Dylan and Maya are here!

Our babies have arrived! I was finally able to be induced this past Wednesday at 38wks 5 days (not sure what was in the air, but Newton Wellesley Hospital was so booked Tuesday and Wednesday that after getting bumped twice already they tried to bump me AGAIN after we got to the hospital).

Anyway...
We got to the hospital at 9:30 and there wasn't a room for us, so after waiting a bit I got sent to an ante natal room and got an IV at around 11. By 11:30 I was in my room and started on pitocin. At my OB appt. the day before I was already 3cm dilated, but no contractions on my own. Nothing was really happening, so they just kept cranking up the pitocin. We brought DVDs and were watching Juno, so the time wasn't going by too slowly for us. At a little after 2pm the OB came in and broke my water. It took a little while, but I finally started to feel some cramping. As they got stronger we decided to go for a walk, and I couldn't even make it halfway down the hall before the contractions started coming so strongly that I had to stop and focus on just breathing through. After about an hour and a half of just contraction after contraction after contraction, I was begging for the epidural. I had been one of those women who really wanted to go as naturally as possible, but I am blaming the pitocin ;) The epidural was a difficult process because my daughter was stuck in my ribs and it was tough to curl forward, but once it was in and flowing, it was like, ok, let's put the movie back on!! The OB checked me after I got the epidural and I was at 5cm, and she estimated that i would progress 1cm an hour. After we finished the movie and were hanging out a bit, our families arrived and visited with us. At this point I could still feel the contractions slightly on one side, just enough to know that they were coming, but I was relaxed and happy, and honestly thinking that things were just going to take awhile... but I was wrong! At a little after 8pm, the OB came back to check me and the family went back to the waiting room. I was expecting to be about 8cm, but no, I was 10cm and at a +2 station and didn't even realize! Next thing we knew, I was shaking uncontrollably and vomiting, and the OB was like, ok, i guess this is it! They started setting up the OR, where they wanted me to deliver just in case a c-section was needed, and told us it would be about 25 mins before we could go. I started to feel so much pressure I knew I couldn't wait that long, so we started pushing in the labor room, and the nurse was like, these babies are coming, let's go! So we headed down to the OR, and I pushed for about a half an hour and my son was born! They put him right up on my chest, which I wasn't expecting, but it was absolutely amazing and wonderful, and helped take my mind off of all the pushing around they were doing on my stomach to help my daughter travel down.

So he was on my chest for about 10 mins, and the OB suggested trying a test push because they thought she was still higher up. So I started pushing (which is so hard to do after getting one out, but I guess that's what adrenaline is for), and she came right out! Dylan Joseph was born at 9:50 pm, at 6lbs and 19.25", and Maya Rose was born at 10:03pm at 5lbs 6oz and 18.25".

They are doing amazingly well, and the nurses here are just doting on them (though not as much as Larry and I!!). They are breastfeeding like champs, and we've even been tandem nursing when they're hungry at the same time - between that and the vaginal deliveries with minor tearing, this has all gone better than Iever dared to hope. We are heading home tomorrow morning, and I hope to post some pictures soon - I am just so amazed, with my babies, with my own body - with the way my husband can soothe our babies with just the sound of his voice - I'm at a loss for words to describe how I feel - for once!

Bumped :(

The doctor's office just called - my induction has now been bumped to tomorrow morning, so we get to go through this all over again! Now I have a 1:15 OB appointment instead.

Well, not only does it give me more time to go into labor on my own, now I can definitely get that pedicure!

D Day - or should I say B day?

Believe it or not, I slept pretty well last night, considering it was my last night of sleep before becoming a mommy! 6am came a lot sooner than I was ready for, but we had instructions to be at the hospital at 7:30am, so we woke up, showered, and right around 7 the hospital called and told us not to come in until 11am.

So now I'm sitting here checking email, and Larry is downstairs playing the guitar. I'm contemplating getting a pedicure if the nail salon can take me before 9:30 :) Hey, if it will help me relax, right?

38 weeks - the end is in sight!

At yesterday's appointments, we finally scheduled an induction date - Tuesday, September 23rd. If I make it that far, I'll be 38 weeks and 4 days, which is amazing! I realized today that I will have to go back into my hospital suitcase, which has been packed for over a month now, and make sure that I bring a regular newborn outfit for each of them, since my babies will probably be too big for the preemie clothes I packed last month! My guess is that both will be over 6lbs, which is great!

The OB was joking with Larry and me that of course, now that we have a date scheduled, I'll probably go into labor on my own. I certainly hope so! We picked up one of those exercise balls yesterday... it might sound silly, but I've heard that bouncing on one of those can help move the baby (or babies) into the "engaged" position - similar to driving down a bumpy road, that sort of thing. It's worth it to see what happens, I think. Plus my friend Alexa mentioned that those exercise balls can be good for soothing the babies once they arrive, since they're used to being bounced all around in the womb anyway.

At yesterday's ultrasound, we saw the perinatologist who had originally diagnosed my shortening cervix (we haven't seen him since 26/27 wks). He was so amazed to see us, and congratulated us on doing such a good job of growing our babies... it was kind of cool to come full circle like that. I mean, these babies got to grow for another 3 months! Guess my cervix is stronger than we all thought (that might seem like a weird thing to be proud of, but still, I am!). So now the countdown is officially on, unless for some reason my induction gets bumped for some reason. I'll be a mom in less than 5 days!

It's a little early, but...

Full term babies!

I can't believe we've made it this far! Once again at my OB visit, my doc shook her head in disbelief that I'm still pregnant. She did a pretty invasive internal exam yesterday to strip my membranes and hopefully stir things up - as a result, I had some bleeding and cramping most of yesterday, but it seems to have died down. This weekend Larry and I are going to see if we can get things moving on our own - go for walks, that sort of thing.

At yesterday's ultrasound, there was an even bigger size difference between our son and daughter - he is estimated to be 6lbs 4oz, and she is estimated to be 5lbs 7oz. However, these estimates can be off up to 17 oz in either direction, so who knows what their actual sizes really are - there's no way to know until they get here, and my docs don't seem to be worried, they just want to keep an eye on it.

Tonight my in-laws are coming over to celebrate my father in law's birthday (it was yesterday), and tomorrow, my family is coming by to celebrate my birthday, which is this coming Tuesday. I really hope these babies arrive before then! I already have 3 appointments scheduled for next week - one with the OB, and two with the perinatologist, for a non-stress test, and another biophysical profile. My OB mentioned scheduling an induction for the week between September 19 and 26, if I don't go into labor on my own over the next 6 days or so. She doesn't want me to go past 39 weeks (the 26th) because the longer I go the greater the risk of the placentas starting to fail. All we can do is wait and see - and be happy that we have healthy full-term babies!

I can't believe it's September

This summer has gone by so quickly, it's hard to believe that we're into the second week of September. It's definitely much cooler in the mornings, and the leaves are already starting to change. This is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I can't wait for the babies to be here to enjoy it with us!

There wasn't much to report about our doctors appointments this past Friday. My OB said that if I'm still pregnant at this Friday's appointment we'll schedule a date for me to be induced. I'd like to go into labor on my own, of course, and I've been feeling some twinges and maybe even a few contractions, but nothing really measurable at this point. I feel like I'm just sitting around waiting to go into labor... and if I hold out till this Friday or later, the babies will actually be full term, which would be amazing!