My Babies are Three Years old!!!
Here are some pictures of my girls from the past few years, I can't believe that they are three!!!
I have been reading through a journal that I kept up with during my pregnancy with Molly and Taylor (this was before I knew about blogging), so I decided in honor of their birthday I would include the journal entry of the day that they were born. Many people will say that they day they had their children was one of the best days of their life. Well, it was a little bitter sweet for us, but that’s happens when you have premature babies.
I wrote in my journal like I was talking to Molly and Taylor…
Today is your daddy and my anniversary. It is a Wednesday, and I do not have to go to work today so your daddy decided to stay home to spend the day with me. We tried to sleep in, but the phone kept ringing off the hook. When we checked our phones we had several missed calls. I called my mom (Mimi) because she was worried that we were not picking up our phones. She thought I had gone into labor (like I would have kept this from her) and she even called the hospital to see if we had checked in. When she called the hospital she ended up talking to our friends Mike and Rebecca Harms (they were still at the hospital because they had just had their son Austin). After she talked to Mike and Rebecca, they started calling us to find out what was going on. I thought the whole thing was kind of funny and told my mom that everything was fine and that I would call her if something happened. She wished us a happy anniversary and then and we got off the phone.
After I got off the phone with my mom your Aunt Karena called to wish me and Stuart a happy anniversary. I told her what happened that morning with my mom, and we joked about how that would be funny if I went into labor on our anniversary. When I got off the phone with Karena I went to the bathroom, as I had to do so very frequently at this point in my pregnancy. After I came out of the bathroom, I went into the kitchen to fix a bowl of cereal and realized that I was leaking. I went back into the bathroom and at this point your daddy was getting out of bed…it was about 10 a.m. I told him that I think my water broke and he calmly said “are you serious.” I told him that I was not sure, but I think so. I told him that we need to go ahead and pack a bag and to get ready to go. I figured that we had plenty of time; even if I was in labor (don’t they last like 12 hours???).
I got dressed, made the bed, and picked up the house while your daddy was trying to get car seats installed in the car. I called out to him, and told him that we had better go because I was starting to have cramps. I had a false alarm once before, but this felt different. I was still a little nervous about making a trip to the hospital, because I didn’t want them to just send me back home. We got into the car around 10:30 or 11 a.m. and I called my mom. She asked if I was kidding when I told her that my water broke, because of what we had gone through that morning. I told her that I was serious, and she said that she was watching your cousin Seth and that she would leave as soon as Karena picked him up. I had contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart the entire way to the hospital, it was starting to really hurt at this point.
When we arrived at the hospital I had to use the restroom while we were checking in. I was feeling a lot of pressure and my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. We were then taken to our room. Mike and Rebecca were still at the hospital and requested that we have a room close to theirs. I had to put on a gown and a nurse came in to check me and confirmed that my water actually did break and that I was dilated to 3cm and 100% effaced. Your daddy and I were starting to get excited now that we knew you were coming today.
I told the nurse that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible, and she said that she would go work on it. The doctor came in shortly after the nurse left to give me an ultrasound and confirmed that you were both head down (that was very good news). Everything started to move real fast after this point.
Mike went to McDonalds to get something to eat for your daddy and I kept going in and out of the bathroom feeling a lot of pressure. Your Mimi got to the hospital around 1:30, and I was starting to get more and more uncomfortable. The nurse came in to say that the anesthesiologist was busy, so I could not get an epidural at this time, but she gave me a drug in my IV. This made me very sleepy, very quickly. The contractions still hurt, but the medicine definitely took the edge off.
The contractions seemed to be getting closer and closer and I was getting more and more uncomfortable. My mom told Stuart to call the nurse to come check me, because she thought I was in transition. The nurse came in to check me and told me that I was dilated to 9.5 and it was time to push. I started to cry at this point and told her I really wanted an epidural. I was worried that they would have to do a c-section and would have to put me under; the nurse reassured me that everything would be fine.
They wheeled me into the operating room and had me move from the bed I was on to another bed that looked way too small. I think I snapped at the nurse at this point saying that I would not be able to fit onto this bed. The room was full of people; they had a team of 3-4 for each of you and a team of 3-4 for me…so there were at least 12 people lining the wall just waiting for your arrival. Your daddy and Mimi came in shortly after they got me all set up. When the doctor came in she told me to go ahead and push when I felt a contraction. I pushed about six times and “baby A” was out it was 3:03 p.m., the doctor handed her to me and asked me what her name was, and I said Taylor. I got to hold you for just a minute and then they took you away. I remember telling the doctor that I did not want to do this again. The doctor said that “baby B’s” membranes did not rupture and that she was going to have to do it with a little hook. After she broke the sac she told me that I would need to push on my next contraction, again after only about 6 pushes “baby B” was out. It was 3:07 p.m. They did not let me hold you Molly; in fact they rushed you out of the room. I asked if everything was ok and they told me that they needed to do some chest ex-rays. You had a little trouble breathing and they decided that it would be best to take the both of you to the NICU in Springdale because the hospital that I was at did not have a NICU at the time. They brought you into my room when they were ready to take you off. There were two EMT’s along with the NICU doctor. They were all very nice and reassuring. Your daddy went with you to the NICU to make sure that you were ok. We didn’t get much sleep that night, and got out of there as soon as they released us the next day to head over to the hospital that you were at. You girls were doing good you just had some common problems that premature babies may experience. They had to teach you how to eat and make sure that your lungs were nice and strong before they sent you home.
I am so blessed to have two happy and healthy little girls.
Happy Birthday Molly and Taylor.
I love you so much!
Our friends Kim and Casey came as Dracula and his bride!
My brother Patrick came as a scary old man.
