Twin Talk Blog: Twin Birth Story: Kristina Yarbrough

If you'd like to contribute your own twin birth story, CLICK HERE to fill out our questionnaire!

Name: Kristina Yarbrough

Where do you currently live? Colleyville, TX

How far along were you when you found out you were expecting twins? Suspected at 4 weeks due to my hCG level and confirmed at 6 weeks on ultrasound

Any issues during your pregnancy? I started having bleeding at 7 weeks (a week after we saw their hearts beat for the first time). That was the scariest few hours of the entire pregnancy. I went in for a sonogram the next day and was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage and was placed on bedrest for about 10 days. The hematoma (collection of blood) resolved over the next 4 weeks.

I was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes. My sugars were so borderline though that I never took medication other than the Metformin I was already on for PCOS and never even really adjusted my diet. Everything I was already eating was keeping me well within controlled range. I still ate sweets in moderation.

I was also eventually placed on home bedrest at 36 weeks when I began having cramping if I was on my feet for too long.

Memorable/funny moment when you were pregnant: I was so thankful not to be big and uncomfortable during the hot summer months. By the fall when I began to get huge, I would often go to my car to take a nap at lunchtime. I was so tired all of the time and had horrible nausea throughout the whole pregnancy. It was December and I was due in February. I used to get in the back seat of my car and lay down for about 15 minutes and would feel like I could finish my day. We bought an SUV around that time and I went ahead and had the car seats installed in preparation for an early or unexpected delivery. I remember they told me at the dealership that the rear hatch had a handle you could use. Since I couldn’t sit in the backseat due to the car seats and I couldn’t recline the front seats due the car seats, I thought the rear hatch would be the best place to lay down and nap and remembered the handle would allow me to close it from the inside. I took my 15 min nap and woke up right before my phone alarm went off because I had to pee and realized that I couldn’t get out! The handle closed the door but that was it….there was no way to open the door from the inside in the back of the SUV. I couldn’t climb over the back seat because my belly was so big. I was in a huge predicament! I debated banging on the window and calling for help but no one was around. I finally was able to lean over the backseat and take out one of the carseats so that I could push the rearseat down and crawl out of the car. I’m glad no one was watching because it wasn’t pretty! I did a waddling sprint to the bathroom and never made the same mistake again. That was the end of daily naps in my car.

Looking back, what is one thing you would tell your pregnant self? I wish I had enjoyed being pregnant more. I had so much time to read and relax and I spent so much of my time worrying. Much easier said than done…. Pack your bags earlier than I did and make sure your camera is ready to take lots of pictures. We didn’t clear off the old photos on our camera and ran out of space right before I was about to start pushing. We were frantically trying to erase old pictures that we felt we could do without while everyone was prepping for the babies in the OR room.

How many weeks/days were you when your twins were born? I was induced at exactly 38 weeks. I started having contractions at home the day before my scheduled induction.

Baby A's Information: Daniel Allen
February 11, 2013
11:29pm
6 lbs 13 oz
20 Inches

Baby B's Information: Julia Ann
February 11, 2013
11:31pm
6 lbs 2 oz
18.5 Inches

Did you have a c-section or natural delivery? I really, really wanted to have a natural delivery. My OB felt this was possible since my son measured larger throughout the whole pregnancy and he was in vertex (head down) position pretty much the whole time as well. They knew if I could push him out, I shouldn’t have problems pushing out a second smaller baby. My daughter was breech just beneath my chest and above my son for the entire pregnancy and we hoped she would turn but never did. My OB felt that if she did not turn on her own, he would attempt to turn her as I was pushing Baby A out. Because of the potential pain and discomfort, I was told I would have to have an epidural and I would have to deliver in the OR (I was not given any other option). I wanted to have the epidural early enough that it would somewhat wear off so that I could feel where I was pushing without the discomfort. I was at 8cm and still felt I could hang in there a bit longer before getting the epidural but after consulting with my doula, decided to go ahead and get it at that point. The timing worked out great as they gave it to me about 3 hours before I delivered so I wasn’t completely numb anymore. I pushed a couple of times in the L&D room once fully dilated and started crowning. Then, they wheeled me to the OR where my doctor and I later counted at least 17 people present with a few waiting outside the room because they didn’t fit. My OB had a nurse scrubbed in just in case we had to have an emergency C section. I pushed out Baby A doing three more pushes while counting to 10. Baby B did not successfully turn so I remember the OB resident reaching in and saying she felt a foot. My OB doctor instructed her to pull her out and Baby B was delivered footling breech.

