The beginning of the end.

Now that my babies are almost a month old (my how time flies!) I thought that I should post about how the end of the twinners pregnancy went down before posting any pictures of their birth etc. All throughout this pregnancy I have dreamt about how it would end, but never, did I imagine it would happen quite like it did. These girls sure did surprise us! And I have a feeling they are going to be doing that from here on out!!

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I posted this on my parents' private blog on January 14, 2011

**I was too lazy and exhausted to post it on ours too (I wish I had)**

Title: Yes, I waddle (a lot)

Well...here I am at 34.5 weeks. Me in all my glory (taken Friday, January 14). Notice the swelling in the face...chin...back...butt...thighs...ok pretty much everywhere! Both Payton and Brooklynn are healthy baby girls weighing in at 5.7 lbs. and 5.2 lbs. I have now gained 6o lbs. with this pregnancy which puts me right up there with Evan. Lovely.

Payton is being a little pill. She's breech...which means I may have a csection. Please pray that she flips!! My new D-day is February 1st. But I'm kinda hoping that these girls make their entrance before then. Preferably sometime that Evan is at home and not flying around the U.S. for interviews....speaking of which...he's headed to Kansas City right now.

I'm currently dilated to a 1...50% effaced...-2 station.

I have an appointment next Wednesday (January 19), so we'll see if I have made anymore progress.

For now...we play the waiting game...and get even bigger.

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Like I mentioned in the above post, I went to my following appointment a week later. Payton was still being a little pill...breech she still was. Poop. My doctor said she looked way too comfortable where she was. And she had been in that position since December. In fact, she said there was about a 1% chance that Payton would move. I was a little disappointed. I had delivered both boys vaginally and now I would have to be cut open. I was a little scared and had no idea what to expect. I have always been told that csections are horrible and recovery is not fun. But at this point...I just wanted to get these girls out of me. I didn't care how.

My doctor checked my cervix and I had indeed progressed more. At 35 weeks pregnant, I was now dilated to a 3/4...50% effaced...-2 station. I could tell my doctor was shocked! She was hoping to get me to 37 weeks. But that wasn't going to happen! In fact, she canceled my scheduled csection on February 1st and bumped it up to Tuesday, January 25th. However, she told me that she did NOT think I would last 'til the 25 (6 days away). She told me NOT to do anything. She said that I was on BED REST. Literally. She said to just stay in bed and do nothing. I agreed. After all...that sounded awfully nice, but lets be honest...I have two boys and a husband busy with medical school. Lying in bed all day long is NOT possible in this Stout house.

My doctor told me that she was on call at the hospital on that Friday, January 21 (two days later) and that if I continued to have regular contractions, that I should just get to the hospital. Reason being: my doc wanted to have my delivery be as controlled as possible with there being two babies and the first being breech.

After all that news, they hooked me up to the monitors to see how the girls did during contractions. Sure enough, I was having some pretty steady ones. Nothing painful...just uncomfortable. My doctor came in after about 20 minutes and checked out the readings....babies were doing well. She walked me out...she was really concerned and even offered to check my cervix again just to make sure that I wasn't going into true labor.

**Have I mentioned yet that I LOVE my obgyn?? She is fabulous. Really. I LOVE her! And I'm so grateful I found her for this pregnancy.**

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I knew that I was not in true labor. It wasn't painful enough. I texted family to tell them all the news. We were all shocked. The girls were coming! And they were coming soon. Yay. The end was here. Evan's mother pretty much dropped everything and drove down the next day so that I could follow the doctor's orders and just rest. I continued to have consistent contractions the rest of that day (Wednesday). I could hardly rest b/c of all the excitement! But rest I did and Evan was so good to take care of the boys for me.

Thursday was pretty uneventful as far as contractions go. Evan had a CPR class all day and the boys and I layed in my bed all morning watching movies! It was fun. And the boys were so good to just let me rest. Grandma arrived in the afternoon. I did have contractions, but nothing consistent. Little did I know that Whataburger would be my last meal before the girls arrived.

On Friday morning, the contractions picked up again. I couldn't eat anything. I wasn't hungry and I felt almost nauseous. Evan had class that morning along with a presentation. I slept in and took my time getting ready for the day. Just getting up out of the bed made the contractions pick up once again and they continued to intensify throughout the morning. Evan came home from class and we decided that maybe I should call my doc. Sure enough...she said she would meet us at the hospital.

I took this picture Friday morning to document myself at 35 weeks pregnant with twins.
At this point, I was no longer sleeping...eating...or doing anything. I simply could not! I had pain everywhere!! I was swollen like crazy...which made it almost impossible to walk. I was secretly hoping that this was the end! I wanted to be admitted into the hospital. I was crossing my fingers that they would NOT send me home. I just couldn't do this anymore.

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Evan took this before we left for the hospital. This is the biggest I have EVER been in my entire life! I had no idea my skin could stretch quite like it did (with minimal damage). I have 3 stretch marks on my belly! ok...I just checked....there are 5. I'm counting my blessings! It could be worse, right? We packed our bags...at least I did...and off we went to Christus St. Johns Hospital in Nassau Bay, Texas (about 30 minutes away). The boys were safe and sound at home with Grandma and Evan and I headed to the hospital. Everything was perfect!