The Macho Man and Bubba: A Birth Story

Life with twins! Ahhhhh! I’m still in shock and in awe of everything that has occurred in the past 36hours. I really wanted Callie to update about her own birth story because somehow I feel like it’s not my story to tell, but a)she’s passed out because b)she’s in quite a bit of pain c) Oxy is a hell of a drug and d) she was sort of outta sorts and it’s all a blur! But I’ll take you back in time to 8:35pm on Saturday night, 1/10/15.

Scene: Disastrous looking living room; my mom vacuuming; me sorting through a 3 drawer Tupperware bin as we rearrange our living room; Callie on the couch; Mary spinning in circles; cat on the window sill.

As I’m going through this bin which housed all of the old bird food for the birds that we gave away, Callie comes over to see if there is anything that I was throwing away that she might still need. She squatted down to look, and her back started to hurt. Mami encouraged her to sit down. As Callie got up, she made a face similar to this —>😳😳😳. I asked, in all of my hopeful excitement, “Did your water break?!?!?” She said, “I’m not sure, but I hope I didn’t pee myself!” and waddled off to the bathroom yelling, “It’s running down my legs!!!!”

As I looked at my mom with a similar expression to the one Callie had given me just a moment before, my mom dropped the rag she had donned since finishing vacuuming, and followed behind me as we both stood in front of the bathroom door waiting to hear more news.

“It’s just pouring outta me,” she said.
“What color is it?”
“I don’t know. It won’t stop enough for me to look”
“Ugh!! I have to know so I can pack! Let me just pack. I’m gonna pack! Wait! What do I pack? Would I be crazy to pack only shorts? It gest hot in the hospital! Are you ok? Do you need anything? MAMMMIII!!! Eeeekkkk!!!”
“Sammie, calm. Down! I don’t know what broken water is supposed to look like…”, Callie reminds me, as neither of us really knows d*ck shit about having babies!
“I’ll call my sister and find out!”

After talking to my sister, she confirmed that what was happening now, a consistent trickle of odorless, clear, cloudy fluid was more than likely and probably amniotic fluid. I packed (still have no clue what’s in the bag as I’ve been wearing the same thing for 2 days), called our doula (who was at the hospital before we were!-that’s dedication!), called all of our closest friends (Marco, Nikki, Tee, and Jenny) who were all out the door and on the road before we were too, our siblings and our parents, and got all of Mary’s bags together near the front door, all while watching my mom frantically clean the mess that was in our living room (“My gran-Baybee no comeen to dis casa wis all de dirty ova here!”). Callie, of course, had to shower, shave, blow dry and flat iron her hair, and dictate what she wanted me to pack for her as well. All the while, fluid was trickling out of her body in enormous amounts at an alarming rate (2 pads full in 30 minutes and through the pants alarming!). We called our doctor and head over to the hospital about an hour and a half after initial rupture. Luckily for us (we go to a medical group), the OB we have been seeing was there to deliver our babies and we absolutely ADORE her. We arrived at the hospital, checked in and were placed in our labor and delivery room. The nurses checked Callie’s vitals and then our dr showed up to make sure that her water had actually broken (although there was really no doubt), and to do an ultrasound to confirm the babies positioning and figure out if we would be able to deliver vaginally or if we would have to do a c-section. When it was known that Levi hadn’t turned from his transverse position, it was simple. C-section. Callie was disappointed but had already surrendered long ago to the possibility of it being a cesarean. She just wants what’s safest for both her and the babies, and I can’t disagree with that.

“What’s the time frame?” I ask.
“Ummmm, an hour!”
“Oh shiiitttt!!!”
I was not prepared for that response. I walked out into the waiting room to the party that was awaiting, and informed everyone that in under two hours, Levi and Noah would be in the world and the newest members of our huge kick ass family. I walked back in, put my scrubs on, gave Callie a good foot massage while the doula rubbed her shoulders and we did our best to relax her, and then she was wheeled off to the OR to get her anesthesia, and I was in the recovery room, shaking, saying my prayers, and trying to remember the lyrics to “Little Things” to sing to them when they were born.

The nurse came back to get me, and I walked into the OR, with it’s bright lights, a high five from our doctor, and confirmation that, “It’s a beautiful day to bring miracles into this world!”

After just a few minutes of talking to Callie, playing with her hair, kissing her, and telling her we were gonna be moms, we heard our Dr say, “Let’s have some babies!” Within seconds she says, “Oh hellllloooooo Noah”, a little suction and the most amazing sound I had ever heard in my life. My son, my gorgeously plump, pink, screaming boy was letting us know that he was here! That he was ready for his moms to love him and to hold him, teach him, and play with him. I never thought I would cry. I’m just not a crier, but I’ll admit I cried like I’ve never cried before. It was the kind of cry that takes over your whole body, that fills you with a kind of love that you have never felt before. An overwhelming cry for my son. I was in love, instantly. They brought him over to us and we got a good look. Then we hear, “And there you are Levi!” And more suction and another tiny cry, more overwhelming tears as my little man flashing muscles and a quivering lip. We get a quick look, and then they were in incubators getting cleaned and weighed and printed. It all happened so fast! I got to cut Levi’s cord, and cuddle my boys. I brought them over to Callie for a kiss and a hug before they were taken to the NICU for monitoring because of their premie status.

I stayed with Callie while they sutured her up, and told her about the cleft in Noah’s chin and his dimples, and how Levi was so tiny and skinny but has really big balls! We laughed and cried and prayed, and relished in the fact that after all this time, we have our boys and they are safe and sound and we’d be able to see them soon.

We wheeled Callie over to recovery where we stayed for about an hour for monitoring and then she was wheeled over to the NICU for her first real look at the boys. We’ve been in love ever since! The care and the nurses at this hospital have been incredible. We’re lucky that our babies are in NICU mostly because they didn’t make the 37 week cut off, but aside from Levi’s low glucose and rapid heart beat in the first few hours, they are feeding well (Levi is taking 30-35cc of formula and Noah is taking 40-45cc), and are having their 2 hour car seat test as we speak! They’ll be outta the NICU in just over 36hrs, but they quickly became the favorites! We have some serious lookers!

Levi the Macho man always flashing his guns. He loves all the space he has now and sleeps like an upside down frog

Noah, my little chubby Bubba who loves being sung to but refuses to open his eye because he has better things to do, like sleep!

Levi

All the Aunties and Uncle Marco

Noah

The first time our boys were together since the womb and our first family picture

Noah (L) Levi (R)