Birth Day

Quick write up of the story of the birth of George Christian and Abigail Bess Jankowski.

Labor day had come and gone. Carrie had a great day, with fewer contractions than she had had in weeks. Went to sleep around 11:00pm only to be awoken at 1:30am by Carrie saying her bags of water had broken, but her contractions really weren't that close together. Five minutes later, she had a big contraction. 2 minutes later another. And thereafter every 1.5 to 2 minutes, each lasting around a minute, and very intense. This was definitely it. Began packing the car. More very intense contractions, really rushed to get the car packed. Called our Doula and told her we were heading to the hospital and she needed to get there. Got Carrie in and began driving. Was driving relatively fast (80 mph), but knew it was going to be quick when Carrie told me to get going even faster. Turned on the flashers and took it to 85-90mph up to OKC.

Got to the hospital around 2:45am. The delivery rooms in the OU Med Center are on the 4th floor and the parking garage is connected to the 3rd floor of the hospital by a long walkway. Got up and luckily there was a wheelchair at the elevator from the garage. The contractions were one on top of the other, and Carrie was very insistent on stopping to use the restroom as she really felt the urge to go to the restroom. She hopped out of the chair as we neared the restroom and I gently urged her not to push and she very reluctantly agreed and hopped back on the chair and got a ride up to admitting.

Arrived and no one was present at admitting so had to wander (very hurriedly) down the hall to find a nurse who may help. Immediately went back to a room and they got the monitors on and the contractions were very consistent at 1 min apart and very intense. Our Doulas Karen and Erica showed up shortly thereafter and were quick to jump in and help out. And they were absolute life savers with helping massage Carrie's back and legs so I could focus on her face and talk her through the contractions.

As everyone knows we wanted to deliver these babies naturally, unfortunately the nurses and doctors who were on call thought we were nuts. And pointed it out. Repeatedly. Over and over until I let one of the nurses know that we WERE having these children naturally and would not have any more talk about epidurals, to which one nurse left the room and I don't think ever came back.

Upon arrival Carrie was dilated to 4 and 80 percent effaced. The Nurse called the Midwife and told her to head on up, and hurry. Fifteen minutes later Carrie was a 7 and 100 percent effaced. Nurse called Midwife. Told her to get there, now.

We then rushed to a labor and delivery suite and poor Carrie was told to get out of the triage bed and into a labor and delivery bed. She got moved over and it was non-stop contractions. We really had to keep her from pushing at that point as she really had the urge then. Our midwife showed up and started to take control. Unfortunately, our OB/GYN was on call the next night, so he didn't have his pager on, and the hospital didn't have his home phone number. So we had to use the on call OB for the delivery.

We later found out that when the on call dr. arrived and found out we were having twins, she informed our Midwife that she was taking over and we were doing it her way, and that Midwives had no place delivering twins. How rude.

We were told that the on call dr was of the opinion that if the top baby was breech, that she was just going to go in and get them by C-section, no discussion. Luckily the ultrasound machine she was planning to use wouldn't boot up, and the Midwife, who had very astutely continued monitoring and checking Carrie, said she hit a 10 and was ready to deliver the first baby as an internal lip was all that was holding Squirt in.

We rushed to the OR, per hospital policy for the delivery and Carrie was forced to move onto her back on the OR table. The small metal one, with big honking stirrups, under the big bright lights. They let her wait for a contraction to end and over she went. Also our Doulas, which we employed for the entire process weren't allowed into the OR as the on-call anesthesiologist resident would only allow 1"guest or family member" in the OR. As there was no time to argue our Midwife had no time to force the issue or go above his head, so we dealt with it.

Then the dr.s began moving in with the diodes and ultrasound machine. The Midwife slipped in gloved up and moved the lip down and Squirt began moving down. Carrie began pushing and the Midwife put pressure in all the right places and about 20 minutes later at 5:11 am George emerged. Coolest part was getting to put my hand under his head as he cleared the birth canal to help deliver him.

The on call dr then jumped in to check the position of Peanut. Luckily she had tried to follow Squirt out and had dropped her head, but didn't get all the way into the birth canal. So after some external version, and a hit of pitocin to restart labor, her head slipped into the canal and she shortly thereafter her bag of water burst and she eased on out. Much quicker than George, Abigail emerged at 5:31am. No drugs needed. And Carrie didn't tear at all. Hopefully we changed the minds of the on call dr and anesthesiologist, and were able to show them that natural births can and do happen for twins and that medical intervention is not always the answer. Maybe next time they'll be less quick to try to force drugs and surgery.

After the placentas were delivered, we went back to the labor and delivery suite to wait on our overnight room. We were back there by 6:15am and both babies were very alert and awake and nursed by 6:45am.

Carrie was the champ, but we couldn't have done it without the Doulas and our Midwife. They were awesome and really helped keep the situation under control and moving. They were great at allowing me to focus on Carrie and talking to her had keeping her calm, which she said really helped her get through it.

It really was a blur, but in the end, we have two fantastic babies who are healthy and a wife who is recovering well.

I'm still totally in awe of Carrie and her ability to put herself out there for our babies. What a great Woman! She completely rocks!