Welcome to the World, Babies

Much to everyone's surprise, except mine, we made it to our scheduled c-section on December 28th. We had to be to the hospital bright and early at 5am. Since we had such an early call time, we dropped the kids and dogs off at their destinations for a little mini vacation. Rob and I were able to sneak out for our last prebabies date where we discussed baby names and ate way too much Italian food. We called it a night early and were home by 9. No surprise, I had a tough time sleeping, and 4am came around way too quickly.

I felt very nervous and not ready. I'm not sure if it was not ready for the babies or nerves about the c-section, but I definitely was uneasy about the fact that the big day was finally here. It all seemed very unreal to me. I do recall having the same feeling when we arrived to the hospital for my induction with H and B. 

By about 7:05, I was being wheeled to the OR. This experience was so much different than the first time. With the exception of briefly getting sick when my spinal was started, it was an enjoyable experience. I was able to talk to the doctors, nurses, and Rob. It was so laid back compared to our first delivery.

At 7:33 am Baby A was born. A little girl, still nameless, weighing in at 6lbs8oz and measuring 19.75" long. She got an 8 and a 9 on her APGARs and cried as soon as she came out. Baby B was not ready to come out, so they had to reposition and make a second attempt for his delivery. Baby boy was born at 7:35am, measuring 19" long and weighing in at a whopping 7lbs13oz. He was clearly stealing all of the food. He scored a 9 and a 9 on his APGARs. He cried for a good 3-4 minutes before settling down. He was not ready to come out.

As soon as I heard our daughter cry, every worry I had vanished. All the thoughts of "What were we thinking," and "How are we going to handle 4 kids under 4," went out the window. We had two new babies, and it was the best feeling ever. 

I was able to see both babies right away, and Rob was able to watch them get cleaned up and measured before holding them both in the OR while I got stitched up. Again, very different from our experience with H and B. I was wheeled back to recovery, where Rob, the babies, and I all stayed until we went back to our room an hour and a half later. 

Both babies took to nursing right away. Even though I nursed H and B for 21 months, it took me a little while to get the hang of handling a newborn and getting them latched. Thankfully the babies acted like seasoned professionals. Even though she nursed immediately after delivery, we had some issues with baby girl's blood sugar. They had to take her to the nursery to try and get her to take formula. She spit it up both times they tried feeding her, and soon enough we had the pediatrician in our room talking to us about the strong possibility of her going to NICU. Needless to say, we were pretty worried. Hearing that your 4 hour old baby may need to go to NICU and get an IV placed is not what any new parent wants to hear. Thankfully a NICU nurse suggested suctioning her throat to clear any mucus, so our nurse did that and brought her back to me so I could nurse her. That brought her levels back up to where they needed to be. They were still borderline over the next 24 hours, but both pediatricians said unless she became symptomatic, we didn't need to be concerned. Thank goodness!!

Aside from that hurdle, the rest of our stay was easy breezy. Harrison and Brooke came up to visit around lunchtime on Monday. They were both ready to hold the babies immediately. By this time we had decided on first names, so Brooke got to hold Scarlett and Harry held Clark. We offered for them to switch babies, but according to Harrison, "boys stay with boys." They've stayed mostly true to that statement when spending time with their siblings over the last few days. Brooke's first words to Scarlett were "I love you." She has continued to be the sweetest things with both babies. Both kids have been proving themselves to be the best big siblings.

After being interrupted ever hour or so on Monday night, we knew we wanted to get home as soon as possible. We mentioned wanting to get home as early as possible to one of the nurses, and she informed us that we could probably go home Wednesday morning. We thought we'd be staying until Thursday, so this was welcome news. Thankfully on Wednesday morning the babies and I both got the clear to go home, so we were out of there by 2:00 on Wednesday. 

The big kids and dogs got dropped off that evening, and one of our friends was kind enough to bring us dinner. It was great to be home. Rob was able to have the entire week off, so we've been spending lazy days on the couch watching movies and snuggling babies. We've also been taking full advantage of the bounce house that Santa brought H and B. 

Clark Warren and Scarlett Rose are now of their 7th day of life and they're doing great. We are already completely off of formula, fingers crossed, and they've had a couple 4-5 hour stretches of sleep at night. Mostly they're up every 2-3 hours though. They both hate diaper changes and love their Graco loungers. Scarlett has very petite features and slightly resembles her sister. Mostly though we aren't sure who she looks like yet. Clark has killer cheeks and looks identical to Harrison. We are so in love, and it seems silly to me that I was every worried about bringing these two home. 

Rob is back to work tomorrow, and the big kids are back to school and activities. I know life is going to change drastically come Monday, but for right now things are perfect. Welcome to the family Clark and Scarlett! You are both so loved and an absolute joy to have home!