The crazy week that changed our lives forever!

First of all, I apologize for the delay in getting all our excitement posted!!
We will rewind back to Thursday 4/29, the date of my last doctor's appt...
On Thursday 4/29 We had a doctor's appt at 2pm to check the growth of the girls and to check my cervical length. The ultrasound of the girls looked great and they were growing just as they needed to be. Next they did the ultrasound to check my cervix. When the tech hesitated with the instrument and quickly took some photos and ended the procedure, we knew something was not right. She then explained to us that I had no cervical length and that the doctor would need to come and speak with us about our options.
When our doctor came into the room he let us know that I would be admitted directly to the hospital for complete bedrest and be put in Trendelenberg (spelling?) position meaning that my feet would be positioned 8-12 inches above my pelvis. They called this laying on my head. Of course, overwhelmed, I started to cry as they prepared a wheelchair to take me next door to the hospital.
Once I was checked in the questions started to flood my mind. How long would I be there? What are the next steps? How would the babies be?
I stayed in this position day and night, to eat, change clothes, use the restroom. You name it! I was not allowed out of the bed or to even sit up. Let's just say that this was not the ideal life for me.
We continued to live this new life until early Saturday (Derby Day!) morning when I was woken up by awful pains in my back at about 6am. The nurses let me know that I was starting to contract. They quickly gave me a shot to stop the contractions and gave me a muscle relaxer to relax my uterus and keep it from contracting. I was then told that we would just need to wait and hope that my water didn't break too soon.
After this drama I was told that someone would be giving me a bath and washing my hair that morning...hallelujah!!! This was probably the best thing that I had heard in days!
After my bath, as I was putting clothes on I suddenly felt like I had peed on myself. Knowing that I hadn't peed on myself I realized then that my water had broken. The nurses soon confirmed this and said that our plan would know be to keep the girls inside as long as possible. They would continue the muscle relaxers and monitor me for infection. At this time I felt like a ticking time bomb and didn't really know what to expect as they had said that women under these circumstances had been in my position for up to 2 weeks before delivery.
We made it through the rest of the day betting on Derby races and came out about even- thank God! We had several visitors on Sunday and it was nice to see some of our friends and family. After everyone left on Sunday at around 5:30 or so, my back pains came back. The pain was not registering on my contraction monitor and one of the nurses thought that it could be a back ache from being in the bed so long. I was convinced that these pains were the same as the previous. My doctor finally decided to check me at around 6:30. They were surprised to find that I was 4 centimeters dialated and that Miss Caroline was trying to kick her way out. They could feel a foot and a knee trying to come out.
At this moment about 8 nurses rushed into my room to prep me for the OR. Tears started rushing down my face uncontrollably. I had known that this moment would come but was unprepared for the urgency. Poor Dan tried his hardest to keep me calm, but was not allowed in the OR until the spinal block was done.
After all things calmed down the emergency c-section started with Dan and about 15 others (nurses, doctors, etc) in the OR. The girls were out so quickly both being born at 7pm and 7:01pm. They were so small but crying (a great relief to me!)
Dan went with the girls to the NICU as the crew stitched me up and took me to recovery.
The next 7 or 8 hours were quite a blur for me. Dan tells me that he greeted all of our family while I was in recovery and, once the girls were stable, took them all up to see them in the NICU.
All I remember is falling asleep in recovery then getting transported to my room. I was helped by a wonderful nurse that I never saw again during the duration of my stay. She got me settled in my room and by then all of our family found my room. I was still a little hazy at this point but do remember seeing everyone briefly. By the time that everyone left it was about 1am. I was then wheeled in a wheelchair to the NICU to meet my daughters!
They were born at 27 weeks exactly and were 2 lbs even and 2 lbs. 3 ozs. They were so tiny and perfect. They were both started on ventilators, which they were both weaned within the first 2 days. Both also needed to be under the billi lights for the first 5 days or so. At first sight they looked so scary with all of their tubes, wires, and the shades over their eyes to protect them from the lights.
We were so happy, but still very unsure of all that had gone on that night. I was extremely tired as well.
The next couple of days went by so quick with several visits from loved ones and visits from my floor up to the NICU. We were discharged on the next Thursday, 5/6, and the girls will need to stay in the NICU until they get big enough to come home. The doctors feel that this will be 8-10 weeks or so.
In my next entry I will discuss life in the NICU and since the girls were born.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for our precious new family. We are so blessed to announce the early arrival of our sweet baby girls- Josephine Jane Safley and Caroline Kathleen Safley.
We love you all and can't wait for you to meet them!!