So since they are now 5 and a half months old, I figured I could breeze through the exhaustion and just share some of the super cool things about being mom to supertwins.
Aidan James, Brady Allen and Gavin Dean roared into the world on September 9, 2008. My water broke around 3 AM and after Curt and I rushed around like maniacs because we just weren't ready (even though my bag had been packed for weeks) we managed to get one last picture of me pregnant and a snack for the road before we headed to the hospital. Curt dropped me at the ER entrance and as I sauntered into the nearly empty place, i said to the gentleman "My water broke" with a huge grin on my face. Immediately I had a wheelchair and about a million nurses because they remembered me as pregnant with triplets.
They tried to put 3 different heart monitors on my belly to find their heart rates but the boys kept moving around making it nearly impossible. Finally about 5:00 AM they were taking me to the OR. I remember looking at Curt (since he couldn't be in the OR) and seeing that he was getting emotional. I then began to cry and told him things were going to be OK. He leaned over the hospital gurney and said "I don't want to lose you." It was the most touching and scariest exchange we have ever had. I had been scared of having a c-section in Qatar, but Curt had always been so upbeat and confident. To think about him saying this still gets me choked up, but I never want to forget it.
After they gave me the epidural and I was kinda feeling my body being moved around, I said to the anesthesiologist, "Did they cut into me yet?" He looked down at me and said "uh, YEAH." good to know. then i heard the first baby pulled out at 5:59 AM with a loud cry, the second baby pulled out at 6 AM - another loud cry and baby #3 at 6:01 AM with a loud cry. Curt said he could hear that in the hallway where he was waiting so he felt good knowing they were making some noise. just before they took the boys to the NICU, they brought each one of them to my head. They were swaddled up so much i could just see their perfect little faces, which the nurses let me kiss. it was pretty amazing, even if I ached because I knew I wouldn't get to see them for at least 24 hours.
The other day we were looking at some video Curt had taken from those first days. He is in the NICU and recording himself talking to Aidan in his isolette and i SWEAR Aidan responds to Curt's voice by opening his eyes and then moving his little tiny limbs around! It is something I don't know that you would have picked up on in the emotion of the moment, but when you watch it on video, there is no doubt. Aidan was responding to his Dad's voice.
Some of the interesting cultural things we noticed:
- you get flower arrangements when you have a baby. scratch that, you get JUNGLE arrangements - literally, the one we received from colleagues was as tall as me sitting in a chair and almost as wide - and it was tame compared to some we saw being trucked in
- people don't put their babies (or children) in car seats. when I was taking Aidan home from the NICU (last boy) one of the nurses asked who was driving me. i told her no one, that curt was home with the other two. she then asked who would "hold the baby"? i said "His car seat will hold him." and she actually said, "do you think that's safe?!"uh, yes, safer than me trying to hold on to him while i'm driving, or in the event of an accident. immeasureably safer. . .
- we have been told many times that Curt is the envy of Arab men by having three boys. And the reason we are given time and again is because they are boys, Curt does not have to worry about their reputations like you do with a girl. He does not have to worry about finding proper mates who will care for their daughter. ooooookay . . .
- you can choose your dr's nationality. At the pediatrician's office (and OB/GYN) they are listing the dr's nationality out beside their name. Apparently that is important to some people. I'd rather see where they got their degree from! and just so you know, we have found 3 EXCELLENT pediatrician's in the hospital for the boys. I've only been to gyno's and GP's in the US, but I would put these dr's up to US dr's any day. we are incredibly pleased with the care the boys have received!
a couple of hospital pictures below:
Aidan and I Day two
Dad Feeding Gavin
Sweet Gavin Sleeping Day 2
Aidan wide awake Day 1
Brady Day 1
