June 5, 2012 - And then there were 4

On June 4th I had a doctors appointment, just one of my weekly appointments to make sure the babies were still doing good and the pregnancy was going well. Everything looked great, and it looked like I wasn't ever going to go into labor despite the contractions I'd been having for 11 weeks. So afterwards Andrew and I went and ran some errands. I finally picked out a diaper bad and then we went to a friends house for dinner, business as usual. When I got home I played around with my new diaper bag and I packed it all up, but then the zipper broke on it, I was pretty disappointed but Andrew and I decided we would just go trade it in the next day. I went to bed and everything was great. Being pregnant I woke up several times during the night to pee. I woke up at 4:25am and I was having a slow trickle and I thought I was peeing my pants. I was really tired so I tried to get it to stop but my bladder muscles just wouldn't stop it so I got up to go to the bathroom and my water broke. That slow trickle was not me peeing my pants, but somehow in the middle of the night, dead asleep, while laying still my water broke. When I realized what happened I sat in the bathroom for a minute trying to decide what to do. I was so shocked! I sat in the bathroom thinking it was too early. I was only 34 weeks, 6 weeks early and I wasn't scheduled to have my c-section for another 2 1/2 weeks. I told myself this couldn't be happening because I just wasn't ready and my diaper bag was broken so if I went to the hospital and delivered that day then I wouldn't be able to go and exchange my diaper bag like I'd planned. haha crazy right? I was having some really funny irrational thoughts as to why this couldn't be happening, but once I realized it was happening and there was nothing I could do to change it  I went back to the bed and told Andrew my water broke. He jumped right out of bed and got everything and he was ready to walk out the door in about 45 seconds from the time I woke him up. I on the other hand was still shocked and I thought that if I didn't leave my house I wouldn't go into labor and none of this would be happening. I did not want to leave. I got in the shower but Andrew was antsy to leave so I only got to clean up a little and not wash my hair like I wanted to. After trying to procrastinate as long as I could, about 5 minutes, Andrew was pushing me out the door so we went to the hospital. We got there a little after 5am. They confirmed that my water had broken and the nurse said "It looks like your going to be having some babies today". I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life. Well soon after that around 6:00am the pain really started to kick in. Labor is some serious pain! HOLY COW!! I thought I was going to pass out. Since baby A (the baby closest to my cervix and the one to be delivered first) was breech and her water had been low for a few weeks she couldn't be delivered normally and I had to have a c-section. Luckily I knew all of this beforehand and I was somewhat prepared for it. The contractions were getting closer together and it was killing me, but they couldn't give me any pain medicine until I went into the O.R. Luckily my labor was considered a high priority (higher risk) so I bumped everyone who was in line for the O.R. and I went to the top of the list and I was scheduled for the first slot of the day at 7:30am. I was super glad about this because I was in some serious pain. At 6:30am the nurse came in and said that another baby was in distress and she was probably going to bump me in line for the O.R. so I probably wouldn't go into the O.R. until 8:30am. At that point I didn't think I could make it that long without some pain medicine because it was getting worse with every contraction. Well I don't know what happened but I didn't ask questions when I got bumped back up to the 7:30am slot! My OBGYN (who is awesome!) had given me his cell number to call when I went into labor so he could come in and deliver my babies even if he wasn't on call. The on call doctor was the doctor who did my cerclage so I knew him, but I was super happy to see my doctor walk into the O.R. By this point I was a mess. I was scared that it was too early, I was nervous for the c-section, I was in a lot of pain, and to top it off my whole body was shaking uncontrollably. My doctor walked over to me and he put his hands on my shoulder and told me to stop worrying about everything. He said it was his job to make sure everything went okay and it was my job to simply focus on the fact the I was about to meet my two daughters. He told me he didn't want me to think about anything other than meeting my babies. I think that is when it all became real, and I realized I was about to meet my babies! The c-section went great. I got to see both girls for a few seconds after they cleaned them up, but then they quickly took them away to the NICU. 

Andrew holding Baby B after she was all cleaned up.

Andrew holding Baby A after she was all cleaned up.

Andrew went with the babies while I got stitched up. I was worried that Andrew was going to pass out during the surgery because he doesn't do well with blood or anything medical really, but he did great. He was really nervous before the babies were born but once the first one came out crying he walked right past the blood and guts to check out our daughters. 

Baby A: Emmalyn Joeen Stagg
Born June 5, 2012 @ 8:18 am
4.10 lbs 17 in long

Baby B: Adelyn Ann Stagg
Born June 5, 2012 @ 8:19 am
5.10 lbs 17 in long

Since I had a c-section I wasn't allowed to get out of bed until later that afternoon, and since the babies were in the NICU they couldn't come to my room so I had to wait until 4pm to go to the NICU to check out my daughters. It was a very long day, but it was so worth it! Here are some pictures of when I got to meet them.

Andrew holding Emmalyn. Isn't she just perfect!

My hand next to Emmalyn. She's tiny, but she's doing great.

We weren't allowed to hold Adelyn because she was on oxygen. She swollowed some fluid during delivery so she needed some help breathing.

This is kind of a scary pic, but here I am with Emmalyn all bundled up

I am so thankful everyting went so great. The girls are doing great and I am thankful for their health. It has been a long 25 days, but they are getting stronger everyday and we are hopeful to take them home in the next week or two. I can't believe how much I love my little girls, it's crazy. I am so grateful to be so blessed. 


Well this post as gotten lengthy so I'll have to do another one with updates about the NICU so far. I also have some cute pictures I'll post with it.