{easton and graham's birth day}

pregnancy is such a wonderful experience, even though not everything about it is wonderful.  with the twins, i was able to feel them move around much more and i was able to see them through our monthly ultrasounds. while i was physically exhausted and ready to have these precious boys, there is a small part of me that will miss those feelings and experiences as this will be the last time i will be able to share a "birth story."

i was scheduled to have a c-section on wednesday, jan. 22nd. i would have been exactly 38 weeks.  i was not very happy about having to have a c-section but baby a (easton) was complete breech and baby b (graham was transverse) so i didn't have a choice. i may have even cried about it once a few times.  in preparation, i had my pre-op appointment on jan. 17th.  after this appointment, i was dreading it even more.  they gave me a list of things i needed to do the night before and it made me even more nervous about it.  i knew the day before the C-section would be full of anxiety and stress. thankfully, the boys had a plan of their own.

on monday, january 20th i felt good and we all went about our day as normal.  around 4:45 in the afternoon i had a terrible pain on my left side.  i doubled over and ended up laying down in bed for a half hour.  the pain stayed the entire time in the same spot.  i knew it wasn't a contraction because of where it was and how long it lasted.  when i got up, i felt fine but my lower abdomen was no longer hard like it had been.  i didn't allow myself to think too much about it and decided i was going to trust everything was okay.  i felt fine the rest of the night.  we went to bed around 10:15 and at 10:45 i felt a gush of water.  i remember thinking "my water just broke or else i just peed my pants." however, it kept coming, so i knew it had to be my water breaking.  i never had that happen on its own, so that was a new experience for me.  we fumbled around to find the number for the nurse on call.  i filled her in and she called the dr. a few minutes later i received a call from dr. mauck and he told me to go to the hospital.  he asked if i was having contractions and at that point i wasn't which he said was good.  we called my mom to come stay with greyson and kenna.  i still had a few things i needed to pack in my hospital bag so i went through my list and grabbed what i needed.  we were excited but not in a big rush to head to the hospital.  i gave my mom a hug and we were out the door.

when we got to wakarusa i started having contractions.  they weren't extremely painful but i knew they were contractions.  all of a sudden, i noticed that they were really close so i started to watch the clock to see just how close they were.  they were only three minutes a part. then they started becoming more intense. i couldn't sit down and i braced myself with the seat and dash.  at one point, i looked over and john was going below the speed limit.  i nicely told him to go faster because these babies were coming! the ride to the hospital seemed to be happening in slow motion and last forever.

we headed to the main entrance but then we remembered it was after hours so we needed to go to the emergency room entrance.  of course there is construction going on, so there was a long hallway we had to go through.  thankfully there was a wheelchair because i could not walk! those babies were coming! i still wasn't able to sit and i got some sympathy looks as john wheeled me through the emergency waiting area.

they directed us to the triage so i could be checked.  there were so many nurses around me it was crazy.  as soon as the nurse had one look, she told me that she could clearly see "the jewels" (she was much more specific in her word choice) of one of the babies. the nurses' mouths all gaped open.  it wasn't very comforting to see their reaction.  i suddenly felt the urgency for them to get me into surgery.  baby a was coming whether or not we wanted him to.  they kept telling me to breathe through the contractions and not to push.  i wasn't even trying to push but i couldn't help it.  dr. mauck wasn't there yet, but arrived within minutes of them checking me.  they gave me some sour liquid to stop the contractions and then wheeled me back to the surgery area while dr. mauck went to get on his scrubs.

the anesthesiologist came and said they didn't have time to do a spinal so i would have to be completely put under.  because of this, john couldn't be in there with me.  i was disappointed but at that point, i just wanted to have the babies and know they were safe and healthy.  i remember panicking a little when he put the mask on because it was difficult to breathe.  within a minute or so, i was out and the next time i woke up there were two little babies nearby.  john came over and assured me that the boys were healthy.  i lost a lot of blood (my hemoglobin level dropped to 5) and had to have a transfusion.  i felt very tired and weak following the surgery.  i would be trying to feed the boys and i would nod off.  i just couldn't stay awake.

john named the boys while i was still under.  thankfully he named them what we had discussed.  :)  easton ray was born on jan. 21st at 12:10 am weighing 6 lbs 7 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long.  graham was born at 12:12 am weighing 6 lbs 4 oz and was 19 1/4" long.  we didn't take any pictures until big brother and big sister arrived later that day.

later on the nurse came and had me sign all the papers that were supposed to be signed before having the boys.  she also told me that i was lucky that easton was breech because if not, i probably would of had him in the car. and instructed me not to wait until my water broke to come in if we have more children because i labor quickly once that happens. we know that God's hand of protection was upon us throughout the delivery and hospital stay.  we are so grateful for the two blessings He's given us!

kenna kept saying, "Shhh! The babies are sleeping!"