A true Labor Day

I will never forget this past labor day as it marks one of the best days of my life. I actually went into labor on labor day night.  Talk about an ironic ending to labor day weekend.

As I have mentioned before Paul is currently in his surgery clinical rotation. This rotation is one of the most demanding and time consuming. During this rotation he has to do three 26 hour on call nights. He decided to front load his schedule since we knew the birth of the girls was right around the corner.  Paul's first on call night was scheduled for over Labor Day night. I was prepping to spend my first night alone while on bed rest by having Paul prep food for me, and set up lots of entertainment for me. As luck or God would have planned it, Bethany (Paul's sister) randomly had a meeting scheduled near our house on Tuesday morning.  She called and asked if she could stay at our place Monday night to avoid having to drive through traffic to get to her meeting. I was excited because I hate staying the night by myself, but by the end of the night would be ever so grateful God arranged people where they needed to be that night.

I felt great all weekend and throughout the day. Bethany arrived in time for dinner and we ate dinner and hung out that evening. Paul had texted earlier that evening to tell me he was going into surgery and I wouldn't be able to reach him until after the surgery was over. Around 10:00pm Bethany and I started preparing to go upstairs and get ready for bed. That's when it happened. I stood up from the couch to go fill my water bottle up for the night and without warning felt my water break. At first I ignored it and thought there is no way my water broke it must be something else because I hadn't had any contractions all day or all evening. In fact I felt great. So I decided to go to the bathroom, and when I came out I mentioned to Bethany that I think my water broke or something else was incredibly wrong. I tried to call Paul, but he didn't answer. He was in surgery of course. So I called my mom to see if she thought my water had broken. Never mind that a small puddle was collecting at my feet. Should've been my first clue, but I was confused on why I wasn't feeling any contractions. I always imagined contractions came and then your water broke. When I asked my mom though she told me that with me and most of my brothers her water broke and then the contractions came about 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs later. She suggested I call my doctor and go to the hospital. So I had Bethany keep trying to reach Paul while I called my doctor. My doctor confirmed that she thought my water had broken too and to get to the hospital to be checked out and they would call her when/if I was going to have the girls. Bethany finally reached Paul and handed the phone over to me. As I explained to Paul what happened Bethany grabbed my hospital bag and put Dasher away. Everything happened so quickly and unexpectedly that I felt numb through it all. I was in a complete state of shock as we drove to the hospital and got checked in.

Paul arrived just as I was getting settled in and hooked up to all the monitors. He looked frantic and still had on his scrub cap and mask from the surgery he just came out of. I am so grateful the doctors he is working with have been amazingly understanding and supportive of him throughout the pregnancy and birth of our girls. He didn't miss anything at all. I think he was surprised to find me feeling so good. The nurses confirmed that my water had broken and that I was having contractions regularly and pretty close together, but since I wasn't feeling them I wasn't considered to be in active labor. They checked my dilation and I was dilated to 1 1/2 cm which is what I have been dilated to since 26 weeks. Next they ordered an ultrasound to determine the positioning and growth of the girls. I was feeling pretty good still at this point and they told me that even though my water had broken as long as I didn't go into active labor that we would keep the girls inside me for another week or so with me on hospital bed rest. I was so confused on how that could happen, but whatever was best for the girls I was willing to do.

He made it, and looks ready to deliver.

When the ultrasound tech arrived I was starting to feel some increasing pain in my lower back. Right on cue as it was now 11:45 just between 1 1/2hr to 2 hrs after my water broke. The ultrasound tech confirmed that baby B was still breach, and I would be having a c section. As she attempted to do the growth scan my pain went from a 4 to a 24 in less than a minute. I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not as the pain never really subsided and was only in my back. I never felt any pain in my abdominal region. The poor ultrasound tech tried to finish the growth scan, but I just couldn't sit still. The nurse gave me some pain meds to help since we were still thinking I would be here for a few more days before delivering. When the pain meds didn't seem to help they checked my dilation again and I had progressed to 3 cm. I was now considered to be in active labor so they stopped the ultrasound, called my doctor and prepped me for my c-section. The whole time I was still in shock. I went from thinking it would be a week or longer until the girls would be born to a few hours until they would be here. It was such a crazy night.

The girls did not arrive on labor day, but did arrive very early the next day!!

Hadley Claire was born at 3:13am weighing in at 4lbs 0oz and 16 1/2 inches long.

Hadley

Hailey Christine was born at 3:16am in at 4lbs 0oz and 16 1/2 inches long too!!

Hailey

The doctors said for their age and weight they were doing great!!  They required breathing support and a feeding tube initially and were taken straight to the NICU and placed in an incubator to regulate their temperature. I didn't even get to see them until 6 hours later that day :( and had to beg the nurses to let me go see them then. Supposedly you aren't supposed to get up from your c-section for 24 hours.

meeting the girls for the first time.

with mom

with dad

Even though it was a crazy day, and I knew they would have to stay in the NICU for a while I could not have been happier to finally meet my beautiful girls and know they were doing well. To add to my joy and help ease any pain I was in Paul surprised me with a gift to commemorate the girls birth. Two charms for a necklace engraved with the girl's names and later we will add their birth date: September 4, 2012!!

A Bed Rest Birthday

We celebrated my 28th birthday early this year (on Sunday of Labor Day weekend) since Paul is still doing his surgery rotation and was going to be on call for 26 hours the Friday after my birthday. I was still on bed rest and feeling pretty good for being 32 weeks 5 days pregnant. I was beyond excited to have made it to 32 weeks. I have heard from multiple people that making it to 32 weeks was a huge milestone for the girls and that we could breathe a little easier after that mark. So I really felt like celebrating my birthday and making it another week on bed rest.

Paul was really sweet. He asked me what I wanted for my birthday and after 6 weeks of sitting/lying on the couch and in bed I really just wanted to go out of the house. Lately I had been feeling more like an incubator than a future mother, and was getting sad about all the unfinished nursery tasks.  I couldn't believe we were so far from being ready for the girls to come and I couldn't go shopping to find the fun knick knack and decorative items we wanted.  Unfortunately the doctors frowned upon me going anywhere and I didn't want to put the girls at more risk than they were so Paul made over the downstairs and cooked an amazing dinner for me. We both got semi dressed up like we were going out and it felt nice to wear dressier clothes and do my hair and make up. Paul did a great job of making me feel special and like we went somewhere even though we didn't go anywhere, and the food was really good too.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.

Our beautiful restaurant table

Finally getting to wear the pretty purple shirt I bought. 32 weeks and 5 days!!

Last picture before the girls arrived

Yummy dinner that Paul made. Complete with sparkling mango lemonade.

My two dinner dates. Can you tell that Dasher is wanting Paul's dinner plate.

I never imagined that the girls would end up arriving before my actual birthday on this night. I am so grateful that we got to spend some quality time together for my birthday before the girls came.