Kellen & Toben - A Birth Story

At almost exactly 3o weeks in this pregnancy I felt big changes. The babies dropped and I began experiencing quite a few contractions and other pre-term labor symptoms. These came and went over the next 3 weeks. Anytime I was on my feet much I would start having contractions and several times I was pretty certain something would happen within the next 24 hours. Thankfully by drinking lots of water and laying down frequently I was able to stop these contractions before they reached a point where we needed to go to the hospital.

I feel like the boys gradually moved lower and lower making it very uncomfortable to stand up or walk and that the contractions probably increased in strength as time went on. Because this was such a drawn out three week process I wouldn't say anything was different than "normal" when I went to bed on Sunday night at 33 weeks.

last pregnancy picture taken about 9 hours before delivery

I woke up at 3:15am Monday morning and was uncomfortable but nothing too concerning was going on. After tossing and turning for about 20 mins I got up, messed around on the computer, folded some clothes that were in the dryer and very quickly I started having some hard contractions. I had to stop and breathe through them though I felt okay in between - other than becoming increasingly concerned that I was feeling that way since I was still only 33 weeks along. I probably had 5 of those contractions in about 30 mins and decided that if it happened one more time I would wake Logan up and we'd head to the hospital. I woke Logan up at 4:20am and he quickly called our church's children's pastor. She got to our house in 15 mins!

We knew that my mom was coming out to stay with Caiden and Rylan while we had the babies but with everything that had been happening over the past 3 weeks we also knew that we needed a back up plan in case things started happening before my mom could get here. We found a church we love and have been going to for the past couple months. When we explained our situation and asked the children's pastor if she knew anyone that might be willing to watch Caiden and Rylan in a pinch she immediately volunteered herself and came up with several back-ups in case she couldn't - amazing! They hardly know us and were so willing to jump in to help us!

Anyway, as soon as she arrived (probably 4:40am) we left for the hospital. Contractions were getting harder and harder and Logan flew to the hospital! One of my big concerns was that the hospital is typically 30-45 mins from our house and can get much longer with traffic, but at 4:40 in the morning the roads were empty and we made it in record time!

After checking in the nurses didn't seem too concerned or moving very quickly which was frustrating. They kept talking to me about Braxton-Hicks contractions - ha! They finally checked me and found out I was already at 7cm. I'm sure the 3 weeks of prep followed by an hour and a half of hard contractions helped that. Since I was already so far dilated it was too late to try and stop labor even though I was still so early.

They moved me to a labor/delivery room where contractions became increasingly intense and close together. I started to feel the urge to push. Logan and I were alone in the room together and he went to the door and told the nurses but they were still pretty unconcerned and in no rush. Apparently Logan and I appeared way too calm and the hospital staff had no idea how fast I have babies - especially the third time and when they're smaller to start with!

I could feel Kellen's head just as my doctor showed up and even though I was already at that point he decided I needed to be moved to the operating room. A nurse told me to try not to push (what are these people thinking?!) but I kept having contractions and pushing anyway.

Very shortly after getting to the OR my water broke and after several pushes Kellen was born at 6:30am at 4lbs 12ozs, 17 inches. I had a slight break and then started feeling Toben moving quite a bit. It felt like he may be turning around, though he may have just been moving into the birth canal. I didn't say anything at that point because I didn't want the doctor to become concerned and start considering a cesarean. For some strange reason they hadn't done an ultrasound (even though they kept moving the machine around with me) so we really didn't know what position the boys were each in. I knew if Toben had turned and was breech they would jump to a cesarean and I didn't want that to happen!

Thankfully Toben was head first and was born with a couple pushes at 6:35am at 4lbs 6ozs, 17 inches. I was relieved to be done but there was a lot of stress, confusion and chaos in the room. The hospital I delivered at doesn't have a high enough level NICU for 33 week preemies and the nurses hadn't appropriately prepared everything since I gave birth so much faster than they expected so there was lots of drama.

Fairly quickly they moved me to a recovery room and Logan went with the boys to the nursery to wait for a transport team to take them to another hospital with a Level 3 NICU. About an hour later I got to go down to the nursery to see and hold the boys for the first time before they left.

holding Toben for the first time

holding Kellen for the first time

After holding them each for a couple minutes they were loaded up and headed out.

Toben in the back, Kellen up front

I was taken to a recovery room and Logan pretty quickly left to go see the boys at the other hospital and then head home to see Caiden and Rylan. I was released from the hospital at 12:15 (because I begged the doctor since Kellen and Toben had been moved to another hospital anyway). Then I had to complete paperwork and such and by the time Logan was able to pick me up at 4:00pm after Caiden and Rylan's naps I was ready to go.

I am so thankful for the quick labor, delivery and hospital stay. Many of my biggest concerns about how everything would go went very smoothly - what to do with Caiden and Rylan if my mom wasn't in town yet, how long the drive to the hospital might take us and the likelihood of having a cesarean - all turned out just fine in the end. Praise the Lord! The only concern that did become reality is that the boys were born at 33 wks, 1 day but we've done the preemie thing before and other than being small, they have had no serious issues!