Let me just say that few things could have preparedme to hear the words: "We are going to have to deliver your babies today. And by today I mean in the next half hour. And your platelet counts are low enough that we are going to have to put you out. And your husband can't be with you."
Wednesday morning I woke up feeling pretty rough. "No more pepperoni pizza this late in pregnancy," I thought. My ribs and lungs hurt so bad. I did what anyone would do-I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast. Thinking I would feel better after whichever baby was in my lungs got out, I laid down on the couch and watched "Dora" with Emma. A few hours later, I threw up. I was still hurting pretty bad and feeling quite nauseous, decided not to eat anything, but drink as much water as I could. Fast forward several hours-I ate some saltines, drank more water, and Aaron got home from work. I explained to him how bad I was feeling and that no matter how I laid, I couldn't get the one baby off my rib cage and I just couldn't breathe. So I took a bath. No better. In fact, that was when contractions started. Regular contractions.
So we started the phone calls. It was 11 pm and there are ward members all in our neighborhood that told us to call them in the middle of the night if we needed to. None of them answered their phones. So we called my cousin, Bonnie, to see if she could possibly come sit with Emma, who was asleep, until Aaron's mom could come down from Chattanooga, an hour and a half away. (My family was all in Utah, dropping off my younger brother at the MTC.) So anyway, Bonnie's husband wasn't home from work yet, so Bonnie sent one of her friends over who happens to live nearby. (I met this girl once, on a playdate with all of our kids-she is so awesome!)
At midnight we got to the hospital and got checked in. Sure enough, I was having contractions every 2 minutes. However, there was no dilation or effacement. I should not have been in labor. I was scolded a bit by the doctor on call for not having called into the office for something for nausea (but I only threw up twice!). I was told that they were going to put me on medication to stop the contractions, send me home, and go on bed rest.
A few minutes later the same doctor came in with a stack of papers-my labwork. Apparently I had a very observant nurse who decided to check a few things-like my liver. Although I had no other signs or symptoms, I was suffering the ill effects of toxemia. My counts of whatever in my liver were in the multiple hundreds. They are supposed to be under 100. My platelet count was low. The only signs of me being sick were the sore ribs/lungs and trouble breathing and the vomiting.
The doctor decided we would all be safer to just go ahead with it and deliver. I was told all of this at 3 am and Baby A was born at 3:27am (4 lbs 11 ounces) and Baby B was born at 3:29am (5 lbs 5 ounces). I didn't get to see or hold them until 4 pm yesterday. I was put totally out for the taking of the babies and slept off the anesthesia most of the day.
I can honestly say that those early morning moments were some of the scariest of my life. I knew the possibility of a c-section was there, but I didn't even think about having to be completely out for the delivery of my babies-or completely without my husband for one of the scariest moments of my life.
Aaron gave me several priesthood blessings over the course of the evening and night. I was so scared once I found out what was going to happen. I was so scared for my little guys that could've used a few more weeks to grow. But each time Aaron gave me a blessing, deep down I was calm, and I knew that we would be okay...I am so thankful.
So, here are some good pictures of the boys. I tried to find some that showed mostly them. They are off the big oxygen masks and just using the nasal oxygen (they have me on the same thing off and on) and they are being fed formula through a tube in their mouth. They are doing better all the time and will hopefully continue to improve! We are (obviously) still thinking of names. I thought I had a least another week or two!
This is me and baby A. His legs are just folded up underneath him (they look a little funny but I like this picture of me and him). This is the first time I got to actually touch him.
This is me and baby B. I got to hold him (I guess because he weighed a little more?). However, I was still so out of it here, that I had to put him back because I kept falling asleep. So, I only got to hold him for a few minutes.
Here they are! Hope you like the pictures and we will get more up sometime soon. Right now, I am going to see if I can stand up again (maybe this time I can go longer than 2 minutes!).
Here is our baby formerly known as baby A, now and forever known as William Aaron. He was the smaller of the two at birth, and continues to do well. Aaron got to feed him his first bottle last night and William did a good job of drinking it. It is kind of hard to see in this picture, but he is off oxygen all together! I got the word this morning that they will both be taken off their precautionary antibiotic today, which is also great news!
This is the former baby B, now known as Jonathan Aaron. He was the larger of the two at birth and has progressed so well since birth. He is completely off oxygen as well, and takes a bottle really well. Aaron got to feed him a bottle yesterday and I got to feed him some last night as well. When I fed him, he drank as little as possible and then just fell asleep with his head in my hand. The nurses told me this morning that he ate well again last night.
At this point, it looks like eating is really the only thing keeping them in the NICU. Once they get the hang of that and can eat a little more at a time, then they will go home. I am here until at least Monday anyway. My platelet counts are on the rise but I still can't have Motrin or anything like unto it. I don't mind.
