We arrived at the hospital at 7:10am on Sunday, October 25th! We were scheduled to be induced and we had officially made it to 37 weeks and 5 days... the longest that they would allow for us to stay pregnant, for the safety of the babies and myself. My parents were already there in the waiting room; that's right, they had actually beat us to the hospital! :) Our room was ready and awaiting our arrival! I immediately changed into the flattering hospital gown and bright yellow slip resistant socks (I changed my socks closer to my delivery thanks to my little sister that gifted me with much more pleasant looking ones at the hospital) :)
When we arrived we were already 4 cm dilated but I was not in any discomfort that signified active labor so we had no idea how fast the Pitocin would take affect on my body or the pain level I would be at. We had the Pitocin flowing by 8:30am and my epidural was in by 9:45. I had a GREAT anesthesiologist! I was told all I would feel was 'some pressure, a pinch and a cold sensation' and that is exactly what I felt. Don't get me wrong... I was so very nervous and just the thought of the epidural had my stomach in knots, chills running down my spine and tears forming in my eyes but I'm positive that was just me being struck with the reality that these sweet babies were, indeed, on their way!!! :) Although we had no issues with the actual epidural, we quickly realized that adjustments were needed to the amount of medicine I was being given. I normally have a great pain tolerance so when my pain was at a 6-7 with the epidural already in, Mike knew to call our anesthesiologist. I quickly went from small, random contractions to very strong, rhythmic contractions. My family was fantastic! They kept me hydrated and as pampered as possible! And as expected, my sisters kept the laughs coming :)
At noon, my doctor came in to check to see how far along I was and it came to a complete surprise that we were already at 7-8 centimeters dilated! We were progressing quickly and wonderfully! The girls were good and it wouldn't be long before it was time to head to the O.R.! We did have a couple of issues along the way that included a latex allergy of mine that we had to KEEP reminding our labor nurse of and even after all of the reminders, she STILL administered a latex catheter in me only to realize it 5 minutes later. This required her to pull out the latex one and insert a non-latex one. :( OUCH! Also, at one point my blood pressure got very low and we had issue with our nurse tending to it before I found myself dizzy and nauseous. Mike was so great to going and grabbing doctors and nurses whenever he or I had any bit of a concern. He was amazing and so calm... at least in front of me! LOL! I can only imagine what was running through his head and heart in the hours leading up to the sweet baby girls! :)
By 2:15pm my doctor and labor nurse checked me and, with surprise in their eyes, said that we were a full 10 centimeters dilated! I was in absolute disbelief! I was amazed in my body and what God allowed for it to do! I was also proud of the girls for being so strong and perfectly calm in the hours leading up to being 10 centimeters dilated! :) We immediately did a couple of 'practice pushes' with our labor nurse to see if we were, in fact, ready to push and we sure were ready! :)
Since we were adamant on having these sweet girls vaginally, my doctor scheduled to deliver us in an OR just in case we had issues with Baby B and needed to get her out quickly. If need be, my doctor could immediately do an emergency c-section in the room we were already in.
We were already planning on taking pictures of the delivery but our anesthesiologist did us one better and snagged the camera from us and played the role of photographer so Mike could be in the photos also! I did not realize how amazing that really was until I looked back through the pictures and was able to see that not only was he able to capture the wonderful memory of Mike standing by my side, holding my head, motivating the heck of out me and the cutting of the cords but he was also captured different 'angles' of the delivery that I know Mike and I would not have thought to capture! I am forever grateful! :) Do not let the smiling face above fool you... I was so full of nerves, anxiety and fear! If you look, I practically have my nails digging in Mike as I'm clinging to finger! LOL!
As soon as we entered the OR everything moved very, very quickly. There was a total of 15 or more people in the room at any given moment. This including my doctor, assisting doctor, RN's for me and then the NICU nurses for the girls. I'm sure it was a combination of nerves and medicine but I was shaking uncontrollably and this wasn't bettered by the fact that the only part of my body that could be covered was my chest. So one of the RN's laid 3 heated blankets over my chest while they prepped me further.
Puuuuuuuuuuuuuush!!! Sweet Baby A, soon to be Mikayla, is ready and waiting for a little help by way of a contraction and some pushing. I remember going through the motions as the nurses and my doctor were encouraging me to 'PUSH' but the entire experience was surreal! It was almost like an out of body experience! I remember feeling some pain and a lot of pressure. Two contractions later, I remember Mike looking over my knee and with tears in his eyes whispering, "she's almost here". With one more contraction and three more pushes, our sweet baby girl was here! I remember feeling a slight tug and a release and she was out. I felt like a silence fell in the room, which I'm positive was all in my head, and then I heard it... it began as a whimper and lifted to her first cry. Along with her first cry was my cry! It was the most beautiful and angelic sound I had ever heard. Mike was given the opportunity to cut the cord and then she was taken to the side to get her vitals checked and all cleaned up!
Mikayla Mae Gonzales
Born at 2:53pm
5 lbs 14 oz
19-1/2 inches long
I was gifted with a short break in-between the girls that Mike took as an opportunity to whisper sweet nothings and words of thanks, to me, for our first sweet little girl. Baby B's, soon to be Audrey's, sac was ruptured and all we needed was the next contraction. I still had monitors on me to monitor sweet Baby B and one of the nurses had placed her hand directly under my ribs, on my stomach, and applied a great deal of pressure to help restrict the space. This was done because there was concern that now that Baby A was out, Baby B would take advantage of the space and move upward or, even worse, flip! She was still head down and then... nothing. NOTHING. For some unforeseen reason my contractions stopped. I saw the immediate concern in my doctor's voice and the worry in his eye that I read as the very real possibility of having to have a c-section to safely get Baby B out if we didn't push her out very soon. I looked at my doctor and told him, "we're NOT doing a c-section". In response he said, "okay then let's see you push" and that's just what I did. I "dead pushed" over and over; fighting against my very own body that was not doing anything to help. Mike was encouraging me and was doing his best to talk me through it as he saw that I was battling my own body. With the assistance of two different sized suction caps, three separate attempts to affix them onto her little head, my doctor's arm wrist deep in me trying to grip her head and additional oxygen being given to me because her oxygen levels were getting low... we were making progress! I remember feeling almost a 'pop' like feeling which was her head coming out and then she came right out with another push! She did not immediately cry but her expression said it all! She was my 'furrowed brow' beauty!!! Before being pulled to the side like her sister, Mike cut the cord and gave me kisses of thanks and gratitude!
Audrey Grace Gonzales
Born at 3:12 pm
5 lbs 6 oz
19-1/4 inches long
From that point on... my heart no longer resided in me, but rather, in these two little girls that were made perfectly by the grace of God.
