What a wonderful experience this has been!! To see how happy Avery and Spencer have made their parents has given me such an incredible feeling! Both babies are happy and healthy and are home with Mommy and Daddy. The family will always be a special part of my life and I thank Avery and Spencer's parents for letting me be a part of such an amazing blessing. The attached picture is of the babies and I --- aren't they gorgeous?!!

Wednesday, November 29th at 3:00 AM I woke up with contractions, they were pretty mild but very regular (every 2-3 minutes) I decided to climb into my son's bed (since my son had climbed into mine and left me no room) and go back to sleep. Well, about an hour later I woke again, the contractions still a little stronger so I decided to take a warm bath. After the bath they were still there so I woke DH up and told him, he suggested I try to rest for a few minutes, so I did. The hospital was an hour away and I hated waking the kids up that early and getting them across town to my parents, only to have it (once again) be a false alarm. So by 6:00 they were really strong and I told DH I was going to get ready to go to the hospital. I sat up in bed and felt a gush come out and I panicked. I stood up and there was blood on my sheets so I called the OB and went into the bathroom to pee. While I was on the phone I peed and immediately following blood came out and then a big gush of fluid. Well, I freaked on the phone. I told the OB that my water had never broken before and more importantly I never lost blood like that with my children. The OB told us to get right in. DH called my IP's and told them this was it and my water had broken. We didn't tell them about the blood because they live 5 hours away and we didn't want them to get nervous and speed and have an accident. We just told them to leave then. Since my parents were on their way to watch the kids and I needed to leave right away I called the ambulance and asked my partners to bring me in and DH would follow after my parents got there. The ambulance came and we headed out. Enroute my contractions were still 1 1/2-2 minutes apart so they stepped up their response and we made it in good time.

At the hospital they checked my cervix (I had already been at 5 cm's for that previous week) and I was only 5-6 cm's at that point. DH arrived at the hospital. We waited another couple of hours and the contractions were still pretty strong and very regular but at the exam I was only 7 cm's so they started pitocin. I asked them to please not give me a lot because I wanted to make sure that my IP's could arrive in time. The hospital staff was so great about it, they understood and tried to reassure me that they were only giving me minimal amounts. DH kept calling IP's cell phones to see how far out they were because with the strength of the contractions I didn't think they'd make it. They asked if I would mind an epidural just in case the second baby decided to not come out head first and they had to flip him. He was head down they said sometimes that baby B stretches out when A is delivered and they didn't want me to feel it if they had to turn him or go in and guide him out. So I agreed to the epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and prepped me and I was surprised she let DH stay in the room. Well, I wasn't excited about getting a needle in my back and at this point the contractions were really strong so I told DH if he made any comments about how huge the needle was that he would get knocked upside his head! Poor guy! Then I guess the anesthesiologist was trying to gauge if she had the needle in the right spot and she asked me if it felt like it was in the middle of my back or to one side---well now, I was not a happy camper and I said "what do you mean, can't you see where you put it?" Poor woman! So the epidurals in and a couple minutes later I start feeling very faint. I'm getting hot flashes and my head feels like it's going numb. I tell the nurse something's wrong, that I'm going to pass out and then I lay back. I hear the doctor say something about my pressure being down to 70/40 and to give me some med quickly. They gave me medication to bring my BP back up and I was fine from then on. I couldn't really feel the contractions so DH and I just waited for IP's to arrive. I was still bleeding but they told me it was fine. They did an ultrasound to check the babies and found that Baby A's water had broken but Baby B's hadn't and both were head down and ready! They checked my cervix and it was now at 7-8 cm's.

They moved me to the OR which is where all multiple births happen, just in case (now I know why!) In the OR they checked me again and I was moving quickly,--already 8-9. I asked them to stop the pitocin so that my IP's could make it in time but they said they couldn't but that they wouldn't raise it anymore. DH called IP's several times to see where they were. At this point they were about an hour away so I knew it would be very close. My OB told me I would be ready to push very soon to get the baby in position. I told her I didn't want to push because IP's weren't there. She was so sweet and so were the nurses, they told me that I could do little pushes for a while to prolong it. We watched the clock hoping IP's would make it and my OB brought the hospital scrubs out to the desk for my IP's when they arrived. Then they could just gown up and come in. DH tried to video tape some but the camcorder battery was dead (we didn't think of that!) so he took pictures.

Finally, when I didn't think I could hold out anymore my OB said that IP's had arrived!! Yoohoo!! They gowned up and came in--both of them! I was thrilled that IF decided to come in for the birth because I wasn't sure if he would. They looked so excited and although I was now feeling contractions, I was extremely happy that they both made it to see their babies born. What a wonderful thing.

