January 30th - The Birth Story

... Matt and Oscar were right next to me wrestling on the floor and "oops!" my water broke!!!

The time was approximately 5:30... we called Matt's parents to come over, we called my mom so she could get on a plane and we called Karen, our doula. Everyone sprung into action. Matt was running around the house gathering the bags and other gear we wanted to take to the hospital. Oscar was feeling the excitement and was also running around trying to be helpful... mostly keeping me company (and distracting me). Matt's parents arrived shortly after 6 and Matt and I left for the hospital. I had not yet timed contractions until we were in the car -nearly 3 minutes apart from what I could tell! Is this really happening right now!? A few hours earlier I was not suspecting this was how our evening was going to go.

We were greeted at L&D by Vicki, one of the nurses that was present at Oscar's birth, and I was so thankful to see her! We were in our hospital room by 6:45. She got me hooked up to the monitors, and checked me - 9cm! She stepped out of the room for just a few minutes leaving Matt and I alone, the reality was sinking in. This was happening now.

Within minutes the room was full of nurses, both our doctors, and warmers for each baby... unfortunately we had still not spoken to Karen but messages had been left and we were sure she would arrive any minute! "You can try to push if you feel like it." Pushing? Already? I still had my clothes on, we'd only been here a few minutes! Ok, here we go. A few pushes in and Karen arrived - we were thankful to see her! Baby "A", as she had been know for the last several months, was presenting forehead first (her chin was not tucked to her chest). Dr. Grande used the vacuum to tuck her chin and out she came. Rosalie Marie was born at 7:30pm weighing 6lbs. Matt was able to cut the cord and Rosie was wonderful and healthy...

now it was time to prepare for Baby "B". Typically they prefer to deliver twins in the OR just in case of an emergency. I'm not sure if it was because things happened so quickly when we arrived but we were able to deliver Rosie in the labor room. Because Baby "B" was breech our doctor insisted we move to the OR, which was fine with me. Once in the OR they did a quick ultrasound to identify the exact position of the baby. The urge to push wasn't as strong this time. Was it because of her position or from me being tired already? It definitely felt different to push a breech baby. Nurse Vicki was holding my belly to help guide the baby from the outside. Dr. Grande was trying to get a grip on both of B's feet and Dr. Larkin and a few nurses pushed on my belly. Needless to say this was not comfortable for me... but out she came! Harriette Tyler was born at 8:07pm weighing 6lb9oz and healthy as well!! Welcome Hattie!

Two and a half hours after my water broke our beautiful baby girls were born! After the labor we had with Oscar I would not have expected things to go this quickly, smoothly or easily. Birthing these girls was nothing compared to Oscar's birth - piece of cake! We would not have been able to do it with out the amazing team with had with us. Dr. Larkin, who delivered Oscar, suggested Dr. Grande as soon as we found out we were having twins. He felt confident in the experience and skill that Dr. Grande had. Very few doctors these days will deliver a breech baby. Dr. Grande was very clear that as long as Baby "A" was head down he had no problem delivering Baby "B" breech if that was her presentation. Karen, our Doula, was also there at Oscar's birth, and it was great to have her with us again. We are so thankful to have had another amazing un-medicated, natural birth. It was a wonderful experience and we feel so lucky that it all happened the way it did.

Because the girls were born premature (35 weeks 4 days) they needed to keep a close eye on them for the first few days. They were moved to the special care nursery kept under a warmer, on an IV, feeding tube and monitor right away. Mostly it was a precaution due to their early arrival. By the next day they were taken off the warmer and we were working toward taking them off the NG tube. Each day things were looking better and better. Originally the doctors and nurses prepared us for at least a week in the nursery, maybe 2, but as the week went on the girls were exceeding the highest expectations. On Wednesday morning they were un-hooked from everything and we were finally able to take them to our room! When Oscar arrived that morning he was able to hold them and talk to them... what a great birthday present! He just kept saying "hi! hi! hi!..." holding them and nuzzling them. Love.

Thursday morning we were given the OK to go home! Hurray! 5 days old, happy and healthy little girls! Now that we are home we are all making the adjustments to our new life. We are waiting for the results on the genetic testing to find out if the girls are fraternal or identical. Because of the difference in their weight they are easy to tell apart but they are very similar looking. We are so excited and overwhelmed by the gift of 2 beautiful baby girls - at once. Being parents of twins is as amazing as it is exhausting. Oscar did a great job of teaching us how to be parents, and we couldn't do this without him! We are so happy to be a family of 5, and look forward to what the future holds.