The Big News
“Baby is right there, do you see? Uhhhhh and yep, there is baby number 2.” Twins! (Cue wide-eyed, shocked emoji face) From the moment those words were spoken at our first doctor’s appointment, an overwhelming flood of emotions swirled around inside me for the remainder of our pregnancy.
At first, I was honestly scared to death! I had been consumed with more love in my heart for our baby since I first saw that digital ‘Pregnant” reading, that I simply could not imagine having enough love for 2 babies. I quickly learned that wasn’t going to be an issue. I was over the moon EXCITED but at times I was also anxious, nervous, overwhelmed, tired and then scared again about other things… like delivery!
Photo By: Brianna Bird Photography
I believe the uncharted waters of delivering a baby are choppy ones to navigate for most first time moms! The swirling of emotions that I mentioned earlier, yeah I had those about delivery the whole time! I’m a planner. I like predictability and I want to know that if I do A + B then that will equal C. (Not always a good thing, I know. I’m working on it!) With a twin pregnancy the chances of having a cesarean are higher so the type of delivery I would have was very unknown.
Photo By: Brianna Bird Photography
June 14, 2016 | The Day I Became Mommy
The day began like normal, at 1:30 AM in the morning getting up to go pee. I was 35 weeks and 2 days pregnant, both of my legs had started to swell, I couldn’t sleep in our bed and I had to pee during the night every 2 hours! In hindsight, it wasn’t such a terrible thing, my body was getting prepared for the sleepless nights that were to come once the twins arrived! (Or at least that’s what I kept telling myself…)
I had gotten a flat tire the day before and scheduled an appointment to get new ones that morning. I went to a Greek restaurant with my aunt for lunch and since they took longer than expected on the tires, I didn’t go to work since I had a NST at 4:15 pm.
I arrived for my appointment, settled in and they hooked me up to the monitors. If you have ever had to have the baby monitors on your belly, you know how frustrating it can be when your little one is moving all over the place and they have to adjust the monitors every 2 minutes! Twins are twice the fun!
During my last appointment they detected contractions but they weren’t anything I could feel. This time it was the same thing but when they checked my blood pressure, it was high. A nurse came in to check me and I was 3 cm dilated. A few moments later I was informed that a c-section was happening….tonight!
I was there all by myself! I called my husband a couple times with no answer, I called my mom, my best girlfriends, and then finally got a hold of Tyler who was an HOUR away! It wasn’t an immediate emergency so the nurses waited until Tyler arrived to start prepping for delivery.
I didn’t have any makeup on and my hair was in a ponytail. I had it planned out that I would make it to 38 weeks, have a scheduled c-section and be able to get ready to look decent in the photos. Nope! Then on top of that, my OBGYN was not the one on call that night. The lesson I learned the most from my pregnancy is that it’s okay to make plans but just know those plans have a high probability of NOT happening!
My friends got there first and then my mom. They prayed for me and that settled my nerves. Tyler arrived and then it was go time! Physically I was SO ready for the girls to be here but in that moment when it’s actually about to happen, I got so nervous that I was shaking! I already had my IV in and changed into the gown when I had to pee! The nurse tried to talk me out of it but I just knew once they gave me the spinal block and I got numb, that I would pee all over the operating table!
I walked into the operating room by myself to get situated for my spinal. (If you are a having a c-section for the first time, the most painful part about the delivery is the numbing shot for the spinal block! It really was not bad at all, so if you’re worried about pain then hopefully that settles your nerves a bit!) Once the spinal was over, they laid me down to get situated. Tyler came in a few moments later, all scrubbed up, and from then on it’s really fuzzy for me…
The Unplanned
This is the hardest part about my birth story to write because I don’t remember a lot of it and that makes me incredibly sad. I ended up hemorrhaging, losing a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion. The loss of blood made me not remember some things at all and what I do remember are in little snippets.
The delivery itself went great! Aubree was born at 8:02 PM weighing in at 5 lb. 14 oz. and Kaylee was born at 8:03 PM weighing 5 lb. 9 oz. That’s over 11 pounds of baby at just 35 weeks! Shew. Could you imagine if we did make it to 38!
There weren’t any complications with the girls and that was the most important thing! I remember the splattering sound of the amniotic fluid hitting the drape and I vaguely remember hearing the girls cry for the first time. It’s a fuzzy memory of seeing them for the first time so I’m thankful to have photos of those moments! Then they took the girls to be examined and they finished putting me back together.
My family and friends were in the waiting room and got to see the girls via FaceTime while they were in the nursery. It is one of my favorite photos of the evening because the girls will be able to see how lucky they are to have such a big, wonderful family!
Next, I remember waking up in recovery and being so THIRSTY! I downed the ice chips, then water and really wanted some orange juice. Bad idea. I chugged the OJ and then it came right back up! I remember bits and pieces of getting to hold Aubree and trying to nurse her. Then while Rylee was holding Kaylee the nurses noticed a funny sound she was making while breathing. They took Kaylee back to examine her some more and determined her lungs needed a little assistance.
I don’t remember signing any of the paperwork for their social security cards or birth certificates. Gladly Tyler got all of that correct! He could have changed their names and apparently I would have signed off on it! Ha!
We got into our room around midnight, I snuggled and fed Aubree then got some rest. From the next morning on my memory is fully intact and I ended up receiving 3 units of blood and 1 of iron. Again, things didn’t go as planned because Kaylee ended up staying 8 days in the NICU. Praise to God though because Aubree and I were able to stay in the hospital with her the whole time! I COULD NOT imagine if I had to leave her there.
God’s Plan
After that crazy week at the hospital we got to bring our beautiful, healthy baby girls home! Most of our delivery and hospital stay was unplanned to us but God had it planned out from the very beginning! I can look back now and see all the blessings that came out of it and I’m so grateful for our story!
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I tried to condense it but let’s face it, we could all write novels about our kiddos! Please share your story with me below or if you are an expecting momma, I want to know how you’re feeling! If you want to chat more just shoot me an email!
xoxo
p.s. Follow me on Instagram @themotherhoodhustle for our continuous story!
