The Arrival of Jackson and Samson Yoder

Sunday November 3rd marked the last week in Steph's pregnancy. A change from my last blog was that Baby B had pushed Baby A out of the way and took the role of presenting baby. So a vaginal delivery was back on the books. An induction date had been set for Friday November 8, but entering that last week I was suspicious that we would not make it. I'll just start the narrative on Wednesday when things really got underway.

Our midwife had told us Wednesday was the day we could start trying to induce labor ourselves. So Steph kept herself busy and active most of the day. We wanted to have a date night just the two of us before we welcomed our boys into the world. So Wednesday night we went to Jacamos and got some pizza, then came home and enjoyed each other's company. Around 10 p.m. we were in bed and Steph said she thought she felt contractions. I had been procrastinating reading though a pregnancy book by Dr. Robert Bradley and decided that maybe tonight it would be a good idea to go ahead and read a little extra just in case. I finished the chapter on second stage labor and delivery. Satisfied, at about 11 p.m. I drifted off to sleep.

I didn't sleep long, right around mid-night Steph's water broke and it was on. The rush to the hospital was actually somewhat similar to what I have seen in the movies. We threw our bags in the car, Steph had the hospital on the horn, and I grabbed a cold slice of pizza and Pepsi. Less than an hour ago I read the average labor lasts fifteen hours, so I would need energy and caffeine. We made it to the hospital, I dropped Steph off, parked the car, and went up to triage. There we met our on-call doctor.

Since we had to have so many OB appointments, we knew most of the doctors that would be around to deliver us. Most were on board with our plan to give birth naturally, one was not. For the purposes of this blog, we will call her Frau Blucher and she was the doctor on call that night. Frau Blucher did not like me. Some doctors hold tight to the old traditional belief that if fathers must be seen at all during pregnancies, they are better seen not heard. She was one of them. She was also very keen on a C-section, even after other staff had determined that a vaginal birth was probable and most desirable. I don't judge her too harshly about that, she has good reason. Many people have sued hospitals over deliveries that went wrong and she was just trying to protect herself. However, she was not the ideal doctor to have around and I crossed my fingers we would make it past 7 a.m. when new staff would rotate in.

I met a yawning Frau Blucher outside our room and we exchanged icy cold greetings. She had us sign a consent to C-section and went back to her nap, while we made our way to labor and delivery. We then began what is nicknamed the "putsy putsy" stage of labor. Steph and I shuffled around the floor looking at pictures on the walls and pausing for contractions. This stage didn't last long, we made about one lap and returned to our room where Steph would spend the rest of her labor.

Around 3 a.m. our midwife Ame showed up and there was much celebration. Ame is experienced, knowledgeable, connected, and wanted a natural birth for our babies. She was our advocate to the rest of the hospital and wanted to be personally involved. She somehow even overruled Frau Blucher and her cesarean schemes. She made all the preparations so we could focus on laboring.

My job during labor was to keep Steph's mind right and offer up as much encouragement as possible. Fortunately I had made it far enough in my pregnancy book to know a few relaxation coaching methods. So I employed all the weapons I had in my arsenal to keep Steph calm and relaxed so as to reduce the pain of each contraction. Steph was a champ. A complete model of concentration and relaxation.

7 a.m. came. Frau Blucher was replaced and the new doctor checked in on us in our room. We knew her and liked her. She told us we would be delivering vaginally and was even on board if the second baby needed to be delivered breach. We talked and determined that when the time came, the doctor would try to a rare maneuver to flip the second baby after the successful delivery of the first.

Our plans made, we continued to labor and Steph quickly advanced toward 10 cm. dilation. She actually reached that point at about 11:30 a.m and felt the urge to push. The time had come to make it happen.

Having identical twins means that you are a high risk pregnancy and so delivery is made in an operating room instead of delivery room. For me, this meant putting on a sterile hazmat suit so that nothing on me would infect Stephanie. Also, because we were having twins, there needed to be not one but two complete birthing teams present. Methodist is a learning hospital with lots of residents and many wanted to be present to learn from our birth. Add our midwife, nurses, NICU team, and a anesthesiologist, I estimated the grand total of people present to be around sixteen.

I was facing the opposite way of Stephanie and could see all these people observing us. It was like our delivery was a sporting event except everyone in the stands was smarter than me, made more money than me, and knew how to play the game better. Steph was oblivious to it all and focused on pushing these babies out. So we got underway.

One of the more humorous aspects of delivery was the background music. Steph had put in her birth plan that she wanted to listen to music from her ipod, specifically Hillsong Live's new album. In the operating room they didn't have the adapter necessary to play her ipod. That didn't deter our nurses though. They got on the internet, pulled up grooveshark, and tried to find some Hillsong for her. We got some Hillsong, but mostly not. Throughout the whole thing we listened to a combination of cheesy 90's christian pop, Christmas carols, hymns, and Espanol Hillsong. Turns out it didn't mater as Steph was so focused she didn't hear the music.

Focused doesn't even begin to describe Stephanie during delivery. She was a natural birthing obstetricianal athlete! While she labored she tried three different positions, including one where she was squatting on the floor. When she announced to the team she was moving to the floor, they all looked at each other, shrugged and made it happen. I think Ame was actually on her knees at one point in the ready-catch position. Steph declined all drugs for pain, pitocin, and epidurals. Like a birthing beast, she pushed until we saw the head of the first baby. Shortly after, at 12:34 p.m., Jackson came sliding out.

It was amazing. The moment he came out and I knew I was a father, I was so overcome with excitement that I actually let out a triumphant yell and scared some of the young residents. I can't think of any time in my life when I had felt such elation.

I cut the cord, Ame put him on Steph's chest, and the two on hand doctors started performing the flip on the second baby. It looked like they were putting gentle pressure on opposite sides until he flipped head down. Now it was time to push again.

Strengthened and encouraged by her success so far, Steph pushed with new energy. She even made a joke or two with the nurses between contractions. It didn't take long. At 12:56, Samson started to emerge.

This is actually where things got scary. As his shoulders came out, Steph's contraction stopped. Me and another nurse were on opposite sides of Steph holding her legs. From that position, I could see it happening and his blue expressionless face was looking right up at me. I heard Ame say something about the cord wrapped around his shoulders and she told Steph she needed to push right now. Without a contraction, Steph bore down and forced his body out. There was no cry from Samson. I had read enough to know that was a bad sign. Ame immediately had me cut the cord and then carried his limp body to the NICU team. The moment he hit the bed they went to work reviving him. I couldn't tell you how long it took, probably less than a minute, but they got a weak cry out of him. Relief poured over me when they brought him over and set him on Steph's chest.

The placenta passed no problem. Steph was with it and didn't require any stitches. Steph, the nurses, Ame, and myself happily made our way back to our room. Jackson came back with us. Samson had to spend a few hours in the NICU just to be observed, but would soon rejoin us too with a clear bill of health. For the rest of the day, I rode an emotional high amplified by my lack of sleep. We stayed at Methodist for another day and then went home as a family.

I will end this blog by saying first off that God showed up. I have never prayed so many times in twelve hours. I love my wife and twin boys. The staff at Methodist was amazingly skilled and I would recommend them to anybody. Without them, we would not have had such an amazing birth. I am now a Father and feel like a different man from when I first started writing this blog eight months ago. I want to thank all of you who supported us with encouragement, gifts, and prayers. We feel so loved it overwhelms us. If you want to see the boys, give us a jingle and swing by. I hope you enjoyed my blog.