Birth Story!!!

September 10, 2009



September 10th was supposed to be my second last day at work and I was so ready for it!  I was 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I had been getting the stomach cramps that I had been getting the past couple of weeks and they were really bad again.  I had to pull over on my way to work in the morning.  \.  I was uncomfortable all day, but didn't think much of it since I thought I was just having the same muscle spasms I had been having. It was a LONG day at work! I couldn't even sit. The ride home was also really uncomfortable and I pulled over while driving, but not as bad as the morning.  I finally got home and laid down on the couch to relax a little bit and hopefully get rid of the cramping (I think at this point they were contractions).  I had been laying there for about 5 minutes when I felt something kind of funny.  I stood up to go to the bathroom and realized my water had broken!  Kevin rushed over to see what was wrong because I was freaking out.  He grabbed my phone and called the doctor.  The answering service had her paged and told us she would be calling us back.  It seemed like forever until she did, but I think it was maybe 5 minutes tops!  In the meantime, Kevin frantically tried to pack the hospital bag that I had not yet packed and planned to do that upcoming weekend.  He eventually gave up and decided he would come back home and grab everything!

My doctor called and told us to go to the hospital. I think considering I remained pretty calm.  I did cry a little on the way since it was pretty early for the boys to be making their debut!  We called our parents and told them what had happened and that we would keep them posted. We got to the hospital, where they confirmed that my water had in fact broken.  At this point in time I was REALLY feeling the contractions!

The nurses asked me when the last time I ate was (which was 4 pm and it was now 6:30 or so) and told me we had to wait 6 to 8 hours from then to do the c-section.  I was really regretting that snack I had at 4!  They said I would just have to wait it out (without pain killers while having contractions and not able to drink anything....not fun!) My doctor got to the hospital at about 7, did an ultrasound to confirm that both boys were still breech (they were!), and said that she wanted me in the operating room getting prepped in a half hour (it was 7:15 and we would be going in at 7:45).....  I couldn't believe it!  I thought it was going to be 3 to 5 more hours......  We called our parents back to let them know they should leave asap!  In a way it was good that I didn't have anytime to get nervous about the c-section.  Not that I wasn't nervous....  I have never been so nervous in my life!  I think the more time I had to get worked up over it though, it would have been harder.

At exactly 7:45 I had to say goodbye to Kevin temporarily to go into the operating room for the prep and the spinal.  I cried while being wheeled in a bit since I was so nervous.  I was nervous for the spinal, but most of all nervous that the babies were coming and I was only 33 weeks pregnant.  There were so many people in the operating room!  It is all kind of a blur, but it seemed like about 15.  The spinal wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I didn't look at the needle....  They gave me a local anesthetic which pinched a little.  The actual spinal just felt like a lot of pressure.  The nurses and my doctor held my hands and talked me through it.  As soon as the spinal was given, they laid me down and let Kevin come back into the room.  Surgery was started.  It went by surprisingly fast!  Before I knew it, my doctor told Kevin to get ready if he wanted to take pictures because baby a was about to be born.  I heard the most beautiful sound in the world, at 8:13 pm Connor Daniel was born and I heard his cry.  The doctor or a nurse (not sure who actually did it) held him up above the curtain.  He looked so beautiful!  A minute later at 8:14 pm Aiden Patrick was born and I heard his beautiful cry and saw his adorable face!

They took them over to be cleaned up and evaluated.  Connor weighed 5lbs 5oz and Aiden weighed 4lbs 14oz.  Connor was 18 3/4 inches and Aiden was 18 1/2 inches.  They brought both babies over for a minute so we could see them, but we weren't able to hold them.  They were both absolutely beautiful.  They took them off to the Neonatal intensive care unit where they would be for the next 5 and 6 days.  They finished up my surgery and took me to the recovery room where we stayed until almost 11.  Both of our parents came in to visit.  We were really hoping to be able to go to see our babies!  On the way to the postpartum floor, they wheeled me into the NICU and I was able to hold Connor.  Aiden was having a little breathing trouble, so I wasn't able to hold him that night.  They were both breathing room air and were doing well.  Aiden had a feeding tube that night, but by the next morning he was bottle feeding.

The rest of our stay in the hospital was great.  I love Fairview hospital!  The rooms were really nice and the nurses were wonderful.  When it was time to go home Monday morning the 14th, I actually didn't want to leave.  The babies were still there and being at the hospital was nice.  Kevin and I both cried when we left since we weren't taking our boys with us.  It was really hard.

The next morning, September 15th I got a call from the doctor in the NICU and he told me that Connor would be coming home that night.  We were so happy!  :)  I went to visit the boys that day with my mom and brother.  That night, Kevin and I went to pick up Connor.  It was so awesome to have him  home!  :)  The doctor told us that Aiden would be able to come home the next day.  What an awesome feeling that was! The next night, my parents watched Connor while we went and picked up Aiden.  It feels so good to have our little family all home and together.  I cried a little when we left the NICU (which doesn't seem to make sense).  The nurses there were absolutely wonderful and taught us so much!  They sent us home with a ton of stuff.  I felt like the babies were so safe there and taking them home without all their monitors and nurses 24 hours a day was a little bit scary. 

So far, the babies are doing wonderful!  We love having them home with us.  Last week was pretty exhausting.  Neither of us slept a whole lot in the hospital.  The first couple of nights with the babies home were pretty rough as far as sleep is concerned.  The one night, Connor was up literally ALL night long fussing.  The past couple of nights have been much better.  Since they are preemies they sleep a lot.  They wake up when they are hungry or have a dirty diaper for the most part.  Some nights that is often, some it is only every few hours. 

 My mom has been coming over every day to help me out, which has been such a help!  It is hard to take care of two babies by myself when they both want to eat at the same time, etc.  Thank God for my mom coming to help out!  I hope Kevin can get a long weekend with us soon!  :)

We never realized how scary having preemies actually is.  We always knew it was scary, but after what the doctors and nurses have told us, it is much more scary than we could have ever imagined.  We were basically told to go into lock down for the next several months.  We are only to let very limited people visit and absolutely no little kids. We aren't allowed to take them out to a store or restaurant until about May when RSV season is over.  We can't put them in day care until at least the spring, etc.  If our kids get a fever they automatically have to go to the ER and get a spinal tap.  It's hard to hear these things, and it definitely doesn't help us to not worry!  It's going to be hard to tell people they can't see the babies for a while.  We feel guilty because we want everyone to be able to come see them and hold them right away.  Not being able to just run up to the grocery store when I am home with them is going to be difficult too.  The next few months are going to be long, but worth it.

We feel so so blessed to have these perfect little men.  It is so neat to see their little personalities already developing.  We love them so much!

Aiden Patrick





Connor Daniel





 So precious!