36 Weeks!

And they are here! It's been a crazy couple of days, for sure.

Last Monday I started experiencing crazy itching, including on my palms and feet. Since I couldn't sleep, I Googled. And saw that it could be cholestasis, which would mean my liver wasn't functioning properly, which could be bad for the babies. I made an appointment to see my doctor on Thursday.

At that appointment, my doctor listened to my symptoms. She rechecked my blood pressure. And then she told me to go to labor and delivery, pronto. It was very likely I had pre-eclampsia, in which case they would deliver the baby.

After a bit of monitoring, with my blood pressure near 145/99 (bad), they asked me when the last time I ate was. I got excited, stupidly thinking that meant they would feed me lunch (I tend to end up in L&D at mealtimes). But no, they had to wait six hours from my last meal before they could c-section me. It was happening.

And so began the phone calls. The doctors and nurses had been talkking like it could be several hours before there was a spot in the operating room, since there were a set of triplets and another set of twins also being delivered. And then they had me sign some forms, and said we'd be going in within 20 minutes.

Cue panic attack. Not really. I just went into a surreal zoned out mode as they did the spinal (a very odd feeling but not as painful as expected), attached IVs, and got me prepped. Blue came in all in scrubs, which was kind of adorable. I wish I had a picture of that. He was awesome at distracting me, and our conversation about Star Trek and baseball ended up including the surgeon, who was extremely nice and rather funny. Not what I expected!

I asked when they'd be beginning, and they told me they already had. Then it go weird feeling. Tugging, pulling, but zero pain (phew!).

And then I heard Baby Boy cry, and I totally teared up. He was here! He was okay! Baby Girl soon followed. Blue went to check on them as they stretched out under the heat lights, basking in the warmth.

As soon as they were done stitching me up, Baby Girl was placed in my arms, Baby Boy on my lap, and we got wheeled to recovery. They were both 19 inches long, with Baby Girl weighing 5lbs 1oz, and Baby Boy 5lbs 4oz. Their ultrasound weights from last Monday were accurate!

I got placed on a magnesium drip to help with my blood pressure, which ended up making me feel like I had the flu. Not fun. That was done after 24 hours, at which point I was able to actually focus on people again and really comprehend what people were saying. They had a good time laughing at me.

Unfortunately Baby Girl ended up in the NICU due to low blood sugar. She is still there, working on eating on her own, getting fed through a tube about half the time. Her sugar level is better, but now she is jaundiced, so she spends a lot of time under the bilirubin lamp to help her liver process bilirubin. We've had a great time bonding with Baby Boy, but it's been so sad visiting our daughter in her little incubator. Makes you feel quite helpless. We do get to hold her, and we just soak up that time with her. We can't wait to have her join us and her brother at home, hopefully by the end of the week.

And now, a few photos:

Blue feeds Baby Boy

Little Baby Girl

Baby Boy

I think she looks like me as a baby.

Me as a baby