December 17, 2008...The Birth

This is the e-mail that was sent out to friends and family...

Our baby girls are here!

As a lot of you know, I've been on hospital bed rest since October 28th with inner-uteran growth restriction (IUGR) for little baby A. Our original c-section was scheduled for 12/21, but after struggling so hard for so many weeks, we decided to move it up to 12/17, just one day shy of 34 weeks. As irony would have it, baby B began to slow down on our tri-weekly ultrasounds and three-a-day Non Stress Tests over the week prior to birth. The doctors were not terribly concerned about it, knowing we were scheduled to deliver on Wednesday evening. I began to worry a little, but had nothing more to go on than mommy's intuition.

Fast forward to Wednesday...I haven't eaten since Tuesday at midnight in anticipation of an early afternoon c-section on Wednesday. Unfortunately, there were a few emergencies that came in, so we got bumped and did not get into the OR until 5:00 (so momma was hungry, thirsty and NERVOUS by then!). My OR nurses and CNA were wonderful. Putting in the epi/spinal combo hurt like nothing I had ever felt before, but as soon as it was in, my body was numb and I forgot how bad it hurt going in. After I was laid out and prepped, Kenneth came in to sit by my head and the CNA stayed up there with us, peeking over the curtain and giving a play by play so I knew what sensations to expect. I heard them begin to cut and smelled it too (something I wish I had known before hand). I could feel it, but just as a "sensation" and not as pain.

At 5:21 pm, Aurora Nicole came kicking out into the world with eyes wide open. She squeaked a little, but wasn't able to let out a big scream. She weighed 2lb 4oz. The baby station where they took her was right up by my head, so I could see her moving around and she looked perfect, just little. Her first APGAR was a 5, then she progressed to a 7. While I was watching her, I felt the delivery team begin to really push on my belly. Baby B, Bettye Katheryne, was very high in my uterus and did not want to come out. My OB got quite a work out pushing on me and they almost knocked over the screen between me and them. Things became urgent and they had to actually vacuum her out. I could not see her baby station and thought I heard a slight wimper when she came out at 5:23 pm. Little did I know, she was blue, non-responsive and had her cord wrapped around her body. She weighed 4lb 4oz and had an original APGAR score of 1, yes, that is a 1. Kenneth just kept telling me how beautiful she was, all the while watching the neonatologist working furiously to get our little girl moving. Within 20 seconds, she was intubated and sprung to life. She ended up with an APGAR score of 8 after a lot of work from the NICU team. I truly believe that she was declining in utero and our decision to deliver early due to her sister's IUGR ended up saving her life.

After a quick time in recovery (still oblivious to the original state of Bettye Katheryne), I was wheeled back to my room and feeling pretty good. The epi/spinal stayed in all night and was taken out around 6:00 Thursday morning. I began to regain feeling in my feet and legs and got up to shower around 11:00 Thursday morning. Let me tell you right now, that first journey out of the bed is the hardest. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it. However, once I was up and about, it got easier and easier each time. Kenneth had been to the NICU to see the girls several times and brought back videos for me to see, but I did not get to go see them until 2:00 in the afternoon on Thursday and it was worth every painful step from my room to the NICU! Our girls are just the light of my life and such amazing little fighters.

Aurora Nicole

Aurora Nicole is our little one and is breathing completely on her own. She will need to get to 4lbs before she's eligible to go home, so she's got a bit of growing to do. She loves her pacifier and has even tried feeding with a bottle. Unfortunately, she can suck faster than she can swallow, so she makes a bit of a mess. They are now feeding her 2mL at a time through a tube. She went under billi lights yesterday as her numbers were just slightly elevated. Otherwise, she is perfect. She's our little turtle...we get to kangaroo her and her wrinkley neck and fuzzy head look like a little turtle sticking out.

Bettye Katheryne

Bettye Katheryne is our hearty little eater. She's up to 25mL every 3 hours, fed through a tube for now. She had been intubated, then was scaled down to a c-pap and now is just on a tube of heated, humidified air. It's helping her to expand her lungs more easily as hers were not as matured as her sister's. She is also on billi lights today as her levels were just .6 over the limit. I think she just wants to suntan and wear the cool shades like her sister.

We are so blessed that these girls are as healthy as they are. They have fought every inch of the way to get here and we couldn't be more proud of them. I am feeling pretty good. Just a little bit of sore muscles. Kenneth is off for two weeks of Christmas break so we'll be seeing the girls a lot.