We have babies!

I realize this is a little late now that it has been almost four weeks since having the babes, but I don't think anyone can really blame me :-) I'm definitely not on bed rest anymore!

The morning of the 7th we headed over to Logan Regional Hospital for my scheduled c-section at about 6:50am. My sister Karinne was able to be with us in the operating room too which was great since they normally let only one other person (usually the spouse) in the room. There was a chance that the anesthesiologist would veto having the extra person but thankfully he was ok with having her there and she didn't wake up early for nothing!

They weren't going to start until 9am so in the meantime they put in an IV, a catheter, and hooked me up to the fetal and maternal monitors. In the meantime Keegan and K-poo got all prepped as well with scrubs, booties, masks, and hats. Then after that was all done we watched videos of c-sections being performed online with Keegans laptop and just chatted together. :-)

A little after 9 we all walked into the operating room and the fun began. The spinal block wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world but it wasn't too bad. I was glad the needle was smaller than an epidural needle! It started working almost as soon as it was in and I barely had time to lay down. First the doctor took out the cerclage and then the other cutting began! I was glad the screen was up because while the doc was taking out the cerclage I saw the instrument he was using to do it with blood on it and it wasn't pretty! yuck. It was fun to just watch the facial expressions of Keegan and Karinne and have them ask questions like, "You really cant feel that?!" And have them be amazed that I really couldn't. The one thing I really did feel was when they took Miriam out... it was such a relief of pressure!!! It felt so good!

In no time at all they had cleaned her up, swaddled her and put a little cap on, and put her on my chest. It was amazing how fast it all happened. Our reaction to Miriam at first was a lot like everyones... we couldn't get over how BLONDE her hair was! She cried when she came out and was being cleaned off but once she was swaddled she didn't cry at all. She was just so cute, sweet and little :-) She weighed 6lbs 6oz and was 18 inches long.

Then it was little Rowans turn. I was expecting to feel the same release of pressure but I didn't. I just heard him cry and that was such a good sound. He kept crying in more of a whimper and three 1/2 weeks later not too much has changed with the two of them in regards to how much they cry. Miriam is more relaxed and Rowan whines :-) Rowan likes to see what is going on and doesn't like to sleep as much. He'd rather stay awake with mom & dad. He can be a little stinker sometimes and is the more needy child but he is just so cute!! He weighed in at 6lbs 4oz and was also 18 inches long. We were glad that somehow I packed nearly 13 lbs of pure baby in there!

The babies had lots of family anxious to meet them waiting at the hospital. Probably most anxious of all were Keegan's parents who had made the long drive from Portland for the 3 day weekend. They both had to work on Tuesday and had the drive ahead of them, but they had to stay so Grandma could at least hold one of her new grand babies! Then they got in the car and headed home... so sad!!

As the anesthesia wore off I got really nauseous and threw up about four times before the anti-nausea meds kicked in. That was probably the worst of all of it. I felt pretty weak after losing so much blood and my hematocrit levels were pretty low so I had to keep the IV in until it started improving. Thankfully all of that was pretty short lived and even the next day I felt a lot better. I've recovered really fast from the surgery and it's a good thing too!

We stayed in the hospital getting virtually no sleep in between feedings and checking vitals for three nights and came home Thursday around 6pm. It was pretty surreal taking them home but it felt good. And it felt good to take all of the wrist bands off! They kept scratching the babies legs! There's still the aspect of getting virtually no sleep, but it is slowly getting a little better. They are A LOT of hard work, but we are having a lot of fun too. It was SO nice to have my mom here for about 5 days. She and my sisters helped out a lot and made sure we all survived. It was hard to see her go but we kept surviving somehow. :-)

The babes are both doing well and getting bigger and bigger. We still struggle finding clothes we have that aren't huge on them though. But in no time at all they'll be huge! Every time I see another baby I think it's MASSIVE in comparison- so I'm trying to enjoy mine while they are so tiny.