The Story of Two

Today we celebrate the birth of M and E. They are 9. The last year they will enjoy single digits. E asked me today what time she was born. I had to think about it. Is it bad that the thought process was something like this? Your dad said M was born at 11:17, but the doctors corrected him and said 11:16, you came 23 minutes later (yes that's a long time between twins, just enough time to run down the hall from delivery to OR for a c-section, yes that means I had one of each and yes, it was still easier than delivering C) so that means you were born at 11:39.

I find that I have a hard time remembering the details of the day they were born, so I'm going to write it down (no, I haven't written it down before now, yes, that makes me a bad mom).

M and E were due on July 10, but by doctors told me early on that they would not let me go a day past 39 weeks, just to be safe. My doctors were also quite surprised that I made it passed 38 weeks, so when I reminded them about their 39 week promise at my appointment eleven days before my due date (a Friday afternoon), I seemed to catch them a bit of guard. But the midwife quickly checked with the doctor and they agreed, not a day past 39 weeks, and checked the schedule for the following Monday. All booked up, they could not add another induction. So they checked Sunday and the doctor on call for Sunday was also on call that Friday night and said just send her over now. So off we went -- me, my mom and C -- to get checked in at the hospital. We called the Husband and he met us there.

It took a little while to get me in a room and the actual work of starting the induction didn't really get started until late that night. The nurses offered an epidural almost as soon as the started the pitocin. I don't know why I didn't take, but I didn't. As the contractions started to build I asked for something, got it and all was good, until I started to feel teh contractions but couldn't get the Husband's attention. I thought I was talking out loud, but apparently wasn't and he was asleep and didn't notice my pain. I was finally able to get his attention and he got the nurses and I got my epidural. And all was right with the world. I slept for several hours and then around 8 am, it looked like things were getting started. I called my mom and told her it was time and she should head to the hospital with C.

A little before 11, the nurses and midwife came in to transfer me to the OR, where they usually did twin deliveries, mostly because it was bigger, so there was more room for two sets of nurses and baby stuff, and a little bit for Just In Case. But then the doctor walked in and said, "We don't need to mover her, she's in the big delivery room. There's room for everyone." And then it was time to push and between contractions the doctor and midwife were discussing where they were going for lunch. It was quite surreal, espcially compared to the chaos that was C's delivery.

And then M was here and it was instantly obvious that she was destined to the older twin. We had decided as soon as we knew we had two girls that the oldest (Baby A, who had spent the entire pregnancy head down and claiming the first place in line) would be named after my mother's family and sure enough, she looked just like my mom's sister. 7 lbs 12.6 oz, 18 inches.

The midwife let me have a quick peek at M and then began checking on Baby B. I could see a flash of panic and she said, "I think I have cord." And I had visions of Nurse Hathaway's twin delivery on ER earlier that year, and well, if you've seen that episode you can imagine my own panic. The doctor took over and after a few minutes of feeling around decided, we were okay, it wasn't the cord, it was two hands and a foot. Baby B had folded in half, feet to face, and refused to stretch out. Although she wasn't in any distress, it was decided that it would be safer to proceed with a c-section rather than wait forever waiting for the baby to decide to stretch out and come out head first.

So the nurses and midwife packed me up and we did the quick run down the hall for a not-quite-emergency c-section. (Oh, the irony)

The new pain meds they put in my epidural made me shiver and shake until I was sure I was going to fall off the operating table. And then E was out and all was right with the world. I only got a quick peek at her before they whisked her away and stitched me back up. My first impression of E was that her cheeks almost met below her chin. She was all cheeks and looked like the Husband's side of the family. 7 lbs 13.6 oz, 18 inches.

I was in the recovery room for quite a while getting over the shaking, but finally made it up to my room where the girls were waiting for me, as well as C and my mom.

We came home from the hospital on July 4th. Best 4th ever!