Happy 6th Birthday Emily and Ally!
6 years ago today my water broke early in the morning. It had already been an interesting pregnancy: spotting, an ultrasound at 13 weeks revealing the twins ("What do you mean there are two babies?"), another ultrasound the next month showing two girls and then so many ultrasounds after that I lost count. Plus I had kidney stones and pre-term labor at 26 weeks that ended me up in the hospital for five days. So at 33 weeks and a few days, I was nervous.
We drove down to the hospital and yep, Emily's water sack had broken. Greg's parents arrived shortly after to take Zach (who was 16 months old at the time). We were given two options: start a pitocin drip to start labor or stay in the hospital on bed rest and pump fluids until labor started naturally. Since I'm not one to lie around hospitals and we didn't have someone to watch Zach for who knew how long, we decided on the pit drip.
The rest of the day passed easily, I was given an epidural early just in case an emergency c-section was needed at any point. Around 4 or so in the afternoon, Emily's vitals started dropping. They were concerned about pressure on her umbilical cord and actually inserted water to help elevate it. Finally at 4:51 pm, she was born, 4lbs 4oz. Ally was born 3 minutes later, 4lbs 12oz.
While they were in no immediate danger, both had breathing problems and were on and off oxygen for several days. They were fed through a tube for a couple of days until their suck reflex kicked in. One of the hardest things I've ever done was go home without them 2 days later. They stayed in the NICU for a total of 19 days, over Christmas and New Years.
And now six years later, they are healthy cheerful little girls. Their check-up yesterday went well, both are 45lbs, Em's 3'7", Ally's 3'8 1/2" (Ally's always been a tad taller). We had their party on Sunday, first swimming at the Y's indoor pool and then pizza and cake at home. Oh and a pinata! hehe
I can't believe it's been six years. This seems like just yesterday:
Emily (in front) and Ally, 14 days old
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