The Birth

The twins are almost a week old so I figured I better make the time to get their birth story in writing before I forget everything.

I started having fairly consistent (and somewhat painful) contractions the weekend before Cooper & Boston were born. However, they would come and go so I didn't really think anything of it. I went in for my last appointment on Monday September 8th and was only dilated to a 3+ and my doctor said he was fairly certain nothing would happen before our induction date on Wednesday September 10th.

I was up most of the night before the induction on Wednesday. I laid on the couch and took several baths in attempt to get comfortable enough to sleep. I remember telling Matt that if we didn't have an induction scheduled, I was fairly certain we would have had the babies that day anyway. Thankfully, the pain was bearable (more uncomfortable than anything) and I was able to make it until morning.

6:15 am - Grandma E. arrived to watch Gavin while we left for the hospital where we were supposed to arrive at 6:45 am. However, we ended up sitting in the waiting room for almost 40 minutes and didn't make it to our room until an hour later.

7:45 am - My IV was started as well as the Pitocin, although I was already dilated to a 4 and contracting regularly. Dr. H came in about this time so they could do a quick ultrasound to make sure both of the babies were both presenting vertex (head down). Sure enough...the boys were in their usual position and ready to go so Dr. H broke my water and the waiting game started!

0:00 am - The nurse asked if I wanted my epidural and I politely declined. When I had Gavin, I got my epidural when I wasn't even feeling any pain and ended up completely numb for about 15-20 hours so I didn't want to get one too soon. We were watching a DVD of The Office and the contractions were still pretty bearable (although they were getting more and more intense) and I couldn't bare the thought of being numb longer than necessary.

9:30ish am - The nurse came in again and told me I should get my epidural now if I wanted to get one. She was certain everything would happen before noon and didn't want me to wait too long. The contractions still weren't as painful as I imagined they would be, but painful enough so I agreed.

9:45ish am - Epidural. It too the guy FOREVER to get in in place so I was skeptical at how well it would work & feared another completely numb experience this time around. I told him I wanted a lower dose epidural so that I could still feel pressure and feel helpful during the delivery. Despite it taking him so long, it was *perfect *and I was still able to move my legs a bit and feel pressure when it was time to push.

10:00 am - The nurse came in and checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm. She said she would have Dr. H come in next time and check me since I was progressing so quickly.

11:00 am - Dr. H came in to see how things were going (his office is right next door to the hospital) and the nurse insisted that he check my progress knowing he wouldn't believe how quickly everything was happening. Sure enough, he had a surprised look on his face when he checked me and realized it was time to go. They immediately dimmed the lights and got suited up. The room when from 3 people to about 7 or 8 with all the nurses and nursery staff. Matt had just pulled out his laptop to check some emails at work when I told him it was time to go. He was pretty shocked since we had waited so long when Gavin was born. Little did we know that in less than 15 minutes we would meet our first baby boy!

11:10ish am - Time to push! Only 4 small pushes and Cooper was born at 11:14 am. He was perfect & I immediately recognized him from his profile picture that we got on the ultrasound - he looked just like his daddy & had lots of dark hair!

At this point, Dr. H explained that even though both babies were presenting vertex on the ultrasound there was a chance that Boston would flip once Cooper was born and asked if that were to happen if I would want him to perform a breech extraction or if I wanted a C-Section. Since recovering from a vaginal and a c-section birth didn't exactly sound like a good time, I told him I would rather do the breech extraction if he felt confident doing it. Turns out that Boston did flip so he was born as a footling breech at 11:24 am. He had lots of dark hair as well and my first glance at him immediately reminded me of Gavin. He looks so much like his big brother.

All in all it was a GREAT experience. I was so scared after reading all the birth stories from twins. I didn't tear at all and my recovery has been wonderful so far....so much different from Gavin's.

It's crazy to think that they are already two weeks old. They are so sweet and although my days blur together it almost feels like our life has always been this way. They were meant to be...and we are so happy to have them here! Happy & healthy!

The Twins are Here!

Cooper & Boston arrived yesterday, September 10th at 11:14 and 11:24 am after a 3 hour labor. Cooper was a good boy and arrived head first weighing in at 5 lbs 5 ounces and 18 inches long, while Boston decided it would be fun to arrive as a footling breech weighing in at 5 lbs 10 ounces and 18 inches long. Thankfully everything went really smoothly & everyone is healthy.

I will try and update more later, but for now I will leave you with some pictures.


My last belly picture at the hospital. 37 weeks, 4 days...and yes, I know I was huge!

Welcome Boston (baby # 2)


Me & my boys (Cooper on my right, Boston on my left).

The proud papa!


Gavin meeting one of the babies for the first time. Blurry shot, but I love it.

Cooper & Boston this morning.

