At one day shy of 38 weeks, my two babes had clearly taken over my body. To say I was huge was an understatment. I had worked hard to gain weight eating lots of protein to hopefully grow healthy twins that made it to full term. Following the wisdom of Dr. Barbara Luke in her book, I gained a 55 pounds.
Although I knew it would be harder once the twins were here, I was ready to meet them. My back hurt so bad, I couldn't pick up my toddler, and I was already losing sleep. So, with an induction looming, I bit the bullet and drank castor oil (mixed with peanut butter and ice cream). To be honest, I couldn't even taste the castor oil and had little faith that it would actually make a difference in starting my labor.
But, to my surprise, I was wrong. After a few hours of taking the castor oil, a huge spaghetti dinner, and lots of laps around my block, labor kicked in and I knew there was no turing back. Thankfully, Imani stopped by the house to see if I needed any help that day. She watched Henry and Callaway while I took a walk, helped me prepare dinner and actually ended up spending the night in case labor progressed. I'm so glad she showed up that afternoon! After dinner I tried to take a shower, relax, and even sleep. But, the contractions continued to come and by 9pm, I knew that this was real labor and we would meet our babies soon. I continued to labor at home in my room, mostly sitting on an exercise ball leaning over onto my bed, and holding my husband's hand as he laid in bed trying to get some sleep. By midnight our doula arrived at the house and continued to encourage me in the work I was doing. With contractions coming closer together and feeling more intense, we decided to start preparing to move to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital around 1:30am, got checked in, and settled in our room. The doctor came by around 2am to check me and the babies. We were encouraged to find that I was 7cm dilated. Contractions continued to come very regularly and I worked through sitting on the exercise ball, on hands and knees or just leaning over onto the bed. I was tired though. So very tired. I was ready for labor to be over but I knew that I still had hard work ahead of me. I needed a short break though so we opted for some time in the tub. The water was warm and gave me a chance to relax.
Once I got out of the tub, I requested to be checked because I was feeling more pressure with each contraction and hoped it would be time to meet my babies. Although I had progressed, I was only at 8cm. Baby A (Lindley) was in great position, though, and very low. The doctor suggested breaking Lindley's water bag with the hopes of moving labor along. I was getting so very tired and agreed. The doctor broke my water and within minutes I knew it was time to push. I was already in the bed but turned around on my knees and held onto the back of the bed. With each contraction, I pushed. Within 15 minutes, I could feel my sweet baby girl coming into this world. She was born at 5:15am. The doctor handed her to me and I was overjoyed! I only held her for a few minutes before contractions started again and I needed to hand her over to the nurse.
I imagined that quickly after Lindley was born, Mills would make his way. However, once Lindley was born, labor slowed down a bit. Mills was doing just fine but still high in station. I needed to "labor him down." I wanted to meet him so bad. I wanted labor to end. I wanted to fall into the bed and just give up. But, my faithful husband and encouraging doula continued to tell me that I could do it, that I was so close and I would meet Mills soon. I had to believe them but it was hard. I could hear Lindley crying and cooing in the background. Jeremiah would run over to see her and then run over to hold my hand during contractions. It felt like eternity for Mills to labor down and decide he was ready to come. He did though and I'm so glad. I continued to labor in the bed on hands and knees but began to get so tired and weak that I needed to change positions. I laid on my back to catch my breath but knew pushing was near. The pressure so intense, the pain and exhaustion seemed to overtake me. But, I also know that with those feelings, the end is near. My baby boy is close. The doctor broke his bag of water and with four pushes, he was here. Mills was born at 6:11am.
Like all births, it was exhilierating and exhausting. I could not have asked for a more perfect welcome into the world for Lindley and Mills. I was covered in love and support by my husband, my doula, my doula community, my friends, and the hospital staff at VCU.
Lindley Corrine Winters 5:15am, 6lbs 4 oz
Mills Bryan Winters 6:11am, 6lbs 14oz
