Back to H&H's Beginning

My babies are turning 3 tomorrow! Well, they aren't really babies anymore, but don't tell them that. Keeping with my anniversary theme, I thought it would be fun to recap their birth story. Don't worry, no disgusting details!

Being pregnant with twins, the mindset is always to just carry them as long as you can. Once I got to 37 weeks I would be considered full-term and could expect my babies to go home with us and not stay in the NICU. So 37 weeks became my goal: May 1st, 2008. My eyes were on that day! The reality that they could be preemies was never far from my mind, so I was determined to do everything I could (and not do everything I shouldn't) to keep them in there.

May 1st came and went. So did May 2nd. And on. And on. I went to my doctor check-up on Wednesday, May 7th at 37 weeks and 6 days and begged her to get these people out of me. I had my last of 11 ultrasounds (yes, I got to see them 11 times before they were even born!) on Monday, May 5th and Harper had turned breech again. How she found room to do that, I'll never know. So I knew I wanted a c-section, unless I wanted to deliver Hudson (he was first, or "presenting") the old-fashioned way and just hope that Harper turned around before trying to come out. If she didn't, I would have had to have a c-section for her after delivering Hudson which sounds like the most awful experience ever. I chose the c-section. Plus, c-section babies have prettier heads anyway.

My doctor (like most Austin doctors) is against scheduling deliveries. So she finally said she would put me on the schedule for Friday, May 16th. That was another week and two days away. I would be 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant with twins. Miserable. And most importantly, that was after Mother's Day, which made me pretty mad. Nobody wants to spend their first Mother's Day that pregnant and without babies. I was only dilated to a one at that appointment, so things were not looking promising for getting those kids out.

But that very night I was reading before going to sleep attempting to sleep. Scott had already been banished to the guest room because there was no room for him in our bed with the three of us in my body plus all my pillows. Which I think he was fine with. I looked at the clock and it was exactly 12:00 a.m. so I decided to pee one more time before turning out the lights.

I have heard stories of girls' waters breaking. And I feel like its described in a way that's impossible to mistake for anything else. Fluid gushing out of you=hard to miss. Without getting too detailed, my experience was nothing like what I had heard. Nonetheless, I assumed that's what happened

I went in and woke Scott up and said, "Hey, I think my water broke." He was also confused on why I wasn't sure. I ended up paging the on-call doctor at the hospital, who turned out to be my doctor. Lucky. She confirmed my water had "probably" broken and told us to go ahead and come to the hospital. Then I called my mom at 1:00 in the morning and she began her six hour drive from Lubbock to Austin alone in the middle of the night. (My dad was working overseas.)

Scott was getting a little panicky getting all our stuff together when I told him I wanted to take a shower first. I had heard that you don't really get an opportunity to take a shower for awhile after the birth, so I wanted to be caught up. My already-stressed husband kindly obliged, probably against every bone in his body.

We were packed and ready to head out the door around 2:15 a.m. But first we stopped to snap this picture of me to document the most pregnant I'll ever be!

Exactly 38 weeks pregnant with twins! On the way to the hospital!

We arrived at the hospital and walked into the emergency room. I had a pretty painful contraction on the way in, but wrote it off as the Braxton-Hicks I'd been having for weeks. They admitted me to my room and hooked me up to all the machines. The nurse asked how far apart my contractions were and I just kind of shrugged. She started monitoring me, and I was having them every three minutes! I didn't even know. For some reason I thought real contractions would feel different than Braxton-Hicks. But no. They're the same just much more intense. FYI.

So they put Terbutaline in my IV, a drug that stops/slows labor. Since I was having a c-section and would need multiple pediatric staff for the two babies, plus the anesthesiologist, they didn't want to have to page everyone in the middle of the night if they didn't have to. The meds did the trick and we slept for the next four hours.

Apparently everyone's shift starts at 7:00 a.m. because we were woken all the sudden by tons of people by my bed doing all kinds of prep work. They started wheeling me away as Scott realized he hadn't even called his parents or anyone else to tell them H&H were about to make their debut. A sweet nurse ran up to me in the hallway and told me my mom had just made it, which was so great to hear.

On the way into the OR, my doctor was pulled into another room quickly and unexpectedly to deliver another baby. That tied her up for awhile so I ended up hanging out in the freezing OR with the anesthesiologist and a couple of nurses. They were really sweet and tried to keep me talking and relaxed but I spent most of my time staring at all the sharp tools that were carefully laid out on a small table across from me. And trying not to picture them penetrating my flesh.

The doctor arrived in my room about 7:55 and things started rolling. Scott came in and the next thing we knew, Dr. Landwermeyer was holding up a smooshed little baby boy at 8:08 a.m.

The first time I held Hudson Roberts Ela.

Born 5/8/08 at 8:08 a.m. 6 lbs 15.9 oz. Already not concerned about much.

I got to see him for a second before they whisked him away to start doing all the necessary testing. But no worries because just then Dr. Landwermeyer held up another wrinkly baby for us to adore.

First time with Harper Julia Ela.

Born on 5/8/08 at 8:09 a.m. 6 lbs 1.3 oz.

H&H apart for the first time!

Reunited! With more space.

The rest of the day was filled with precious friends and family members flooding our room to love on our new babes. It was perfect!

Most new moms are ready to bolt from the hospital as soon as their babies pop out. Not me. I loved it there. We were at a small hospital without much activity. The nurses were great and I loved having the medical attention as soon as someone started the slightest cry. Because of the two babies and the c-section, they wanted to give me lots of time to recover (which I was all for) so we weren't scheduled to be released from the hospital until that Sunday, Mother's Day. It was the perfect first Mother's Day! Bringing home our babies from the hospital to be a family!

Heading home!

The past three years have been so so full! We have loved watching Hudson and Harper grow up into such amazing, fun people. And we can't wait to see what's in store for them. So far, its a fun 3rd birthday party next week! Hooray!