A {twin} Baby Story

I woke up fairly early this morning to get things rolling. We got Oliver ready and I said goodbye to him which was a little hard for me being that next time I would see him, he would be a big brother. My only child and the boy that made me a mom would have a new role now as big brother and one of three. Luke took him up to Amy's where he would stay for a few days while we were in the hospital. I showered and tried my hardest not to think of food. Of course since I had to fast from midnight until after the surgery, I was going to think of food. I called the labor and delivery unit to see if we were still on for my scheduled c section and they said we were good to go. Once Luke got back we were off and driving up to the Uof U hospital to get ready to meet baby A and baby B. We were so excited! 

We got there, checked our car in to the valet parking and I waddled my way up to the second floor. Luke asked if I wanted a wheel chair but I figured since I had made it this far, what's another few more steps. We checked in and went back. The nurses recognized me from two days ago when we stopped by to double check on visitors and vaccines again. Our nurse introduced herself and walked us back to our room where she told us what would be happening that day. She told me to change into my gown, put the belly band on and to let me know when I was ready. We asked her so many questions and requested not to have any students work on me to which she was very happy to oblige. She got the babies hooked up on the monitor and they both sounded great. I could finally relax knowing that whatever happened from here on out, the babies would be in good hands. She then put in my IV and did such a good job. I told her about my prior experience with the student that put in my IV and had a hard time finding the vein (which is surprising since I have very large veins). The nurse got all my info printed out and put bracelets on me and Luke and gave luke some scrubs to change into. I asked her about one of the nurses there that I went to high school with and hadn't me seen in about 8 years.. She said that she was working that day and a few minutes later, My old friend walked in. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We talked and caught up for about 45 minutes and it was so good to see her and know that I was going to be in good care with the L&D team. We had a resident come in and do an ultrasound to make sure that the babies were still breech. If there was any chance that they were head down then I would have preferred a vaginal delivery and that would have changed everything, but of course, baby A and now baby B were breech so on with the c section. We had the anesthesiologist come in with another resident to talk to us about what to expect in the or. It was nice to have him walk us through it and it really put me at ease. Our nurse said that he was the best and that I was going to be in good hands. The resident that was working with him actually was the one that did the spinal tap and she did an amazing job and she was so kind.  After they left we had the OBGYN resident come in and talk to us. We were waiting on my doctor and she came in and talked to me about the c section procedure and what to expect and the. Had me sign wavers and such. This resident doctor was beautiful and again, it was nice to have everything explained to us. At this point it was around 11:30 and just about time to go back to get things started. Our doctor walked in and I could have cried. I was so glad to see her and yet a bit nervous that this was really happening. It was time. 

I kissed Luke goodbye and told him that I would see him after my spinal and they wheeled me to the OR. When I got there I walked around to the tiny operating table and sat up on that table. I remember shaking because I was nervous and cold. My nurse got me some heated blankets and wrapped them around my shoulders. They undrapped the back of me and told me to push out my back as much as I could. I was having a hard time relaxing so the nurse grabbed my arms and put them on a high metal table. She held onto me from across that table and told me to breath. She started to talk to me about Oliver and how old he was and school and her daughters and how it was good that he had missed the school deadline. It helped a little and I stopped shaking but I was still so nervous. The spinal was quick and I instantly felt my legs get warm and tingly. I actually liked how it felt. They helped me lay back on the table as my body was getting more and more numb.As they prepped me, I could see up above me in some sort of metal fixture my reflection. I was hoping that I wouldn't have a view of the procedure right above me and that it would somehow get covered up.  They put up the blue drapes and thankfully it covered up the view.  They did the poking test to make sure that I couldn't feel anything and I couldn't so they proceeded to begin. They put an oxygen mask on me and I remember getting super hot. They were surprised because they say that women are usually super cold. They took off a blanket and I felt like I could breathe again and felt much more comfortable. Luke came in and I was so glad to have him there with me. I started to feel a lot of tugging and they said they were ready to begin. Since we didn't know what genders the babies were, our doctor was set on having Luke call out the gender of the babies and she told everyone in there to not say anythjng. I don't remember much because so much was happening, but I do remember the anesthesiologist  checking in on me a lot and then at 12:15, baby A.

