First of all, thank you to anybody who's read this story all the way to Chapter Fourteen. I can't believe that people would continue reading after some of the early chapter's quality (seriously, they're utter crap!) but if you have I'm sending you tons of virtual hugs and cookies.
Well, this is a bittersweet moment for me. After all this time, this is the chapter that I intended to cut the story off with. There have been thoughts of having a few more after this that involved the stay in the NICU (Neo Natal Intensive Care Unit), bringing the babies home, and so on but I'm not to sure what I'm going to do about all of those ideas. I may end up writing another chapter if I get enough reviews asking for one or if I have a stroke of creative genius sometime soon, but I'm not going to commit to anything like that just in case.
It's hard to believe that this is the moment we've all been waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for and it's time for the new babies to be born after all this! I may have to re-do some of the earlier chapters, since they are quite bad, but I'll leave the originals somewhere because they're the first things that I ever actually posted on this site, years and years ago. Almost three years ago in fact, which is quite hard to believe.
I know this is turning into a ramble, so I should probably stop now before it gets too out-of-control. Once again, thank you all.
-- Flower 'n' Prongs
It's A…
It was August 20th and I was lying around in bed, just waiting for a doctor to come in and check on me, when I suddenly knew that it was time. I was relaxing when I suddenly began to feel as if I had just wet myself. I was starting to panic, when a nurse walked in.
"Hello Lizzie, how are we doing today?" she asked with a smile.
"I…" I began, shifting uncomfortably. "I think my water just broke."
The nurse's eyes widened as she checked me. "Yes, they most certainly have honey. We'll just call your husband and get him over here so we can send you off to the OR. You should have these babies within a couple of hours now honey."
From that point on, it was a lot of rushing as, since I had made it past the average gestation, they wanted me to deliver. If I didn't deliver, I would have to be put on antibiotics to prevent infection and they would have to make sure that none of the babies were in distress. It was much easier to avoid this altogether and just deliver the babies now. However, babies born at 30 weeks would have a rough road ahead of them and I knew that. We were staring weeks in the NICU in the face, and I knew that, but there was nothing I could do at this point.
About twenty minutes after the nurse confirmed that my water broke, Gordo arrived. Although we had been expecting this to happen for a while now he was panicking about our babies, worried about the fact that I was going to have a C-section, and going through his usual mix of excitement and terror before delivery. I felt the same things, of course, but I was already focused on what I was going to have to do soon enough that I wasn't as terrified as he seemed to be.
"How are you doing honey?" Gordo asked me with a nervous smile. He knew that he had to be strong for me, although he was feeling so many other emotions. "Ready to meet our new baby boy, baby girls, and… mystery baby?" He was trying to relax me and I knew it, and it worked as that was what these past thirty weeks had been all about… the baby, now babies, that we wanted to have.
"Of course I'm ready," I said. "How could I not be ready!? As for the first question, how exactly would you be stretched to the extreme, be kicked and punched by sixteen different limbs on a regular basis, feel an internal organ contracting every five minutes or so, and on top of all that feel like you peed yourself?"
"I'll take it that you're not feeling to hot then," he mumbled while giving me a kiss.
"No shit Sherlock," I grinned, whacking him in the side of the head. "Though it'll all be worth it soon enough. At least until we end up with four screaming babies in the middle of the night or have to potty train four restless toddlers at the same time or have six rowdy teenagers or…"
I didn't get to continue that thought as Gordo put his hand over my mouth then. I tried to talk but he wouldn't move his hand. Finally, figuring that he would have to move it if I did something more drastic I bit his palm slightly. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, yanking his hand away as if I had burned him, as I raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna be the death of me, I swear. First making me think of all the downsides to doubling your family's size over night and then nearly biting my hand off ten seconds later!"
"Sorry honey," I said with a feigned innocent smile. Deciding that I should make sure that I was on his good side, I leaned over to give him a kiss.
Unfortunately, just as we started to get into it we heard footsteps. Reluctantly we pulled apart just before a nurse came in. We both flushed, though we tried not to look like little children who had just been caught stealing the last cookies out of the cookie jar. Thankfully, the nurse didn't notice that or brushed it off entirely, cutting us some slack. "Okay, you two are Mr and Mrs Gordon, correct?" she asked, looking up from her clipboard. As we both nodded, she continued. "Okay, you two are scheduled to have your Caesarean at eleven o'clock this morning."
