February 19th began like every other day. Got up, got ready, got Lucy ready, and left Lu with Sam so I could go to a routine checkup at my OBGYN office. I'd been having pre-labor/early labor symptoms for a couple weeks. Lots of contractions, cramps, among other symptoms. The night before, my symptoms had increased somewhat, but because I'd been feeling early-laborish for so long already, I didn't think much of it. But I did let my mom know and my dad and she felt like she should go ahead and fly out. So she messaged me and said she'd be in Utah that afternoon. I thought, "Great! Then we can have some fun relax/preparation time while I'm still pregnant, and she'll probably be with me when I go into labor."
My appointment began with a routine weekly non-stress test where they hook me up to a machine to record contractions and both babies' heart rates over a 20 minutes period or so. My contractions had increased significantly, but once hooked up to the machine they decided to disappear?! What?? I explained to the nurse how ironic that was, and she replied, "Oh, you don't know how many women say that!" Oh, this body of mine. I also had an ultrasound, and Baby A (Oliver) was SUPER low, ready to go. Izzy was still breech. Sigh. Oh well.
My appointment with the doctor went great. I had progressed to a 3 in dilation, and the doctor said at 36 weeks they could now come anytime and they wouldn't need to try to stop labor or anything. And odds of needing NICU was significantly lower now. HALLELUJAH! We'd made it to the safety zone! Probably. :) He said my "days were numbered" but I could pretty much do anything I wanted now, and I didn't need to actively try to keep them in (extra rest, limited activity, etc). Freedom! Except resting was all I wanted to do now, hahaha. I left my appointment and called Sam on the way home to update him. Only a matter of days! They'd induce me at 38 weeks if the twins didn't come by then.
Sam left for school to get some things done. I began to prepare lunch for me and Lucy. I set down lunch on the table and got Lucy started on her food, and then started to the bathroom to use the facilities before eating my own food. As I walked down the hall, POP and GUSH! My water broke and there was nothing I could do about it! It was like Niagara Falls, guys. Super startling. I hightailed my massively pregnant self to the bathroom as fast as I could waddle and jumped in the tub. While cleaning up and changing clothes, I sent a text to Sam: "My water just broke?!" He called immediately and said he was running home. It felt like a matter of a few seconds and he'd already passed University Avenue haha! He was flying! He called Katherine and Spencer, who came to pick him up and drive him the rest of the way home. We'd arranged for them to watch Lucy when we went to the hospital until Sam's parents could come take Lucy to their place. Meanwhile, I cleaned Lucy up from lunch and put her down for nap. When I came out of her room, Sam, Spencer, and Katherine were in the front room staring at me with excited awkward anticipation! It was as if everyone was waiting for me to explode babies in front of them haha! At least that's how I felt. So sudden, so unexpected yet expected at the same time. THIS WAS IT. No turning back now. Dang, I wish I'd gotten lunch, I thought. With butterflies in my stomach, we finished going over everything with bro and sis, and Sam and I grabbed the hospital bag and left!
We parked, we prayed and Sam gave me and blessing. And we walked into the hospital. No pain or contractions yet, so I was doing fine. We passed one of my visiting teachers who worked at the hospital as we walked in and got to announce our reason for being there! So many neat tender mercies. My mom was already on her way. I'd updated my whole family and everyone was excited to meet these babies finally.
Got checked in, admitted, changed into a fabulous hospital gown, and hooked up to monitors to keep track of contractions and the babies' heart rates. I enjoyed flavored Tigers Blood ice chips, and Sam and I talked. Contractions began to pick up in intensity and gradually became stronger and more painful. The anesthesiologist came and gave me an epidural, and the pain disappeared over the next several minutes (thank goodness. I was at a 4, and my pain at this point was like how it was when I was at a 6-7 with Lucy). After a short while, the doctor came in and they gave me pitocin to speed things up and get the twins here since Ollie's water had broken and they didn't want any extra risks of infection, especially with twinners. My contractions sped up, but I didn't feel any pain or anything. The nurse checked me and I was still at a 4. She said, "Alright, just relax and I come check you again in an hour."
