I can't believe that today is the day that our sweet girls are turning 2, where have the past two years gone? I know that we all say when they are babies I can't wait until they crawl, I can't wait until they walk, or talk, are running, playing sports, able to be more like a "human being" than a baby who just lays there. I miss the days of just holding my girls while they nap or them cuddling up on me. All these things that I couldn't wait for have happened and I was just wishing away their baby stages.I can still remember 2 years ago like it was yesterday. We had a lamaze class scheduled for Saturday September 12, 2009, I woke up at about 6 am to use the restroom, when I went to lay back down I felt something weird...when I went back to the restroom my water broke (or one of my waters broke). I screamed to Will to get up, and he flew out of bed and said that it wasn't time for lamaze class yet, (he was completely dreading it, haha). When I told him what happened, he called the Naval hospital to let them know we were on our way. They didn't want to seem to believe us, they asked if I had just peed in my pants, right I think I would know if I did that. They said since we lived out in town and it was considered an emergency to go to the closest hospital. At this point we didn't have any bags packed nothing, we still had 6 more weeks in our minds. We loaded up as fast as possible, called all the family, and found someone to help with our dog. I had experienced Braxton hicks contractions just about from the start of my pregnancy, but real ones are nothing like those fake little things. I started contracting on our way to the hospital, and I didn't think I was going to make it. Let me remind you we had never been to this hospital, had no idea around, nothing....when we got there we parked and walked in, no one around to help us (as I'm soaked from my water still breaking). We finally made it up to labor and delivery, they were taking their sweet time with the people in front of us, and the waiting room full of pregnant people. Luckily there was a nurse standing there when we checked in and said we are having twins and I am only 32 weeks pregnant, my water broke. She told me to get my stuff and hurry back. They got me all hooked up and did an ultrasound to see how the babies were facing, unfortunately they didn't have enough room to do anything so a c-section was a must. They gave me some shots to try and put the contractions off, and allow the girls lungs to develop just a bit longer...it clearly didn't work. They moved us to our own huge room, Will went off to get breakfast and call the family....when the nurse came in I told her I needed to push, and the contractions weren't stopping at all, she called the doctor in, I was already at 5 cm in just 3 hours...I was going too fast for them to put it off any longer, they called for an emergency c-section, we were up next!!!! At about 9:50 they took me back, they made Will wait outside while they got everything prepped and gave me my spinal (worst pain ever)! Finally they called him in to sit next to me...as they started working away behind the blue curtain, I could finally hear them say baby A, it's a girl, 10:42, they showed sweet Ava to me for a brief second then took her away. I quickly hear baby B, it's a girl, 10:44, they did not let me see my sweet Jaelyn, which worried me, I didn't hear any crying nothing. Ava had done really well with the adjustment to real world, but Jaelyn couldn't quite handle it, they had to help her start breathing then put her on oxygen, I had no idea any of this was happening till a few hours later when I saw pictures. When they took the girls up to the NICU, they asked Will to go with them, which left me all alone in surgery just being stitched back together with nothing to show from it. I waited in recovery for a few hours and Will finally came back to show me all the pictures he had gotten and to see how beautiful and tiny they were. When they finally took me up to my room, I asked if I could see my girls, they said not until the spinal had worn off and I could walk to the bathroom myself. She asked me to wiggle my toes to show her that it was gone, when I told her I was, she said alright maybe a few more hours, because
they aren't moving...bummer!!! Our daughters were born at 10:42, and I didn't get to see them until about 8 pm, it was the longest day of my life...how can someone keep you from seeing their children...well when you can't move or do anything about it, very easily!! That first time we went up there, I had no idea what I was in for...we had to wash our hands for 2 minutes straight before even entering, no jewelry no nothing....but it didn't matter, the sight of my sweet girls was all the mattered to me. I finally got to see them, they were pitiful but beautiful, they laid there peacefully not moving or making any sound. They allowed me to hold Ava, but
not Jaelyn she had to completely come off her oxygen before she could get out of her "cage" (that's what we called it). We weren't allowed to feed them for a few days, then they could only have their feedings through a tube in their nose (which most of the time they ripped out). The next four weeks were a challenge of trying to get to the hospital and trying to spend as much time as possible with our daughters, but on October 11 2009 we came home with 2 perfect daughters, that have been nothing but a blessing to our lives. We love them with all our hearts and couldn't imagine a day without them. Happy 2nd Birthday Ava and Jaelyn! We love you!
Our first picture as a family of four, we did kangaroo care with the girls as much as we could!
We have come so far in two years, so big and grown up!