Then a nurse leaned over and whispered to me that I didn't have to wait to push anymore, that everyone was there and now I could concentrate on having the babies and some good strong pushes. So I did. I pushed but I don't know how many times, not too many though. In between pushes I could see my IP's and they looked so thrilled, it was the best. My DH kept telling me how great I was doing and how close I was. I remember Baby A crowning and I remember thinking how she was probably a huge baby because it really hurt, it burned a lot. The doctor told us that she had hair! I pushed a couple more times and baby Avery came into this world at 3:41 PM with her parents right there to see her!! They brought her over to the warmer and I could see her from where I was, she was just beautiful!! She had a head full of black hair and let out a few dainty little cries. It was so sweet. My IP's went over to take pictures of their new daughter and I rested for a few minutes.

Things get a little fuzzy at this point because everything happened so fast. I remember the OB breaking baby B's water and then I heard the Ob say his heartrate went down to 50 and that he needed to be born. She told the nurses she wanted a vacuum and she told me she wanted me to push really hard because he had to be born now. I remember being so scared that he wouldn't be okay and I just knew I had to push as hard as I could to help him out. The OB used the vacuum and I pushed and baby Spencer joined his sister and his parents at 3:57 PM. I only remember seeing him briefly and thinking how beautiful he was and how happy I was that both babies were okay. Then I remember the OB saying something about delivering the placenta and I started to feel strange. I felt like I had pressure in my chest and I couldn't breathe. I told the OB and she told me that if I could talk I could breathe. Well, I told her that something was wrong, I couldn't breathe and now the back of my neck was numb and so was the back of my head and I was going to pass out. Then I got scared. I thought I was having a stroke and all I could think of was my children and my husband and how I was sure I was dying. I remember my OB saying something about getting anesthesia up to the OR and getting a blood pressure on me. At that point I just remember saying a silent prayer that I would be able to see my children and husband again and I left things up to God and laid back. I remember the OB telling someone (the anesthesiologist I assume) to give me something so I wouldn't remember this and I remember feeling several needles in my arms and thighs and someone squishing my belly and squeezing it over and over again and how horrible it hurt.

I woke up later and had the most horrible contractions ever, they were terrible. The nurses told me that they couldn't stop the hemorrhaging and had given me more pitocin to contract my uterus. I guess when the placenta (the 2 fused together) pulled away it tore and my uterus wasn't contracting like it should have been so the bleeding wasn't being stopped, which is why they were squeezing it. Later my DH told me that one OB was literally scooping blood and clots out of my uterus with her hands. Yucky to think about but I guess it was very necessary. Anyway, I remember the pain being so bad and me telling them that the morphine was only making me sleepy but that I could still feel the contractions. They had started a blood transfusion and I could hear the OB telling my husband about my uterus contracting and how she didn't feel that it would hold up through another pregnancy, without the same thing happening again.

I remember someone telling me that Avery was in the ICU because she swallowed blood on the way out and that they were watching her but that both babies were okay. My IP's brought Spencer over to my bed and he was just gorgeous! Such a perfect baby in every way. And my IP's looked so proud of their new son. I remember someone telling me he weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 inches long and his sister weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces but no one was sure how long she was. We found out later she was 18 inches. That night was very foggy, I remember the contractions were awful and they put me on a morphine pump through the night.

The next day I was feeling a bit better but they said I needed another transfusion since my levels were so low. I felt swollen from all the fluids they gave me to bring my pressure up and I was very sleepy. I remember asking the nurse at 5 AM if I could hold Spencer when he woke up and feed him his bottle. She said she'd bring him in when he woke up. By 5:30 he still wasn't awake and I was just dying to hold him so I asked her to bring him in anyway. She did and I held his little sleeping body and he was just adorable. The emotions that I felt were indescribable. I remember thinking about how happy these two babies were going to make their parents and how wonderful the Holiday Season would be and how, at one time, after two failed transfers I don't think any of us ever thought we'd get to this point, and now here we were with my IP's being blessed with not only a son but also a daughter. Two perfectly healthy beautiful babies. It was so heartwarming to me to think that I had helped them with such a wonderful amazing miracle! Anyway, I held Spencer for over an hour and just snuggled him. He didn't wake up to eat though so I let the nurse take him so I could rest awhile longer.

That day my IP's came to the hospital and midmorning went to visit Baby A in the ICU---she still didn't have a name yet and they were going to decide on one. Two friends from the ambulance came in and were holding Spencer when IF came back and we asked him how she was doing. He said she was doing well but that she now officially had a name. He said they had it down to 3 and they thought "Avery" to be fitting!! That's my last name so of course I was honored and thrilled! So now their children's names were Avery and Spencer.

Right after that IM brought Avery out of the ICU and into my room. She was beautiful!! Even more beautiful then I remembered from the birth! She had a headful of black hair and she was so dainty--like a little porcelain doll, that's all I could think of. It was so great to see both babies together and with their parents. It was amazing to watch my IP's hold and feed their babies. I could just see how happy they were and how much love they had for the babies. My DH and kids came up that night and they all held the babies and we took pictures. They have been so good through the pregnancy and they so much wanted to see the babies, it was wonderful that they got to spend some time with the babies and their mommy and daddy. It helped them understand why the babies weren't coming home with us and where they were going.

Overall this has been an amazing journey. I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing blessing.

I wish Avery and Spencer's Mommy and Daddy so much happiness as they start their new lives as a family!