The Sternscapades: The Birth Story

I haven't had a chance to write out the birth story until now, As you might imagine I have had my hands quite full since last week and getting on the computer to compose a post was pretty much out of the question. But I've carved a few moments to write....So here it goes;

I went into early labor on Thursday July 31st, in the afternoon ... Mom and I, in effort to try to bring on labor for the two weeks prior had been completely unsuccessful and I'd come to terms with the idea that these girls might never leave the womb.... We set out to do a little slow waddle shopping at the mall, we visited some stores and then decided to stop in and grab a small bite to eat, about halfway through lunch I noticed my contractions were about every five minutes or so, as to not alarm my mom or to get my hopes up, I just continued to eat and on our way back to the car, I said, right so my contractions have been 5 minutes apart since lunch! We headed back home and waited another hour where the contractions stayed consistent and ultimately Jonathan and I went to the hospital to get checked out.... they monitored me and confirmed I was in early labor, after the on call doctor for my office already happened to be at the hospital she stopped in and and decided to schedule an induction for the next morning at 5am. I was super thrilled to hear this news! After 37 weeks of carrying these girls in my tummy and being 4cm dilated for almost two weeks, I was READY... there just wasn't a lot of space for anything else.... uncomfortable had reached a new state of meaning for me on a daily basis.

We were sent home to "rest" for the night... and come back in the morning. I didn't sleep a wink, but took the time to at least do my best to rest my body.... as I got up that morning and was fixing some toast and smoothie before heading in, my water miraculously broke on it's own! All that waiting and here the day of my induction my water broke on its own anyways, it was meant to be!

I resisted having this picture taken, but now I'll admit I'm glad I have it. Literally right before walking about the door to go to the hospital. 37 weeks and 1 day.

We headed on in for our induction appointment feeling confident that things were going to go perfectly and we'd be meeting our girls SOON.... Of course things rarely go as planned with labor, and twin babies... After 15 hours of laboring, my contractions were strong and closer together (with the help of pitocin), but completely unproductive & we were faced with a choice to continue trying for a natural birth or move forward with a c-section, since there was no medical reason that labor wasn't progressing. After many tears, and with a heavy heart I thought about it and truly believed that the signs were not promising, and the volume of monitoring and additional measures that were being taken because of my prolonged labor the image in my head of the birth story I'd hoped for just wasn't materializing. I just couldn't fathom having our girls stressed through another 14+ hours of labor.... so together Jon and I decided it was best to opt for the c-section.

My doctor, the sweetest most amazing doctor, missed his camping trip and stayed to perform my c-section that night, I am so grateful for his gift of time and compassion for what was an extremely challenging decision to make, during my spinal I was scared and worried and he stood in front of me put his arms around my shoulders and let me put my head on his chest and he assured me all was going to be ok, and I was making a good decision. Ultimately, he was right, everything did go smoothly.. and while not the image of birth I had in my head, I wouldn't change anything about the moment I first heard their cries from behind the curtain and seeing how excited Jon was to show me the picture of Samantha on our camera till they could bring her and Summer around for me to see and touch them. It was the most amazing sound of my life, and some of the most solidifying moments of our marriage to me... feeling Jonathan sit next to me, and squeeze my hand through this time was an indescribable act of love. When I was finally able to see the girls, I just couldn't believe it, they were here, they were mine, and I made these magnificent human beings, TWO of them.

Samantha Gale 8:16pm at 5lbs 5oz 18.5inches long (left)

Summer Ann 8:18pm at 6lbs 2oz 19.25inches long (right)