Two of a Kind

The rest of the she-bang...

So when I last blogged I wrote about our trip to the OR (read previous blog to catch up). So now we are in the room with 18 other people (20 including the 2 of us). The crowd included 2 NICU teams, an anesthesiologist and his resident, my doctor and his resident, the house OBGYN, 2 nursing students and their instructors, and a handful of nurses. Brian and I were quite overwhelmed but knew we had a job to do. And so began the pushing. Not too many contractions had passed before Samantha made her debut and she was quite an easy delivery. Her weight had been called out from across the room, 6lbs 14oz. Oh boy, i thought. If Samantha is 6,14 and Lilly had been tracking a few ounces more, how big would Lilly really be? I sent Brian through the maze of people to be by Samantha's side while we began our long wait for Lilly to "come down the hatch". At this point there was a lot of room in my stomach for Lilly to move around and she had already been head down prior to Samantha's delivery. With that said, I had four hands pressing on my stomach and holding Lilly in place. Despite the commotion in the room, I tried my best to focus on the instructions my doctor had been giving me. As you can see from the times the girls were born, Lilly arrived 1 hour after Samantha. I can remember that it had taken her awhile to get into position and then came the pressure. Her head was lodged into my pelvis and did not want to move. Dr. Paws actually had to reach in and pull my pelvic bones apart to create just enough millimeters on each side for Lilly to come out. I remember having the strong urge to stand up, thinking she would just fall out (yea right). After lots of pushing and extreme pressure, Lilly finally made her debut and joined her sister in their first crys. Everyone healthy and happy! Thanks to everyone who prayed for a safe and healthy delivery. Our prayers were answered and we are certainly DOUBLY BLESSED. Stay tuned as we update with pictures as the girls grow.

The Whole She-bang!

The wait is finally over! After an appointment on the 15th and a belly measurement of 51 weeks, my doctor decided the 17th would be the day to induce. We arrived at the hospital at 6am (6:15am Chittum time), checked in and waited a few minutes in before we were called back for a final weight and vital check. We were then led down to the Labor and delivery unit to settle in for the day. While the induction began at 7am or so, I had a feeling the girls would arrive by 1pm. Apparently I was the only one that felt that way. Brian, the nurses, and my doctor all felt we may be there all day. Since Franklin Square is a teaching hospital, we were approached by the nursing instructor who asked permission if some of her students could follow our delivery that day. We agreed. My L & D nurse, Aimee, was amazing. She was very good and was completely on top of thing despite the fact that she had a 4 month old at home (i wouldn't be able to put two words together if I was her). After about a half hour of waiting after the induction began, my doctor came into the room to break Samantha's water and check my dilation. (Side note: we call my doctor DR. PAWS because he may quite possibly have the largest hands of any OBGYN on the planet, ouch). After shouting some explicits, i had dilated to 3cms and one of my waters had been broken. A few more hours we sat and waited for more dilation to occur. While the contractions I was having were completely manageable, we called for the anesthesiologist to start the epidural (9am). Brian, still convinced we would not meet our little ones until later that night, made a couple phone calls to wrap things up at work. Now about 12pm DR.PAWS came in to check dilation before beginning another surgery he had scheduled for the day. He said "you're ready". My response
"8cms?, 9cms?"... "No, 10cms, lets get you ready to head out to the OR". About 10 minutes later I felt intense pressure and explained to my nurse that I believe we may deliver a baby right here, right now. She checked me and suddenly the rush began. Phone calls all ending in STAT, and a rush of numerous docs, nurses, and hospital personnel all appeared in the room and quickly (literally they were running) got me to the OR. I had warned that if we had hit a bump, Samantha may deliver in the hallway. The attending OB was by the bed the whole way from our induction room to the ER. We made it! And just in the nic of time! Wheeling into the OR, there were about 5 people waiting for our arrival. Little did I know that there were 13 more behind my bed waiting to push their way into the room and take their position. 1 person missing... where is DR.PAWS? Just as quickly as the thought popped into my head, there he was. OK we were ready to have some babies. MOTHERLY DUTIES CALL, I WILL FINISH WHEN I HAVE A CHANCE...

Jeremy at the playground

In an attempt to try and forget I am pregnant (yea right) we took Jeremy to the playground today to see some new sights. This may have been more fun for me seeing as these sights were much more interesting than the four walls of our bedroom. Clearly Jeremy had a great time and he really loved the monkey bars and swings. We wrapped up the afternoon outing with Rita's Water Ice and now a nap. Enjoy the pictures!

2 at 2 after 2

If you were hoping to see pictures of the newly hatched twins... sorry to disappoint you. After 2 appointments this week, no new news (the theme of the last few blogs). The 2 girls are hanging tight. And I am still only 2 cm. Other than the feeling that my pelvis is constantly dislocating, I am doing OK. Doctor says we can negotiate a day to evict the girls next week.
On another note, what a bold move on American Idol this week. The contestants sang "Shout to Lord". How awesome is that! While David Cook and Brooke White are still our favorites, David Archuleta is very talented and we enjoy listening/watching him as well. Posted at the bottom of this page are the performances referenced above.
We'll post more news when we have some...

Not much of an update... Playing the waiting game

Now measuring 47 1/2 weeks. Baby A is vertex and Baby B is breech. Staion -1. Still 2cms (was 2cms with Jeremy for 3 weeks). Other than that we are just waiting for the twins to make their debut. Another stress test and OBGYN apt are on the books for next week. With both girls well into the 5lb range, here is an updated picture of what I look like now.