It really was just another normal 9 months pregnant type of day. It was a Saturday. We slept in some, had breakfast burritos (duh). Joel had this compelling urge to tackle lots of household chores/duties like yard work, cleaning, oil changes, etc. I was happy to stand by and watch :) we knew we had limited days off together before the babies came, but no way did we ever think this was THE last day.
Around lunch time we ran a few errands. All day I had felt nothing but just SUPER pregnant, a little uncomfortable at times and the heat seemed to be bothering me more than usual, but other than that I felt completely fine and normal all day. We had somewhere to be that evening so around 3:30pm we crawled into bed for a little afternoon nap. Around 4:45pm I woke up to start getting ready for dinner, went to the bathroom, and then just like that my water broke right on the bathroom floor (convenient). They say it'll be obvious and boy was it obvious, although I still found myself questioning whether or not that was actually IT. I remember this crazy/calm feeling all at once, on one hand being totally shocked and caught off gaurd and the other feeling like this just made perfect sense to be happening right then. I called for Joel and he hopped right up and into action, of course. While my hospital bag was mostly packed and ready, his wasn't even started. So he began putting together a bag as I called my doctors office and mom (to verify this actually WAS my water breaking). I was so concerned with trying to avoid an unnecessary trip to Triage, so I gave it some time to truly be sure I knew this was it. We slowly/quickly continued to get ready and be sure we had everything and left for the hospital around 5:30pm. We got to the hospital and were checked in around 5:45pm and by 6:00pm they had confirmed I was in labor and had scheduled us in the OR for 8:00pm.
Just like that, we were going to meet our boys. The next couple of hours were a blur with doctors and nurses coming in and out, paperwork, and even some very mild labor contractions beginning. I remember feeling like waiting 2 hours for 8:00 would never get here, and then next thing you know it we're being wheeled over to the OR. It wasn't until that moment they separated Joel and I to take me in for prep when it all became real. As I was wheeled into the OR a flood of emotions and feelings came over me. It was a little of everything... some panic, lots of excitement, mostly just "this is real, this is happening, they're about to hand me two babies, whoa whoa whoa".
We did all the surgery prep and the lovely spinal block, which they had trouble getting in the right spot and KILLED like a beast. I remember a sweet nurse telling me to hug onto her as they had me bent over the table, I'm so thankful for that nurse. In a whirlwind of scary operating room stuff going on and that awful spinal block not going well, she was such a sense of peace and comfort that I desperately needed. Next they began monitoring the babies heartbeats as a standard procedure before beginning the surgery. All the sudden I remember hearing my doctor quickly and firmly saying "Those are decelerations. Everybody scrub up, we're taking them NOW." The team instantly dispersed throughout the room and I felt the intensity pick up. All the while I'm sitting there wondering when they're going to bring Joel in!! I'd gotten to the point where I could clearly tell they were beginning the surgery and was about to ask where my husband was when I heard a nurse say "has anyone brought DAD in yet?!" Thank the Lord because Joel walked in right as my doctor had begun pushing down on Baby A to get him into position for delivery. I'll never forget that feeling of peace the second I heard his voice and saw his face standing beside me. Even though they'd already begun and were well underway, I felt like "ok NOW they can start, NOW it's gonna be ok.".
It felt like only a matter of seconds before I heard my sweet first born son's cry. There is absolutely nothing in the world like that feeling. Every fear, doubt, worry went away the second I heard that healthy boy screaming out his first breaths of life. Looking up and finally seeing one of those little tiny humans that we had waited all this time to meet. There's just nothing like that, an emotion and feeling I wish we could bottle up and save to experience over and over again. Not long after (about a minute to be exact) I got to experience that feeling one more time when Baby B made his entrance into the world, screaming just like his brother. Instantly I felt so lucky, as if hearing and seeing that first baby wasn't enough here I was with TWO of them. I've felt the same every day since.
Next I remember hearing and seeing the boys over to my left, where they were taken into another part of the room with the NICU team to be evaluated, weighed, cleaned up, etc. Joel was over with them and was able to cut their umbilical cords and take lots of pictures of their first few minutes of life. I heard lots of updates and commentary from Joel and the doctors and nurses, "healthy babies!" "Good size!" "Doing great!". They quickly brought each baby over to me for skin-to-skin time, my absolute favorite memory of the whole experience. The babies hadn't stopped screaming since coming out, but the second they were placed on my chest they went instantly quiet as they melted into me. They stole my heart right then and there. I watched their little faces and tiny bodies move in perfect unison with my breathing and I just remember telling each of them over and over again "you're my baby boy, you're my baby boy". I'll never forget those first few moments holding my boys. Being a c section delivery this skin-to-skin time was super important to me, and I was so thankful the hospital and team of nurses/doctors make it a priority for c section deliveries, as that's not the case with every hospital. They brought Baby A over first and I remember Joel telling me "this is definitely August". We already had a feeling who was who based on their little personalities in the womb, so we had the doctors be sure to tell us which they pulled out in which order so we could see if their names matched what they looked like (just to be safe). We both knew right away who was who, Baby A was Auggie and B was Sawyer.
After I got plenty of time snuggling my boys, they went with Joel to the recovery room where I would soon meet back up with them after finishing up in the OR. What was surely only a matter of minutes felt like an eternity being away from them. But as I was wheeled into the recovery room I remember seeing Joel holding both of our boys waiting for me, what a sight to see. The recovery room felt like it was a half hour at the most, little did we know we'd actually been in there for over an hour... And it had already been about 2 hours since the boys were even born! Time passed SO quickly. Our poor families and some friends had been waiting all that time. We were finally moved to our stay room and able to start introducing the boys to everyone.
We thank God, the giver of all good things, for our precious boys and our health/safety throughout pregnancy and delivery. We're undeserving of it all, but thankful to know The God who graciously blesses His people far beyond what we could ever imagine.
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