Well, I
made it to 36 weeks, and then the twins decided to grace us with their presence. :) The day start off like any other day; Rebekah and I got up, played with her toys, read some books and then mommy got ready to go to her doctors appointment at 3:30. All day I had been feeling pretty crampy, so I asked my doctor to check and see if I was dilated so I would know for sure if I was having contractions. It turns out I was in fact having contractions and was dilated 2 cm. Yay!
I came home from the doctors and told Andrew the good news, we knew we still might have a little of waiting to do, but we were very excited to think that our little bambinas could be arriving in a couple of days, or sooner. We started gathering items for our hospital bag, made dinner (around 6) and watched some friends. But, while we were eating dinner (we had Tika Masla Curry) my contractions started to become more consistent and felt like they were only about five minutes apart, so we thought we would play it safe and head to the hospital.
The problem was, I told Amber she could go to Idaho Falls for FHE, which is about 30 minutes away, so we had no babysitter at the moment. Luckily Amber's friend Stacia was willing to come over and stay with Rebekah until Amber got back. We headed to Madison Memorial Hospital, got checked in and then the waiting began.
After being hooked up to monitors, to watch for contractions and keep track of the babies' heartbeats, and checking to see that I was continuing to dilate, Doctor Evans decided to have me admitted. We got to the hospital around 7 and were finally admitted around 9:30. Shortly after we were admitted and switched rooms, I decided that my contractions were too much and asked to get my epidural. I was a little nervous to get my epidural because when I was pregnant with Rebekah and got my epidural, my body got so relaxed that she tried pushing her way through which caused her heart rate to decrease.
Well this time things weren't much different. I got my epidural and things were going good for a while and then the twins' heart rates started to slow down. The doctors were able to get the twin's heart rates back up, but Doctor Evans was concerned that other complications might arise (my uterus could rupture, the twins' heart rates could decrease again) if we waited for me to get dilated 10 cm (I was still 3 cm). Andrew and I talked the situation over and had to make a pretty quick and rash decision to have a c-section. I was pretty shaken up, scared and stressed out by everything that was going on so I asked Andrew to give me a blessing; it was such a huge relief and instantly calmed my nerves!
Charlotte Ellen and Emily Marie were born around 11:55 on October 5th, 2015. They were both pretty small; Charlotte is 4lbs and 15oz and Emily is 4lbs and 12oz. They're both really tiny, their heads aren't much bigger than both of my fists. They have to be in the NICU too, because they were born at 36 weeks (I turned 37 weeks the following day, so they missed the 37th week mark by 5 minutes or so).
Proud daddy holding both of his baby girls; Charlotte is on the left and Emily is on the right.
Daddy holding Charlotte, while mommy was holding Emily.
Mommy holding the twins for the first time; Emily is on the left and Charlotte is on the right.
Charlotte is on the left and Emily is on the right.
Auntie Amber holding Charlotte for the first time. :)
Amber wasn't feeling well a couple of days later when we went back to the hospital, so we have yet to get a picture of her holding Emily. She's held her already, we just weren't camera ready at the time. Rebekah gets pretty distracted when we're visiting the NICU and can sometimes be a handful; her latest fascination has been all the baby car seats in the NICU.
Here are a few pictures of Charlotte Ellen.
Here are a few picture of Emily Marie.
Rebekah spending quality time with Charlotte.
Rebekah spending quality time with Emily.
Big sister Rebekah watching over little sister Emily; she kept trying to give Emily her dummy.
Don't mind the huge band-aid on my face, I'm getting over a cold sore. :( Andrew was holding Charlotte in this picture, while Rebekah and I held Emily.
We're not sure how long they'll be in the NICU, but we're grateful we're able to visit them frequently and that they're both healthy and strong and continuing to grow each day.
