Two more little baby birds in our nest…

Elizabeth just fell asleep and Chris is holding a very alert and curious Miriam, so I find that I have about 2 minutes to update this blog.

 Miriam and Elizabeth

Two beautiful little ladies and one puffy mommy.

Thursday the 13th, Chris and I woke up at about 5 am, got dressed in our most modest hospital suited attire and drove over for the scheduled c-section.  It was so simple and unrushed of a thing that it almost felt as if I was going in for some basic procedure and not the delivery of my two precious baby girls.  After some waiting, re-dressing, monitoring of the babies, IV attachments, and a few bathroom trips we were ready for the operating room.  This time there were no painful contractions accompanied by moans and complaints, rather we had a nice walk to the OR, I climbed gracefully (as graceful as a 38 week pregnant lady can be) onto the table, met my best friend, a.k.a. the anesthesiologist, and the procedures began. 

Despite the calm mode of this civil surgery, I was quite nervous, a little emotional, and anxious for all impending events.  After surviving the administration of the epidural, the surgery went rather smoothly.  The usual pain in my arm pit that I’ve had with my previous c-sections reappeared, the blue cloth to block any views of the surgical process was installed, Chris was lovingly by my side holding my hand and fanning me with a clip board to help with the nausea, and the doctor behind the screen gave me the non-gory version of what she was doing play by play.  Then, after some pressure on my lungs and ribs, a gushing sound which I believe was the water breaking, I heard one of the most glorious sounds on earth, the healthy cry of my new born baby.  Elizabeth Erin was born at 8:34 am with great lungs, big alert eyes, and beautiful black hair.  They brought her around for me to see after which a joyful flood of tears came.  Two minutes later after some more of the same tugging and pushing about of my body parts came Miriam Andra who also had a beautiful set of lungs, brown hair, and like her sister, carried a bit of heaven with her.  It is one of the most celestial experiences I have ever had, giving birth to these two girls and my other three children.  Just thinking of those remembered feelings brings tears to my eyes.

We are all home now, after a 3 1/2 day hospital stay, and all of us are doing our best to adjust to life as a family of seven.  Writing it feels weird but saying we are a family of seven is even weirder.  We are all so grateful for these new additions and the boys love them and are constantly asking to hold them and give them kisses.  Sleep is definitely a thing of the past and it’s going to take a while to adjust.  The first night home I think Chris and I got a total of 1 hour of sleep.  Last night I think I got maybe 2 or 3 if you count falling asleep while nursing.   

Both of the girls are quite healthy and Miriam only had to be on oxygen for an hour and a half.  It can be a very crowded place when you are one of two inside of your mother. 

Here are the stats:

Baby A:  Elizabeth Erin  weight:  7 lbs. 9 oz. 21” long

Baby B:  Miriam Andra  weight:  7 lbs. 2 oz. 19 1/2” long

As for the contest from my previous blog entry the winner would need to be closest to the total weight of the babies (not the total weight of all that came out during the surgery which was 20 lbs.).  So, the babies combined totals in weight were 14 lbs. 11 oz..  My mom, who hasn’t seen me since Christmas, guessed the closest.  Nobody would suspect that twins could come in that size and at just weeks early.  Imagine if I’d gone to 40 weeks!  Thanks for all of you who joined in the contest!  We’ll get you that gift certificate as soon as we can mom!