All of a Sudden

There I was thinking I would make it to the end (well at least to 35 weeks) and all of a sudden here they are. It was Wednesday morning when I started having back pain. It was low in my back and different than any other pain I'd had throughout the pregnancy. I was afraid to call the doctor because I figured it was just nothing and didn't want to look like an idiot for overreacting. But I called anyway and he asked if I was contracting. I said no but he thought I should go to the hospital anyway just to check it out. I called Gramma and she came over to stay with Jack who was sound asleep. In fact I guess he didn't realize that we were gone until he woke up in the morning. He got up and went in our room but he must have thought that she was me because he didn't make any mention about us being gone.

When we got in the car I started having contractions frequently. When we got to the hospital and got settled in we saw the contractions on the monitor. That was the first time they had ever been able to see the contractions. The nurses put the monitor in a different place than anyone else had ever put it and sure enough there they were. I have to tell you when I was having them and they didn't show up, it made me feel crazy. I had gone into the hospital several times for contractions and they could never see them. The doctor always believed me though and always treated them. So anyway they gave me three shots to stop the contractions and they did slow down but the back pain got worse. Then I had a sharp pain to the left of my belly button which is where the previous incision is. That's when the doctor decided to deliver the babies. He said that he got in there just in time. He said he may have been able to buy another day or two but that soon the incision on my uterus would have ruptured (that's what happened when Jack was born) so it was good they delivered them when they did.

So that's it, they were born on Thursday morning around 6:30. They are doing wonderfully. They are breathing room air and have been since their second day. Jack couldn't breathe room air until he was about a week old I think and he had an extra 3-4 weeks in-utero. They are tiny, they are both under 4 pounds now, although the first was 4lbs 1 oz at birth. The preemie clothes that the hospital has absolutely dwarf them, they are that small. We're not used to that, Jack was 7lbs 7oz over a month premature.

Speaking of Jack, he just loves his babies. When he came to the hospital after they were born I told him that the babies were born; they weren't in my belly anymore. He panicked, ran over to Gramma crying that someone took his babies and we need to get them back and take them home. He felt a lot better after daddy took him to see them. He has been able to touch them and kiss them but he hasn't been able to hold them yet. I don't have a problem with him holding them, I know that with us right there with him; everything would be fine. But I doubt the nurses would appreciate that. We will wait until they are older and stronger and not as fragile.

I'm doing really well too. My last c-section was very traumatic, not just emotionally but physically too. I ended up with an abscess in the c-section and I was really sick. I stayed in the hospital 5 days after he was born and was back in the hospital about 3 days after that. This time I only stayed 2 nights and then I got to come home. I was really glad to get home to Jack although I hate having to leave the girls there. I keep reminding myself that they need to stay there so that they will be healthy, there is no way we could provide that level of care here at home. It's still hard though. I'm doing what I can, which is pumping milk for them and trying to be satisfied with seeing them once a day.

Well I'm going to go, I'm exhausted. Thanks for all the prayers and kind thoughts!