After several trips to the hospital, this one finally had the result we wanted: two healthy boys.
Look at them all stretched out, finally with room to move! I'm just so happy. Overwhelmed, but happy.
On
Friday night, I went to the hospital because I was concerned about my
blood pressure. It had been 119/something at my doctor visit on
Thursday and that was high for me. I had swollen more and was having
lots of contractions, so we decided to go in. When we arrived, I was
hooked up, and my blood pressure was in the mid-120s to mid-130s, so not
bad, but definitely elevated, but I was in pain and that contributed to
it. After my contractions slowed, they released me early the next
morning.
Saturday, I was able to attend a fundraiser I
had been working on during my bedrest for a wonderful organization that
financially assists adopting couples. I was on my feet quite a bit and
it was a thrill to be there and help meet people who also believed in
the same cause.
Sunday, I was even more swollen, so I
went to Walgreen's to have my BP taken on the way to lunch. In no pain,
it was 133/93, so that had me concerned. I called the doctor and he
wanted me to go in to the hospital for some bloodwork and a 24-hour
urine analysis. The next evening, we turned in my brown jug of urine
(quite possibly one of the grossest things I've ever done in my life).
Tuesday,
I was on a business call when I got a couple beeps from a local number I
didn't recognize. It was the doctor's office calling with the results
from my bloodwork and urine tests. They called Greg, my emergency
contact, and he took the message to go to the hospital for some
follow-up tests. When I got off the phone, he woke up Claire and told
me we needed to go to the hospital for bloodwork. Thinking I was just
going to be stuck with a needle, I decided to call Lorie anyway and see
if we could drop Claire off since it's not the most convenient to have
an 18month-old in the Labor & Delivery department. I'm so glad I
did!
When we got to the hospital, I was told to get into a
gown...not what I expected for bloodwork. I was there for a full
preeclamptic workup. At that point, my contractions were about 1-5
minutes apart, but I fully expected them to stop. This was ongoing
every night...they'd start, be painful, be close together, then around
11:00pm, they'd fade away. I seriously wanted an epidural nightly for
the last 2-3 weeks.
Later that night, we learned I'd be started on Pitocin at 5:00am
Wednesday since my platelets were a little low. After that began, I
immediately asked for my epidural. Once I got it, I could still feel my
legs and everything. I kept telling the nurses I didn't think it was
working. As the pitocin was added, I could DEFINITELY tell the epidural
wasn't working. It wasn't until 8:30am that I got another epidural,
and at 9:09am, Cal came. I got to hold him for a split second and then
it was time for Sam to come. On a recent ultrasound, he was head-down,
but apparently had flipped at this point and was coming breech.
Thankfully, he came quickly and was born at 9:11am.
Cal Wesley | 9:09am | 6lbs 1oz | 19" long
Sam Alexander | 9:11am | 5lbs 5oz | 18.75" long
They are both doing so well, and we're so happy to have them home
and healthy. After their follow-up doctor visit today, Sam continues
to be the champion eater and Cal is gaining as well. We just can't wait
to get to know these little guys. Claire is adjusting as well. I
don't even think she remembers life before the boys now. She's so sweet
to them, but could definitely do some unintended damage, so we're
keeping a close eye on that.
Their middle names are both family names. Wesley is my adopted
grandfather and Alexander is my maiden name. Claire's middle name,
Thomas, was from Greg's grandfather, so we're trying to keep it fair :)