Any NICU time? If yes, for what reason and how long? Although I mentally prepared myself for this possibility the whole pregnancy, we were so very blessed and thankful that they did not spend any time in the NICU.

Did you have any complications after delivery? After the twins were born, my mom left to her hospital hotel room and my husband and I were in the L&D room by ourselves. I continued to attempt to breastfeed. I don’t remember which twin I had at my chest but about 2 hours after delivery I began to have contractions. I never had “normal” contractions during my labor. These contractions felt exactly like what everyone had described as regular contractions…starting at your low back and wrapping around to the front. I knew my uterus was supposed to be contracting to stop the bleeding but I had to ask my husband to take the baby from me because these were so painful (more painful than what I had felt during the delivery before my epidural). I had several of these and then all of a sudden felt like I had to go to the bathroom. The urge was so strong but they told me not to get up to go to the bathroom without a nurse present. I called for a nurse but it was 2AM and no once came right away. I waited through 3 more “contractions” and then called and told them I had to go so badly I was going to get up whether or not someone was there. I knew my epidural had worn off long ago as I transferred myself from the OR table to the gurney using my legs without any problem after the babies were born. The charge nurse rushed in, laid me back and started massaging my uterus. Blood began to pour out of me. They called the doctor on call and she then began to clear clot and blood out of my uterus. This was by far the most painful part of the whole delivery process!

They estimated that I lost about 2 Liters of blood (500cc from the actual birth and then 1500cc from the subsequent hemorrhage). I was given morphine but the effect lasted for all of 2 minutes. They later decided not to transfuse me. I was told that my milk never came in despite putting the babies to my breast and pumping every 2-3 hours for the next 3+ weeks due to the trauma from the blood loss and with my history of PCOS.

Two weeks after the delivery I developed fever and was diagnosed with endometritis (inflammation/infection of the lining of the uterus). This likely occurred because they had to manually clean out the blood and clots in my uterus when I hemorrhaged.

How long did you (the parents) stay in the hospital? We checked in at 7AM on Monday morning and discharged at 11AM on Wednesday (2 nights)

Did your twins stay with you or in the hospital nursery at night? They stayed with us at night. My husband spent the first night (when I hemorrhaged) with us and my mom stayed the second night so that my husband could rest.

What are three things you are so glad you had (or wish you would have had) at the hospital?
1. I remember after Baby B was delivered, I looked down and saw my upper thighs for the first time in months! I felt so thin! Over the next few days I felt like I began to look more and more pregnant. I literally felt like my uterus would flop forward when I got up out of the bed. I kept asking for a binder but the hospital would not give me one since I had not had a C-section. I finally got one about 2 weeks after the babies were born and it was so much more comfortable for me and I feel it helped my belly go down so much faster. I used and liked the Belly Bandit and wished I had bought it before the babies were born.

2. I was so glad to have brought a robe. With visitors and doctors, nurses and staff coming in and out of the room it was nice to be able to put this on…especially when I was breastfeeding so much of the time and needed/wanted to cover up quickly.

3. I’m adding this more as a tidbit of info that I wanted to share. It didn’t really fit neatly as an answer to any of the other questions listed. We found out the morning that we were leaving the hospital that a professional photographer comes by from the hospital to take photos of the babies. She came at 9AM and we were leaving in 2 hours and there was so much chaos going on during those last few hours packing up and signing papers that we never had time for those photos. I regret not having done this… We did our professional photos at home when the twins were 7 days old but I still would have loved to have professional pictures of them at just 1-2 days old.

Describe one of your favorite moments while you were at the hospital: I loved watching my husband with our children. Seeing how much he loved them made me fall deeper in love with him all over again.

We also loved the little noises that the babies made. I'm so glad we caught it on video as I think I would have forgotten about it otherwise.

If you had one piece of advice you could give an expecting mom of twins, what would it be? If you are able, hire a sleep specialist. I went back to work 3 days a week when my babies turned 9 weeks old. I was terrified that I would be sleep deprived and non-functional and did not want to make errors at work because of this. I found a Newborn Care Specialist recommended through a local mom of multiples group. We initially thought to have her come and do the sleep training herself but it was much more expensive than we expected. She offered the option of being a consultant for 4 weeks and I was able to email and/or call her with any questions. We spent about 2 hours on the phone the first meeting when she explained the custom plan to me and addressed some issues I was having with feeding and schedules. I then kept a log and would call or send an email with questions or issues that occurred the night before each morning. It worked beautifully and she was great at reassuring me during that time after my mom left and I was alone at home with my babies for the first time.