On Wednesday, November 20th I had a routine OB appointment for my 31st week of pregnancy. Because I had been having quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions in the recent weeks I was slightly nervous (I didn't experience these with my other pregnancies) and asked for my cervix to be checked. The midwife that checked me that day determined I was about 3 cm dilated, but there was no concern about this because it would be quite possible for someone to go past their due date being 3 cm the whole rest of the way, especially with twins. After the appointment, I went on my way to do a major grocery shopping run to get all of the ingredients for the freezer meals I planned on preparing that weekend.
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| The last pregnant picture I can find. It was taken 5 days before delivery. |
After my shopping trip I went to my parent's house where Alexander and Eliza were and, as usual, we stayed for a while. My sweet mom made me a chicken salad sandwich because I hadn't had a real lunch yet. A little bit later I started feeling nauseated (not nauseous, look up the difference!). The kids and my mom had dinner and I wanted nothing to do with food. My dad came home from a business trip and we chatted for a while sitting at the dinner table and then it hit! I asked them to go into a different room so they wouldn't hear me puking in the bathroom and I ran in and did my thing. I came out, felt better like I always do after puking, and then I gathered the kids and we headed home.
I put the kids to the bed and then threw up all night long. About every 15 minutes. Seriously. That's not an exaggeration. I honestly started to get nervous that maybe this was a sign of labor, especially with the news of being 3 cm dilated earlier that day. But then Alexander woke up around 1am and threw up on the stairs on his way down. And so the two of us just laid in the bed and took turns puking and sleeping.
Around 3am I started thinking that I might be feeling contractions. And then the story goes into hyperdrive. For a half an hour I timed the contractions and decided they were definitely consistent. Scott was working his third shift job, so I called him at work. His supervisor answered the phone and said he had just gone on lunch to which I said, "Um...would you mind grabbing him from the break room? I think he probably needs to come home."He got on the phone to make sure he had heard right and he had, so he flew home (at 90 miles an hour, apparently!).
Meanwhile, I called my mom who lives 5 minutes away and told her I was pretty sure "it" was happening, so she rushed over. The next part is a little mixed up for me, but I know that in my mind, I wasn't going to make it to the hospital before the babies were born. I ended up on the toilet and just kept saying over and over that I couldn't move off from it to walk and certainly not to get down to the car. So an ambulance got called. I remember hearing Scott and my mom taking turns getting irritated on the phone with the dispatcher and the answering service at the OB's office. And somewhere in there my Aunt Debbie, who lives 10 minutes away, was called to come and stay at the house with Alexander and Eliza while me, Scott and my mom went to the hospital.
The ambulance crew was made up of a few "good ol' boys" who didn't seem to be in any rush and didn't seem to have any level of comfort with a woman in labor. I remember it being very awkward and frustrating, but they got me to hospital and thankfully, didn't have to deliver the babies!
Within minutes of getting into the hospital and being transferred from the stretcher to the operating table (standard procedure for twin deliveries whether they're natural or C-sections), my amazing doctors were prepped and ready. Someone mentioned that I should be checked to see how much I was dilated, but my primary OB doctor who had delivered Alexander and Eliza said with confidence "There's no need to check her. She's got her push face on. She's ready to go."
Baby A (now known as Irwin Nicholas) arrived naturally at 4:23 a.m. on Thursday, November 21, 2013 and Baby B (who we know as William Gregory) followed 8 minutes later at 4:31 a.m.
For my own sake, I'd love to do a post on their 34-day long NICU stay, but I'll save that for another time.
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| Seeing/touching William for the first time since delivery, about 4 hours later |
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| Seeing/touching Irwin for the first time since delivery |
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| About a month after they were born, they got to be reunited again the NICU |
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| Heading home on Christmas day! |
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| And just about 6 months after they were born. |
Life is good!
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