One Month Old!

In honor of my boys turning one month old today, I thought I'd post their birth story and birth-day pictures!

January 14, 2010

Ryan and I arrived at the hospital at our appointed time—5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. We had gotten up at about 4:15 to get ready for our big day. I don’t think either one of us slept great, but we were thankful for the sleep we did get.

Here’s my final belly photo before we left for the hospital.

Check-in at the hospital was fast and easy. The nurse immediately led us to the recovery room where I would be prepped for surgery. They had new gowns this time (very fashionable!) and it was there that we waited. One nurse came in and tried to start my IV twice. She blew two veins. I got really sick feeling because it hurt so bad for her to be digging around in both of my arms with a needle. They got me a cold washcloth, told me to take deep breaths, and laid me down to try and get some color back in me. Ryan said (after the fact, of course) that I looked just awful. Thankfully another nurse was successful on the third try and they got the IV started and fluids cranking! I had to answer the usual barrage of questions that made me laugh! I guess they have to ask them! They put two drugs in my IV to help with nausea after the delivery, and I had to drink some icky-sour stuff to take care of anything that was left in my tummy. The nurse told me to do it just like a shot. I told her I’d never done a shot, so that advice was kind of lost on me! Ryan gave me a little coaching and I threw it back.

The anesthesiologist came in and introduced himself and went over all the necessary paperwork and procedures. I don’t remember his name, but he was AWESOME! Seriously. He put me completely at ease and made me feel good about what was coming!

My mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law all got to come back and say hello before everything commenced. Everyone was smiling and just beyond excited!

One of the big blessings of the day came in the form of the nurses. There was one nurse assigned to me and then one nurse for each of the boys. My nurse was named Lori and she was so encouraging. I needed to feel good about my nurse after the incident with the IV earlier in the morning. Lori came on duty fresh at 7 a.m. and was awesome! A sweet and special friend (not to mention one of the nicest people I know) was there to be the nurse for Chase! Mimi kept my mind occupied and kept things light. She will never know how much her presence for the birth of my boys meant to me.

Everyone was just standing around waiting on the doctor to arrive, and when he did we were ready to roll! I kissed Ryan and told him I’d see him soon. We made certain that someone would keep Ryan informed if by chance the spinal block didn’t take and he wouldn’t be allowed to join us in the O.R. I think this was around 7:40.

The O.R. was just as I remembered--white with lots of bright lights. The part of the WHOLE deal I had been dreading the most was about to happen. I was beyond nervous about the spinal block. I was so worried it wouldn’t take. As the anesthesiologist prepped my back, Mimi held me in a hug and let me lean up against her. She kept talking to me and kept my mind off of what was going on behind me. Because of that, it all seemed to happen really quickly. The doctor gave me a small shot to numb my back after he had prepped the area. I remember a little bit of pressure, but nothing like the pain I had prepared myself for. As soon as it was in, they laid me down really quickly as I started to feel my legs go to sleep. Lori immediately put in a catheter and the anesthesiologist monitored the success of the spinal block. Within about 30 seconds I started feeling really, REALLY nauseous. I also felt like someone was sitting on my chest. They put an oxygen cannula on my nose and told me to breathe deeply. He also gave me something in my IV to help with the nausea. I was trying to be so strong, as the medicine took its effect on my body. Even though it seemed like it took a while, I’m sure the relief came pretty quickly. I was able to really relax as soon as Dr. M checked to make sure I couldn’t feel anything and Mimi went to get Ryan. The drape was up and I knew they were ready to get to work!

When Ryan got there, I knew the spinal block had been a success and that he’d be able to be present for the birth of the boys. He rubbed my head and talked to me while the doctors went to work. When he got distracted and stopped stroking my hair, I would gently remind him and he’d continue. Mimi kept me informed of what was happening and the anesthesiologist checked on me to make sure I was doing okay. She told me that he had already removed my old scar. I was so shocked because I really hadn’t felt anything. I was so worried that I would be able to feel something, but I didn’t.

I do remember hearing something that sounded like scissors cutting, but again, I didn’t feel anything. Dr. M told Ryan that he could stand up and watch if he wanted to and much to my surprise, he did! The next thing I knew, there were two nurses pressing down on my rib cage. It felt like they were trying to squeeze all the air out of my lungs. They told me that they were trying to get “A” out and “B” was trying to come out at the same time! The pressure on my ribs eased up as I heard “Baby A 8:20 a.m.” Within seconds, I heard Reid’s first cry. His nurse showed him to me—all wet and gooey—before whisking him over to clean him up and check him out. The next thing I knew, I heard “Baby B 8:21 a.m.” and heard Chase’s first cry. Mimi showed me Chase before she got to work on him. I remember her commenting on how much hair Chase had.

During the next few minutes, I probably asked Ryan 10 times if the boys were okay. He didn’t get annoyed with me and continued to assure me that they were fine. They had Apgar scores of 8 and 9 and 9 and 9. I heard Mimi say that Chase weighed 7 pounds and 12 ounces. I couldn’t believe he was so big! I had to ask about Reid and was thrilled when I heard he was 6 pounds and 14 ounces. Mimi let Ryan take pictures of Chase and come back over to my head and show them to me. Chase’s cry sounded like a puppy dog. I don’t remember hearing Reid cry much at first. Once the boys were cleaned up, checked out and wrapped up, I got to see Ryan hold both of them. We had our picture made together and I felt such a huge sense of relief and happiness at that moment. Dr. M kept working on me this whole time, but I was too distracted with the boys to even notice. Ryan then went with the boys and the nurses into the recovery room and helped with their first baths. They finished with me and got everything sewed up, and before I knew it, I had joined them in the recovery room. Ryan had already gone out to the waiting room to share the great news with everyone!

Here I am holding my boys for the very first time!

After about an hour in recovery, I got to do something that I never want to forget. Holding both of my boys and having my husband walk beside me, I got to be wheeled through the waiting room past the people I love most in the world and introduce them to the boys! We were just able to stop for a couple of minutes, but those people had the biggest smiles on their faces! I hope I never forget that feeling!

Falling in love with Reid...

Falling in love with Chase...

Chase on the left and Reid on the right.
Big Sister C on her way to the hospital to meet her brothers for the very first time!

Our first picture as a family of five! This isn't really how I envisioned it. I planned to have makeup on and to have showered BUT the night before had been ROUGH (obviously!) and this is what we ended up with!

And now an entire month has passed since that blessed event! Someone told us yesterday that we've made it through the toughest month. It has had its moments of stress and delirium, but it has had many more moments of joy and happiness. We look forward to ALL that is to come!