When I look at the girls, it's really hard to believe that they were inside my tummy two weeks ago. My youngest brother shakes his head and says "They must have been curled up in a complete ball for both of them to fit in there!!" I agree. Aubree weighed 7 pounds and Baylee weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. I was VERY happy with there size. The Sunday before I had them, I was out raking leaves with the family... which means I got to be the "bag holder" as the kids packed the leaves that Matt raked into the bags that I held. We could almost start a little family business! My kids do good work ;)
We went in early Wednesday morning for my C-section. Surprisingly, I actually got a decent night sleep on Tuesday -- which is unusual for my worry wart self. The problem with planned C-sections is, once you've had one, you know too much. If your anything like me, you get through one mind obstacle and then wait for the next. Matt and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m., right on the nose. We were escorted to our lovely 10x10 home for the next few days and made ourselves comfy ;). I put on the beautiful (ha) gown they had laid out for me and rested in the hospital bed. There are 4 things about the procedure that have always given me anxiety:
- The IV. The insertion of it and the cold sensation that I feel when the fluids pump through my veins.
- The yucky drink that you have to choke down. I don't even know what its called, probably nasty... because that is the only way to describe it. If you could see my eyes shudder and shoulders shake just thinking about this stuff. BLEH!
- The epidural. One bad experience with one of those and the idea of it makes me sweat in the freezing cold operating room.
- When your sweet little bundle of joy is born, ta-da, there is a new star in the show. Off goes your husband, see ya later sweet nurse who helped get you this far and hello curtain that (thankfully) blocks off all activity on your tummy, but (unfortunately) makes it impossible to see your sweet new bundle of joy.
HOWEVER!!!! This experience was nothing I pictured. My husband always says that I worry too much. Smart, smart man! He is right, not saying I won't worry as much -- because that would be a blatant lie. Sorry, its in my DNA to OVER-think. This time though, my IV was taped in such a way that I actually could move my arm and would forget that it was there. I don't even remember feeling the liquid passing through my veins. So the nasty drink, yea that was still nasty -- no improvement there, but the epidural :) One poke, she was in!!! Hardly even felt the "bee sting". Glorious!!!! Last,
but not least, after Aubree was born -- she was screaming. One of the doctors said, "Look at all that
dark hair" and then one minute later Baylee was born. With twins in the O.R., there is two little baby stations side by side. Aubree was back in the corner, where all of my other kids went when they were born to be checked out. When Baylee was born, she was taken to another station that I had a front row seat to. She was beautiful. I watched the nurse wipe her down, chart some information, clean her up, wrap her up... it just changed the whole process for me. I was wheeled off to the recovery room, feeling fulfilled.
The first day in the hospital, beyond anything I've already shared is a blur. Honestly, when we got the hospital birth record in the mail, I asked Matt whose fingerprint was take cease even though it said mothers right index finger, I was certain that nobody had taken my fingerprint. Matt just laughs at me, and assures me that I was just incredibly sleepy that first day.
On Thursday, I was much more alert. I Was up and moving around Wednesday night, by Thursday morning I couldn't wait to shower and go for a walk. The morning nurse on Thursday told us that Aubree had her hearing screened, but did not pass. She also mentioned that she was a little fussy during that time, so they would test it again. The hearing screening when they are born requires the babies to be sleeping or at least very, very calm in order for it to be accurate. They mentioned that Baylee was not tested yet, because she did not stay settled for very long so they did not try. They told me when my milk came in, the girls would be more content in there sleep, so they would test again later. On Friday evening, we told the night nurse to go ahead and take them one at a time for their hearing screening, regardless to whether or not we had visitors. First, they took Aubree. She was sleeping and it seemed that she was in a deep enough sleep that she would stay that way. When they brought her back to us, the nurse informed us that, again, she referred on both sides. She did not pass. We said ok, and told her to go ahead and test Baylee. I was not heartbroken at the results. Aubree was startling to noises, would wake up when her sister fussed and I just felt like IF she struggled to hear, her loss was not that severe. I think in an attempt to save my heart from any extra grief, my husband did not say much about Aubrees hearing. He didn't feed into my inklings, and didn't want to give me any false hope. Baylee, on the other hand, startled to WAY more things. If we clicked a pen, she flinched. If a door was shut, she startled. When they wheeled Bay back from her screening with a piece of paper (which I had never seen before) indicating that she passed on both ears, I was not that shocked. I was happy and I was sad. We had a room full of guests and I didn't really know how to react, so I just went to my happy place and rejoiced in the love we had in the room. Two amazing and supportive girlfriends, who had both taken extra special care in the form of play dates of our big kids that day and my brother and sister in law with my niece.
When everybody left, I busted into tears. I stood in Matts arms and just cried and cried. If one of them needed special ears, I wanted both of them to need them. That probably sounds like the wrong way to look at it, but it was how I felt. Twins get compared so much already.
We got to go home on Saturday, and we were ready! We took care of a lot of business when we got home. Added the twins to our health insurance, got there birth certificates and scheduled an appointment with our regular audiology team in Mankato. Aubree needed to have a re check on her ears before we could move forward to the next test, which would tell us how much she could really hear. Last Thursday was our big day out of the house :). To our amazement, in just 1 minute 17 seconds of Aubree cuddling her dad and screening her right ear, we hear "she passed". Huh?? It was time to do the left side. About 6 really, REALLY LoNg minutes later we hear "pass". So Matt says, "do we need to do the test again?" The lady helping us laughs and says no... Matt says "are you sure she passed? Renae, are we testing the right kid?"
With some more tears shed, in disbelief, we celebrated the fact that BOTH girls could HEAR!! I had a mommy feeling about it. This was one of Gods ways of telling me "I got your back" because worry wart Renae was not sure she wanted to have 4 kids, because if that one child could hear normally, that child would really be the odd ball. So of course, we have twins ;). We will still keep an eye on their hearing and make sure that they don't have a progressive loss, one that changes over time. And if they do,we will handle it happily.
Funny story... We told Noah that the twins both passed their hearing test. He said "what?? There test must have been easier than mine!" That competitive little boy just melts my heart.
There is a new rule at the Steffen house.. Don't ring my door bell!!
