The Delivery

So it's been 2 weeks and 2 days since our little girls were born. It's really hard to believe. It seems so long ago... I'm thinking it's mostly due to the fact that the days all run together for me. Let's go back a bit in time to catch people up...

Tuesday night, the night before the delivery, Bruno and I went to The Melting Pot, per my request, for our last meal as a family of 2. Since I wouldn't be allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight, I wanted a meal that I knew would fill me up. And boy did it! It was delicious, and both Bruno and I had to practically roll ourselves home.

When we got home, we got the rest of our things organized for the next day, and didn't end up going to sleep until around midnight. Needless to say, the 4:30am wakeup call came way too fast. I got up, showered and readied our bags. Bruno took a 20-minute run to prepare for fatherhood. I had packed my bag, and the girls' bag so methodically, taking cues from websites and friends on what I needed to bring to the hospital. Of course, I ended up using maybe 5% of what I brought. I even think the only thing we used for the girls were their hats with their names on it!

Either way, we got ourselves ready and we were on our way to the hospital. The hospital is only a 10 minute drive, and though we needed to be there at 6am, we had every intention of leaving around 5:15 to just be safe. Good thing we planned for that, since we didn't actually leave until 6:50. Ha. On the way to the hospital, I was nervous and in disbelief. The day was finally here. The next time I'd be in this car, we would have little babies.

Since we were running later than I was comfortable with (which in hindsight didn't matter), Bruno dropped me off at the door and he went to park. I grabbed the roses he had given me the night before and went to check in. We weren't sure if we could bring in our bags now, but we didn't want to go back out to the car to get them later, so Bruno brought ALL of them in. Note to new parents - do not bring all your stuff in! There is no where for it to go. Plus, you don't need anything for a long time. So we went upstairs to wait to get prepped, with all our stuff. The nurse up there of course told us that there wasn't anywhere for our stuff to go, so Bruno called our parents to find out where they were, so they could watch our stuff instead of bringing it back to the car. I ended up getting called in for pre-op before our parents arrived, so Bruno had to wait outside with our stuff until it could get passed along. Again, new parents, DO NOT BRING your stuff! Haha.

The initial pre-op stuff wasn't too bad, oh aside from the IV. Never a fan of that thing. So the nurses hooked me up to monitors, checked out the babies, and asked me a slew of questions. Dr Berry then came in, checked things out, and asked more questions. Since Bruno and I had already decided on the girls' names, who would be named what, based on their position in the womb, we let Dr Berry know this.

"So, you deliver the babies based on what's most efficient, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, we have already decided on the names for the girls, based on their position."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, Baby A, on the right, is Luciana. Baby B, on the left, is Milena. Can you do that?"
"Well, yes, I think so. I will make the incision a little different, but I'll deliver them this way."
"Awesome."

So now it was time to move to the OR. Unfortunately, Bruno wasn't able to join me until it was time to deliver. I was not a fan of that. I knew I'd be getting a spinal (big ole needle in my back) and I was super nervous. Plus, I was going to be delivering babies soon! Uber nervous!! But it's what had to be done.

On our way to the OR, the nurse asks if it's ok if a student is in the room during the delivery.

"Sure. No problem." I mean, people need to learn right?

We walk into the OR and there are doctors and nurses stirring about.

"Don't touch any of the blue. It's sterile."

We get over to the OR table and I hoist myself up for the big sting. It's now that everything is really starting to become a reality. I remember being really cold, and the nurse put some very lovely socks on my shivering feet. The anesthesiologist preps my back by sticking on the plastic sheet with the hole it and swabbing my skin with iodine. The nurse gave me a pillow to hold and I'm told to lean forward and prepare for the needle. Now I start to panic. I was told the needle would feel like a bee sting, which in itself isn't really that big of a deal, but I know I had built it up so much in my head. The nurse tried to distract me, but I couldn't stop my tears as the needle pierced my back. They were right, it was like a bee sting. But I didn't now there were going to be3 stings!

The anesthesiologist was telling me to let him know when I felt my legs getting warm. He asked me a few times and I honestly couldn't tell if they were or if I just wanted them to be warm. Finally, I decided they were and let him know. Immediately they swung my legs up over the table and strapped me down. My legs started getting really tingling and honestly I was so nervous that I would only think the spinal was working, and then in turn end up feeling everything.

To test if the drug was working, the anesthesiologist poked my shoulder with a pin, and did the same lower on my body. If I didn't feel the same sensation, then it was working. After a few pokes, I didn't feel it as much, so it must have been working. The last sensation I felt on the lower part of my body was that of being uncovered. I think the doctors opened my gown, leaving me exposed, before placing another sheet over me with an opening for the c-section. But through the whole operation, I thought I was just laying there naked, since it was the last thing I felt. I had to ask Bruno later if I was actually covered.

"Um, yes you were."
"Whew!"

So just before Bruno was allowed to come in, the doctors set up the sheet in front of my face and we were ready for business. Soon enough, I see Bruno come around the corner and more tears stream down my face. I was so happy and relived to finally have him there with me. Now let the baby delivery begin!

I'm thinking Bruno got into the OR just before 8am, and little Luciana was born at 8:14, Milena at 8:15. Yep, it's that quick. Once Bruno was in the room, it was a whirlwind. The doctors were stirring about, but I had no idea what they were saying. I just focused on breathing and watching for my babies. The whole process was relatively easy, just laying there while they did all the work. It wasn't until Luciana was just about born that things got a little intense. I felt a lot of pressure at the upper part of my body, I'm assuming it's because they were pushing down on her to get her out (since I didn't have any contractions to help them along) I knew she was coming soon, aside from the pressure, but because the anesthesiologist was telling Bruno to get ready (he was armed with his phone to capture the birth on video) Within seconds, Luciana was out, the doctors was shouting her name and I could hear her cries. I saw the nurses wisk her to the side to clean her up as the doctors delivered Milena. Soon enough, she was out, crying, and the delivery was over.




Bruno asked if he could go take pictures of the girls and I said, "Yes of course!" So he was able to capture so many pictures of the first moments of their life.

After cleaning and warming, the nurses took our girls away to recovery, and Bruno followed them. I remained in the OR while the Doctor stitched me up. By then it was pretty low key, the hustle and bustle had dissipated and the doctors discussed Tim Tebow over top of me. But then I heard the doctors chatting, with what seemed to be some panic in their voices. A lot of hemming and hawing, and "Hmmm, really?" So I asked, "Is everything ok??"

"Yes, everything is good Molly. It's actually almost too good. Usually there's more blood but you're doing great. We've checked everything out and everything is doing what it should. So yes, everything is great."

With that they finished me up and wheeled me into recovery. And who was there waiting for me? Our new little bundles and my wonderful husband. While I laid on the bed, waiting for my legs to regain feeling, Bruno brought the girls over to me, so I could hold them and just feel their little breaths on my chest. It was awesome.

We ended up staying in recovery for over an hour, as they wouldn’t let me leave until I could move my feet and legs. It really felt like it took forever! Did I mention that by this point I was dying of thirst and I wasn’t allowed to have anything until, you guessed it, I could feel my legs. Oh for the love of God, please let me feel my legs so I could get a drink! Thankfully, the nurse gave me some drugs, which I had to take with a sip of water… delish!

Knowing that everyone in Facebook world was waiting for word on the girls, we made sure to post pictures and video of the girls while waiting in recovery. We couldn’t reveal the names just yet, as we were waiting to tell our parents in person. I mean, everyone waited this long, they could wait just a bit longer ☺

By noon, we were in the hospital room, with our parents, and our little girls Luciana and Milena. What a fantastic day.