Birth Story

As I write this, I realize it may be TMI, but I want to be sure and remember all the details. You have to have them so that you can call your children (no matter how old they get) and tell them about how they took their first breath. The story really begins on the Sunday before their birthday. I was sitting in church sobbing uncontrollably. I was so embarrassed. My hormones and the medicine I was taking made me crazy. My resting heart rate was at 126 and I felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I was so huge and really starting to swell. My doctor wanted me to continue the medicine that held off labor until my Tuesday appointment, but I was 36 weeks and decided to stop it that day. The next day I felt a lot better--still huge, but less emotional and jumpy. Little did I know, true relief was only 2 days away.

Monday and Tuesday I was back to having mild contractions. We had dinner Monday night with my sweetie’s family. We were joking about how ready I was to meet my babies and my sweetie ate light so he would not have an upset stomach if I went into labor. After we got home, I thought the contractions were getting stronger, but I was able to sleep through them. Around midnight, my sweetie woke me up so I could move from the couch to bed. I had trouble going back to sleep, so I took a bath, laid in the recliner, and finally around 1:30 I woke him up and said “we are having babies today.” He got up and dressed while I finished packing my bags. When I called my Doc, he asked me if I wanted to try to deliver the babies or do a c-section and I said, “Let’s wait to see how far along I am.” I thought if I was a 6 or more I would go for it, and otherwise I would have a c-section. We called his Dad to come sit with the kids and laughed as he strolled down the street. I told my sweetie we were in a hurry and left with the garage open knowing Princess and Gameboy were taken care of for the night.

I felt fine in the car on the way. I was having strong contractions, but they were not that regular. I even thought I could walk from the car to the emergency room door. It was not until we checked in and turned the corner to labor and delivery, that my contractions stopped me in my tracks. As we got to the examination room, I found out I was already a 9. I was so shocked and scared. I knew I was not going to get an epidural at this point and I was not tolerating the pain well at all. My sweetie was so wonderful to me. He knew how freaked out I was and he prayed the sweetest prayer for me. I instantly felt calmer and as they wheeled me to the labor and delivery room my Doc showed up. He checked me again and said it was time to push. It felt like all of Northwest Houston arrived in the room. I was signing consent forms while they tried to put in a IV that leaked. (yuk) I was in lots of pain as they tried to put monitors on the babies. I could feel the babies moving heard the Doc tell me to push. 2 pushes later we met Sarah Beth. I was ready for a breather about now, but right away I felt my water break again and 4 minutes later we met Sydney Anne.

My sweetie was pulled in lots of different directions taking pictures, comforting me, and checking on the the health of Sarah and Sydney. I asked my Doc why I couldn’t hear any crying and he said, “Just give them a minute.” We are so blessed with beautiful healthy babies and I am overwhelmed with joy. God is so good. I was in pain, but it was so brief. We arrived at the hospital at 2:00 am--Sarah was born at 2:22 and Sydney at 2:26! I had worried about the delivery and God took such good care of us. I felt great the next day and it was so nice not to have a major surgery to recover from. The babies spent 4 hours in the NICU but although we were exhausted, we were too wired to sleep. I had only seen them for a few minutes from a distance and I kept staring at pictures of them on our camera. By the morning, they were wheeled to my room. I fell instantly in love.