A tale of two Twinkies...pt 1

THE TWINS ARE HERE!!

They've actually been here for almost a week!

Last Saturday morning I had some contractions...nothing out of the norm for me at that point. I had been having contractions irregularly for weeks at that point.

Around lunch though, they started to become a little more regular....about every 10 minutes.

I took some of my medicine (to stop contractions) and tried to take a short nap. When I woke up they seemed to have subsided, so I thought we were in the clear. However, I was wrong. The contractions picked back up after dinner time, and after the boys bedtime I was charting them every 7 minutes. Tim and I were watching TV and he could see that I was making faces and holding my breath, so he asked me what was wrong. With nervous laughter I told him that I was having real contractions, but it was okay. I'd be fine. He got out his computer and told me it sounded like I needed to get to the hospital.

Again I resisted and took another pill to see if it could stop the contractions.

I went to bed and fell asleep after 11.

Then awoke to some very real contractions. I watched the clock for an hour...

They arrived every 5 minutes...then every 4....I figured this was the real thing. I changed my clothes, went to the bathroom, and grabbed a few essentials (like toothbrush/paste). I woke Tim up. He asked me "Did your water break?"

Not yet. It was bulging though...it had been for about a week.

We didn't call an ambulance. I decided to drive myself. (Yes, with contractions every 3 minutes.) The boys were dead asleep...this was about 2 in the morning.

The drive went alright. I had several contractions on the way over, but most came at stop lights. I parked at the ER...stopped twice to hunch over with more contractions and walked in.

I was put in a wheelchair and taken to Labor and Delivery registration.

The women observed me as I contracted and told me that I shouldn't be holding my breath...I needed to breathe through them (who knew? I had a C-section with Cale and didn't really labor with him.)....

When she was done I was wheeled back to L&D Triage.

There my nurse Jen (I had MANY different Jen nurses) hooked me up to monitors. The babies heart rates were good, and those were real contractions I was having. Every 1-2 minutes.

Jen called the Doctor and got the order to check my cervix for dilation.

She did and then she called the Doctor back - I could hear some of the one-sided conversation. "She's very far dilated, but the bag of water is RIGHT there, and I'm afraid it'll burst, will you come and check it completely?"

The doctor arrived shortly after. Checked and immediately said "You're at 8cm." We have to do a C-section right now.

NOW!? Tim was at home with the boys...

She asked me "How fast can your husband get here?" Well, we lived 10 minutes away and needed to wake someone up to come and stay with the boys while they slept.

"How much time do we have?"

About 20 minutes.

Just like that she was gone to the ER to scrub up.

There was a mad rush of different people coming in and giving me IVs, having me sign consent forms...I talked to the anesthesiologist and had to drink something extremely bitter to minimize the acid in my stomach so I didn't throw up. (The drink itself almost made me!)

My nurse left to scrub up, and I met two new transport people that wheeled me into the Operating room. As I got my spinal I started to worry that Tim wasn't gonna make it. He had called our friend Alicia and I knew she wouldn't diddle around, but she lived 10 minutes from our house....if there was even a hesitation of a few minutes, he may miss the birth!

But like music to my ears, as they layed me back (completely numb) they said that Tim was suiting up...and in about a minute, came in.

Then they started. I don't remember there being as much pressure as there was with Cale, but was more focused on waiting to hear their little cries. Baby A arrived 3:53am. It was Thad, I could tell...he was transverse (lying right below my ribs) so once he was out, I felt like I could finally breathe again. It seemed like forever, but was really only a matter of a few seconds before he started crying. This tiny little beautiful cry. They wrapped him up and brought him over for a few seconds before whisking him off to the NICU.

Just after that, I heard the doctor announce that Shepherd would be coming breech. He was, after all, in my canal. They said he was holding onto something...maybe his umbilical cord? It worried me for a split second until they called out 3:55am, Baby B, a boy.

Shepherd cried right away. They wrapped him up and I got to touch him briefly before he was taken to the NICU.

They were both out. Beautiful, tiny little boys.

Tim was ushered away and I was left to be sewn back together.

All I could think about was looking at my babies again, and I prayed they were okay.

Thaddeus Drew Nester

born at 3:53, Sunday, February 27, 2011

weighing 4 lbs, 4 oz

measuring 17 1/2 inches long

Baby B

Shepherd Kingston Nester

born at 3:55am, Sunday, February 27, 2011

weighing 4lbs

measuring 17 3/4 inches long