It was only about 20 minutes till the next check from the nurse, when I started to feel huge waves of pressure (physical, not emotional). I mentioned it to Sam and he looked at me in surprise and anticipation. "Should we call the nurse?" He asked. I said no, she'll be in soon anyways and that would be super fast anyways. My mom walked into the hospital room a few minutes later and we chatted for a minute before I told her what I was feeling. Her eyes got wide and she said, "Um yes, let's call the nurse in. That's exactly how I felt right before the baby came!" The nurse came and in a shocked voice said, "Yooouuu're complete! Wow! Baby A's right there. Okay, time to deliver! I'll call the doctor!" She hurried out and the other nurse came in and said, "Man you don't mess around!" Everything happened so fast. They wheeled me into the operating room and two doctors came in. It was right as one was getting off and one was starting his shift, but the previous doc decided to stay and help, and see the twins born. Both doctors were awesome. Very kind, professional, knowledgeable, and calm. Sam put some puffy white disposable scrubs on over his clothes, and put a cap on his head. He looked like a very handsome Michelin Man or Pillsbury Doughboy, haha!
He was right by my side, holding my hand and being the best companion and labor/delivery partner ever. As I was preparing to push I got a wave of nausea and my body started shaking uncontrollably. It came and left, came back, and I silently prayed to not throw up. My head felt weird and my ears were buzzing. I immediately started to feel a bit better. Oliver came after only three or four pushes. They showed him to me and whisked him over to a station to clean him up and weigh and measure him. The doctors all knew I wanted to have the babies both vaginally instead of a c-section if possible, and they were all comfortable with footling breech extraction for Izzy, if it was safe enough. Indeed, the doctor reached inside, grabbed Izzy's feet, and pulled her out! I won't go into how that felt, haha. But I will say, the epidural wore off enough to keep me from feeling pain, but I could still feel much of everything else, which was great though because I could actually tell when the babies were being born and how pushing was going. Izzy was born a whopping 3 minutes after her brother.
Hearing both of their cries behind me was amazing. I couldn't stop the tears of amazement, relief, and gratitude. Both were strong and healthy. Sam and I rejoiced and Sam left to be with the babies for a little bit while things got wrapped up with me post-birth.
All in all it was a fast labor and birth. My water broke at 1pm, we got to the hospital at 2pm, and the babies were born at 6:21 and 6:24pm. The nurses helped me into a wheelchair and placed both bundled babies into my arms. Then we made our way back to my labor room and met both our moms there. They were quite surprised to see us all back so soon!
The two Grandmas! As Lucy calls them, Meemaw & Mimi
We recovered and rested for a little while, then we were moved to our main recovery room in the women and children ward. The nurses were all wonderful, so kind and helpful, so friendly. And I thoroughly enjoyed getting delicious food once we were settled. It felt good to rest, eat, hold our babies, and get up and move around after a while. Recovery went great and fast, and we loved having family come visit. I missed Lucy terribly, and it was so wonderful when her Pops and Meemaw brought her to meet her siblings!
The second night in the hospital I woke up SUPER congested in my nose, and felt like I'd been hit by a train. I thought "oh no! I'm coming down with something..." So I wore a mask when I fed or held the babies just in case. But once we got home things slowly cleared up, and it never really turned into much of a cold after that. Just a mild runny nose for several days, and then it went away. Same thing happened after Lucy's birth, except I then got sick. So grateful I didn't this time. Blessings!
What an incredible experience to go from a family of 3 straight to a family of 5!!! We spent 8 months waiting, wondering, and imagining. And to finally meet these next 2 members of our family was surreal and so special. It's been almost an entire month since the birth, believe it or not!!! Time is flying so fast. How are we doing? Stay tuned for the next post... ;)
