Finally Birth Story and photos!

Riley Anne and Dylan DavidSo I am at a point right now where I can actually update you all on the babies and me and our new little family.

It's so strange, since I had my children, I have felt this complete sense of calmness. I realize now that the last few months I have been stressed out, I didn't know how much until the stress just left.

Of course I still have little stresses here and there, but I look into the face of one or both of my babies and I just feel... calm. It's a soothing feeling I have never felt before. It's amazing.

Ok, enough mushy stuff. On to the birth story!

I made it to my c-section day! 38weeks and 2 days! I surprised myself by going that far. I never got into real labor. I think I made it because I kept a low profile over the last 8 weeks of my The days leading up to last Thursday were filled with anxiety, but the last days leading up to April 8 went by in a blur. I don't really remember what was going on other than my last NST on Tuesday and picking my mom up on Wednesday.

BTW, this was me 2 days before delivery...

Anyway....

My surgery was scheduled bright and early at 7:30 Thursday morning. I was told to be there by 6am for prep - found out later I should have been there at 5:30! Oh well... I go straight up to L&D with my mom and Josh. They get me settled in my suite and I change into my loverly surgical gown. I get my IV put in and got wheeled via wheelchair into the OR, which was just a few doors down. That's when I started to get a little nervous! I kept asking them when Josh would be able to come in, they said they had to do my spinal and prep me before they brought him in. BTW he looked so adorable in his scrubs...

So I get on the table, get my spinal, which hurt, but not too bad. I sat there concentrating on my breathing, but I think it was more of a "I can't believe this day is here" rather than "someone is putting a needle in my back" way to calm myself. My Dr stood in front of me, hands on my shoulders and kept me nice and calm.

I was his only procedure during his paternity leave - his wife had a little girl the Friday before :) I am eternally thankful for that because he is a wonderful Dr and really made the experience memorable.

They finally allowed Josh in and sat him down next to me. He was nervous, but excited. Within minutes (8:14am) I heard my Dr say "Here's the little guy!" and said he was breech. Then one minute later "She's breech too!" and I heard both of my babies cry for the first time. Then I cried. They quickly showed us each baby and went to clean them up and weigh them, but not before I got too touch and kiss each one (very quickly!) Josh went over to each warmer to see them and came back to tell me they were perfect. Then they brought each one back to us, one at a time. It was so surreal to see them and know they were ours.

They both had the same Apgar ratings - at birth each scored a 9, then at 5 minutes they were at 10! So, yeah, more or less perfect...

My Dr finished up with paperwork and checking out the babies and checking on me before he went back to his own new family around 9:30am. I was able to hold them for the first time in recovery and didn't want to let them go. Mom and Josh were both in the recovery room with me.

I was brought back to my room around the time my Dr left. I stayed numb for another 3 hours or so.

Oh, I also got sick every 1/2 hour or so because of the morphine. I was throwing up a lot that day, so it wasn't all glamorous! And after the numbness wore off, I could feel the catheter and my stitches. Not fun.

During my stay at the hospital I tried to nurse alot but I am not kidding myself in thinking I could soley breastfeed, so I have been supplementing with formula. Both Dylan and Riley lost a pound of their body weight by Sunday night, so I had the nurse weigh them again Monday before I left and they hadn't lost any more since the day before. It is so hard to keep them on a schedule. I need to buy a watch.

I think the breastfeeding twins thing will have to go under a separate post because it's a lot to take in and talk about....

I was up and out of bed in Friday - they couldn't take me out of bed until I was unhooked from everything. As of now I am walking around really well. I'm shocked that recovery is going as well as it has, I figured I would be bed-ridden for at least a week. I showered on Saturday and took lots of walks around the hospital with Josh or mom..

Josh's family were there through Monday morning and of course happy for us and the kids. My mom has been an amazing help and I don't want her to leave, but she does on Friday...

Josh has been an amazing daddy. He is pretty much a natural at it - he even did the one-handed hand-off with Dylan! I was impressed...

So there you have it. My personal little story of how these babies came into the world.