Today marks 1 week since the birth of our girls- Juliana Grace Colburn and Olivia Judith Colburn. Here is their birth story.
On April 3, 2010 at 4:40AM I was feeling a little different. So I got up out of bed, after a little bit I felt my water break. I called for Mike and in less than 5 secs he was up going around the house trying to gather everything for the hospital. I told him to calm down, since I was not sure if I was in labor. I was not having any contractions and all my hospital stuff was in the car a week ago. I decided to call my doctor and make sure that I needed to go to the hospital. He called back and told me to head there. So, I causally put on my clothes and decided to take the dog out to go potty (Mike still going around the house trying to get everything together- which I still wonder what that was).
It was 5:15AM when we headed to the hospital. 5:30AM we were sitting in the waiting room, waiting for a nurse to come check me in. She walked us back to the triage room. There she proceeded to take a test to see if my water had really broken. While checking me she actually finished breaking my water and found that I was 3 cm. dilated. That is when I really started the contractions. They were instantly 2 minutes apart. The nurse told me "well, I guess you are going to stay and play with us today." Excitement filled Mike- as I was unable to feel much but pain. The nurse tried to place the heart monitors on my belly but she could not get a steady heartbeat on Olivia. She was hiding behind Juliana. They ended up taking an ultrasound to check what the heart rates were. The girls were in the 140s.
After the ultrasound, at 6:15 the nurse wheeled me into the room. By this time my contractions were about 6-7 pain level. I was introduced to two other nurses: Connie and Teresa. They were very sweet and helpful nurses. They too had to try to find the girls heartbeats. Within the next 2 hours my pain level shot up to a 8-9. I was sweating and trying to think of a really pleasant place to be. All I could think about is water and island and actually not picturing it, but focusing on the words water and island...funny. When I thought that the pain was too much, I asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and asked me tons of questions about my health and made the comment "I haven't seen anyone this healthy in a long time." That made me feel like I did something right. Within 30 minutes I was sitting up on the table getting my epidural. No one told me that it would be a painful process. Even though they numbed my back, they hit a nerve that sent my leg and arm flying, and I hit the nurse, holding me, in the chest.
Once I had the epidural I was pain free. We had a couple friends come and visit us while we waited for the babies to come. While waiting we lost Olivia's heartbeat again and the nurses decided to call my Dr. Hinton in and he told us that he was going to put an electrode on Juliana so we could get a monitor on Olivia. He told us an electrode is a sensor they screw in the surface of Juliana's head to monitor her. While he inserted the electrode Dr. Hinton checked to see how far I had progressed. I was dilated to 5 cm. This was around 10:20AM. We asked the nurses when they thought I would deliver. They projected, 4PM and 4:30PM, but Dr. Hinton projected 2PM. By this time, I was really hungry. I had not eaten since 10PM the previous night and I was not allowed any food, drink or ice chips.
We waited and time really flew by, except the fact I still was hungry. I looked at the clock it was 12:50PM. I felt a little ache in my right side and asked the nurse if that was normal. She decided to check me and I was fully dilated and 100% effaced. I was ready to push. They called Dr. Hinton. He came in and said "What's taking you so long? Everyone is waiting for you...even NICU is there waiting."
Dr. Hinton
At 1:00PM they were rolling me into the Operating Room to deliver my girls. Once I got there, I noticed there was 16 people (4 from NICU for each baby, 2 nurses, 2 residents, 2 anesthesiologists, Our doctor, and Mike). I told Dr. Hinton that this was a production...he agreed with me. Right away Dr. Hinton took an ultrasound to see if the girls were still head down. They were in the perfect position. I was on target for a vaginal delivery.
Once I started the contractions, I was allowed to push. It was such a great experience. I didn't have any pain and the whole birthing atmosphere was lighthearted and entertaining. At one point Dr. Hinton almost fell off his still when his foot hit the release lever. Everyone, including myself started laughing. Within 40 minutes of entering the OR I had delivered Juliana Grace Colburn at 1:40PM. She was 4 pounds 13 oz and 17.5 inches long. With my next 2 pushes, I had Olivia Judith Colburn at 1:47PM. She was 4 pounds 14 oz and 17.5 inches long. It was perfect. I was so pleased to see them and the best part about it was they scored 7/8 and 9/9 on their APGAR test. No NICU for them. I was able to take them home with me that following Tuesday. God is so good. He gave us two beautiful girls that are healthy.
Juliana Grace Colburn
Olivia Judith Colburn
Dr. Hinton and the Girls
Today they are a week old and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with them. I promised them that I will do everything I can to be the best mother I can. I promised to be there for them as long as God allowed me. I want them to know my love for them can only grow. Both Mike and I feel ultimately blessed and we are excited about introducing them to everyone.
