September 12 - Day of Destiny! AKA: Babies Arrive

So we are going to give birth! No waiting for labour, no contractions, no vaginal delivery. Is it even fair to delivery in such a way? Am i a lesser woman for not going through labour? I don't know, but I do know a c section isnt a walk in the park either, there are down sides to it too. Even so, I cant believe I was so worried about it in the first place.

At 10am we go into the hospital, basically to hang out until they are ready for us. We were kind of squished in that day so we had to really wait for our turn. Maybe 2 or 3 pm the OB said. So we wait and I nap and Matt hangs out with his iphone... And then very suddenly it's go time.

It must have been shortly after two that we trundled down to the OR. Matt goes to get gowned up and I go in to get my spinal and be prepped. Holy crap, the anesthesiologist wasn't joking when he said the spinal was fast. My toes went numb in seconds and it very quickly spread up my body. Could barely feel the scrub and the catheter and, very suddenly, they were opening and I couldnt feel a thing! Good! Matt barely gets into the OR before we hear the Drs welcoming our first little one and her first little cries. It's 2:21! Matt and I look at each other in disbelief and wonder. And then, before the minute was up baby boy is here and healthy and crying! Then I'm crying and it's just unbelievable to have them here after months of fretting and wondering how it all would go. And so, on a beautiful, sunny September afternoon we welcome Alice Marie and Evan Robert into the world! Babies are here!

It's so exciting and the rest of the day goes by in a blissful, euphoric, drug enhanced way. I think I saw both of them in the OR, at least briefly. Alice is perfect and has no problems at all.

Evan has to go straight to the NICU, even though he is completely healthy and Apgar is perfect too, he is tiny and his sugar is low. Matt follows with Alice in his arms and all of a sudden the nurses are missing a baby! They have to go track Matt down and bring Alice back to me. Closing doesn't seem to take too long, which I thought it might and then we are in recovery. I get to hold Alice for the first time!
We hang out in recovery and I know I cant see Evan until we get out of here. My hands are just a little numb from the spinal and its the strangest sensation to see and be aware of your feet and just not be able to move them. Weird! But shortly I begin to wiggle my toes. Alice has found my breast and is sucking away even though she is getting nothing as I didn't go through labour so my body is like... What! Babies now! Whoa we are not ready yet! It'll get there. I dont think we were in recovery for very long, maybe half an hour? Soon I am getting wheeled down the hall, Alice asleep on my chest, and we stop in at the NICU to see Evan who is looking very tiny and naked, hooked up to all the monitors, but he looks ok really. It's a short visit and then we are finally taken to our room to rest.

Grandparents, brothers, and sisters are called. Linda and Val visited us shortly before the birth and come up to see us after, as do Mom and Dad. They all coo over little Alice but, true to form, the oxytocin has kicked in and I can barely keep my eyes open. The rest of the day is even more blurry but it has felt wonderful. The c section itself (not considering 6 weeks of recovering here) really was a breeze. And we finally have our two little babies out in the world. What a relief, what a joy, what a September 12th to remember!

Weights Evan 4.5lbs Alice 5.3lbs