They have arrived!

Well, I know Ellen and Kevin are super busy right now so I decided I'd write my version. I'm sure Kevin's will be much more comical. But here goes........
The boys were born Thursday, May 6th at 9:18pm and 9:20pm via c-section. I started having contractions Thursday morning pretty regularly from like 5am until 7am and then they stopped. So I drank my water and stayed on the couch as ordered by Dr. D on tues. Around noon they started up again so I timed them for about two hrs before calling my hubby and the doctor. They were about every 8-10min. I arrived at the doctor's office a little after 3 and of course my doctor was not in. She was in meetings all day, but I was fortunate that her nurse was actually working with the doctor I was scheduled to see. I sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever and then in the exam room for what seemed like even longer. Finally at about 4 I got to see a doctor. She examined me and I was completely effaced and 3-4cm. Tuesday I had only been 2cm and 50% so they decided to send me over to L&D to be monitered, but they were pretty sure they were going to deliver me because they didn't want to take the chance of my water breaking and having a prolapsed cord. I guess because both boys were breech and it was twins we had a much higher chance of that happening. So as soon as I got to L&D I gave Ellen a call and of course I couldn't reach her. I called Kevin next and told him what was going on and they immediately went into "hurry get packed and in the car" mode. My nurse called Dr. D and told her what was going on and she said she would be right over to the hospital as soon as she could. I really wanted her to deliver me.
So around 5:30ish she came and decided the boys would be safer out than in and so now we just had to figure out the best plan so Ellen and Kevin could be there for the big event. After much planning and unfortuantely due to DC rush hour traffic Ellen and Kevin weren't anticipating arriving until after 8pm. I got my epidural around 6pm and waited patiently for what we had all been waiting for. We were very fortunate that Dr. D came back for the delivery. Her practice now uses a hospitalist after hours so usually he/she would do the delivery. I was so relieved that it would be Dr. D and not a strange doctor!
About 8:30 Ellen and Kevin arrived. Unfortunately because we were preterm and there were going to have to be so many people in the OR for the babies only Ellen was able to come in, along with Danny. I was scared and excited all at the same time. I had never had a c-section before and had no idea what to expect. So Ellen and Danny suited up and walked with me down the hall where they had to wait until I was all prepped. I was ready to go at 8:45, but there was some miscommunication somewhere and Dr. D wasn't there yet. I laid on the operating table for about 15mins. waiting on her. When she finally arrived they let Danny and Ellen in and the big event began. Colby was born first weighing in at 6lbs.6oz. and screaming. Chase came 2min. later with much pushing and pulling by the doctors. He weighed in at 5lbs.6oz. He had a little respiratory distress in the beginning.

Fast fwd to today.... Chase went home yesterday. He is doing well and is the quiet one. Colby is still in the hospital but doing well. He is still on oxygen and some tube feedings. He has to be off both before he can come home. I am anticipating he will be home by the end of this week.

Kevin here....

Wow. The countdown has officially begun (unless Brooke has an accelerated schedule). Two weeks from today.... I tell you, the "Cervix of Steel" is just amazing. The perinatologist just thought everything was doing great. Brooke is hanging in there, looks great, and as usual remains incredibly upbeat and energetic. How she can carry around two incredibly active aliens in her belly, I do not know (and they are very active).

We went through the U/S and the monitoring on Friday. Awkward positions for the twins, one of them was hiding below the other (or, one of them was blocking out the other), so made things a bit difficult (also appears one is punching the other in the head again -- signs of future problems???). Dr. Christmas (no, really, that is his name) is amazing. Even more amazing is the RN, Jennifer, who does the monitoring and engages us in conversation through the whole process. It would be great if either/both of them could be part of the birthing process, but the odds (and work schedule) are unfortunately against it. Still, I am very appreciative of their efforts and how comfortable they make us feel and how well they answer our questions.

During the monitoring (20-40 minutes of baby heartbeat tracking, depending on the cooperation of said twins) we have had many a conversation about names, and I have learned some truly amazing/terrible names for twins. Needless to say, I am quite sure that whatever names we come up with will not enter future conversations with the nurses and doctors.

These two little guys seem to be moving all the time. I can't imagine (although will soon know) that each operates on his own schedule and decides to kick, roll over, and even suck a thumb whenever he wants (Brooke's FB posting, that was an amazing 3-D U/S shot of one of the little rascals actually sucking his thumb).

Ugh... We are still trying to finish painting Gavin's room, yard work, house work, and, of course, baby work. I am very thankful that Brooke is the world's best surrogate and is letting these little guys "bake" as long as they need. We need all the time we can gather. Hang in there, in two weeks we may be ready....

Actually, we have been ready in our hearts for quite a long time. This is truly an amazing moment coming our way. There may be house preparation still to be done, gates to be put up, baby-proofing to take place for when they are mobile, but we are very, very excited and eagerly awaiting the "date". The number of hours that Ellen has put in for preparation is amazing.

I am very lucky in that I will be able to take two weeks of vacation time when they are born, work for a few weeks from home, then take a four week paternity leave. My co-workers have joked with me that after a week I will be looking forward to getting back to work. While I know that tiring times are ahead, I really can't believe that a good day at work would ever trump a bad day with having my little guys with me.

Thank you Brooke and Danny.

- Kevin