Everyday Ramblings with Rebecca: Family Life

After giving birth to our twins in mid July, my husband and I found out that we were expecting baby number four the Monday before Thanksgiving of the same year! We were thrilled!

Our due date was July 28th, but seriously what baby comes on their due date (maybe some, but none of ours listened!)

July 15th was a Wednesday and I went to church as usually and knew something was not right everytime I bent over to sit down or stand up during our song service I was losing fluid--I knew that my water had not broken, because there was no gush of anything, but I was losing something! I called the clinic and the doctor on call said it was probably nothing or just that the baby sitting on my bladder---Seriously! I knew better, so the next morning I went in to be checked and sure enough, there was a small tear in the baby's sac, in other words I was in labor!

The doctor wanted us to 'rush' right to the hospital---I thought yeah right! We had three little ones at home that we had to make arrangements for and it was bill paying day. So we went home and made a few phone calls, went and paid bills, and I went grocery shopping. I know what you are thinking, but these things 'had' to be done, or so I thought!

It was a little after 1PM and I still was not in any pain, but my husband and I thought we might as well go ahead and go to the hospital.

We said goodbye to our children Luke (2 1/2 yrs.) Seth and Hannah (our twins, 4 days from being 1 year old) and the grandparents.

When we pulled into the hospital parking lot, several of our friends had beat us to the hospital; which I found hilarious, but they did not.

We got signed in, taken up to "The Floor" and there were no beds for us. So we sat on some very uncomfortable stools behind the nurses station. So far I was still in no pain. As we sat there for the next three hours, we listened to women scream, fathers hollering for the doctor's and a bunch of other stuff---lol!

Around 5:30PM there was finally a room available and we finally got to go get ready for the delivery. They hooked me up to all the monitors, the doctor checked me and he told us that this was going to be a long night, because I wasn't making much progress at all---and I still was not in any pain.

The doctor left and I got out of bed to go to the bathroom, hollered for my husband to come quick FIRST LABOR PAIN and it was VERY INTENSE!

Things started to move fast, and it was time to push, the nurse asked what names we had picked out, I said, "Hope Elizabeth." Right after that, I had another labor pain, and the nurse began talking to my husband and the conversation went like this:
Nurse: So you are having a girl?
Husband: We are having a baby, not sure if it's a boy or girl
Me: The baby is a girl (spoken during the contraction--so all you moms know exactly how this was said!)
Nurse: Oh, I see
Husband: Every time we had an ultrasound, the baby would not cooperate and we never found out.
Me: It's a GIRL! My gut feel tells me it's a girl!

We had no boy names picked out, so this baby had to be a girl!

It was 9:20PM, the doctor said to push with all I had and Hope Elizabeth was born! She had a head full of black and weighed 9 pounds 4 ounces!

Big brother waiting up to meet the newest addition to our family Hope Elizabeth.

Hope turned 15 this week!

And this is the Story of Hope!

Early Friday morning my husband left for work and I returned to bed. I looked over at the clock and the time was 5:15; I rolled over in bed to try to get my 7 month pregnant self comfortable. I took my husband's pillow and pulled it next to myself, closed my eyes and then it happened--I had to go to the bathroom! I rolled over to get out of bed and realized I was in labor.

Panic immediately set in because it was not anywhere close to the twins' due date---I was two months early. I sat on the bed crying and praying, "Please Lord let my babies be OK." I composed my self and went and checked on our 19 month old, whom was sound asleep, called my husband, called the doctor, called my best friend at the time {Mary P}, called my in laws {aka Mammaw and Pappaw}.

I wasn't really in any pain yet, only my water had broke up to this point-- so I jumped into the shower, my husband made it home while I was in the shower and immediately wanted to know what I was doing! I thought it was kinda obvious, but I went ahead and answered him, "I'm taking a shower." He was in a panic and told me there was no time for a shower and lets go. So I got dressed and we left for the hospital.

As we were getting signed into the hospital, labor came on fast--I was hurting. Trying to sign my name on the dotted line was hard to do during a contraction! We finally got to our room and the doctor was able to run a test on one of the babies' lungs to see is they were developed and thankfully they were. The twins were in two different sacs, and my water had only broken with one of the babies; so the doctor could not tell if the other baby's lungs were developed or not. So they gave me some medicine to stop labor and shot me full of steroids hoping that this would help developed the other baby's lungs if they were not developed.

This was at 7:30AM on Friday morning.

My labor did stop and I actually felt fine other than the worry that loomed in my head.

I could not eat, I could only have water and ice chips or hard candy to suck on---I wasn't really too hungry, or so I thought until our friends Frank and Candy R. came to visit us and brought a gift bag full of butter scotch and peppermints. Best 'food' I have ever eaten!

The hours were passing slowly, we had a lot of visitors and received several phone calls. I felt like I needed to be doing something for my babies { I realize now, I was doing a lot for them by resting and staying off my feet and letting the medicine do its job}.

From 3PM on Friday, we didn't see the doctor again until Sunday at NOON--the nurses would still come in and check on us and change out the IV bag, and the machines that I was hooked up too.

At NOON on Sunday, two doctors came in and things started to move very fast, I was hearing everything that they were saying, but my brain was stuck on their words, "Let's get you ready to meet your Babies!" I'm thinking I am not ready, my babies are not ready IT IS TOO EARLY!

Scared to death for my babies, praying that they would be OK, they wheeled me off to labor and delivery, did a spinal block, preformed a C-Section and at 1:03PM Seth Michael was born and at 1:04 PM Hannah Marie was born.

They both came out crying--joy to my ears!

Because they were early I didn't get to see them right away, the nurses and NICU doctor and nurses were checking them out, so I told my husband to go take their pictures and after a few minutes of him being gone, my husband comes back with a big smile on his face saying that both babies are going to be fine, shortly after that the doctors told me the same thing---MY BABIES ARE OK!"

To me, they were so tiny, but for 2 months early they both weigh a little over 4 pounds each! The doctor was very pleased with their weight.

Even though Seth and and Hannah were born two months early they were healthy for the most part. They had to stay in the NICU for 6 days, just so the doctors could monitor their weight and body temperature. They were a little jaundice and had to be given a little sugar---but they were healthy, they were here, they were ours!