The girls have arrived!

The girls arrived 7 weeks early on March 11, 2008. After a placental abruption at 25 weeks, placenta previa, and pre-eclampsia, our doctors decided we just couldn't wait any longer, so we had an emergency c-section on March 11.

Natalie Elisabeth arrived first, at 11:21 pm weighing 4 lbs, 11 oz and measuring 18 inches long. Kathryn Rebekkah followed at 11:23 pm weighing 3 lbs, 15 oz and measuring 17 1/4 inches long. They were both in good shape, but were immediately taken to the NICU after birth, where they were both put on c-pap and evaluated.

I only got the briefest glimpse of them before they were taken out of the delivery room, and it was one of those moments that I've waited for for years, I don't think I'll ever forget it. Kevin and I were so amazed that the babies we'd longed for for so long, and then had to fight tooth and nail to get here safely, were finally in the world. We didn't even have the presence of mind to get a picture. That was the only chance we had for weeks to get a picture of them without breathing tubes, feeding tubes, bandaids and bruises, and we missed it.

The girls were 24 hours old before I even got to see them again. Due to the pre-eclampsia, I had to stay in bed and get magnesium sulfate to treat my blood pressure, so I was not allowed upstairs to see them until midnight on March 12. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was laying in that bed knowing my babies were upstairs, and that every other visitor that showed up could see them, as long as Kevin was there to take them up. We were grateful for all of the visitors, but not knowing how your babies are and having everyone have access to them after you've been the one carrying them is HARD. Everyone tried to give me reports, but I wasn't going to be satisfied until I got to see for myself that they were ok and doing well. Looking back, I'm a bit upset that the NICU staff never even sent anyone down to talk to me. EVERYTHING came through Kevin, who, while he tried his best to tell me everything, just doesn't completely get my need for every detail from word for word recaps of what each nurse and doctor said, and their tone of voice and expression on their faces when they said it. Needless to say, I was counting the minutes until I got that IV out so I could go see the girls.

About 4 hours before I got to go upstairs, the woman who will be forever known as "the nurse that made me cry" came on duty. Of course the first thing she did was come into my room, check me out and then chastise me for drinking 1/3 of a coke. Seriously - NOT what you want to do to a woman who just had to have an emergency c-section, whose babies are in the NICU and who has not even had the chance to see them, and who is on a liquid diet - and the nurse on duty before her said I could have ANYTHING on that list. I. lost. it. Seriously. I cried and cried. I think the nurse realized she'd messed up, because she was as sweet and accomodating as could be after that. She got the wheelchair to our room early and was there right at the 24 hour mark to take out that IV so I could see the girls. I guess I've forgiven her....sort of.

When I finally got upstairs, we met one of who would become a part of the group of our favorite NICU nurses. Angie was on duty with the girls that night and did SO much to calm my fears. She immediately let me in the room, had me help her change the sheets on the girls beds, and went over everything that had been done and was going to be done to them. She told me later that she'd had a preemie in the NICU for a month, so she could understand exactly what I felt - she certainly knew what I needed, and at that moment, it was to feel like I could do SOMETHING for them, even if it was just changing the sheets on their beds.

The next morning, our other favorite nurse came on duty - Carol was with us for much of our stay in the NICU - anytime she worked, she had our girls - and she was nothing short of AMAZING. She was also great at letting us get involved and taking the time to answer questions and make suggestions for things we could do for the girls - she helped us to feel like they were OURS. So many NICU nurses, while very competent, I'm sure, do not do a very good job of making the parents feel like parents. Often, it feels like you're just going to see some baby that belongs to the hospital. I often had to remind myself when those nurses were on duty that these were MY babies. On the morning of March 13, I finally got to HOLD one of my babies. Natalie was still not quite as stable as Kate, so Carol had me do Kangaroo care with Kate, and I was in hog heaven. I had waited over 3 years to get that baby in my arms and it was the sweetest moment in my entire life, I think. I could FEEL my blood pressure go down the minute they put her in my arms. The labor and delivery nurses soon learned that to get a good blood pressure reading, they needed to wait and take it after I saw the girls - it was always perfect then.

My OB managed to keep me in the hospital until the girls were 5 days old, at which point I had to finally be discharged. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The whole time I was pregnant, I looked forward to the day I'd be wheeled out of the hospital with two babies in my arms. Having to be wheeled out with no babies was heartbreaking. I don't know how poor Kevin put up with me that day - I was a complete basket case.

Will update more over their time in the NICU soon!