We've come a long way babies

For 30 weeks these little twins grew inside me. I found out they were twins at 8 weeks pregnant and they were born one day shy of 38 weeks. It's amazing to think back at the last 9 months, the vacations we took, the fun we've had and the preparations we made. These little ones have grown from the size of kidney beans to being almost 6 and 7 pounds. Now that they are out the adventure really begins. But lets take a look back and find out how we got this far.

It all begin with a blessing, that turned into two. The day of the ultrasound Greg was working the inpatient ward, he got pages in between the exam and the ultrasound. The midwife patiently waited for him to call back his last page before calling him back in the room for the internal ultrasound. As they were probing away I jokingly asked "there's only one in there, right?" well the response was a small flick of the wrist and the photo above appeared on screen. All I can say is it's a good thing I was laying down, because you could have knocked me over with a feather. We were not on fertility medication, twins don't really run in either of our families and it wasn't something I ever imagined was in the realm of possibilities. As I sat at the pharmacy waiting for my new set of prenatal vitamins I studied the ultrasound picture, trying to imagine what carrying and giving birth to twins would be like. Over the next few weeks, I picked a doctor, found out that having twins is considered "high risk" and I would get more ultrasounds and attend more appointments than someone carrying a singleton. I went to 21 doctors appointments which included ultrasounds at every visit with a few in depth measuring ultrasounds every 4 weeks or so and Non stress tests for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy. I have 10 ultrasounds pictures of these babies and now that I can see them in person, the grainy in utero pictures don't do them justice. Every appointment was met with a bit of apprehension, would they be growing ok, are the hearts still beating strongly and is there something happening that would cause them to come early. Lucky for us they were healthy throughout the whole pregnancy. We waited as long as we could to schedule the c-section in order to give the babies the best chance at staying out of the NICU. The day finally arrived and I headed to Labor and Delivery at 6:30 in the morning. I thought I'd be leaving Gabriella at home but she was up and excited so she went along with us. She and my dad waited in the waiting room while I got prepped for my section. Gabriella came in to tell me good luck and that she was excited to see the babies on the outside. I walked into the OR room and hoisted myself up on the table, my spinal block was put in place that the prepping began. I couldn't see anything or tell you how it felt because I was numb from the chest down and they had a curtain up. The doctor came in and then Greg did and they began to slice me open. Genevieve Catherine Montoya entered the world at 9:04 am and 40 seconds later Julia Grace Montoya followed. They are born in the same minute. They both cried and squealed which is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. I remember Gabriella's first cry at her c-section. The tears streamed down my face as Greg walked over to take pictures and see the beautiful new babies. There were two teams in the OR and they had the girls on either side of the room. Greg walked back and forth between the warming tables finding out the girls' Apgar scores, which were both 8 and 9, and counting their fingers and toes. The girls were taken off to the recovery room where they got to meet their grandmothers, grandfather and big sister. Greg went with them and I stayed where I was and got put back together. Everything went well and before I knew it I was wheeled into my room and was able to hold the babies for the very first time. I couldn't believe how different they were size wise. Genevieve was born at 6 lbs 13 oz while Julia was 5 lbs 15 oz. As of now we don't know if they are identical or not. While they look similar, the size difference makes it easy to tell them apart as do their personalities. The placenta was sent away to a lab for analysis and we will probably know something in a few weeks. If we really want something definitive we will have to send for a DNA kit. We spent the standard 3 days in the hospital and were released on Friday afternoon. Instead of hassling with the car and car seats we packed the girls into their double snap and go stroller and walked home with them. I won't say it's the easiest walk I've ever taken, but it was probably less painful than getting in and out of the car. All of us are doing well, the adjustment to life with two infants is hard but the smiles we get from the girls make the sleepless nights and ear piercing cries worth while. As I write this blog the girls are 5 days old and doing well. Julia is slightly jaundiced but nothing really to worry about. Genevieve is thriving although she doesn't like to sleep at night and is prone to long hours of screaming if not held. These are just a few of the millions of hurdles to come up in the coming months and years, but we will get over them. Thanks to all our friends for the wonderful support during this pregnancy, its success can be attributed to every prayer and good thought sent by those we love and who love us.