Introducing…The Elves
One month ago today I was 35 weeks pregnant and headed to the hospital for a non-stress test and ultrasound to check on “Baby A” due to concerns about restricted growth. At my appointment I was swollen like a balloon and had a blood pressure of 180/110 and “3+ protein” in my urine (in other words, I would have made a super easy USMLE question on classic presentation of pre-eclampsia). I was sent straight to Labor & Delivery – no time to even go home and pack a bag (which my husband may or may not have so kindly asked me to do the weekend before)! My abdomen was somewhere along the lines of ginormous when I snapped my last “belly picture”…
We got all ready to welcome The Elves, who would arrive late in the evening of December 3, 2012 (by c-section because Baby A was trying her hardest to enter into this world feet first).
If you follow the blog you know we had opted out of knowing the babies’ sexes before the birth, so the delivery was all sorts of exciting!
SURPRISE! It’s a girl!
Baby A
DOUBLE SURPRISE! It’s another girl!!
Baby B
They were 5 weeks early and having some trouble breathing, so they headed off to NICU after kisses and hugs from their dad and I. The next time I saw them, 12 hours after they were born (because I was busy enjoying the lovely side effects of magnesium sulfate – every horrible thing your patients say about that drug is true), they were hooked up to all kinds of wires and breathing with CPAP assistance.
They were rockstars, though and did awesome in NICU! After a few days they were able to reunited for the first time since birth.
And just 5 days later we were able to go home as a family of four (+ 3 crazy canines!). The girls each weighed about 4.5 lbs when we left the hospital – if putting a four and a half pound baby in a carseat isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is!
Happy one month birthday, Elves – you bring an unexplainable joy to our life.