Their birth story.

Wow.  I can't believe I have been putting this off for almost 4 months now!  Time flies.  And so does my memory.  I figured if I don't get it all down in writing now, I'll end up forgetting way too many things.

I scheduled a c-section really early on in my pregnancy --- around my second or third appointment.  Navy was breeched and there were a few other reasons, so that aspect of their birth was no surprise.  The entire 9 months of my pregnancy, I felt great about it…right up until the last few days.  Suddenly I was so nervous I was going to die right there on the table/the doctor was going to cut a limb off one of our kids/etc, etc.  I was losing it!  I read all these horror stories and let my lack of sleep get the best of me.

Looking back now, I am SO glad that I had a c-section.  I'm not one for surprises and because we basically had everything scheduled down to the minute, it was probably the best fit for me.  The c-section was scheduled for 8:00am so we had to be at the hospital 2 hours prior, which meant I was awake at 4:30 getting showered and ready to meet our baby girls!  At 38 weeks pregnant with twins, you're not sleeping much anyway, so between the excitement and discomfort, I only got about 4 hours of sleep.

We sat in triage for almost 2 hours and they just monitored the girls' heartbeats and my contractions.  I loved that the anesthesiologist came in partway through and introduced himself.  He sat and talked with JD and I for 15 minutes just about life, and then took a few minutes to explain how everything would work.  I told him I was cool with anything, just as long as he explained everything to me before he did it and told me how it was going to feel.   I feel like we really lucked out with him.  A little bit after he left, my OB {I love her, by the way!!} came in and chatted with me about everything and made sure I didn't have any questions, etc.

Then the nurses came in and took me up to the OR.  The anesthesiologist explained everything step by step, and once they had given me my epidural, they had JD come in.  He was fantastic!  He didn't tie my arms down or anything, which was so nice.  It was the weirdest feeling to be laying there looking up at the ceiling and hearing/seeing everyone prepping everything and knowing that in a few minutes, your babies are going to be there {all while your body is getting number and number!}.

As soon as they started the surgery, the anesthesiologist asked me what Pandora station I wanted on.  HA!  I loved that.  It was the most chill environment.  And in case you're wondering, we chose Taylor Swift & the girls ended up being born to "We Are Never Getting Back Together."  Navy actually came out to that & the beginning of "Wrecking Ball" - hahaha!

The best/most surreal thing about all of it was the first time I heard Stella cry.  Holy cow.  I still get a little teary thinking about it.  She came out just one minute before Navy did, and my doctor walked me through every step of it, so I knew when Stella was about to come out.  Right after, I heard her first cries and it was like the world just sort of stopped.  I'll never forget it.  Literally 30 seconds later {and you can hear Dr. Binkley say this in the video if you listen closely}, my OB said, "Navy's coming out after her sister!  Another little blondie!  Hello miss!" and all of a sudden, Naves was out and screaming her way into this world.  I didn't see much of Stella right away because the table she was on was at the front of my bed, but Navy's table was just parallel to me and I will never forget them bringing her up to my head and seeing the skinniest little legs --- seriously the skin was sagging on her knees --- just kicking away.  It was the sweetest first mama moment.  I really couldn't have asked for anything better.

I was able to hold both of them for a moment before JD and the nurses took them to get bathed, which was perfect because it seemed like the second they left the room, I suddenly was super tired and just wanted to close my eyes so bad.

The nurses wheeled me off to a recovery room, where I stayed for about an hour'ish.  Once I was in there, I was SO itchy from all the drugs!  I just sat there scratching my face like a crazy woman!  JD {and my mom and his} brought the girls in once they were all clean.  It was such an awful moment and I felt so bad, but literally the second they brought the girls in, I suddenly felt like I was going to puke.  Ha!  How horrible is that!  The nausea passed after about a minute, and I didn't end up throwing up, but it was just the worst timing!  Once it passed, I was able to hold the both girls at once and I just remember literally lying there & feeling like I was experiencing a piece of heaven.  I really can't explain it in any other way.

