Ok, now for the details...

Ok, by now you most likely know that the twins were born yesterday. Let's rundown the events that led up to it, and some of the fun stats about the kidos.

Earlier Saturday morning, at about 3:45am, Karrie was awoken to very strong contractions and some pretty damp underwear. She made her way to the bathroom and sure enough her water had broken, as she proceeded to create a small puddle on the floor. She jumped into the shower to try and relieve some of the pain from the transactions. At 4:30am she called for me from the shower and I hoped out of bed (ok, more like groaned lol). My first thought was, "Are you sure?" She assured me that it had and I had to jump to action. We had been cleaning the apartment in anticipation of our family arriving, but had not finished as of Friday night. I ran Kaylee outside and started picking up the odds and ends still around downstairs. After cleaning the kitchen floor, I ran upstairs to shower and gather the rest of Karrie's bathroom stuff.

Just before 6am we arrived at the BirthCenter and headed for Triage. Dr. Harris verified that Karrie's water had broke, and at about 6:30-6:45am she was measuring at a 4. We finally heard the words we had been waiting for, "We're sending you back to 'your' room." This was it, we're finally going to meet our children!!!

After they admitted Karrie to her room, she was measured at a 6 at about 9am. Around the same time the doctor administered Karrie's epidural. Before that the contractions were so strong that Karrie was having an extremely difficult time even breathing through them. After the epidural, things were much better and she started to progress nicely. By around 11am she was approx and 8-9, and she stayed there for the next couple hours. They doctor decided to administer some Pitocin and by about 4:45 or so she was ready to push. Fortunately, while she was stuck at an 8-9, all our family that was coming down from Michigan arrived. Karrie was very thankful that she was able to say hi to everyone before she went to delivery. After prepping us for OR (because of a twin birth, she was not going to be able labor in her room). Dressed in my Michelin Man outfit, we took Karrie down to OR. Bekah's head was already peaking out before we got to OR, and it only took about 3 cycles of pushing before our beautiful little daughter was here. Karrie was able to hold her for about a minute or two and they whisked her off. Then came Billy. He was not nearly as easy as his sister. Karrie pushed very hard a couple of times, with no progress. At the same time, Billy's heart rate was dropping. Dr. Harris made the decision to do a section as to not risk any further complications. In a matter of minutes I was rushed out of of the room and Karrie was switched to a separate bed and knocked out.

As I waited outside, the nurses brought Rebekah over to me to hold before they did a few more tests and such. About 15 minutes later I heard my little son crying from the other room. The nurses brought him out after a bit and I was able to be with both of them for a good half hour or more before Karrie was awake. Unfortunately for Karrie she had to go through both vaginal labor and a c-section, but she was thrilled that the kids were here and safe. The two of us couldn't be more proud, or happier, that our little miracles are here. They are so beautiful!

Now for the stat sheet:

Rebekah Marie Brand
Born 8/23/08 at 5:17pm
5lbs 2oz and 19inches long

William Glenn Brand III
Born 8/23/08 at 5:38pm
6lbs 4oz and 19inches long

They're Here!!!!

Real quick before I finally go to sleep (I've been up since 4:30am), here are a couple pics of our wonderful little miracles

William Glenn Brand III

Rebekah Marie Brand

Mom and kids are doing wonderful. Full story with stats and more pics to follow tomorrow, stay tuned!

Dr update :)

I made a little progress. I'm now 2-3cm, and 80% effaced. My dr stripped my membranes (between the bag of water and cervix) to help encourage labor to arrive. 

If labor doesn't come on its own, I have a check up on Friday and induction scheduled for Monday, August 25th. Dr. G that I saw today said that she would love for me to have the babies on induction day because it is her birthday :)

Stripping membranes can help encourage labor, but if my body isn't ready, it won't happen. If it does happen, she thinks it will be late tonight or early tomorrow. We will just have to wait and see now. 

37 Weeks

We made it to 37 week. The kids are now considered full term. We have an induction date set for Aug 25th, if I don't go into labor first. Only days from now we will be meeting our beautiful little blessings. Please pray for a safe labor and delvery. 

Back from the Dr.

I just walked in from my drs appointment. The kids did great on the monitors. They were moving around and heart beats were wonderful. 

We did a quick scan to double check that their heads were down and they are :) Bekah ready to push her way out. 

I'm dilated 2cm (same from Friday) 60-70% effaced and at a station  -2. I found a chart online that says dilation from 0-3 is early labor and the other two stages are 4-7 and 8-10. Effaced means how thinned the cervix is(0-100%). The stations refer to how high the head is. -3 is the highest 0 is middle and +3 is delivery. Many people are dilated to a 10, 100% effaced and at a station -2(so being at a -2 isn't a bad thing).

