Life with triplets and a toddler : The Delivery

By the time Gabe arrived I had IVs in both arms and just finished my nasty and I mean nasty drink that settles your stomach for surgery. The nurse handed Gabe his scrubs to change into. They got me into a wheel chair and we were off to the OR.

This was the most surreal moment. We about to be parents again but to three little boys. I had no idea what was in store for me because this was my first c-section.

I left Gabe in the hallway as I entered the bright OR filled with nurses in blue scrubs. They walked me around to the other side of the table and helped me up onto it. I was getting very nervous both for my surgery and for the health of my babies. I started to feel guilty that I couldn't keep them in longer, but here we are there's no turning back now.

The anesthesiologist came in and introduced herself. She put in my spinal block which hurt way more then I thought it would and then they laid me down and put the sheet up in front of my face. I remember being really cold so they put warm blankets over my arms and then then they started talking me through what was going to happen next.

Gabe was then brought into the OR and the surgery began. Gabe was recording the whole process. I was awake but I wasn't fully aware of what was going on and I wanted to be able to watch it later.

I heard my Dr say something like "well hello there". I heard a little cry and my little Aiden was born at 1:17pm weighing 5.1 pounds. Followed was another small cry at 1:18pm and that was Ian weight 4.7 pounds and at 1:20pm I heard Isaac weighing 4.1 pounds.

I didn't see them right away because we did delayed cord clamping which is when the baby is born but the umbilical cord is not cut for 1 to 3 min to allow blood to enter the baby from the placenta. Then they brought Aiden and Ian over I kissed them and they were taken to get checked. Same thing with my little Isaac.

As soon as we heard the first cry Gabe and I looked at each other and we started to cry. This is a moment that words truly can't give justice to the feelings and love you feel for your brand new baby.

Gabe kissed me and went with the babies to the NICU where there was an army of nurses waiting for the boys. I don't remember much after this. I was trying really hard to stay awake. I had lost a significant amount of blood and had to have a blood transfusion.

I do remember the Dr asking me are you sure you want your tubes tide, I laughed and said YES no more babies for me! After surgery I was wheeled back into my room for recovery.

My sister was waiting for me in the room. I didn't want to be alone after surgery and I wanted Gabe to be with the babies.

Recovery generally lasts 2-4 hours. My blood pressure sky rocketed after surgery so I had to be put on magnesium. This is very unpleasant, you almost feel like you have the flu. It makes you so so thirsty but you can't drink a lot after surgery. I felt like I was dieing of thirst. This was supposed to help my blood pressure stablize and prevent me from having seizures since my blood pressure was so high.

Gabe came in periodically to check on me and update me on the babies. Ian and Isaac were breathing room air and Aiden needed some assistance and was on the CPAP machine. He showed me pictures, told me how he changed diapers and how perfect they were.

My family was finally allowed into my room at six. It was nice to see familiar faces to distract me from not being able to see my babies. This was the hardest part of the whole thing. I got to see them for a split second, I haven't even held my babies yet and they are four hours old.

My recovery was taking so long at 7:30 I allowed Gabe to take our family to meet our babies. This was a hard decision for me because I wanted to see and hold them first, but it was just taking too long.

Finally at 8:30 I was released from recovery and wheeled into the NICU. I was only in there for 30 min and only held and saw Aiden. I hadn't slept since the night before and the magnesium was really wearing me out. I was trying to not let the nurses see me falling asleep holding aiden, I just wanted time with all of them. They caught me so I would meet Ian and Isaac the next day.

I was still on magnesium until 2pm the next day due to my blood pressure not getting better. So finally when I got off the magnesium I was taken to the NICU and was able to meet and hold all three of my baby boys.

I was in love and so happy to be finally in their pressence!

Gabe waiting to go into the OR