18

18 months.

at the playground, 3/5/11

18 calendar months.  A year and half.  548 days since Bobby and Maya exited my womb and entered the world (and, funny enough, just a few days from when they were conceived and began their lives six months before that!) 

The day was like today, actually.  From my window, I could see that it was misting and overcast, and people told me that it felt like fall was on its way (much like spring is on its way now!)  My girlfriend and Maya’s godmother, M, came to visit with her daughter, L, who was 11 weeks old.  I snuggled with her and could feel the babies saying hi with their gentle kicks.  She left, and my MIL came, bringing my current craving of Olive Garden’s fried calamari (which I cant stand and don’t dare to even think of eating without giving myself a sick stomach!).  After she left, my girlfriend, Lys, who was getting married to Peter’s friend and, at the time, coworker, came and we looked at bridal books and discussed the (gorgeous) bridesmaids dresses she’d selected for us.  Her wedding was just over a year away and we joked that the babies would *fingers crossed* be about nine months old then. 

They had other plans, though…

When she left, the contractions had already started.  I remember drinking A LOT of water and laying on my side.  When that didn’t help, I started watching the clock and when I realized I could time the pain, I rang for the nurse.  My nurse didn’t come in (as she was with someone else) and the CRNP came instead.  The TOCO didn’t pick up anything but, by this point, I was feeling *something* that wasn’t right.  Dr B was at a conference and Dr M had left the hospital already.  The “on-call” was the doctor I’d initially talked to on the phone when I started laboring with Alexander.  I remember thinking “hell no- these babies are NOT coming if he is thinking HE will touch me.”  They called the resident, whom I liked and at least knew our situation well enough to be able to discuss it with me (I’ll give the hospital a lot of credit; their residents were really great and, even if they read charts before they entered the room instead of holding the info to heart, they always presented as very informed).  She brought an ultrasound and did a digital exam; I was dilating against the cerclage and Bobby’s head was RIGHT THERE.  MFM was called and I was given Procardia- no go.  A second round: still contracting.  At this point, my two favorite APU nurses were there and while one (who was herself pregnant and due on Halloween) rubbed my back to help with pain management, the other (who has a personality like mine and is very much a no BS type of woman) looked me square in the eye and, as calmly as she could, told me that I was in labor and that they couldn’t stop it, and that my babies would be born soon.  I remember crying and saying something along the lines of “it’s too soon” and she told me that, she promised, they would have the best care possible.

As they wheeled my bed into the hallway and towards L&D, it struck me that my APU nurses would stop at the door and the L&D nurses would take over.  K, the aforementioned nurse,  was next to me and holding my hand and, as we got to the L&D doors, I remember saying “Please don’t go” and she laughed and told me she hadn’t spent the last 2 months monitoring the monkeys to leave at their grand entrance!  Somehow, she worked it out so that a delivery nurse would go to APU and she would stay with me.  She held me during the spinal and stayed by my side the entire delivery, leaving only to bring Peter into the room once he was there.  She was also the one who laughed and told me that Dr M had returned to the hospital to do the C-section.  I cant tell you how relieved I was.  I didn’t want a surgical delivery but, if I had to have one, then it was either Dr B or Dr M that I wanted there.  In a matter of moments, Bobby and Maya were born and in the hands of their neonatologists, and K was telling me that they were okay and beautiful and that they were going to be fine.  (I cant remember without getting choked up right now…)

When Peter followed them to the NICU, K stayed with me during the stitching up and didn’t leave until I was in recovery (keep in mind, her shift ended at 7pm; the babies were born at 7:20ish, and I didn’t get to recovery until close to 8pm).  Just before I was taken to the NICU, she and J (the other nurse I’d mentioned) came to see me.  J had waited around to make sure all was okay, and the two of them went to the NICU and then came back to tell me that the babies were okay and doing great.  They were both so excited to tell me that they were breathing room air and didn’t need ventilation.  I trusted those two women and, at that moment, I really believed my babies were going to be okay.  All of the assurances prior to birth meant so little in comparison to these two mothers and nurses telling me that the babies were okay.  “And big!” J added, as they hugged me and left.  “See,” K laughed, “those vegan brownies did the trick!”  (I had a huge hankering for Whole Food’s vegan chocolate-peanut butter brownies and, when I was diagnosed with GD, was SO sad that I couldn’t have them anymore.  Maybe not having them for that last week I was pregnant pushed Bobby and Maya over the edge???)

Maya, 9/10/09

Bobby, 9/10/09

I was so relieved to see Bobby and Maya that first time… Those beautiful little toes and adorable bellies and gorgeous faces…  Their breathing and heartbeats clearly visible on monitors to tell me that, yes, they were alive and well. 

Nine weeks later, having them home, was a dream come true and I’m constantly amazed by the miracles in my midst.  Time has flown by and it seems amazing to me that they are now a year and a half old and that, from this day until September 10^th, we’ll be moving towards their second birthday… 

(**They don’t have their 18m check up until the end of the month, so the weights I’m giving are based on our bathroom scale and are probably not that accurate since the babies love to play on the scale and don’t like to stay still!**)

Bobby, 3/10/11

Bobby, originally born at 14.25 inches and weighing 2lb13oz, is now **34 inches tall** and **30lbs**.  He wears 24mo and 2T clothes (with a few 3T PJs thrown in!).  He loves to give this look where he lowers his head and looks up at you from underneath long lashes with those dark eyes.  Women of the world, look out!!!  The other night, while I was snuggling him before bed and singing my nightly version of “Oh Bobby Boy” (the kids each get “Oh Bobby Boy” or “Oh Maya Girl” to the song “Oh Danny Boy”), he had fallen asleep and, as is my custom, I usually sing either an Irish or Native American blessing to them before I put them down.  As I start the Irish blessing, he opens his eyes and is, clearly, in this place between waking and sleeping.  His lips are slightly parted and he’s watching me.  He smiles and says, softly, “love you”.  I melted… completely… Those words have never been more beautifully said to me in my entire life.  I finished the blessing (with his eyes open and a small smile on his face) and then went back to “Oh Bobby Boy” and, before I was through the first verse, he was asleep and in his bed.  

Maya, 3/10/11

Maya, originally born at 14 inches and weighing 2lb4oz, is now **30 inches tall** and **22lbs**.  She wears 18mo clothes (although it’s more for height- I think she could probably easily get into 9mo at the waist!)  She is a daredevil and loves to give you this “I’ll do what I want” laugh when you chastise her.  She climbs on EVERYTHING and her current favorite is to climb the couch and lean on the passthrough when I am in the kitchen.  If my back is to her, she says “Mama…” and when I turn around and give her the traditional “Maya!” she laughs and scurries off the couch and to her favorite spot (the bookcase) to where she will sit and look at me like “What? I was just reading!  You must be seeing things!”  If she isn’t standing, on one leg no less, on the rocking horse or trying to climb the piano, then she’s probably asleep!

I plan on writing their 18 month assessment shortly and will post it, but for now, I’m just enjoying them on this special day. 

Bobby & Maya, watching "Super Why!" and in their own personal "book club", 3/8/11