The twins have arrived!

Let me start by saying that I never thought the day would come when I could write this post.  I thought I was pretty tough, but I discovered that twin pregnancy is even tougher.  After 37 weeks, 52 additional pounds (40 of which was water weight), 22,623 trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, oodles of aches and pains, and one mammoth case of PUPPS (if you aren't sure what this miserable disease is, look it up), I really could not wrap my head around the fact that the babies would actually come out some day.  While I know that staying pregnant for eternity is biologically impossible, I was soooo miserable that I had convinced myself that I would be stuck that way for the rest of my life.  This was even after I received my scheduled c-section date for August 5.  However, the day did finally arrive, and the girls are finally here. 

Here's our abbreviated birth story, for those who are interested:

My c-section was scheduled for noon on August 5th.  While I was not entirely thrilled about my girls having to make their entrance into the world via a small hole cut into my mid-section, I realized that with two breach babies there was not much I could do about it.  I decided to look on the positive side, and the planner in me embraced the fact that I had a known end date.  I scheduled my last day of work for that Tuesday to give me a couple of days to get things done that I knew would be impossible once the twins were born and spend some one-on-one time with Nolan. 

Thankfully the girls cooperated and waited to come out until they were scheduled to do so, albeit a few hours early.  My water broke around 3:30 am on Friday morning, so we had to go to the hospital a bit earlier than planned.  Thankfully the hospital is only a few minutes away because I was already dilated to 5 cm upon arrival and was in very active labor.  But the nurses reassured me that I wouldn't be forced to have a breach delivery, no matter how fast my labor was progressing (phew!). 

After completing paperwork between contractions, they prepped us for delivery.  All twin deliveries, c-section or not, have to be done in an OR, because of the amount of people and equipment required.  I have to say that delivering in a large, sterile operating room with 10 or so onlookers is a much different experience than the intimate setting in which I welcomed Nolan into the world.  However, despite my fears of a c-section, the actual procedure wasn't so bad (the aftermath is a much different story).  Odd, maybe, but bad, no.  The entire process, soup to nuts, took only about an hour.  I did miss being able to hold my babies immediately after they were delivered, but it wasn't as traumatic as I had anticipated. 

Both girls were very healthy upon arrival and needed zero NICU time, making my 37 miserable weeks entirely worth it.  Ava Claire was born at 6:39 am, and Grace Elizabeth was born at 6:40 am.  Both weighed in at 6 pounds, 1 ounce and were 19.5 inches in length, which is apparently unusual for twins.  They are both beautiful and doing exceptionally well!

Todd, just before delivery, looking dapper. 

Grace (left) and Ava (right), immediately after birth.



And for those of you who are wondering how I carried over 12 pounds of baby...here's the answer.  Note the gigantic swollen feet and ankles.