at 4cm now (this was about 8:30-9:00am). Almost immediately I started having contractions. They weren't very strong though so I was also hooked up to pitocin to help labor along. It worked.
Jason phoned Doug and Kay to let them know labor had begun, but there was no big rush because it was still early and I would probably be in labor for quite a few more hours.
At 10:00am I was still managing my contractions okay, but asked for an epidural anyway because I knew by the time the anesthesiologist came the contractions would be much stronger and I would need something for the pain. It took what seemed like an eternity for him to get there. By the time my epidural was in it was 11:30am and my contractions were not letting up. There was no rest in between them and my epidural wasn't working well either. I was numb on one side, but my other side was feeling everything---ouch!!! My doctor came in to check on my progress and to our surprise I was completely dilated and ready to push!!
I pushed for about 10 minutes and little Michael Daniel came into the world. He cried before he was completely born (his head was out, but his body was still inside). It was 11:55am and he was 7lbs (although I didn't find out his weight until later that day) He was taken over to the warmer, given a little bit of oxygen and checked over by a doctor and a nurse. I couldn't see him, and I wasn't happy about that, but I was stuck on the table about to give birth again so I couldn't do much about it.
Shortly after noon I had another contraction and started pushing again. After 2 contractions little Michelle Ann was born. She had been breech for the last 6 weeks or so, but as soon as Michael was born I guess she had room to move because she was born head first. It was 12:07pm and she weighed 6lbs. She was also taken over to the warmer to be checked out.
At this time I noticed that Michael was gone. "Where's the boy?" I asked. They told me he had been taken to the special care nursery to be looked at because he was having a little trouble breathing. It would have been nice if they had told me!
I then delivered the placenta. I had never seen one before so it was really neat for me to see (I think Jason thought it was more gross than neat!). Their placentas had fused together during the pregnancy, so there appeared to be just one, but it was really 2 that had joined together. They asked me if I wanted to save it and take it home with me. This was the first time I was offered that and I was a little shocked. I said no. But now I think it may have been neat to save, and to plant it underneath a tree or something----however I don't think I would want to keep it in my freezer until I could plant it!!!
I got to hold Michelle and she was very beautiful. She was all sleepy and quiet and so tiny! My children were 8lbs10oz and 8lbs13oz, so to hold a 6lb baby was quite different for me.
I was having the most awful afterpains. I was fine if I was laying down in my bed, but if I went to sit up or stand it felt as though my insides were ripping apart. I'm sure it was a pretty big shock for my body to not have 13lbs of baby inside anymore and all my organs were trying to shift back into place. It was very painful so my nurse gave me some medication for it. I don't know what it was called as I was pretty out of it at the time, but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It made me so ill. I was still in pain, but now I was dizzy again and felt like I was going to vomit at all times. My eyes were rolling back in my head and I couldn't think straight. All I wanted to do was go to the nursery to see Michael but I couldn't get out of bed. Michelle was sleeping in her bassinet this whole time being an absolute angel. My IPs still hadn't arrived yet.
Finally at about 3:00pm I decided I had had enough and I was going to see Michael no matter what. Jason and my nurse helped me out of bed and into a wheelchair and took me to the special care nursery. Michael was awake, but I was unable to touch him. He was in an isolette and was on oxygen because he still wasn't breathing very well. They told me they had discovered a heart murmur which would require further testing. He was going to be transported the next day to a major hospital in a nearby city. They told me at that time it wasn't necessarily anything to be too concerned about as a lot of babies have heart murmurs and don't have any problems, but that it needed to be looked at. After a little visit I went back to my room to rest.
I think it was about 4:00pm when Doug and Kay got to the hospital. They came into my room and got their first look at their new daughter. They held her and got to know her a little and I explained why Michael wasn't in the room with us. It was really wonderful to see them with their new baby, I just wish both of the babies could have been there.
We then went to see Michael. They couldn't hold him, but you could see the love in their eyes as they watched him.
Michelle and I were sent home the next day and Michael was transferred to a hospital in the city where my IPs live. He has been through 2 surgeries now on his heart, but is recovering quite well.
I feel so blessed to have been a part of this whole experience. Michael and Michelle are 2 of the most loved babies in the whole world and I look forward to watching them grow up in their loving family.
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