My girls arrived! Sophie and Marina's birth story!

They were born last Wednesday(22nd) at 38 weeks at 444 and 445 pm... here's the birth story:

Matt and I dropped the younger boys off at school and headed to the hospital for our 8:00 appointment. The plan was to attempt to break my water to induce labor since my doctor felt it was unsafe to use induction meds with me having had a previous c-section and being pregnant with twins -- my uterus was extremely distended and there was a possibility of uterine rupture. We were both excited to get a L&D nurse we'd had during one of our short visits -- Holly -- who is a doula and the most upbeat and positive person I've ever met! She knew we were coming in and was excited to get to help us birth these girls (she had "dibs" on us ), plus her experience as a doula was just SO wondeful and helpful for me through the day. Anyway, after getting all hooked up with my IV and the monitors, my doctor came in, checked me and said immediately, "oh yeah, we can do this..." Apparently, I'd *finally* made some progress since my appt the day before (when he said if he had to attempt to break my water, he wasn't sure he'd be able to). So he tried to break my water at that point --- I was told this would be the most uncomfortable part of my day, and they were *almost* right... unfortunately, Marina was not close enough to the cervix to reach the sack, so we had to give up for the time being. My doctor was pleased that I was contracting and asked us to go walking for the next 2 hours to trry to get Marina to drop lower, so off to the hallways we went

It was boring, and the contractions were uncomfortable while walking (good sign!), but after 2 hours, I was dilated to 2 and about 70% effaced -- my doctor said that my cervix was really stretchy and was impressed that I was actually in labor at that point (he said that trying to break the water wasn't what caused me to dilate, that my body just finally decided it was time) -- so of course we were excited, but knew we had a long day in store... 3 hours later, and after walking many laps in L&D, my doctor returned to make one final grueling and failed attempt to break my water -- he actually joked about being up at my tonsils! The problem was still that Marina was able to move back, and even though he was close, he just couldnt quite get the hook to snag the water. I might as well admit that THAT was the worst part of my day -- I've gone through labor, vag. deliveries and c-sections and never experienced pain like that 3rd set of tries!!! I was beat and my doctor was less hopeful at that point. I happily opted for a c-section then because I KNEW I wasn't going to let him come at me with that thing again!! He admitted to "picking on me" harder than he had with any other patient, b/c he knew how badly I wanted the vag. delivery, and he kept apologizing for not being successful. I was emotional then, just grateful to know that we would meet our girls soon and glad to be done! We called our moms, who went to pick up the boys, and the 5 of them got there in time to say hi and give hugs before I went into the OR. Getting the spinal wasnt too bad (easier than previous epidurals, actually) and I didn't chatter this time like I did with Gabe's (yay!). The only bad thing was that Matt had to wait outside until I was prepped, and he'd been supporting me all day, so I felt a bit weird without him (this was especially where I was thankful for Holly b/c she acted like a BFF and made me stay really positive).

When it was time, Matt came in the room and the doctor got down to business. In almost no time, I heard "here comes baby A!" and then I heard nothing -- I swear it felt like minutes passed when it was actually only seconds, and I asked DH "where's the cry? WHERE's her CRY?" and then I heard the best baby cry I've ever heard in my life and tears started rolling (they are now, too, as I write this and remember it!) Marina has some serious lungs! Then not really even a minute later we heard "and here comes baby B" and Sophie was born! Immediately we could tell them apart as her cry was much higher pitched and calmer The next comment was something about me knowing how to make big babies. DH, like me, was behind the curtain and didn't see the births, but soon was called over to take pics of them, and right after he came back to me, they brought him the girls to hold and show me -- it was instant love from both of us and I was choked up to see the tears in Matt's eyes. I don't think I've ever seen him so proud or so in love -- in that instant, he was a changed man! I got to kiss them one at a time while I was on the table, and then I just watched him hold them both while they finished working on me. Everyone in the room was so positive and encouraging, I honestly could not have asked for a better experience. The girls were put in my arms and we were wheeled back to L&D, where Holly and another nurse immediately showed me how to tandem-feed and my girls got to nurse right away (before weights, bath, anything!) Later, they were bathed in the room with us and finally weighed -- Marina was a whopping 7 lbs 9 ounces and Sophie was 7 lbs 4 oz!!! Marina was 20 inches long, and Sophie was 19 1/2. I had 2 singleton-sized babies!! (Also their apgars from earlier were 8,9 and 8,8.) Not long after, the boys got to meet their sisters as did our moms, and I suppose it's needless to say that everyone was in awe of them We spent a little while with them and then they left and it was just us. We were moved into our regular room around 11 that night...the girls were with us the entire time! We spent 4 days there b/c we could - and were actually encouraged to. We had plenty of visitors but were never overwhelmed, so I was relieved about that. Now we are home and sleep deprived but I wouldn't change a thing -- I can't get over how blessed we are and how amazing THEY are!

