The Day After the Girls' First Hurricane

We were really lucky and survived Hurricane Sandy unscathed. We never even lost power! The lights flickered on and off all day and night, but other than that, we had tons of rain and strong winds. The girls have officially experienced their first hurricane!

Today we are just taking it easy, as most things are still closed, even the doctors. The girls were scheduled to have their 2 week checkup, but due to the weather, the doctor's office is closed. We are rescheduled for later this week, and we can't wait to see how much our girlies have grown!

Here are some snapshots of the girls today:

Our First Week

Yesterday the girls turned 1 week old! 

It feels like just yesterday we were holding them for the first time.

We have had so much fun getting to know them this past week!

Birth Story Part II

After they set up the Operating Room, they immediately had me start pushing. 

Vivian Alice arrived at 4:40 pm.

Here she is getting all cleaned up, and about to be weighed.

Vivian getting her footprints taken.

Vivian and me meeting for the first time. As you can tell, I was a crying mess! 

They quickly took Vivian away and had me start pushing again. 

Helen Morgan arrived at 4:54 pm, just 14 minutes later! 

Helen with Nick, getting some sweet kisses as he meets and holds her for the first time!

Helen getting all cleaned up and about to get her footprints taken.

Me with both my girls, together for the first time! 

Our first family picture! 

Nick and I overwhelmed with love and so happy with our new little family of four.

In total bliss with my two girls. Vivian kept her eyes shut pretty much the entire time, but as you can see, Helen was very alert from minute one! 

Helen and Vivian, ready to be wheeled to our recovery room. Sisterly bonding. :)

Last shot of me, in our Operating Room, about to be wheeled to our recovery room.

The day went so fast, and it was so amazing! Having them was one of the proudest and most incredible moments of my life! I feel so lucky to have had my amazing husband, Nick, with me throughout this experience! I couldn't  have done this without him, he was so supportive and loving the entire time! We are so in love with our little ladies!

Birth Story Part I

October 18, 2012 @ 8am

Nick and I showed up for my induction-can you see my excitement mixed with extreme tiredness from carrying twins full term? :)

In our Labor & Delivery room. Our nurse, Ginny, is attaching the heart rate monitors to my belly. She also attached a contraction monitor.

The monitor tracking the girls' heart rates and my contractions. The two lines above are their heart rates (Vivian is the yellow line and Helen is the green line). The line below is tracking my contractions. You can see that they were still not very strong or frequent at this point. 

Waiting for the Pitocin to start working in order for them to be able to break my water. In the background is one of our awesome nurses, Ruby. We had the best medical team, they were so amazing!

Nick and I waiting excitedly. He was so supportive, I couldn't have asked for a better person to help me through the contractions as they rapidly increased.  

This picture is of us is right after I received my epidural. I thought that the choice to receive an epidural was going to be really tough to make-it wasn't. My contractions had gotten so strong that it was causing me to vomit and my body to shake from the pain. The Pitocin medicine they gave me to induce labor causes the contractions to be stronger than usual, and since things were moving so quickly, we had to make the epidural decision pretty quickly. The nurses did say that it is unheard of for women with inductions to not get an epidural since the contractions become so strong, which made me feel really good about my decision to have it done. We also were told that if I didn't get an epidural and I ended up having to have a c-section, they would have to put me under full anesthesia. I definitely did not want this, I wanted to be fully alert for the arrival of the girls! Let's just say that the epidural is a marvel of modern science! :) It allowed me to go without any other pain medication!

My parents were able to come and keep us company as we waited for the girls' arrival. It was so nice to have them there!

Headed into the Operating Room! With twins, it is hospital policy that once you are at 10 cm, they take you into an Operating Room. There is such a high chance of complications leading to c-section that being in the Operating Room already makes it so much safer for all of us involved. In my case, my labor progressed so quickly, that even the nurses were shocked! Less than 6 hours from the start of my induction, they were prepping me to deliver the girls! 

Timeline:

8:00am-Check in to Labor & Delivery-2 cm dilated

9:15am-Start my Pitocin to induce my labor

11:00am-Vivian's (Baby A's) water is broken

12:00pm-Receive my epidural

1:00pm-6 cm dilated

2:00pm-9 cm dilated

3:00pm-Start pushing and are moved to the Operating Room

Meet Vivian and Helen!

On October 18, 2012, Vivian Alice and Helen Morgan were born!

Vivian Alice

born @ 4:40pm

6 lbs 9 oz, 20.5 inches

Helen Morgan

born @ 4:54pm

4 lbs 10 oz, 18.25 inches

We are so excited they are here! They are both healthy and happy. We feel so blessed that neither of them had to go to the NICU!