To Read {Part One} Click Here.
So there I was, in
the waiting area of Chandler Regional Hospital. The
lounge was festive, decorated with a Christmas tree and lights....
which I found to be comforting. Justin was on his way, my family was on their
way, Justin's brother Shannon (who lives in state) was on his way. Fairly
quickly they checked me in and set me up in Triage, again with Julie by my
side. There I slipped on my hospital gown and again I was so
thankful that Julie was with me, as I remember my fingers were fumbling as I
tried getting a knot out of the gown. {as Julie got it out}
Soon after Justin
arrived, I remember hearing his voice before I saw his face. He was
saying my name to one of the nurses and I instantly felt calmed. He walked in
the room and kissed me and hugged Julie. I could see that his eyes were red and
his hands were shaking. He was worried about our little "Baby
A". I told him that I felt pretty strongly that it was just an inaccurate
ultrasound and that everything was fine.
My nurse asked me when the last time I
ate, "Noon" I replied. A few moments later she
returned and informed me that the surgery would be at 8pm, as they wanted at
least 8 hours in between my last meal. So at that time we had about 3
hours of "wait" time. Justin called to update our families,
in case they wanted to eat dinner before they got to the hospital.
Nope, mom wanted to come and see me beforehand. And my nurse was
kind of enough to let her come back {usually they don't let any family members,
other than your spouse in Triage}. My mom came in and kissed
and hugged us both. She said she was surprised by how
"calm" I was. {I knew I was ready, and soooo excited to
meet my babies}.
They next three hours
seemed like 30 minutes to both Justin and myself. Medical staff had
been popping in from time to time...getting me prepped and filling me with
fluid.
When all of sudden
the nurse told me, okay it's time. "Would
you like a wheelchair or would you like to walk?"
"Umm... I think I'm okay to walk, I guess" I replied. As
soon as I took my first step, I realized my feet were shaking, my knees were
wobbly and I couldn't control it. We walked past Dr. Bustamante, she was
sitting at the nurses station, completely kicked back and relaxed, I remember
this helped to relax me too. If she wasn't nervous, I'll be okay.
Right before I walked
into to surgery I remember Justin said "wait" {as he knew he
had to wait outside, while they set me all up for surgery}. He then gave
me a big hug and kiss....I'm so thankful he thought to do that, after all it
was the last time it would ever be, just the two of us.
Justin then waited outside the
operating room to be called in. My mom, dad, brother, and my brother in
law all waiting in the hallway.
I remember walking into the operating
room and thinking that it looked more modern than I imagined, and thinking that
it was a lot smaller than I imagined. I looked down at the operating table
and thought wow, it's so tiny compared to the hospital bed. At that time
the
anesthesiologist told me to go ahead and
"straddle" the operating table. I remember panicking
thinking....
What? Umm...have you seen the size of my belly, I can't even
cross my legs, much less swing my leg high enough to get it over the
table? The nurse must of seen the look of fear on my face and she
came running over to the table to help me. She then hugged me during the
spinal. I remember feeling so comforted by her. The spinal was really
no big deal... I don't really remember it hurting. I just remember
instantly
feeling my legs go numb. At that time the
anesthesiologist said
"hurry
up hurry up and scoot down on the table". I remember
thinking....geesh, couldn't you have told me that
before you did the spinal?
After that I was
pretty much in la la land. They finally allowed Justin in the room, and by this
time my hands and arms were shaking uncontrollably. I don't know if it
was because of the medicine or if it was nerves....then all of a sudden........
We heard Hannah's cry. I
instantly yearned to comfort her. The doctor held her up so we
could see her and I remember thinking...wow, she looks so beautiful. Her little
arms were reached out to us and her little faced was scrunched up...and within
mere seconds later... we heard our little Emma. Her cry was a little more
faint and deeper than her sisters. We then saw Emma, she was beautiful and
perfect too.
And
all of sudden, we were parents......
Hannah Jane Starr was born at 8:27
And Emma Louise Starr was
born within the same minute at 8:27pm.
The babies were not a
pound a part, there was simply a 2oz difference.
The
next thing I see is Justin being handed our baby girls, the nurses said they
were as healthy as could be. At this point, our Dr. had even grabbed
Justin's fancy camera and started shooting photos! {Again, I remember thinking,
well everything must be okay}.
Justin held on to
those baby girls like he was meant to.... his entire life.
I felt instantly like the babies
recognized our voices, they knew we were mom and dad.
I wanted to hold them
so badly, I didn't have any clue that I was still in surgery.
Everything went by so
incredibly fast. The next thing we knew they were wheeling me out of the
operating room with Justin and the babies right behind me. They rolled me
right past our family {I had no idea I would see them} and kept moving me
straight into the recovery room. Justin and the babies however got to
stop and greet the family...
And for the very
first time, my parents met their Granddaughters and were told their sweet
names: Hannah Jane {Jane named after my Grandma} and Emma Louise {Louise named
after Justin's Mom}.
And also in the
moment, Shannon {Justin's brother} and Chase {My brother} got to meet their
nieces.
And well...they were just..........perfect.
Just the most precious little
faces....full of wonder at only minutes old.
And in the recovery
room...I was finally able to hold my babies for the first time. In
that moment I experienced more joy than I could have ever imagined
possible. I was completely in my own world...there could have been a
parade going on right in front of us and I would have never noticed.
I was finally able to
see, touch, and feel the warmth of my babies. I've never known life could be so happy,
truly. Finally, I was a mom. I had
wanted this so badly for so long....so much
that I feared that it might not happen. And it did, it happened....twice,
at the same time. What did I ever do to deserve this? My prayers
had been answered.
I just couldn't get in enough smooches.... and they smelled like heaven.
After awhile, it was time for the
babies to go off to the "beauty parlor"...where they had their first
baths and such.
Just after midnight...they allowed us
to be moved from the recovery room up to our official hospital room.
I'll never forget, just as we were
getting wheeled out of the recovery room {babies laying in bed with me with
stocking hats on their little heads} I heard my mom's voice...at the nurses’
station...saying my name..."My daughter is Jennifer Norris {she
actually said Norris, my maiden name which I thought was cute}..."she's
been in recovery for over 3 hours, is everything okay?" Right
at the moment I said "Hi Mom". She looked so relieved as she walked
over to us.... I told her we were headed up to our room and to come up in 20
minutes after they got us all settled in.
Well....I think it was 5
minutes later...that they came walking in our room, so eager to hold
the babies.
And the babies couldn't have been happier to be loved on.
Our precious little daughters were finally here. True perfection, pure miracles.
