twins birth story

This is a long post but lacks much detail. I already wrote the entire birth story in my own journal so this is the condensed version.

I was admitted to the hospital on December 2 at 11:45pm after several hours of back labor. I was almost sent home since the contractions weren't strong enough, but "luckily" I broke out in a fever and had to deliver the girls via emergency c-section. We were already planning a c-section since both girls were breech or head up, but the plan wasn't until later in December.

This picture was taken around 2:45am on December 3. I'm waving goodbye to Logan before being wheeled to the operating room to get my spinal block. Logan couldn't come in until I was completely prepped and ready for surgery. To say I was nervous in the picture below would be an understatement!

The spinal block and c-section were much less scary than I thought they would be. The doctors did an amazing job and we had the best nurses. There were 13 people total in the operating room. Each twin had to have their own doctor and their own team of nurses, plus the anesthesiologist, me and Logan. It was a full house!

The girls were born 1 minute apart at 3:09am and 3:10am on December 3, 2013. It was crazy to hear their cries within minutes on being sliced open ;) The girls were very good size for being born at 35 weeks and the doctors couldn't believe I had that much "baby" and fluid in me. They pulled out 2 liters of fluid besides the babies. I honestly don't know how I had that much in me!

Nora was born first, weighing in at 6lbs 1oz.

Reagan was born second, weighing in at 5lbs 3oz.

Nora was born with an infection and was put on antibiotics for 1 week. Nora was also put on oxygen because she was having a hard time keeping her blood oxygen level up on her own. Both girls were admitted to the NICU since they were small and had trouble eating on their own.

Logan went with the nurses down to the NICU after the girls were born and got to see the girls for a little while. At this point it was around 4am. I was sent to a recovery room and less than an hour later I was taken to my room on the mother/baby level of the hospital.

I fell asleep because I was still highly medicated and woke up around 9am, anxious to hold my girls!

I wasn't able to go until I was able to get myself up and into a wheelchair with help. Thankfully I had good motivation to get up! It only took 30 mins or so and I was in a wheelchair :)

Here I am holding Reagan for the first time.

And then Nora for the first time.

That was probably the most amazing feeling in the whole world. I was still quite drugged up, but I had a huge rush of emotion poor over me and I was overwhelmed with love.

We were told the girls would be in the NICU for appx 2 weeks. We were not too thrilled about this, especially cause we knew I'd only be in the hospital for 4 days. We did not want to leave our girls there and go home without them. But we knew it was necessary because they needed to grow and be strong enough to come home with us.

These girls sure love eachother, look at Reagan's (right) grin!

Logan is already the best dad, he loves his girls more than anything.

Being in the NICU for 2 weeks was a bit of a struggle. My mom would drive me to the hospital for their 11am feeding and I stayed at the hospital til about 3pm to help with feedings and to hold them. Then we'd go home and have dinner. After dinner, Logan and I would go back from about 7-9pm. I felt like I lived at the hospital!

Nora was on oxygen for 2 solid weeks. The nurses tried each day to take her off it, some days she could go 1 hour without it and other days she could only go 5 minutes. They told us to just expect her to go home with oxygen. This was a daunting thought but if that meant she could be home with us we were willing to do it.

On Sunday December 15 we got a call from the girls pediatrician saying that Reagan was ready to come home. This call was bittersweet for us. We were thrilled to have Reagan come home, but were sick at the thought of leaving Nora there alone. I couldn't imagine leaving her there by herself with Reagan happily resting at home. The doctor said that our insurance wouldn't let us leave Reagan there longer than needed, so we had to just deal with the situation.

Reagan came home and we were so happy. She had a rough couple nights without her sister, we could tell she felt like someone was missing. She wouldn't let us put her down, I ended up having my hand on her chest all night so she could sleep.

On Monday, December 16, Nora made huge progress. She had pulled out her oxygen tube over night and the nurses didn't notice because her oxygen level was at 100% without it. She ended up going off oxygen cold turkey. We feel it was a miracle because the stress of having her on oxygen would have made having 2 babies at home that much harder. Such a blessing. She also took all her feeding on her own without needing a feeding tube, it's like she knew she was alone and had to work hard to get home to her sister. As heart wrenching as that experience was, it was a blessing to not have Nora on oxygen anymore.

We got a call Tuesday morning that Nora was ready to come home. Logan drove straight home from work and picked me up. We didn't waste any time getting to the hospital so we could get Nora out of there and be done with the NICU!

The girls seemed thrilled to be home together and instantly took a nap together.

Nora (left), Reagan (right)

The girls were home for their first Christmas! What a blessing to not have to be in the hospital on Christmas day.

We are slowly adjusting to having 2 babies, it has been intense! Thankfully my mom was here for a month and helped a ton. I don't know how I would have survived without her. Now that she has left, my mother in law is here for a few days and it has been great. These little girls take a lot of work, it's going to be interesting adjusting once my mother in law goes home.

While it is a ton of work, it is a blessing that this is all we know. We cannot imagine only having one baby. These 2 girls are a huge blessing to us and we love them more than anything.