Two Become Four...A Birth Story

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I still can't believe that I am finally a mother...that we are finally parents. The love and support we have received from family and friends is unbelievable. Thank you all SO much for everything. It just goes to show that everyone wanted it as badly as we did. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives!

The morning of March 5, 2012 I went in for a scheduled C-section at 7:15 am. I barely made it to this day. Lol. We got there bright and early at 6 am to check in. They placed me in an OR holding room to do my admission, monitor A&B, and get my IV started. I hadn't had anything of substance to eat or drink since 6pm the night before, so needless to say I was pretty hungry and parched.

Soooo, leave it to me to PASS OUT while they were starting my IV and getting me to sign consents. I've never fainted in my life! They were able to get some fluids running pretty quickly and I was better in no time. I guess that my nerves and the reality of it all came crashing down on me at one time.

Once I was feeling better, my doctor stuck his head in to say hello and then they wheeled me off to the OR. They had me sit up to get a spinal block inserted. I thought to myself...I will not jump. I will not jump.

I jumped.

She was able to get it in and it was then that I was informed that I have a mild case of scoliosis. Awesomeballs. They then got a catheter inserted just as my doctor was coming in to get started! I remember looking down and they had my leg in the air. I had to ask them if that was my leg...spinal blocks are no joke!

They let Andy back after I was situated and he was able to videotape the entire procedure. We watched it later after discharge and I couldn't believe the look of terror on my face before they were born. You could hear my heart beating a million miles a minute in the background. You could see the nurse anesthetist push something in my line and my eyes glazed over as my heart rate slowed. Woman doped me up.

I remember hearing the first cry. It was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard in my entire life! Seven years of infertility torture. Nine months of the most frightening experience of my life. I may have looked happy on the outside, and for the most part I was...but on the inside I was terrified that my body would fail me again. I was so grateful, but scared to death the entire pregnancy. I will finally admit that. I still can't wrap my head around what has happened in the last two weeks. Two beautiful, perfect, healthy baby boys. To think that we almost threw in the towel and started to accept the possibility of being childless. Had that happened, we would never be holding our two miracles. I couldn't even imagine. God is so good.

Anderson LeGrande was born at 7:53 am weighing in at 7 Lb 2 Oz and 19.5" long.
Baney Stephens was born at 7:54 am weighing in at a whopping 8 Lb 6 Oz and 20.5" long.

I don't know how in the world I carried over 15 lbs of baby...now I know why I was couch ridden the last month! It was so very worth it though.

In naming our sons, we decided to stick with family names. Anderson is Andy's full name, and his grandfather's last name. LeGrande is my grandfather's middle name. Baney is named after my late uncle who passed away from a rare cancer at a very young age 5 years ago...we thought that this would be an awesome way to honor him. Stephens is Andy's grandmother's maiden name.

We had a fairly uneventful stay in the hospital and were discharged on Thursday, March 8. Anderson left a little jaundiced, but his levels were below the cutoff, so he didn't require any major intervention. Baney had an issue with some extra fluid in his stomach, but that resolved after some suctioning and TLC in the nursery.

I, on the other hand, am a complete and utter GIMP. Guess what came back? Oh yeah. The pilonidal cyst in my bungcrack. Sooooo, I had to go back to my surgeon the day after discharge and have it lanced/drained and packed with 12.5 inches of gauze. Only me! By the grace of God, my donut has allowed me to sit on my arse and breastfeed. He said that I will eventually require surgery on it which will involve a 3 month recovery period...but he doesn't want me to think about it until the boys are a little older. Eeeesh.

My C-section scar is healing up nicely...he did an awesome job and didn't use staples, yay! I have lost 40 of the 53ish pounds that I gained during the pregnancy. I believe that most of it was fluid...you wouldn't believe how swollen I was in the hospital. I think that they gave me 8 bags of fluids because I was dehydrated! I still have quite a bit of swelling in my lower legs/feet, but it is slowly resolving. Hopefully I will be back to my pre-pregnancy weight in no time!

All is well here at the hizhouse. The boys are slowly getting on a routine. As much controversy as it brings, we are trying to follow the basic guidelines from Baby Wise. By having two babies, we HAVE to get them on a schedule together or risk being up 24/7. As of now, I am tandem breastfeeding (looks like a freak show) every 3-4 hours. They are waking up to feed on their own in that time frame. They have some wake time after their feedings, and then take a nap together. We follow this cycle until bedtime where we immediately put them in bed after their night feeding. Right now they are in the pack n' play together in our bedroom, but we will eventually move them to their nursery. We've had a few rough nights where they want to party like it's 1999, but overall it hasn't been that bad. I think that we have a lot more patience because we have wanted this for so long.

Here are some pictures from their birth and the last two weeks at home. We just love them so! A huge thanks to family and friends who have brought meals over...we are so grateful!

Our lives will never be the same!

 Laid out after passing out. I rock.

 Proud Daddy!

 Happy St. Patty's Day!

 Anderson...aka Mr. Miyagi or Benjamin Button

 Baney...the Diva