Marina Lily has dark red (almost auburn) hair, deep blue eyes, her daddy's big feet and her mommy's big mouth Sophie Kakani, who did not have a middle name until it was time for us to leave, has strawberry-blonde hair, deep blue eyes, her daddy's lips and her mommy's dimples Marina snorts (a LOT) and Sophie squeaks! We talked about middle names for Sophie only a little bit on those few days after she was born. Matt liked 2 names better and I like one name better and neither of us agreed, so we started looking up translations of words that were descriptive of her. Kakani was similar to some of the names we'd considered, and a Hawaiian word (we got married in Maui last year), so that's the one I wrote on the birth certificate paperwork once we were under pressure -- I feel like we didn't come up with a name ahead of time b/c we were meant to find one that fit her personality, and this was the only one that fit the bill. I just hope she doesn't hate me for it later in life (it's grown on me now and I think it's cute, but Matt and I were *both* unsure about it just a day ago). FWIW, it means "squeak."

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:yahoo: Now that is a story for the baby books! Make sure to print it up! They are adorable!! You got your girls! Beautiful names!

 

:wub: THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!!! .... Made me alittle misty-eyed with your post! Im soooo happy for you and your family congrats on healthy/big babies!

 

BEAUTIFUL pictures :wub:
congratulations on your sweet little girls ~ such pretty names!!

 

Congratulations! They are just gorgeous.

 

Congrats on your adorable little girls!! Love their names!

 

what an incredible and POSITIVE, UPLIFTING BIRTH EXPERIENCE!!!
so thrilled for you and your beautiful family!
and what beautiful little (BIG!) girls you were blessed with!
huge CONGRATS!

 

Oh wow, congratulations on your healthy, beautiful girls! Way to go, mama!! And I love their names, too.

 

Inspiring birth story! You did wonderful momma!! And beautiful girls you've got there!! Thanx for posting the pictures! Rest well! :clapping:

 

:yahoo: You did it! Congratulations! They are absolutely beautiful!

 

Congrats Jen!! They are beautiful. :wub: Welcome Marina and Sophie!!!! :Clap: :Clap:

 

10 days after delivery I was in BOTH my family practicioner and my OB's office with Extrememly high BP. DUH...4 kids...
My OB told me this is the HEIGHT of post-pardum depression. It was. Got better always since then. Yeah for meds!

 

Wow! What a great birth story! Your girls are gorgeous! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

 

What dolls!!! Great BIG dolls! Heckuva a good story momma!!

 

WTG Mama!!! Those are some big babies!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY girlies!!!

 

What an awesome story.. they are so beautiful!
Congrats

 

YAY!!!CONGRATULATIONS!!!! :birthday: SWEET BABIES!!!!!!!

oh!!! they are ADORABLE!!!!

 

Congratulations on your girls!! :Clap: They are going to be well protected with 3 big brothers!! I love the family shot, the boys look so proud.

 

Congratulations!!!! :clapping: They are gorgeous!!!

 

How beautiful and what a great looking family!!! You're gonna be a busy momma that's for sure.

 

What a great story!!! And what a beatiful family!!!

 

:banana: :banana: :banana: CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRLS! :banana: :banana: :banana:

 

They are cute. Congrats!!

 

Thank you all so much! I'm so grateful for all the support here and don't know what I would have done without twinstuff throughout this pregnancy! See you all in the first year!
jen

 

How adorable! Congratulations and thanks for sharing your birth story!

 

Congratulations!! Your girls are gorgeous! That is whole lot of baby you had in there lol, WTG Mummy!

 

Congratulations!!

 

Congratulations, you have a beautiful family!

 

How wonderful!!

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Beautiful babies!!

 

Oh, they are so adorable.

That is the absolute best c-section I have ever heard of and I'm so happy for you! Congratulations on the birth of your babies! :Clap::Clap:

 

Congrats to you and your family. I love the whole family shot you have a beautiful family!!! WTG on that birth story for sticking it out and cooking those big babies! See you over in FY