If labor doesn't happen on its own, we will be looking at inducing either Monday, August 25th or Friday, August 22nd(hospital doesn't like weekend inductions). She said with the way my cervix is looking, we probably won't have an induction. If we do have to have one, she said she is sure it will be a very successful one. 

We promise we will call everyone as soon as something happens. :) Eventhough there wasn't much change from Friday night, my body is contracting and getting ready. With me "only" at a 2 doesn't really mean anything. I could have the babies tonight or be induced on the 25th, it is really hard to say. 

36 Weeks

I have dropped even lower!!! I don't know how much more this belly can drop without my knees carrying it. :) 

After our visit to the hospital on Friday, I have had fairly strong and regular contractions. I was able to get a good night sleep on Friday night, but about 1pm on Saturday they started up again. They aren't as close as they need to be to go to the hospital, but they are strong. All night Saturday night, I couldn't sleep because they were strong and were coming 20-30 min apart(I couldn't sleep even with the Tylenol PM). I had cat naps between the contractions. On Sunday during the day they backed off at times and became stronger at times. I found some time to nap in between the strong ones. 

Last night I slept great because the prescription strength medication they gave me for sleeping, works wonders. I've already had a few strong contractions this morning, so we will see what happens. I have a drs appt today at 3pm. This visit should last about an hr, but could last much longer if they are backed up. 

I'm going in to work on my classroom to see how much I can finish. I'm almost done, but every time I think I'm finished, I think of something else to do. I will update everyone as soon as I can.

Friday at the hospital

On Friday evening I started having strong contractions. I was resting on the couch and they continued to come. We went out to dinner with Bob and Erica and they continued to come strong and I started timing them at 8 min apart. After they continued for an hour and a half at 8 min apart, the all of a sudden dropped to 4-5min. apart. 

My dr had suggested to get into a bath of warm water to see if they stoped (real contractions wouldn't). After about 30 minutes in the bath they were just as strong, and same minutes apart. As I got out of the tub and dried off, they coninuted and I called my dr. She said to come on in to the hospital (she was already there). While we were finishing packing our hospital bags, in the car, walking into the hospital and getting on the monitors, they came strong at 4 minutes apart. 

Then, they started to back off. :( Not as strong and not as frequent. I was checked when we arrived at 10:30 pm and was at a full 2cm dilated. Once they were able to track good rates on the babies hearts, they allowed us to get up and walk around. I had some strong contractions while walking (had to pause our walk) but they weren't coming at 4 or 5 minutes. :( We did a combination of walking and monitoring and when I was checked again about 12:45am, still at 2cm. 

Good news, it was most likely early labor. Bad news, it could last for days. :( I was given something to sleep and sent home. I'm happy that the babies are still inside for at least a few more days. The more time they spend inside, the less time they would spend in the NICU. 

Back from our ultrasound

After a day full of contractions(irregular) and a night filled with them(20-30 min apart), I haven't made any progress. I was having them about 10 minutes apart when we arrived for the ultrasounds, so I mentioned it to the nurse. After the ultrasound, the nurse had the on call dr check me. I'm still the same as I was yesterday. I know that I could have the babies as early as today, or it could be a while, you never know. 

The ultrasound showed that both heads are still down :) and that Bekah looks like she will be the first to arrive. Our sweet little Bekah weighed in at 5lb 4oz (4lb 5oz 3 weeks ago) and is measuring in the 24th %(expected because she is a twin). Our little man Billy weighed in at 6lb 4oz(5lb 3 weeks ago) and is measuring in the 59th %(above average for a single pregnancy). I'm pretty thankful this isn't a single pregnancy and only carrying Billy, I can't imagine how big he would be at 40 weeks. 

I'm rushing around trying to get everything finished for my classroom/sub. I worked all afternoon yesterday in my classroom getting things organized and in order. I'm going to take a nap and then head to school to work more on my room. I'm praying I get everything finished before our children decide to arrive. :)

Doctor's Appointment

Karrie just called me after her doctor's appointment this morning. She is dilated between a 1 and 2, and the doctor said "I will schedule an appointment for you for Monday, but I doubt you'll make it that far." AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's a chance I will be a daddy before Monday, HOLY CRAP! I'm so excited! I can't stop smiling, beaming is more like it. I catch myself looking over at my calendar in awe. We have an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow, so expect another update then (if you don't hear from us sooner ;)

35 Weeks!!!

Bill realized as soon as he was taking the pictures that my belly has really changed this past week. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but I've really dropped. It is a strange feeling not having them up in my ribs anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. 

I've started nesting, I cleaned most of the house on Saturday and felt great about it. Bill has been great about it and doing the things that I can't do. I can't believe that they will be here any time. From today on, my drs said they wouldn't stop labor. We will be meeting our little ones in 3 weeks or less. We are shocked that it is only 3 weeks(or less) away.