I suddenly heard a little cry and I could not believe that that little cry was my baby. The doctor told Luke to look as she held the baby around the blue curtains and he said "it's a girl!" I was all smiles and I could not believe that I had a daughter. Baby A was a girl just like I had thought and hoped for. I just wanted to know that she was okay since baby A was the smaller baby and we were worried about her growth. I asked Luke if she was okay and it seemed like she was because there wasn't anything or anyone telling me otherwise. One minute later I heard another cry and it was baby B.

 I thought that I might have heard someone say that it was a boy and again, our doctor told Luke to announce and he said "it's a boy!" I was so happy and again I kept asking if they were okay and I could not believe that I had a girl and boy. This was exactly what I wanted and I could not believe that that was what I got. They didn't know how much the babies weighed for a few minutes. I guess baby A was having a hard time regulating her breathing and one of the pediatricians wanted to take her to the NICU, but my amazing nurse fought for her and said to put her on my chest skin to skin to see if that would help her and next thing I knew it, I had the tiniest little baby on my chest. In all this chaos and with all these people in there, I didn't quite know why she was being placed on me. I just thought that they were allowing me to hold her this way. I couldn't see her very well because she was placed just right under my neck. I tried to look down as much as I could and all I could see were these wide awake  dark little eyes. No crying, just this perfect little girl skin to skin with me. My miracle babies were here and I could not help, but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude that they were here and safe and doing well. 

They asked us what their names were and Luke said "Baby A is Briony and baby B is Milo." Briony weighed in at 4lbs 14oz and Milo weighed in at 5lbs 5 oz. I actually thought that they would weigh more than that, but I was happy that they were healthy. What I found strange was that they never told us how long they measured. I don't think they ever measured their length because even after in their medical report, I never found it.

 Anyway,  the nurses then took Briony once her breathing had regulated and after a few minutes of being stitched up, they took the blue drapes down. Our amazing doctor congratulated me and took off while the resident doctor finished up. At one point, the anesthesiologist  had taken my camera from Luke and was snapping pictures to which I was so grateful for. While Luke held the babies,  the nurses transferred me to a bed and then they placed the babies on my chest and wheeled me back to L&D. My friend and our nurse were there wheeling me to my room and my friend suggested that Luke take a picture of me holding the babies...again I am grateful she did because one of the pictures that Luke took is my absolute favorite with my babies.

 I don't remember much after that or how long I spent in L&D. I just remembered that our wonderful nurse said her goodbyes to us and I was so gratful to her for pulling for us and being so incredible to us while in her care. She gave us a hug and told us to come back to visit her. I felt such a connection to this woman and thought that this is possibly the last time I would get to see her. My friend wheeled us into our recovery room where we would spend the next 5 days. I didn't really get to say goodbye to her either since nurses were already coming in to check on us. I really wish that I could have stayed in the care of those two the entire time. They were so good to me. 

The next few days were such a blur. The babies got to room in with me and it was no time before I was trying to nurse them and adjust to this new role as a mom of twins. I started to breastfeed them that day and the nurses were so great at helping me. We had Oliver and Amy stop by that night. Oliver loved seeing his new siblings and he was so happy that he got to hold them. My mother in law and my mom and sister were the only other people to come up that night.

 The next day we had a few more visits from Ginger, Lindsay, and Jonny and Taleesha. I didn't sleep a whole lot since I was trying to feed and with all the visits from the nurses and doctors and trying to take care of myself, I was very sleep deprived. Because of it, I started to get sick so for the next two nights, they took the babies at night so I could sleep. At one point because I hadn't slept and because of the medication (we think), my hearing was affected and everyone's voices sounded distorted and like robots. It was the strangest thing ever.

 As I started to feel better and heal well, It was time to go home. The think I will remember most was the care of the nurses. I had two specific nurses that were exceptionally amazing. They were both with me for three days and I even cried when their last shift ended and they left. One of the nurses even crocheted  Briony and Milo little minion hats. They were adorable and it just goes to show the level of love and care that we were in. I will always be so grateful to them for all they did, even if they were just doing their job. On Monday afternoon, we were discharged and we made our way home to be on our own and to try and adjust to our new lives as a family of five.