Their Birth Story!

So you have all seen pictures and know that I had my two darling little guys, but I never wrote down what happened and I need to before I forget the details of what went on.

On Tuesday July 7th, I woke up and did what I normally would do every day, eat... throw up...sit and watch tv....shower and just hang around. That day I had a Non-stress test at the hospital. I had these once a week. They would hook me up to monitors to make sure the babies were ok. I disliked the tests because they were very uncomfortable. I had stopped by Juice Press that day and got a smoothie before I went to my non-stress test. Towards the end of the test I started to get a little dizzy. My back was hurting bad, but like every other test the babies were good and I still didn't have any contractions. I got braxton-hicks a lot, but no real contractions. My heart reate had dropped and so the nurse made me sit for 5 minutes after to make sure i was ok. I felt better and left the hospital to go run some errands.

I went to the distribution center and picked up some nursing garments. I was hungry so I went and got some lunch, then headed over to joanns to get some fabric. After that I exchanged some things at Walmart and headed home. I was pretty tired so I went and layed down. Jason got home around 7:30 from work and layed down beside me and fell asleep. I woke up and used the bathroom and realized later that I had lost my mucus plug (gotta love how that sounds.... not so pretty) anyways then I went back down to sleep. Around 9:00pm I felt like I had to go pee. I was in the bathroom almost to the toilet when my water broke. At first I thought that I was just peeing my pants. I wasn't sure though because I have really good bladder control. So I called my sister and told her that I thought my water had broke. She was super excited and could not contain her emotions. I put a pad on and I kept on feeling leakage so I knew for sure that my water had broken. So I go into the bedroom and say to Jason, "Jase, I think my water just broke." He immediately sits up in bed and starts to move around. I had to tell him to relax a little, and that it would be awhile before the babies would come out. I got my bag together and we left for the hospital. We got there, they admitted me and my contractions then started. They were about 3-4 minutes apart when they put the epidural in me.... which did not hurt. You hear so many horror stories about how big the needle is, and how bad it hurts to get it. But it didn't hurt, and least not for me. Anyways, I could feel the medicine going through me. My body started to feel heavy and numb. And like they had told me, I started to shake. It was the weirdest feeling, I could not control my legs and arms.

By this point we were in the OR now and would start the c-section within minutes. My family was there, Jason's family was there and my babies were on their way. Jason was on my left side and I could tell he was nervous/excited. I could feel a lot of pressure but no pain, and all of a sudden my doctor says here comes the first baby. They pulled Baby A out at 11:40 pm, and he was hanging upside down. Jason was taking pictures and was so happy. I started to cry from the moment I saw my first child. I then felt more pressure on my stomach and at 11:41 pm they pulled out Baby B! Brad who is Baby B was having some difficulties breathing so they took him to the nicu for 2 hours. Jason went with Brad to the nicu and stayed with him until he was released. Once they had finished cleaning Jensen...Baby A, they brought him to my side. Of course I couldn't hold him because i was still getting my stomach suctioned out, and getting stitched up (all which felt super weird)! I still could not believe that I had just become a mommy of two cute little guys. Once they finished up in the OR they wheeled me back to my room. My mom and sister were waiting there to see me. I was there for an hour or so, and then they took me to my room where I would be for the rest of the stay.

It was then that they brought Jensen and Brad in so I could hold them. They were perfect! SO cute and precious. Jensen was born first and weighed 6.6 lbs, then Brad at 6.12 lbs. Both were 18 and 1/2 inches long. Very healthy for twins born a month early at 36 weeks. I was so tired, and did not get much sleep that night.

The next day proved to be very tiring and emotional. I had a ton of visitors which was so great. But towards the end of the day when we realized that the babies were not eating very well I got more emotional... not to mention that i was also physically, mentally and emotionally drained. I cried a lot!! I was worried about my boys and the fact that they were not eating very well. The next day (thursday) was more quiet. I had a few visitors which a nice, but Jason and I had most of the day to ourselves with the boys. They had a nurse named Annie come down from the Nicu to help feed the babies and teach us some techniques on how to help them eat more easily. She can get any baby to eat. Anyways, she had all these little different things to do to help them out. I felt happy and confidant after that. For the boys next feeding we did her techniques, but we did not get the same results. I felt like we had gotten a F- on a test. That made me emotional again because I could not get my boys to eat still... and what they did eat they puked up soon after. The nurses were fantastic. They talked to me and soothed and calmed me. By Friday I was getting more milk in. I was pumping up some good milk, and once my boys got my milk to eat they ate just fine. The whole time they just hated the formula. So that made me so much happier and relaxed.

I need to add that I was sore from the c-section but that is normal of course. But i was loving life having my body back to myself. I could actually eat and not throw up afterwards. I could move easier (for the most part-c-section..) and my back was doing great!!

On saturday I was still pumping out great amounts of milk and the boys were doing great. They determined that the boys would be able to come home with us....WHOO-HOO!! We were so happy about this, but I was also so nervous. Life would now really begin. No nurses would be there to help us out. We were responsible for these two little guys. Oh, I forgot to mention that all the nurses just loved Jensen and Brad. They got a lot of attention. Anyways, Jasons sister Liz was there when it was time for us to start packing up to go home. She helped us get the boys ready, and we finally left the hospital. I was a nervous wreck. I started to cry again in the car on the way home for a number of different reasons. First I was nervous that we would get in a car accident, and second once again the fact that they were actually here and we are parents now. And third because I still had alot of hormones going through me... lol!! We made it home by 9:30 that night, and started to get settled in....
Tommorrow they will be exactly 3 weeks old!! I can't believe it's allready been 3 weeks. I am so excited to see how much they weigh, and how much they have grown!! In this picture Jensen Dean West is on the Left side, and Bradley Randall West is on the right!