The Birth Story (abbreviated)

12:30 a.m. After tossing and turning in bed, I took a hot bath hoping to relax me enough to fall asleep. When that didn't work I ended up on the couch where I watched Michael phelps win another gold. After a wave of tiredness hit me, I rolled over and within about 0 minutes I felt a gush. Uh oh!
1:00 a.m. We arrived at Clark regional hospital where they confirmed my water broke. Since I was only 35 weeks they transferred me to a hospital in Lexington. I got to ride in an ambulance with the lights on. Even though we left the hospital at the same time, Zac beat us there!
1:30-7:00 a.m. I definitely got a taste of natural labor as I had pretty strong contractions 2-4minutes apart for about 5 hours straight. Zac was awesome and helped me through each and every one.
7:30 a.m. Since both babies were still breech, a c-section was necessary. Zac and I paused for a moment before going to the OR to pray and just feel the moment--scary but so exciting all at once! I hated hated hated the epidural but at least it kicked in quickly. Within 20 minutes, the babies were here! I heard both of their first cries and Zac was able to bring Nolan over to me. I got to see Caroline as they were checking her out. Instant overwhelming love. The family we had hoped and prayed for was finally a reality. What a moment! Nolan weighed 4 pounds 15 oz. and was 18 inches long. Caroline was 4 pounds 9 oz and 17 inches long. Since Nolan's sac had broken, he had all those hours to get his lungs cleared out so he was a little better off than Caroline who still had a good bit of fluid in her lungs. She went immediately to the NICU and he followed her there after a few hours in the nursery.
9:30 a.m. Surrounded by family, we settled into our room where I would spend the next 3 days healing, resting and counting down the minutes to our next NICU visits. What sweet sweet moments each visit has been!