Well, {deep breath} I've put off sharing this story for long enough. Every time I would think about writing...I would stop. I'm not sure why...I think because this was truly the most amazing day of my life. I fear that my words I write in this post can't ever even begin to match the feelings I have in my heart and soul ~ but I will try my best, so that one day Hannah & Emma can read about this most special day.
It was December 26th, the day after Christmas. And that morning when I woke up, I looked at my calendar and saw that I was officially 38 weeks pregnant. Considered FULL TERM for twins! And oh how I felt "full term". My C-section surgery wasn't scheduled until Friday {December 28th} so I had two more days to go.
Justin was scheduled to work 9am to 8pm that day, and I had an ultrasound appointment and a doctor's appointment scheduled at 2pm. Now, in the past Justin had gone to nearly every single appointment with me, but because Christmas was the day before {and we typically had our appts on Tuesdays, Justin's on half days} things were mixed up, and I knew I had to go to my appointment alone...
My friend Julie, had made plans with me the week before to stop by this day for a visit and bring me lunch. I had pretty much been stuck on the couch for the previous two week....feeling kind of bummed out that I couldn't partake in my usual holiday festivities. Julie came over around noon, and she looked somewhat shocked when I answered the door...because well..... my belly was HUGE.
While eating lunch and chatting, Julie asked me...in her quirky little way..."Can, I go to your doc. appt with you?".... I was totally surprised...."Sure, if you really want to, it's going to be really long".... but that was fine with Julie.
So off we went.... starting with the ultrasound. There I laid on a flat bed, with my HUGE belly in the air in all of it's glory. Julie sat next to me, looking a tiny bit scared. The ultrasound tech started her measurements on the babies and she was having a really difficult time doing so. {the farther along the pregnancy, the bigger the babies, the harder it is to get the measurements}. In addition to that, she was interrupted three different times by the doctors with questions {this had never happened before}.
Throughout the ultrasound she kept saying, hmm...these measurements don't seem right, I'm not happy with them. Ultimately was finding that the babies were measuring a pound apart from each other. And they had always been very equal in size before. Her results indicated that Baby A {My Hannah} was a pound less than Baby B {My Emma}. I didn't think much of it, and off we went to my doctor's appointment.
I knew this appt would be rather "intimate" so Julie waited in the lounge while I went in to see my doctor. And in the room, I waited, and waited, and waited....feeling soooo uncomfortable. I couldn't sit or lay or stand, or do anything comfortably. It seemed like I waited forever {which was weird, because I typically never had to wait that long).
In walks my doctor, and she seemed kind of rushed. She was breezing through my chart on her computer...she had always bragged that I was her "super mama" carrying twins this long without complications. She's checking off her list....."Yep, looks good, okay.....alright...uh huh.....". Then she stopped talking for a minute her eyes grew a little bigger as she looked at the screen....she then said...."Change of plans, these babies are coming tonight". I laid there in shock, not saying a word. She explained that there was a "discordance" in the babies sizes. Simply meaning that it was weird that all of a sudden "Baby A" was measuring a full pound less than "Baby B". She said " I need you to go straight to the hospital to get prepped for surgery, I'm not the on doctor tonight, Dr. Bustamante will be taking great care of you". I still laid there in complete silence......what??? What, I was thinking to myself.....the previous four weeks, every time I had an appointment I had wanted to hear her say "it's go time"...but not now, I had kept these babies in place for 38 weeks, what was 2 more days???
She asked me...."Are you okay?". I responded...."Can't we just do another ultrasound and retake the measurements?".. She replied rather sternly..."No, these ARE the measurements, if Baby A is truly weighing a pound less, we need the babies out tonight, to make sure that they are still thriving and getting everything that they need".
Okay, how was I going to argue that??? Although I have to admit, in my mind {Event Planner thoughts kicking in} I kept thinking....no the babies birthday is supposed to be the December 28th, not the day after Christmas. But like I said this whole time, this was one "event", I wasn't in charge of.
My doctor then walked out of the room to call over to the hospital, so they could prepare for the "Starrs" arrival. There I stood in the little way too bright room, half dressed....I picked up my phone. Justin had sent me a text to ask about the babies measurements:
I walked out into the waiting room to find Julie smiling....I said " Can you take me to the hospital?". She laughed and said "Yes, I had a feeling this might happen". I stepped outside and called Justin....He sounded eerily calm and serious. I thought to myself....how sweet, he's trying so hard to stay calm for me". I realized later that he was in shock himself. We had a quick discussion about him leaving work, and stopping by our home to pick up our hospital bag and his camera, he told me he'd be there as soon as possible. I told him to drive carefully and that I wouldn't have the babies without him. Next I called my mom....her voice started cracking, by that time my shock was starting to wear off and my heart was pumping fast.
Next thing I knew Julie was driving me to the hospital {thank goodness for Julie, my guardian angel that day} she kept me calm, and happy. I sent off a few quick text messages to my loved ones, said a prayer....and with Julie by my side walked into the hospital. But not before she shot this last pregnancy photo of me.....wow.
Was I ready or what?
