Friday, October 13, 2006...

This is super long, sorry. I hope you enjoy the slide show these pictures start the day they were born and go up until we were discharged from the hospital!

Things had been pretty uneventful and I had been feeling pretty good. I woke up Friday morning to an empty house. I did my usual routine and quickly realized I was bleeding. I called my mom and she and Kelsey rushed home. Ryan was at the gym and we finally got a hold of him and he came home too. My mom called all of my family and let them know I was probably going to have the babies. We went to the hospital and they hooked me up to all the machines. I was having the same amount of contractions I had been when I had left 1 week earlier. The doctor checked me and I had not changed so he sent me home. I was so relieved. It was Aria's first birthday and I did not want to miss the party.

A couple of hours later I was laying on my bed in the family room when all of the sudden I moved and felt a gush of water. I couldn't decide if I wet my pants or if my water broke. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I called my mom and we gathered in the bathroom with Abbey, Kelsey and Ryan trying to determine if it was my water or not. I was not having any contractions so I was really unsure. My mom was positive it was my water. About 30 minutes later I suddenly started feeling very strong contractions. They got me on the couch and Kelsey started timing them on her cell phone, they were really close together. I was yelling for Ryan who was taking a timed quiz for school and kept saying, "I have to finish this it is timed." Abbey was saying, "Ryan I think your teacher will understand, your wife is in labor."

Chad and Ryan got me to the car and we headed to the hospital. When we got there they took one look at me and knew it was my water. They got me in a gown and into bed and the nurse came in to check me. I was at a 5. We got the anestheiologist and he gave me my epidural, it was heaven! The doctor came in and talked to us about a c-section. He was worried about baby B(Easton) because his heart rate was dropping and mine was starting to too. They put me on oxygen and we decided a c-section was our best option.

They got me all ready and got Ryan in his gear and took us away. The doctor pinched my arm and asked me if I could feel it and I said yes. He said, "good you were supposed to but your stomach is now cut open and I am assuming you didn't feel that." It was crazy laying there thinking I was going to soon have 2 babies. At 6:23 and 6:24 Brady and Easton were born. They got Brady out and I could hear him crying. I didn't even get to see him because as soon as he was out they put him in a blanket and ran into another room where I am told 5 doctors immediately started working on him. Easton followed 1 minute later and I again could hear crying. I later found out it was Brady I could still hear and Easton came out blue and not breathing but they didn't tell me that at the time, good thing. Pretty soon they started stitching me up and I was just laying there wishing I could hold my babies. They brought Brady in for 5 seconds and let me give him a kiss and then took him away. Easton was not doing as well so they took him straight to the NICU. My mom and dad went with the babies so Ryan could be with me.

They got me into a room and Ryan left again to go to the NICU. They wouldn't let me see my kids until I was more stable. It was torture and felt like an eternity. Finally after about 2 hours they wheeled me in on my stretcher and let me reach up and touch them. Brady was just chillin' but seeing Easton on all his machines terrified me. I can honestly say I have never been so scared in my entire life. I had these beautiful babies and I didn't even get to sit and spend time with them or hold them. They told me I could come back in the morning and took me away. I was devastated.

My family came to visit me that night and Ryan got to take them up one by one to see the kids. It was killing me to just be laying there not knowing what was going on. Ryan slept at the hospital with me but he was so exhausted he fell right asleep. I could not sleep and layed there watching TV and crying. My dad was luckily on call that night and came in to see me in the wee hours of the morning. He had just been up to see the boys and updated me on what was going on. He told me Easton was struggling a bit but they Brady was just laying there chillin' with his arms behind his head. I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I got to go and see my beautiful baby boys and hold them for the first time. It was the best feeling in the entire world. I was intimidated by how little they were and surprised at the love I immediately felt for them.

The next 4 weeks were an emotional rollercoaster. We had some crazy experiences such as a power outage, Brady stop breathing during a blessing, a bomb threat, emotional breakdowns, etc. but we made it through. Ryan basically dragged me out of the hospital every night cyring and I would call the NICU in the middle of the night when I would get up to pump just to hear that they were okay which they always were. It was a growing experience for us and my faith was definitely strengthened.

Now here we are 1 year later. My kids are now chubby and developing perfectly. It truly is a miracle that I was able to stay pregnant 4 extra weeks and that my kids did so well when they were born. We are so lucky to live in such a great place with such a wonderful hospital and fabulous staff. They were amazing! Even more than that we are lucky to have such supportive family and friends who came to visit often and were always willing to help us out. We could not have made it through without all of them.

So there it is, the conclusion of the story. Sorry the posts were so long and sometimes boring but it has been fun for me to write all of our experiences and ups and downs we went through to get my little guys here.