April 29, 2011

Happy Birthday!

Addison Grace & Elle McKinley

Getting ready to meet our girls!

Heading to the NICU

The girls made their arrival at 11:02 & 11:03 pm on April 29, 2011. That morning at 4 a.m. while watching the Royal Wedding on tv, I had absolutely no idea that it would be the day we've been waiting so long for. Apparently neither did my doctor! More on that later. The day before, Miss Elle decided to turn breach (after 3 months head down!) & I had been having moderte tail bone pain ever since. Later that evening right before shift change, I asked my nurse to put me on the monitor because the tail bone pain was a little different than it had been throughout the day. When she did, we quickly saw that I was contracting very frequently. I had dilated to 6 cm & didn't feel a single contraction, just slight tail bone pain! My night shift nurse continued to monitor me & about 8 pm she told me to go ahead & tell Cody to come, that this was true labor. The Lord had this planned out perfectly, as it was a Friday night & he was home with Luke. No worries about him making it in time or being on the job when the girls made their arrival as I had worried so much about! He brought Luke to Fort Worth where his parents were playing tennis & could meet him. He was able to make it in plenty of time before they brought me into surgery. Yes, after three months planning & hoping for a vaginal birth of the twins, with Elle flipped breach now, it was too risky. I was prepped for a C-section.

The nurse taking care of me in Antipartum seemed more excited & nervous than I was. She was one of my very favorites & I was so at ease knowing she was there making decisions. Sadly, my doctor was not on-call that night & the on-call doctor was called in. They all knew how much I wanted my doctor there, so they went ahead & paged her. She called in & reported that she was at a social function & was unable to get there in time (she later told me that she cried at her table that she wasn't able to be there & the other doctors there with her gave her a hard time!) I'll say it again, she is fabulous! I loved the on-call doctor & was completely at peace with her delivering the girls. The surgery was very quick & the girls both arrived pink & screaming, calming our nerves. Their Apgar scores were 9/9, perfect! The nurses & doctors (2 teams, total of about 12 people) cheered as they swaddled the girls & put them in my face to kiss & snuggle before sending them to the NICU. Since they were still considerably premature, we knew they would spend some time in the NICU before coming home.

After recoving a bit, they wheeled my entire bed up the NICU for me to see & hold the girls. It was about 2 a.m. at this point so my memories of those moments are a blur. Addison was laying on her tummy to help with her breathing (she was "squeaking" a little & breathing fast) and Elle was doing just fine. I was allowed to hold her that night. The following four days I spent every waking moment with the girls in the NICU. I was forced to stay an extra day because I hadn't controlled my pain well enough to go home since I was in the NICU so often & forgetting to take my meds on time. I hated the thought of leaving without them so that was fine with me. I had one day at home just Luke & I before we were able to bring Elle home. It all worked out just perfectly.

Thank you again to everyone for the prayers throughout this journey. I can't imagine going through it without the support of loved ones & the guidance of our Savior. We are truly blessed & will never forget it or take it for granted. What a story these precious girls have to tell.

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.  Job 9:9-11