So in order to better understand my life, you'll need a little family background. In August 2004, Jay and I purchased our first home, I graduated with my Master's Degree, and I learned I was pregnant with our first child, all in the same week. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? It
was pretty awesome! Jay was working as a college football coach, and I was just accepted into a doctoral program. Life was grand...
Early pregnancy was a biaatch - I was throwing up about 6-7 times a day. Everyday. For 9 weeks. Food was my enemy. I went to class each day toting my Saltine crackers, my ginger ale, and my handy-dandy barf bag, just in case. My face and neck were rosy all the time, I'm sensing because my face was literally hanging over a toilet all day long.
I finally reached a reprieve when I hit 15 weeks, thank the Lord! Week 16 was my first ultrasound. We were so excited. I had to drink about a gallon of water before the appointment and was doing the pee-pee dance all the way there. We anxiously walked down the hall toward the ultrasound room where the tech applied some warm goo and poked and prodded on my belly until she could find a good image. Jay and I smiled and gazed warmly into each other's eyes as we waited to learn about our little baby. Not a moment later, the ultrasound technician squeeled and said, "Oh my God! There's two in there!"
"Whatchu talkin 'bout, Willis??" is what I wanted to say. Having always wanted twins, Jay was ecstatic. I, however, lay in shock...
Yes, Ma, it's true!
So we immediately told our family about the exciting news. Jay's mom almost fainted and my mom thought it was a joke. No-no, no joke here. I was pregnant with not one, but two precious little girls!
The rest of my pregnancy went really well, actually. I devoured every book on twins I could find. Suddenly having a Ph.D. didn't seem too important. Especially since the school I was attending did not have the program that I wanted, so I had to find something remotely similar. Similar was not interesting enough for me, so being pregnant with twins became my easy way out of it.
Welcome Madison & Savannah!
Knowing that twins often do not make it to 40 weeks, I was eagerly counting down once I reached my 32nd week. Boy, was I huge! Luckily, it was mainly in my belly, but my poor face and feet were so swollen! At 36 weeks, my contractions became regular and it was time to head to the hospital. Of course it was a looong waiting game. After being at the hospital for 22 hours, my OB/GYN made the decision that I would NOT be pushing these girls out. I stalled at 5 centimeters, so off to the operating room we went.
I was amazed at just how fast they had me prepped and ready to go. So fast that they forgot to get Jay before starting the procedure. The poor thing - just his luck, my feet were facing the entry way to the O.R. door, so he had the pleasure of walking past my body on the table just as the doctor was making the incision. A vision that took some time to get out of his head.
Within minutes, Madison - a.k.a. Maddie - was plucked out into the world and made what sounded like a little giggle! That immediately brought Jay and I to tears. The doctor waited 1 minute so that Savannah would have her own birth time. They seemed so tiny, but at 5lbs 8oz and 5lbs 1oz, we were reassured that they were a good size for twins.
They stitched me up and I was off to the recovery room while Jay played Proud Papa. What an adrenaline rush it was. So much so, my initial thought was, "We should all go out to O'Charley's to celebrate!"
