The Angels Among Us

It doesn't take long.  A few days in the NICU and you start to the angels among us.  There are the ones you can see- the nurses who work tirelessly to take care of your babies when you can't.  The ones that come in to work on their day off just to make sure your sick baby is doing ok.  The ones that stay past their shift and skip their breaks because they promised a terrified mother that they would stay with their baby during a scary procedure.  The doctors that spend way more time than they need to making sure you understand exactly what is going on with your children.

Then there are the ones you can't see.  It is hard to avoid the coincidence that our girls' original due date was on sweet Omie's birthday. Then there is the time the doctor's told me that they had to run a spinal tap on Reese to rule out meningitis.  While they assured me that it wasn't as bad for babies as it is for adults, it was hard to trust that my sick little girl wouldn't be in agony.  To make matters worse, the procedure had to be done under sterile conditions, so I couldn't be there to hold her.  I prayed for God to send down the angel of my great grandmother to be there when we couldn't.  When I was allowed back in the room I was told that she slept happily through the whole thing.  I knew then too.

And then finally, the last two days in the NICU.  We were on our way in and called ahead as we always do to make sure the NICU wasn't closed to admit a new baby or perform a procedure.  They told us to come in and that while they had hoped to give us a few days notice, Michaela had met her weight goals and would be released to us that day.  When we arrived at the hospital they told us that they knew then that Reese was ready too and would be released the following day.  We would have to spend the night in the hospital because once Michaela left the NICU she would not be allowed back in, but the next day we could bring them both home.  Together.

And so after a sleepless night, we packed our two tiny babies in their car seats.  We received pages of instructions on how to care for them in all the ways preemies need.  As four weeks of adrenaline dropped from my blood, tears flooded my eyes.  Tears of relief, fear, and ultimately happiness ran down my face for hours.  We were going to be a family.

We left the NICU that day on the wings of angels.  And now we spend our days in the chaos that is our new normal with two little angels of our own.

The Day They Were Born

October 10, 2012 started out like the other days in the week prior.  I woke up with Blair, made him breakfast, did my prenatal pilates "workout," ate breakfast, showered and started work for the day.  I called in for a conference call and spent the rest of the morning working (from home) on a longterm project.

I took a break around 12:00 to eat a Kashi meal, fill out the hospital admission paperwork and the daycare application.  Had I known then that would have been my last pre-babies meal, I would have done something a little more glamorous.  Around 1:00 I had another conference call.  My coworker on the other end is a father of twin boys.  We started chatting about life with twins.  He went on to tell me that we were really lucky to be delivering our girls at 37 weeks because his were born at 36 and had a lot of issues.  And then my water broke.  I frantically ended the conversation and called Blair.  I told him to be on standby because I was pretty sure I was going into labor.  I called the doctor's office and the nurse confirmed that I needed to get to the hospital.

I called Blair back and told him to come home and then I started preparing for the birth.  I did all things a sane person would do when in labor:  I took a shower, did my makeup and hair and put on something presentable... I didn't want to look horrible in the pictures I would inevitably put on this blog! I then quickly packed the rest of our stuff and went down to put the sheets in the dryer.  While I was doing all of that Blair frantically raced into the house (leaving the door open) and ran through the house like a mad man trying to find me.  He had visions that I was laying on the floor delivering babies- not doing the laundry with my hair and makeup done.

We arrived at the hospital at 2:28pm.  I was checked in and prepped for surgery.  The contractions were only 3 minutes apart and I was wondering why in the hell anyone would want to deliver babies without pain medication.  Needless to say I was very happy to see the anesthesiologist.

Excited and ready to be prepped for surgery. 

The proud Daddy!  Apparently my photography skills are a little lacking while in labor. 

4:15 pm rolled around and I was escorted into the operating room and the nurse inserted the epidural.  It was no big deal at all. I asked why all those women on "A Baby Story" lose their marbles while getting the epidural.  She told me that they all make fun of those drama queens all the time.  I knew I liked her.  

A ton of people rushed into the operating room and prepped for surgery.  I was all too aware that I was naked from the waist down and spread eagle with my feet towards the door.  Lovely.  I then started to beg the surgical team not to start without Blair.  He had been gone a really long time and I was starting to freak out.  Finally, he was escorted in.  I cried and the surgery started.

Minutes later, Reese Morgan Hoyt was born.  She was tiny, pink and screaming.  20 seconds later Michaela Chatten Hoyt was born.  She was tinier, pink and also screaming.  I sobbed at the sight of those two perfect, teeny, healthy babies  wailing away.  The neonatology staff wrapped them up and put them both in Blair's one arm for me to see.

Reese Morgan Hoyt: 4lbs, 0oz and  17.75" long.
Michaela Chatten Hoyt: 3lbs, 7oz and 17.25" long.

They were so unbelievable beautiful, small, and wonderful.  I wanted to hold them and kiss them, but I couldn't.  Blair went off with them and the surgery was completed.

It would be 1:00 am before I would be allowed to be back in the NICU to see them again.  I was not to be allowed in until I could walk to the bathroom twice on my own.  I was certain I could do it about 30 minutes after surgery, but I wasn't allowed to try. We had a ton of family there and everyone would back and forth between me and the babies.  I was so jealous that everyone got to see our babies but me.

Finally we were reunited. It was wonderful to see them.

Reese

Michaela

We would then start the long road at the NICU.  3 weeks later and we are still traveling this path.  However, we are thankful for healthy babies and pray we can bring them both home soon.