At 2:26pm Ann texted me saying she’d been having contractions every 8 minutes since noon. 30 minutes later, she texted me saying she might call the doctor and asking me to come home. I had already been shutting things down at work and left right away. When I got home, Delani had gone home. Ann still hadn’t gotten a hold of the doctor. The contractions seemed to be slowing down, from the time I got there they were 11, 15, and 12. I was trying to find the doctor’s number in Ann’s cell phone, but a sync or something had erased it. We knew that it was way too early to deliver and so I was trying to get her to relax and try to take her mind off of it. I brought her to the bedroom and had her lay down. I put on a movie and gave her some of the Dove dark chocolate she likes. Teague was running around in the room with us and the other kids were upstairs watching a movie.
I was starting to look on the web to try to find her doctor’s number when I saw Ann’s eyes bulge and she said, “I’m going to throw up!” She got out of bed and started for the bathroom, but she kind of stumbled and went down on her hands and knees. She started breathing really heavy and saying, “I can’t breathe!” I tried to sooth her, telling her that she was indeed breathing, but she went on to the next thing. She was feeling terrible pain in her back. I lifted her and started walking her back to the bed, Teague was still running around and I had to move him out of the way. I called for Fiona to come down right away. I told Ann I thought she was having back labor and that we ought to get a hold of the doctor right away and go to the hospital. When Fiona came down I told her to take Teague upstairs, forcibly if necessary. She started to cry a bit when she saw Ann gasping and grunting in pain. I told Fiona everything would be alright, but I needed her help to watch the other kids. I asked Ann if she’d arranged for someone to take the kids in an emergency (as I had asked her to do weeks before). She said Jamie Smith had agreed so I called her at 4:04pm and told her I’d be bringing the kids over soon. Jamie was available and perfectly willing.
I had stripped Ann from the waist down to check and see if there was any dilation or anything, initially afraid the babies were coming right away. There was no labor-like progress, so I was relieved at first. But within just a couple of minutes, she screamed that her water had broken. I checked and saw that just a small pool of blood had formed—maybe 2oz. I told her it was blood and my worry resumed. I put the bathroom hand towel under her and called for Fiona again telling her to get ready, that I had to take them to the Smith’s house. She was crying even more, I tried to reassure her telling her to be strong, and that I was counting on her. Ann too was freaking out and I said that she was in charge and could control her breathing. Within a couple minutes more, Ann said she was sure that her water had broken and that she could feel it flowing. I checked again (I had been covering her with the bedspread). There was a lot more blood—at least three times what had been there at first. I told Ann what I saw and she told me to call an ambulance. I don’t recall even really taking time to decide. I knew that my only option was to take her to the hospital myself and right away. I told her I wanted to go to the ER at Riverton (it’s just a few miles away) instead of Murray where she was supposed to deliver.
I helped her get up, but when she stood a big stream up blood fell to the carpet and trickled down her legs which scared her terribly. Realizing how quickly she needed to be at a hospital, I put the towel between her legs and put her sweat pants back on. I started to carry her to the car, but she said it was hurting her to bend her stomach, so I let her walk with my support to the garage, down the steps and not wanting to walk her any more I put her in the Accord because it was closer. I went back inside and the kids were sort of halfway down the stairs. I grabbed the boys and urged the girls to hurry. I carried the boys to the Accord and shoved them in the back seat. Fiona and Meagan were quick to get in and Fiona still had a terrible look of worry on her face and tears streaming down her cheeks. Ann continued to moan and scream as the pain in her back continued. I asked Ann if she’d gotten a bag ready for the hospital (again a request I’d made along with the arranging for someone to take the kids). She told me where it was, I rushed in and grabbed it along with my laptop bag, since it was on the way back to the garage door. I threw these in the trunk and ran out to the car.
I figured it would take less time for me to take the kids to the Smith’s than to try to find a neighbor or someone to come over to wait with them. So, I drove the 200 yards to their house, and opened the door. I hadn’t taken the time to buckle them in or anything, so when I opened the rear door of the Accord, Rhys fell out having been leaning against the door. Luckily he didn’t hit is head or anything. I scooped him up and grabbed Teague and ran to the door calling for the girls to follow. Jamie opened the door and I told her what was going on and handed Teague over to her. He started crying and reaching immediately as always, but I said goodbye as I ran back to the car. I couldn’t drive very fast because I was in the neighborhood. I took Oakmond south to get to 118th and despite Ann’s panicked state, she still had it in her to tell me I wasn’t going the right way. I told her I was taking a more direct route and once on 118th pushed my speed up to around 50mph.
