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!