Labor and Delivery of our little miracles

It all started one hot, muggy day in April. I woke up like any other day feeling super round and a little sluggish. It was a Sunday, so the agenda included church in the morning and then my niece’s birthday party.

I am an extremely punctual person. Being on time for things is just a part of who I am. So when I didn’t have the energy to be on time for church, I decided I needed to put the extra energy into being ready for the birthday party.

I put together the dish I was making and decided I needed to sit down for a little bit. Before I knew it, we were supposed to be there. It was just a fifteen minute drive, but I wasn’t feeling quite myself. By the time we got there, I had received messages from family members making sure everything was okay. (Seriously, I’m never late)

When we got there and I assured everyone that I was okay, the party started. The babies were all moving around like crazy. If anyone could get motion sickness just from walking, it was me. They were moving, I was moving, it was hard to tell when I was standing still, going forward, or going backwards.

All of those, just little reminders of the little miracles I was growing inside of me. I wasn’t able to eat, but that was really no different from any other day. Plus, it was really super hot and I was growing larger and larger. The babies were all over so they didn’t give my stomach much room to store food anyways.

I had some fruit and drank some water to stay hydrated but as soon as the cake was cut and presents were opened, I decided I better get home. We had to stop at, of course, Lowes on our way home. I sent my husband in, knowing I didn’t have it in me to walk around the store.

When we got home, my husband decided he needed to mow the grass and I was going to do some work. I got my laptop out and laid down on the couch to get my Monday’s payroll done as much as I could. I remember getting up and going pee, which was something I did every five seconds.

So when I laid back down, and felt something running out of me, I couldn’t believe that I had peed my pants. People told me that this could happen but I had literally just peed. Then, when it didn’t stop coming out, I knew. My water had just broke.

We were two weeks away from our scheduled C-Section. They were too little. They weren’t supposed to be here yet. These things flashed in my mind as I remembered that I was lying on a brand new couch. Picture it now, a woman with an overly large belly, ninja rolling off the couch. Praying to the good Lord above that I don’t get anything on the new furniture, or my new carpet.

I am also the product of an accidental at home birth. My mom’s water broke and my dad delivered me in the bathroom of their house. They lived two blocks from the hospital. I know, right? All my life, I swore that there was no way I would ever have a child in the bathroom. Yet, all my instincts changed and I army crawled (being sure not to get anything anywhere until I reached the wood floors) and made it to the bathroom. The only room in the house I didn’t want to be in.

I knew I had to, somehow, get my husband’s attention from the lawn mower and I still had water running down my legs. I wrapped a towel around me (Sumo wrestler style) and proceeded to the back door. Luckily, or God was really watching over me, he was driving the mower straight toward me. I flagged him down, didn’t stop walking as I say, “My water just broke.” I walked right back into the house, grabbed the home phone, and went right back into the BATHROOM!

My mom is horrible at answering her phone. I needed to figure out who I could call in order to get her on the phone immediately. I decided my younger brother was always attached to his phone so I call him first. His, then girlfriend now fiance, answers the phone all happy go lucky with a “Hellllllooooooooo.”

I stop her mid-greeting with, “Shelby, my water broke are you with my mom.” Immediately, she was in ‘go mode’. I could hear her walking through the party to my mom and getting her on the phone.

I told my mom what was going on and got her heading for the hospital. Of course, that was an hour and fifteen minutes away, so I needed to get in the car. As I was on the phone with my mom, Bryan was running around the house getting my bag and anything else he thought we would need.

I called the hospital to let them know we were on our way, so they could get our team there. There were going to be twenty four other people in the delivery room to make sure our babies were okay, so they started that process as we made our way to them.

My family and Bryan’s family all started their route to the hospital while my husband, the race car driver, sped down the highway. I will admit, I never looked at the speedometer, but I dared a cop to pull us over. All the while, I called Bryan’s boss and my boss to let them know we would not be working the next day. Payroll was definitely not completed by me that week! Woops!

Still picturing me with yoga pants now on and a towel wrapped around me to make sure I didn’t leak anywhere, my husband drops me at the front door and goes to park. I knew where I needed to be, so I got on the elevator and signed myself in. They told me to have a seat so I did. Bryan made it upstairs and was sitting next to me when my contractions started to get worse.

He let the staff know, and they hurried us into a room. As I was getting changed, my mom and dad had made it. When I saw my mom, I broke down. I wasn’t supposed to know what contractions felt like. I was a scheduled C-Section. I also wasn’t supposed to be having the babies for another two weeks and that was already five weeks early. It was too soon and I was a nervous wreck.

I fought through it. God had a plan. These babies were supposed to be here now. When they check to see how far along I was, I was already seven centimeters. By the time they were giving me my spinal, I was nine. These babes were on a mission.

Originally, they thought they were going to have to possibly do a traditional C-Section. That meant a bigger scar down my belly. Because Baby A was so far down in the birth canal, they were able to do the newer style of C-Section. Smaller and lower scar for me! Go baby A!

I think the part that I was most scared about was the spinal. I knew that Bryan couldn’t be in there with me, so I was a tad bit mortified. My doctor was amazing. She held my arms while I fought through a contraction and told me the story about her epidural. While distracting me, they did what they had to do and I couldn’t feel anything. She knew my fears and helped me through it when my husband couldn’t be there. I have no way of saying how grateful I was and still am that she was there with me.

When my husband came in, I knew that we were ready to roll. So many people had told me horror stories of their C-sections. I had heard so many negative things that I started asking people not to forewarn me. I had to have one, so I was just going to have to do it.

Honestly, the C-section was nothing. I was so excited to hear if I was having boys or girls that I focused on what the future held, instead of what was happening to me. Sure, my arms were strapped down to the side. Sure, I could feel the pressure of them moving around inside of me. My husband held my hand and talked to me every step of the way.

I also, got extremely sick. They told me this would happen since I had eaten that fruit and drank that water. I had thrown up every day up until then. What was a couple more hours? The most beautiful sound I have ever heard was the first cry of my first baby. Then I heard, “It’s a boy!” I looked to Bryan and saw he had tears in his eyes.

That was when I started crying. It was beautiful. They told us that he was looking good but they were checking him out and they were working on the next baby. I knew if they were in Baby A and Baby B, that meant we were having at least one more boy. So when I heard, “It’s a boy” again, we were once again smiling like idiots at each other.

We heard two babies crying and I was so relieved that their lungs were good enough to be screaming that way. I remember the one nurse saying, “Aw look at his cute little tush.” and Bryan and I laughed at that.

I swear it took a good five minutes before we heard our third baby crying. The timing of their birth says it was only two minutes, but I would’ve sworn to you it was more. That was when we heard, “It’s a girl!” We had our combination. The whole time, I had said I thought it was two boys and a girl and I was right.

This was the best and scariest day of my life! When we got to see our little girl, they brought her first. She was breathing on her own and she was perfect. The boys were in islets and they both had c-paps on. They both still looked absolutely perfect. It was going to be a journey through the NICU, but they all looked perfectly healthy and ready to conquer this journey!

Next I’ll tell you all about our five week stay in the NICU!