Patience People, Patience

I'm getting flooded with emails if the babies are here yet. I promise once they arrive I will post on the blog as soon as possible (hospital has wi-fi).

Pregnant Forever

I swear, I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life! I was up all night on Wednesday with contractions coming every 4 minutes - I had bad back pain and crampiness but the contractions themselves didn't hurt at all. Since I have never experienced that before, I decided to wake up my doctor at 1:30 in the morning to see what I should do. He said to watch them for another hour and if they didn't let up, to go in. Well, they continued at 4 minutes apart but never hurt so I tried to get some sleep, which only resulted for a solid 30 minutes or so.

I had an appointment on Thursday so I decided to just wait it out but I was sure yesterday would be the day. Well, he checked me and I'm still between 2.5 and 3 cm dialated. All that for no progress? So, as for now we are still waiting. I'm feeling a lot better today except for the usual tiredness. I swear, I feel like I am living in someone else's body. I can't move...getting up off the couch is an olympic even and standing to do my hair makes me feel like I've run a marathon by the time I'm done. Twin moms, please tell me this goes away after they are born?

Part of me is really glad the babies aren't here yet. Every day they are in there means one more day their lungs develop even more which means we can hopefully avoid time spent in the NICU. Not only that, but I'm not quite ready to let go our our nice, 3 person family routine. It has been so great being home with Gavin. He is such a fun kid and so easy to play with. I can't possibly imagine being able to love TWO more babies as much as I love him. I know that I will, but I have a feeling it might not be as instant this time around. Does that sound horrible? I have kind of viewed this pregnancy abstractly up until this week and it has finally hit me....we're going from a family of three to a family of five!! That thought scares me a little, but I know we'll be fine. It's just hard to comprehend when I really think about it.

Anyway, I'm rambling now so I should sign-off and get some rest while the little man is still asleep. Until next time...

Still Here

For all of you wondering & worrying....we're still here. I thought it would be cool to have the babies on Labor Day, but it looks like that won't be in the cards today.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend!

35 Weeks, 5 Days

Time for my weekly update...

I had another appointment this morning and everything is looking great! As I was stepping on the scale his nurse commented on how I'm the perfect twin patient...good weight gain (but not too much - 25 lbs so far), excellent blood pressure, no complications, etc. That made me feel good!

We got to see another peek of our little guys on the ultrasound and they are look fabulous! I have plenty of fluid and my placenta is still functioning 100%! The best part was how much weight these guys have gained. Baby A weighed in at 5 lbs 4 ounces (up from 3 lbs 12 ounces) and baby B weighed in at 5 lbs 11 ounces (up from 4 lbs 6 ounces). Way to go boys! Oh - and they are still head down so that is fantastic news!

I am dialated to 2.5 cm and 70% thinned out. The doctor said possibly another 10 days to 2 weeks if I go on my own, but I was brave and asked if we could schedule an induction so I would know for sure that he would be at the delivery just in case I don't go into labor on my own. NO WAY is someone else delivering these little guys if I can help it! He seemed hesitant to schedule anything (probably because he is out of town ALL the time lately) but he agreed and we're all set for.....






HA! I bet you thought I was going to tell you the date, huh? Well, I'm just going to keep that to myself for now....until next time!

p.s. I will try and post some ultrasound pictures later if I can get my scanner hooked up. We got a GREAT profile shot of one of them and he looks like he takes after his daddy! :o)

Reflecting

I was thinking about how lucky I have been to have had two sucessful, uncomplicated pregancies and how this one will most likely be my last. That thought makes me a little sad since I really enjoy being pregnant, with the exception of the last few weeks this time around. So, here are just a few things I won't miss and a few of the things I will. I'm trying really hard to focus on the positive at this point, but it's hard so I hope I can look back and always remember how I felt.

Things I won't miss:

• People asking me how I am feeling every.single.day of my life
• The extra attention
• Stretched, sore skin that HURTS - BAD!
• Heartburn
• Being so tired that I can't stay awake while my little boy wants to play. It makes me so sad.
• The "When are you due?" question
• The stupid comments I get regarding how big or how small people think I am or should be carrying twins.
• Weight gain
• Wearing the same clothes every.single.week
• The sympathy looks that have recently started when I am in public that very obviously say, "that poor girl..."

The things I will miss:

• The anticipation of each & every doctors appointment.
• Feeling the babies move as they grow and develop inside of me. I cherish this time with just us.
• Finding out the good news and sharing it with Matt. Even when it's not planned, it always becomes obvious that this was part of God's plan.
• Gavin giving the babies "loves" on my belly. It's so cute.
• Fairly easy, uncomplicated pregnancies
• Seeing the pride on Matt's face as he finished the nursery & all the hard work that went into it. He's so talented.
• Knowing that there is a 99.9% chance that I will never be pregnant again.
• The miracle of life and how amazing it is to really think about how magnificant all of this really is.