**Just for me to remember: Diane Rieke was also present in the recovery room.  I met her at GAP one day and found out she was a labor and delivery nurse.  This was about 4 months before I got pregnant and I told her I had been trying.  She recommended her favorite OB to me and wrote it down on a sheet of register tape.  The day after I found out I was pregnant {it was a Sunday}, I pulled out the paper and called Dr. Binkley's office.  I didn't see Diane again until I was 6 months pregnant, and I gave her the biggest hug and told her that I loved Dr. Binkley and had had such a wonderful experience thus far.  She wasn't working the day I was scheduled for my c-section, but she came in to pick up her check and stopped in my recovery room to check on me.  It was really cool to just feel it come full circle.**

Eventually we all went to our room, where we spent the next four days together.  My dad flew in last minute and was able to be there the following day.  It was so special to have both of our parents there with us.  They gave us the biggest room on the floor so that JD could have a bed to sleep on {he slept there all 4 nights}.

I think across all 4 days, we only got about 10 hours of sleep, but it was so amazing just getting to be with our girls.  There were a lot of highs and lows with breastfeeding {the girls both lost about 12% of the birth weight} and that was a huge stress to me while we were there.  Funny enough, one of our peds {he came every day} was actually the one to make me feel the most calm about the whole situation.  He reassured me that the girls were doing great and that they were just fine.

I laugh so hard when I think about how all of your pride just goes out the window when you give birth.   I mean… the horrible, but also amazingly comfortable MASSIVE panties they give you, when the nurse has to flush you out with the syringe in the bathroom, taking your gown off like 30 times a day and flashing everyone in the room, bleeding on the bed, the first let-down {ouch!!}, first time hooked to a pump {holy crap, that was weird!}….just to name a few.  It's so funny because you get to a point where you are experiencing so many "firsts" that you become unphased and you're just at a "whatever" point. --- "What's that?  You would like me to fart?  Sure.  I need to wear diaper sized pads?  Okay, great.  Oh and hey, doc.  Apparently I'm allergic to iodine because my entire stomach and upper thighs are covered in red bumps and they itch reaaaaalllly bad.  Want to write me a script for some benadryl while you're at it?"   Really though, I laugh my head off just thinking about all of the awkwardness that was happening that I was just sort of unaware of.

I was obviously on a few drugs to help with the pain, and sometimes when the timing would work out, I would feel great and could take an entire lap around the floor.  Other times, I hurt so bad I could barely make it to the bathroom without needing help.  I was so pathetic that JD basically had to give me a shower every time!  I would just hunch over like an old woman and walk sooo slowly.  I have to hand it to JD.  He was so patient and SO good with me.  It would have been really easy to get grossed out at everything that was happening, but he was fantastic.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience with him.

It's funny because the hospital is such a crazy time, but it also feels so safe.  Amidst all the "firsts," the very best were with the girls.  I was SO nervous the first night.  We didn't send the girls to the nursery because we wanted to make sure they had eyes on them every second.  SO, we stayed up basically the entire night just watching them{!!}.  We eventually settled down and let them sleep in there the rest of the nights in between feedings, but I'll never forget how scared I was to send them away!

I could write 20 more paragraphs about all of this, but I think just saying that it was the most beautiful, stressful, and strange moments of my life just about covers it.  My heart grew about 20 sizes more than I ever thought it could.  My family of 2 doubled within 60 seconds, and I fell in love with JD all over again.  The girls just melted us from day one, and even though this life is nuts, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

{the night before their birth - 38 weeks pregnant}

 {holding them together for the first time in the recovery room}

 {yep.  this is what heaven feels like}

{dad loving on Stella girl}

 

 {mommy and Navy moment}

 {our family of four!!}

{grandma's with their new grandbabies}

 {dad and his girls}

{a photo I snapped while taking a lap around the floor with the girls}

{this will forever be my favorite picture of Navy in the hospital}

{our two October pumpkins}

…and incase you missed it, here's our digital birth announcement

Stella & Navy Rasmussen Birth Announcement from Ashley Rasmussen on Vimeo.