Daddy with twins

Daddy with twins
Donovan and Hazel

Monday, September 22, 2014

Happy Anniversary: Hospital Vacation

        June 10, 2014 was our 3rd wedding anniversary.  I had to spend all day at a class for my teaching job, and Amy was going to see the doctor because she had been feeling cramps for the past few days.  For the evening, I had reservations set for the Fish Market, and tickets purchased for The Fault in Our Stars, a movie made from a book we both had read.  This was going to be one of our last HURRAHS before the twins were born. 

         At class, I was catching up with old and current teacher friends at our Leader in Me training coarse.  Most conversation focused on Amy’s pregnancy and the twins.  When 90% of your coworkers are women, and your wife is pregnant with twins, that’s all they want to talk about.  I didn’t mind, I was excited about it all!  Amy still had a little ways to go being at week 33, but many co-workers joked to keep my phone on in case she went into labor early.  It is very typical for twins to be born up to 10 weeks early.  Even with the joking, everyone was surprised when my phone starting vibrating and I told them it was Amy. 



         I answered the phone as I was on my way out of the room.  My heart stopped when I could hear nothing but panicked crying.  Amy had a hard time collecting herself, and I couldn’t understand anything she was trying to say.  To make things worse, the call dropped before I could understand what was going on.  I tried calling back, but it would go straight to voicemail.  I remembered she was going to the doctor to investigate cramps, and I feared the worse.  I thought we had lost them.  I went back into the room to collect my things, panicked and on the verge of tears myself. I am unsure what my coworkers must have been thinking, but I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could.

         Once I reached the hallway, Amy’s call came through.  This time, she was much more calm and collected.  She explained that the doctor found she was 2-3 cm dilated and showing signs of early labor, then ordered her to drive to Riverside Hospital.  She apologized for being so upset, but the doctor had scared her and she was worried about the babies. Amy wanted me to drive home and grab her things, then meet at the hospital.  I texted our family and life-group leaders from church to inform them what was happening. 

         The doctors and nurses weren’t sure they could stop labor.  They gave the babies steroids to help develop their lungs in case they did need to come out.  Amy was given magnesium to slow labor, and was monitored for 24 hours straight to make sure she wasn’t progressing.   Once they were sure labor had stopped, they wanted to keep her for a week to make sure.  I had to call the restaurant and movie theater to cancel our plans for the evening.  We were going to spend our anniversary night and week in the hospital.  Luckily we were on summer break, and we didn’t have to worry about our jobs.  I tried to view it as a hotel stay vacation.  Except, on this vacation, Amy couldn’t get up to use the bathroom or shower.  At least all meals were served in bed!  Some nurses were nice, some not so nice.  One nurse wouldn’t let me stand in the hallway as Amy used the bedpan, I might block the halls if there was an emergency in another room, even though we were the last room on the end of the hallway.  At one point, Amy almost convinced a rookie nurse to wheel her to the bathroom on a chair so she wouldn’t have to use the bedpan, but a veteran stopped them in their tracks. 

         Exactly three years earlier we were sleeping in a king sized bed next to the oceanfront of Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon.  Now, Amy was sleeping in one position, with air pump slippers on her feet, and wires to monitor 3 human beings: herself, our son, and our daughter.  I was sleeping on a couch, with back cushions that folded down and acted as a mattress.  After four days we got some good news, we were going home!

         Amy was ordered to bed rest until the twins were born.  We were hoping to keep them in at least two more weeks.  Amy had the freedom to walk downstairs to the couch in the morning, and walk upstairs to the bed at night.  We took the occasional trip to the doctor for checkups, but I had to drive routes that avoided all speed bumps and potholes.  One day, thanks to a wheel chair I borrowed from my school, I was able to sneak Amy to the movies and finally see The Fault in Our Stars.  The theater in Dublin had reclining leather seats, which made it extra comfortable for Amy.


            Four weeks had past and we actually got to thinking that we might make it close to the due date, only three more weeks to go!  Amy had been spending her days on the couch as ordered, and I was feeling like super dad already doing the cleaning, laundry, cooking, shopping, and yard work.  Again, we were teachers on summer break, so I had the time to stay home and take care of her.   Amy slept upstairs in the bed at night, and I slept on the couch downstairs.  I had no choice, Amy’s belly took up my side of the bed.  One night, we were just getting down to sleep at one in the morning. When you do nothing but lay on a couch all day, your sleep schedule gets turned on it’s head.  I was lying on the couch scrolling on Facebook as I was falling asleep.  Before my eyes closed, I heard Amy screaming my name from upstairs. It was so loud and terrifying, it sounded as if she was sitting right next to me.  This was one of the most frightening screams I’ve ever heard, and I’ll never forget it! As I was running up the stairs, she screamed to get towels...there was blood everywhere!

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