And Babies Make Six

On Tuesday, December 2, 2008, at 2:30 in the morning, Ryan’s phone rang. When I heard the phone ring it struck me immediately that it could be Marika, calling us with news about the babies, possibly with news about being in labor – but we’d had a couple of false alarms before, so I was guarded and tried not to expect anything big. It wasn’t until I heard Ryan utter the words, “We’re on our way!” that I allowed myself unbridled excitement at the prospect of meeting our babies. After he got off the phone with Marika, Ryan told me that Marika was “99% sure” that her water had broken, and that we needed to drive down to Athens immediately.

I jumped out of bed (which is something that I NEVER do) and started running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I knew we needed to get ready and get on the road quickly if we were going to make it to the hospital in time for the births. I started getting dressed. I had my underwear changed and socks put on when I saw one of my cats and remembered that we’d need to leave them a lot of food while we were gone. In my underwear and socks I ran to the laundry room and put out two bowls of food and two bowls of water. On the way back to the bedroom, I ran past the bathroom and decided I should brush my teeth and put in my contacts. Eventually I got the rest of my clothes on, Ryan got fully dressed, we got our bags packed, and we hit the road.

The drive to Athens is about an hour and a half from Columbus. It was dark and starting to snow, and I did my best to keep Ryan from speeding on the way down. I knew the worst thing we could do was get in an accident or get pulled over for speeding. Imagine the conversation we would have had with the police officer: “Hi there, officer. I’m sorry that we’re speeding, but we’re on the way to the hospital to have our twins.” One look at my (non-pregnant) belly and that story would fall flat, or lead to an awkward middle of the night conversation about surrogacy. No thanks.

We got to the hospital around 4:00am. When we got there, Marika was hooked up to monitors and receiving an IV of antibiotics to protect the babies from a possible (but very unlikely) Group B strep infection. Marika was listening to the CD we had made for Connor & Evan, and her ladybug (our good luck charm) was sitting on the bedside table. We had been listening to the “Baby CD,” too, on the drive down to the hospital. Shortly after we arrived, a nurse checked Marika’s cervix and she was 3-4 centimeters dilated. We learned that Dr. Clark (one of our favorite doctors) was on call, and Scott convinced a nurse to call Dr. Broecker, our very favorite doctor, to come to the hospital to be a part of the delivery. We were all so excited because Dr. Clark and Dr. Broecker had been big supporters of all of us throughout the pregnancy, and it was the best possible scenario for those two doctors to be the delivery doctors.

Over the next couple of hours, Marika dealt with a lot of contractions, but hardly seemed phased by them even though we could tell they were strong contractions based on the very high numbers that were showing up on her monitor. At around 6:00am the anesthesiologist gave her an epidural, which was highly recommended due to the fact that in a twin delivery, there is a fairly high probability of having an emergency C-section, and in case that were to happen, it’s good to have an epidural already in place. Having an epidural was new for Marika; with her own two children, she gave birth with no pain medications. Personally, I was relieved she was receiving the epidural because I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible, and I knew that I would have opted for an epidural in a heartbeat had I been the one delivering our babies.

By 6:30am, Marika was 8 centimeters dilated, and it was time to wheel her to the OR, where she would deliver. Even though both babies were head-down and we were all hoping for a vaginal delivery of both babies, Marika had to deliver in the OR in case of an emergency C-section. Ryan, Scott, and I put on our masks, hats, and “monkey suits” (sterile paper clothing) and took one last Team U picture with Dr. Broecker.

In the OR, there were many, many people: Dr. Clark, Dr. Broecker, Marika (obviously), Scott, nurses, residents, the anesthesiologist, the pediatrician, and possibly even more people. While the OR was being set up, Ryan and I had to wait in the hallway. I was OK until I heard Dr. Broecker start counting and helping Marika start to push. Once I heard that Marika was already pushing, I started to panic that we wouldn’t make it into the room before the first baby was born. Eventually, somebody let us in the room and led us to a corner where there was a stepstool that we could stand on to see the births.

Marika’s legs were being held by Scott and one of the nurses. Once I could really see what Marika was going through, and it finally hit me that our babies were really about to be born, I was overcome with emotion and started crying. I was excited but also so worried for Marika and the pain she was experiencing. It really struck me at that moment what she was doing for us. All along I knew that Marika was giving us such an awesome gift, but the enormity of it didn’t really hit me until that moment, in the delivery room. This was a really, really big thing to go through for someone else.

Things happened really fast and all of a sudden Dr. Broecker said she could see a lot of hair. The first baby came out and he was brought over to an isolette near me and Ryan. After he was born I heard Marika ask if I had been able to see. I couldn’t believe she was concerned about me at that point, but very touched at the same time. The pediatrician said the baby looked great and asked if we knew his name yet. I looked at his face and he looked like my brother, Jeff. I had decided (based on the 3D ultrasound pictures we had from earlier in the pregnancy) that the baby that looked like Jeff would be named Connor. I told the doctor that his name was Connor. Ryan and I were able to touch him briefly, and then he was taken to the nursery to be put under a warmer.

It was time for the second baby to be born. I heard the doctors saying scary things: “Her cervix has closed to 8 centimeters,” ”The baby’s heartrate is dropping,” and “We need to get this baby out.” Dr. Broecker got out a vacuum to use to speed up the delivery, and Dr. Clark told Marika forcefully that she needed to push. I was scared, but it didn’t last long because the second baby was born quickly. He, too, was brought to an isolette near me and Ryan. I saw his face and knew immediately that HE was Connor! I had been wrong about the first baby. I confused the nurses by re-naming the first baby Evan, and naming the second baby Connor. Connor was also taken straight to the nursery to be put under a warmer.

At that point, Marika still needed to deliver the two placentas. Ryan and I didn’t know what to do. We wanted to stay with Marika and be there for her through the entire delivery, and we also wanted to go to the nursery and be with the babies. We were torn, but Scott made the decision easy for us by telling us to go to the nursery.

In the nursery, the babies were confined in small isolettes, and for an hour or so we were only able to touch them through small holes in the sides of the isolettes. As we met them and touched them and eventually got to hold them for the first time, I couldn’t believe that we were finally meeting our babies. Not just babies, but OUR babies. I fell in love with them immediately and knew I would do anything for them.

The rest of the day was a blur. Lots of people came to the hospital to meet Evan and Connor. I was so excited when we finally got to introduce the babies to Aunt Marika, Uncle Scott, and Josie and Riley. I know that we will all share a bond forever and will be always be a unique family to each other. I want Evan and Connor to grow up having a special relationship with them and to know the amazing story of how they came to be, and I know that Ryan and I will be eternally grateful for the incredible gift of family that we have been given; a gift unlike any other.