We stopped at the light at 126th where I wanted to head east. I took the time to reach out and give her a blessing telling her that she would be able to control her body and have strength and courage, although I had had my doubts I also blessed her and the babies that they would survive and eventually resume good health. In just another minute or two, we were pulling into the hospital. Ann was still coherent enough to tell me where the ER entrance is. I parked in the driveway and ran in to get a wheel chair. The waiting room was totally empty and there was just one receptionist sitting at the desk. I told her that my wife was in labor and bleeding and grabbed a wheelchair. I brought it outside, set Ann into it, and rushed her inside. The receptionist said she had run back to get someone and that I could go park the car and run back in, that she would help me find Ann once I got back. I ran and parked quite quickly since the lot was practically empty.
Ann was gone when I got back inside, but the door opened for a middle-aged couple who were exiting. I recognized the husband as a guy I knew from work, but his name escaped me and I just said hello and walked through the doors. I turned a corner and saw Ann down a ways next to a nurses’ station. I receptionist saw me and said, “There he is,” to the nurses as I approached. A tall orderly had Ann’s wheelchair and he’d been given a room assignment already. We walked to the elevators; Ann was still groaning and crying. The orderly punched the wrong floor at first and we had to wait for the doors to open and close before we continued up to the right floor.
She was brought to a room and put on a bed. Nurses came in with us and started taking vitals, asking me for background, and trying to start an IV. I told them that England was her former doctor and local and they decided to call him since he serviced that hospital and should be close. Although they put Ann in a hospital gown, removing all her clothing from the waist up, they kept her pants on. She was there only about 5 minutes before she vomited up the chocolate I had given her earlier. After about another 5 minutes she told us all she was going to pass out and did for about a minute and a half. Ann told them she was sure she was still bleeding and seemed frustrated that no one was checking. I called Ann’s sister Denise at 4:33 and asked her to come down to take care of the kids. She didn’t grasp the severity of the situation at first (I’m at little too even in a crises apparently) and was worried about missing the recording that night with Choir. I explained a little more and she told me she’d get some things together and call me when she left. The nurses continued to talk about getting a doctor in as soon as possible. Dr England was at home and the doctor onsite was busy and less qualified for the anticipated procedure (I conjecture).
About 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital, Dr. England entered the room. He got the lowdown from the nurses then turned to me to ask what had gone on. After some quick explanation, he decided to check Ann. When her pants were pulled off everyone’s face changed in horrified surprise. Ann had bled profusely and had big, black blood clots sitting between her legs. Dr England turned to me and said they needed to do an immediate c-section. As they prepped to take her out, he went out to don scrubs and wash his hands. When he was back and they were starting to wheel her out, he told me that they had to move so quickly they’d need to put her under general anesthesia which meant I would have to wait where I was. But, he patted my shoulder and told me not to worry, she’d be ok. I was worried as they took Ann away because she’s always a lot more panicked when I’m not with her and they had been so much alarm already.
The next 30 minutes were pretty awful. I tried to reach Gary and Lucy (Ann’s parents) just after they took her away around 4:45. I then called my mom and told her what was going on. Five minutes later Lucy called me back and I explained the situation to her. I then called Jamie Smith to let her know what was going on and tell her that Denise was coming down for the kids. I paced back and forth and contemplated the sprays and smears of blood on the floor as I waited for news. A nurse came in a few minutes later and told me everyone was stable. She explained that the placenta had abrupted causing the loss of blood and clotting. They had done the c-section quickly, both babies were born within the same minute (4:42pm). We later found out that Brigid had swallowed so much blood she was flatlined when she came out. They revived her with chest compressions. Ann also says that when they first took her into the OR she had fought with them about the oxygen mask. Her memory didn’t pick up again until they brought her back into the hospital room. I called Lucy at 5:05pm and my mom at 5:10pm to let them know that Ann and the twins were alive and stable.
It was still another 20 minutes or so before they brought Ann back in. Dr England came out to explain more to me. An abruption occurs when the placenta pulls away from the uterus and the result is bleeding and blood clots. Ann had last about three liters of blood out of an estimated five liters total. They gave her a transfusion of one unit (one liter) and talked about giving her another that night or in the morning. He said I had done the right thing by going to Riverton rather than calling an ambulance or driving all the way to Murray. She was losing so much blood, the worst might have happened. Ann began to wake up while we talked. I could see her moving a bit and was concerned about her waking up wonder where I was and what had taken place, but still listen to Dr England I didn’t get to her side until she began calling my name. She was groggy, but pretty alert right off. I told her that the babies had survived and were being worked on. It’s a little foggy for me what happened during the next half hour or so. I remember Dr. Zarbock, our pediatrician, came in and told me that although the twins were stable, they had swallowed a lot of blood and needed help to breathe. As we expected, they were to be taken to IMC. Somewhere in there, a little before 6pm, Denise called me to let me know she was leaving her house and that she’d call me when she got to ours. The rest of the time I spent trying to make sure Ann was comfortable and stable emotionally.
