Oct. 15, 2008 - Labor Day

Many of you have already seen the photos and heard the news that the Tower Twins arrived on Sunday, Oct. 12th!

I had been having contractions for a few days though they were very irregular. Sunday they were regular for a couple hours, irregular for a couple hours, back and forth then tapered off...Bryan and I agreed it wasn't going to happen until a weekday.

I got ready for bed and laid down at 9p. At 9:07p, I had a contraction and got up to get my watch so that I could time it. As soon as I got into the bathroom my water broke and I yelled for Bryan. He immediately called the Dr. who said she’d meet us at the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital (after getting my bag, car seats, etc into the car), it was 9:53p. We had pre-registered during our birthing classes so I was immediately whisked away to Labor & Delivery. It is important here to point out that my contractions were now regular and coming every 6 minutes. A quick ultrasound confirmed that the girls were still in their breech and transverse positions so after signing some consent forms, I was taken to the OR while Bryan was getting into scrubs.

The contractions were quite painful so I was thankful an epidural was the first step in the OR. Oh, thank heaven for drugs! The effect was almost immediate and I was happy to trade labor pains for the shakes. There were so many people in the room with us – 2 neonatologists, 2 nursery nurses, 2 OB nurses, my OB, 2 pediatricians, etc.

Bryan came in wearing yellow scrubs and a huge smile. The next thing I hear is “you’re going to feel a little pressure” (I didn’t) and Baby A – Jensen Teresa – joined this world quickly followed by Baby B – Ariana Kathleen (Ariana pronounced “R-e-on-a” with a nickname of “R-e”.

Jensen was born at 5 lbs. 3 oz and 18.5 inches and Ariana was 5 lbs. 11 oz and 18.25 inches. We were surprised how small they were since the maternal fetal specialist we’ve been seeing predicted .5 lbs growth per week in the third trimester.

The rest of the night was a blur.

Monday we were visited by the hospital’s marketing representative who told us that Jensen & Ariana were the first twins to be born at the new Cedar Park Regional Medical Center and asked if they could invite the “media” in for an interview. What do you know: instant stage parents! The girls will be on the cover of the Cedar Park Citizen on Thursday (10/16) and in the Hill Country Gazette on Friday (10/17). Now, these are tiny papers but come on…famous within 4 days of birth!

We’re staying another night in the hospital because the pediatrician wants us to fatten the girls up before they are released. It’s typical for babies to lose up to 10% of their body weight in the first day of life but the Tower Twins both lost 13% of their body weights. We started supplementing breast milk with formula and the Dr. expects the girls to gain the necessary weight by tomorrow.

Now you know the who, what, when, where and here are the feelings that go along: absolute and utter amazement. I haven’t been scared even once since the girls arrived on Sunday night (if you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know that I’ve been scared a lot during this process). I am so excited and cannot imagine life without these adorable people – they, truly, complete me.