37 weeks:
Wednesday, December 18 was not only my 37 week marker, but also what I was hoping to be my last dr.'s appointment. My appointment was set for 9:30a.m. The 2 days prior I had been cleaning the whole house, doing laundry, pushing on what were suppose to be pressure points to induce labor and still... the babies were in tact. We and so many prayed them to stay put and now I thought we were for sure going to have to pray them out!
8:00a.m.- I got up with my enormous belly and prepared for my appointment.
9:00a.m.- We walked out the door with hospital bags hopeful she'd send us straight to the hospital. (Remember the week prior I was 90% effaced and 2-3cm dialated while still on my meds. Now that I was off my meds and having tons of contractions (none of which were close enough together) and working myself to death I thought, surely I have progressed a ton!
9:30ish-Ultrasound- boys looked great but would not allow our sweet tech to see them flex in certain ways. This made their bio profile score not as acceptable as they'd like to see so they hooked me up to a heart/contraction monitor. Boys hearts were great and I was having several contractions.
10:00ish- Dr. came in and checked my progress on the monitor. She asked if I had eaten breakfast... duh... Of course I had. I don't miss meals especially while growing 2 people... I am always hungry. I told her I had and she said, "well shucks, if you hadn't I could have done your c-section at noon."
WHAT?!
Probably the only time I have ever regretted eating a meal!
She checked me and I had not progressed anymore since the last week. Are you kidding me?! So that was not working in my favor... but the lack of complete info from the bio profile had my dr. a bit concerned. She stepped out of the room and spoke with another dr. I tried not to get my hopes up. I was only 37 weeks and knew she wouldn't take them until 38 weeks.... unless there was reason for concern. Though I wanted healthy babies I was okay with her being overcautious and taking them early.
She stepped back in the room and said, "how does 4:00p.m. sound?"
I just about fell off the table.
I said, "4:00p.m. today?!"
She said, "yep. Go home get your stuff and be at the hospital at 2:00." I was in disbelief. We were going to meet our boys today!
I think we both walked out of there on a cloud. By then it was after 12:00pm. We hurried home, showered and made sure we had everything we needed. An hour and a half later we walked out of the door for the last time as a family of 2 knowing that when we walked back in those doors we'd have 2 precious boys with us. What a surreal moment.
After getting checked in and hearing the details of what was specifically fixing to happen, I still couldn't believe after all this time of bed rest and dr.'s appointments.... the boys were coming... today.
I kissed d as they wheeled me to the surgery room. (It was nothing like I had imagined it to look.) The spinal they gave me was a piece of cake. As my lower body became more and more numb I knew it was just a matter of minutes. The drape in front of my face went up and in came d suited up and he sat next to my head. The fantastic anesthesiologist was on my other side constantly checking on me. In what seemed like no time I heard the dr. say, "Dad, here comes the first baby." He stood to video it. I heard sweet Jude cry for the first time and I lost it. It was happening. My babies were being born. The dr. asked d what his name was. As D barely choked out a response, I knew he too was feeling what I was... God's undeserving goodness and faithfulness being poured out on us in that surgery room.
In what seemed like 2.2 seconds later I heard, "Dad, here comes the other one." Then I heard a second cry that also stole my heart. Not only did I have one precious boy but now two. Jude and Luke were here and healthy... born at 37 weeks and were perfect.
Jude Ryan Jerkins
5:17p.m.
5lbs 9oz
Luke David Jerkins
5:19p.m.
5lbs 7oz
D was over taking pictures and then coming back to me to show them to me. Then as if a switch was flipped I began to feel sick. I was warned that was a side affect. I couldn't throw up but sure felt like I could. My anesthesiologist quickly gave me meds and soon they did their job. I was wheeled to recovery while the boys went to the nursery to be checked and bathed. Once D made sure I was settled and ok he then went to introduce our families to the boys.
As the meds, began wearing off, I was then wheeled up to our room. This was when the reality of surgery smacked me across the face or rather across the abdomen. I was somehow suppose to move my still numb self from one bed to another. As I proceeded to attempt to move, excruciating pain sored through my gut. It was seriously as if someone was stabbing me with a knife. My not so compassionate nurse assured me I had to move and that I should do so quickly. I could have slapped her. I was sobbing from the pain but finally made it onto my bed. Poor d was helpless to do anything but comfort me once I finally got settled. Oxycodone and Diladin were not touching my pain. Finally I got a Percocet and it changed my life. Finally at 12:30a.m. I was up to seeing my boys.
As they were wheeled in I couldn't believe it. They were mine. I was soon looking into the 2 faces that had grown, kicked, and flipped inside of me. I was in love. No one adequately prepares you for the love that you feel for a person(s) that you've known for so little time.
The next few days were some of the sweetest of my life. Watching the man I love hold and take care of my 2 newest loves... indescribable.
Welcome to our world, Jude and Luke!
