The Best Day Of Our Lives

11:30am on Monday, July 23.  That was the date and time set for the arrival of our little ones.  Neither one of us slept much the night before.  Paul painted my toenails (blue and pink, naturally)-  it had been a long time since I could reach them myself. He did a pretty good job, considering he'd never done it before!

My super swollen piggies!

 A nurse from the newborn nursery came to visit and had us fill out some paperwork for the twins and suddenly, they were real.  Their names had been written on crib cards, and their admit paperwork had been filled out.  M & J were coming!  I couldn't eat or drink after midnight, so I was starving, excited and nervous.

M & J's paperwork!

 Paul and I woke up at 7am to take showers and regroup during the last few hours of life, as we knew it.  After showering and putting on my awesome delivery gown (Thanks, Kelley!), I put on a little makeup so I would look somewhat presentable in the pictures.  The simple act of drying my hair and primping a little bit helped to ease my growing anxiety about knowingly going into major surgery!

Dr. Jones, my MFM, came in to do a last minute ultrasound to check weight and positions of the babies.  Both Molly and Jackson had turned frank breach, so I am glad we were already planning on a c-section!  Molly was estimated to weight about 6 lbs, and Jackson checked in at 6 1/2 lbs.  By 9:30, my pre-op lab had been drawn and the team from Labor & Delivery had come to check on me and have me fill out even more paperwork, and at 10:15, I was in my L&D suite.  My IV had infiltrated, so after a new 18 gauge (ouch!) catheter had been placed, my antibiotics were started and IV fluids were hung.  The anesthesiologist came in to fill out the paperwork for my spinal block, and explain exactly what would happen once I hit the operating room.  Things were starting to move really quickly!

My doctor was delayed a bit at her clinic, so we weren't ready to start until around 12:00- the waiting was the hardest part, I think!  At noon, I was wheeled into the OR.  I started to cry almost immediately-  it's a very strange thing to be on the receiving end of a surgery you've seen performed a thousand times.  Knowing exactly what is going on below the blue curtain is scary!

Because we delivered at the hospital where Paul and I work, we were allowed a few special requests.  We'd asked a few NICU nurses to be in the OR and our favorite fellow NICU RT was there, too.  Kelley (the aforementioned delivery gown maker) happens to be an NICU nurse as well, and she agreed to take pictures in the OR.  All told, there were 14 people in the delivery room.  I think that might be a record!

A few of the awesome people who were with us!

While my spinal block was being placed, Paul scrubbed in.  Our OB had agreed to let him "catch" the babies- once Molly and Jackson were out and their cords had been cut, Paul would be the first person to hold them and carry them to the warmers.  Once the whole OR team was ready and I was pronounced sufficiently numb, the surgery was started.  Everyone was great about telling me exactly what was going to happen next, and how it would feel.  After a bit of pressure, tugging and pulling, Jackson was born at 12:36 pm.  My OB announced that he was a boy before she even delivered him- apparently, the first thing she felt was boy parts!  Talk about an entrance...   Paul took him to the warmer, and he started to cry.  The moment your baby cries for the first time is honestly the most amazing second of your life.  A few minutes later, at 12:38 pm, Molly made her grand entrance.  She was delivered to her warmer screaming and squalling.  After both babies were examined, Paul brought them for me to see them.  The mix of emotions I felt seeing them for the first time was overwhelming.  They were here.  In the span of two minutes, the life we knew was irreversibly and undeniably changed for the better.  We were parents.

There is nothing that I would change about the way they came into our lives.  Every aspect of their birth was amazing and absolutely perfect.  I cannot say enough about my OB, her NP and the group of people who made Molly and Jackson's birth day possible.  We are so incredibly blessed.

1 Samuel 1:27 (KJV)

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him