My boys are here!

What a whirlwind the past 9 days have been!!

I woke up the night of September 28th (the day I turned 34 weeks) feeling awful. I thought to myself that maybe this is when braxton hicks really start picking up because surprisingly, I haven't had many of them during this pregnancy. I woke up my mom at 3:30am after telling her that the BH's were coming in almost every 5 minutes, and that's when my mom was immediately out of bed and started racing to the door!

We arrived at the hospital and I was surprised to hear I was already 100% effaced and 1 and 1/2 cm dilated. Panic mode set in and all I was thinking about was "how in the heck do I get my husband home before he misses all of this!" So thankfully he was able to get his work to work out a deal to where he could come home a week earlier than expected, so he was on the next flight out.

An hour goes by and I was already at 3 cm.. We were all thinking, this is it! The boys were going to be here that day! BUT... that's the furthest we got. My doctor had the weekend off (isn't that how this always works?) and was not contactable so all of a sudden I was under the care of a doctor I knew nothing about. The next thing I know they were trying to stop my labor by giving me the turbutiline shot. Boy, I never in my life want to get that horrible drug again! Talk about feeling like your heart might explode! Well, the hospital decided to keep me admitted until my doctor came back to work on Monday so I sat there for almost 48 hours with contractions but no progression.

Fast forward to Monday, my doctor came in the room and gave me the option of breaking my water or going home to see how things would play out on their own, and that they would give me two rounds of steroid shots to give these boys the best chance possible if they did decide to make their presence a little early. So I went home and fought through what turned out to be 5 days of labor, and let me tell you, it was not fun! My contractions were non-stop around the clock, and it wasn't until Wednesday morning did I call my doctor up and said, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!!!!!!!"

So I arrived at the hospital Wednesday morning and I can't even begin to tell you how fast everything went from that point on. My doctor immediately came into my room, told me I was now dilated to a 5, and that they were breaking my water. By noon, the contractions had picked up to a new pain I had never experienced before, and we were on our way! By 2pm, I was already at a 6, so I was lucky enough to only experience a few hours of true hard labor before I received my epidural. Once I got the epidural (which took 2 tries because they missed the first time, talk about the worst pain in my entire life!) I was feeling amazing, and couldn't believe it when my doctor came in by 5:30pm, and said I was ready to rock and roll!

I was wheeled back to the OR with my husband and my mom. My feet were put into the stirrups, and I swear within minutes I was told I could start pushing. 4 pushes later, my beautiful baby Andrew was born at 6:12pm, weighing in at 4 lbs 11 oz. Immediately following him was baby brother Everett, born at 6:16pm weighing in a 4 lbs 8 oz. A total of 7 pushes between the both of them!

Andrew on the left, Everett on the right

Our first and only family picture!

And just like that, my world has been completely changed. Keith and I have never had bigger smiles on our faces! We just love them so incredibly much! And for being born at 34 weeks, they are doing FANTASTIC! The only thing they are struggling with is finding the energy to eat as much as they need to, so they are being tube fed for the last half of their meals (but sometimes they finish it all!) But breastfeeding has been successful which is a HUGE accomplishment for preemie babies. I'm just one proud momma! 

And as of yesterday afternoon, my husband is now officially gone until April. It will be so hard to enjoy these boys without him, but we will make it through!!