EOPC

Although I had been terrified at the thought of having a Caesarean Section, I was surprised at how well I handled the entire experience. I was relieved to end my ten days of labor, but heartbroken by the reality that the girls had been born long before they were supposed to be. Our initial goal after finding out I was carrying twins was to make it to thirty-six weeks, which is often considered "term" for twins. They were, however, born week twenty-six of my pregnancy, ten weeks early.

I was taken to a postpartum room not long after surgery. Jeff walked with the girls down to the EOPC, then was able to see them again after they were admitted. I would have to wait to visit them until I was able to get out of bed, one o'clock the following morning. They were bigger than I was expecting. After ten days of hospital bed rest, we had already prepared ourselves that they would be tiny and fragile. They were hooked up to a variety of monitors, chords, and tubes. A large monitor, similar to a computer monitor, kept track of their blood pressures, heart rates, breathing rates, and oxygen saturations. Their beds were radiant warmers and monitored their body temperatures. Although it was difficult to see the tubes down their throats from the ventilators that were breathing for them, it was easy for us to look past all of the equipment and see our perfect, little babies. In our eyes, they were beautiful in their own right.