We were told a number of times that the twins would be Life-Flight’ed at any time. We could hear the helicopter arrive, but although the nurses said they would try to make sure they babies were brought to us so that we could see them (for the first time), we continued to wait. I waited by the door so that I could see/hear the nurses’ station, not wanting them to pass by without getting a glance at Brigid and Tara. A new nurse came in around 6:20 to again tell us about Life-Flight and what was going to happen. I told her that no one had been sure whether or not they would bring the babies into the room for us to see prior to take-off. She said she was sure they would, but that if I hadn’t seen them yet, she would take me to them that moment.
I went with her into a room filled with doctors, nurses, and Life-Flight personnel. They were working pretty busily around Tara, but Brigid was fairly solitary. Dr Zarbock was in there and when he saw me he brought me to Brigid and gave me some updates. I don’t remember much of that, they girls were intubated and responding well to the oxygen. I was pretty worried by Brigid’s appearance. Dr Zarbock estimated their weights at between 2.5 and 3.5 pounds. Brigid definitely looked like she was too small to be out of the womb. Her narrow head and slanted eyes coupled with the big probe on her forehead and blood encrusted skin were alarming to me at first. It entered into my mind at this point that these babies were so premature they may well face lifelong disabilities. When Dr Zarbock took me over to Tara, the medical staff working over her welcomed me and made space for me to see her. Tara was definitely bigger than Brigid and didn’t seem as foreign to the outside world. I was dazed and light headed in this room and seeing the blood on the tape that held her breathing tube in place brought tears to my eyes. I took pictures of them both with my iPhone and didn’t linger much, worried about distracting the staff and wanting to get back to Ann and show her the pictures. Ann was in good spirits, though pale and weak. She was relieved that they had all made it through the ordeal. Her focus was nearly single to getting a chance to see the twins—slightly distracted by desiring any kind of sustenance they would allow her (mostly nugget ice at first).
Around 6:40 I called the Smith’s and talked to Fiona and Meagan to tell them what was going on and to ask how they were doing. Jamie had helped Fiona feel better about what was going on. She had stopped worrying so much by the time I talked to her and Meagan seemed pretty unperturbed by the whole thing and more anxious to know when she could see the babies. About 6:50, Denise arrived and called Jamie about how to get the kids back home. In the end, Tiffini Denham, desperate to do something to help, went and picked up the kids from the Smith’s house and dropped them off at our house. One of the nurses was very concerned with me for some reason. She wanted to make sure I had eaten and whether I felt faint. I told her I had been through four births before these without a problem, but she insisted that this one was different. I remembered and pointed to a tray of food they had brought for me like a half hour prior. I didn’t like to eat in front of Ann, since she couldn’t; but I was fatigued from all the stress and standing and pacing. So, I went ahead and ate the food very quickly without tasting it and prayed that for once a cafeteria could provide food without giving me food poisoning. Another nurse noticed the blood on the floor and had a janitor come in and mop it all up. He seemed very eager to get it all.
The Life Flight folks finally brought Brigid to us at about 7:30. I snapped a couple of pictures and Ann was granted permission to reach in and touch her tiny (and I mean tiny) fingers. They stayed for about five minutes and then left. We could hear the helicopter take off from the hospital room. A nurse came in and told us a little later that there was only one helicopter available and so the same crew would be coming back for Tara. Ann was allowed some jello and juice by then and surprised everyone with how well she was doing. She was very pale, but never needed more than the one unit of blood—even though they told us many times she might get another that night or the next morning. At 8:20 the crew brought Tara into the room. They were in a far greater hurry this time and I felt a greater sense of urgency for Tara’s wellbeing. They did allow me to take a couple of pictures again. One of them then told me that I could walk down to see them load Tara into the helicopter and watch it take off. I readily agreed. I conversed a little with the Life Flight crew and the security guards, but it was hard for me to make light small talk under the circumstances. I was allowed to come pretty close and watch/video them loading her, one of the security guards had me come back a ways to watch the helicopter take off. He waiting for me the whole while (the rev time for a helicopter is a lot longer than I had been expecting). I went back into the hospital with him and helped get the bed we used to carry the mobile isolette put away.
I went back up to Ann’s room and showed her the videos. Soon after we moved to a recovery room. There was a couch at the window that folded down into a bed. They brought me sheets and a very thin pillow. We tried to rest and I think Ann might have dosed a bit. We tried to watch TV as well—mostly Raymond reruns if I recall. We finally got news from the hospital around 10:30. The twins were both ok, but needed transfusions, oxygen, and drugs to get their lungs working. We said a prayer together in thanks for the relative health of all three and for a continued blessing over them. We slept fairly well that night. There was the usual checking by nurses and the administration of pain meds, etc. I woke up about once an hour, but was able to doze off without much trouble.
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