My eyes widened as I looked at the clock. "Really? That soon? That's less than an hour away!"
"Yep, it's best if we get this babies out as quickly as possibly to prevent anything from happening while they're still in the womb due to being in active labour and not acting on that. Here's the gown you're going to have to wear during the delivery," she said, passing me a not-so-attractive, oversized gown, "and here are the scrubs that you are required to wear during your wife's surgery Mr Gordon," she stated as she passed Gordo a lump of stretchy blue and white material. "Somebody should be up here to bring you down to the Operating Room within ten minutes, so please put those on right away."
As she left, Gordo pulled on his scrubs and I changed from one gown to the other. It was difficult, since I was so huge, but still awesome to change clothing since the other gown was quite soaked with one of the baby's amniotic fluid. I knew it would only be a matter of minutes before this one was wet too, but for the time being, it was wonderful to feel dry and remotely clean. Just as I was telling this to Gordo, nurses came in and told me that it was time that I headed down so that I could get my local anesthesia put in.
As I was being wheeled to the operating room, what was actually going on really hit me. It was then, for the first time since I realized that I was in labour, that I began to cry. Gordo looked slightly worried at first, but seemed to know that I could sense that because it quickly disappeared and he looked like he knew it was going to go just fine. Clasping my hand tightly in one hand, he ran his free hand through his brown curls. Leaning over to whisper to me, he said in a calmer and clearer voice than I'd heard him use in quite some time, "It's going to be alright." I nodded, and I could see a nurse smile at him out of the corner of my eye.
By the time that we reached the Operating Room my tears had stopped, although my face was still slightly swollen around my eyes and my breathing was a bit ragged. Somebody passed me a decent sized handful of Kleenex and as soon as I was done wiping my eyes and blowing my nose, the real fun began.
Since I was having some pretty major surgery on my abdomen, we had to first make sure that the anesthesiologist showed up and gave me my needled. Although he showed up on time, it took him two tries to get it in right. Now, let me tell you, those two tries were some of the most painful things that have happened to me in a long, long time. Getting a needle in your back is anything but fun. Of course, the needle did get in correctly the second time and I was instructed to lay down and we would see when it kicked in to get the surgery started.
Slowly, I lost the feeling in my toes, followed by the feeling in my calves, and the numbness slowly worked its way up my body. When I said that I had lost most of my feeling the medical crew that was going to help with my Caesarean and with the babies immediately after birth (including some nurses who were from the NICU, doctors, and surgeons) started bustling around doing the last minute things that they needed to before the babies were born.
Seeing all the commotion and having it all be so close made me start to panic. As a few of the doctors were putting the sheet up around my chest to stop me from seeing what was going on when the surgery began I tried to take a few deep breaths to keep myself calm. However, it just wasn't working. In a timid voice, I called out, "Gordo?"
He had been talking to one of the nurses who was getting the incubators ready. Turning away from the bed that was for our mysterious Baby D, he looked me over quickly. Seeing that I was trembling and pale he came over and sat in the seat that had been brought for him for during the actual C-section. He kissed my forehead gently before asking in a calm, collected voice, "What's wrong sweetheart?"
"I… I don't feel so great," I said. "My head hurts and I'm dizzy and I… and I…"
He bit his lip for a second before saying anything. "Do you want me to go get somebody to come see what's going on with you baby? I'm sure they'll be able to reassure you about what's going on." He continued to stroke my hair throughout this, in the same stead rhythm that he had been since he first got over to me. Slowly but surely, it was starting to calm me down.
I closed my eyes for a moment and took a couple of deep breaths before I said, "No, honey, I don't think that that's going to be necessary." I gave him a shaky grin as I said this, hoping that it looked believable to him.
He was opening his mouth to say something back to me when one of the doctor's came over. "Are you feeling alright Mrs Gordon? Are there any last-minute problems or questions that you'd like to address before the Caesarean begins?"
At the same time that I was starting to say, "No, I think I'm fine thanks," Gordo spoke up. "As a matter of fact, I think there is one. She was just saying that she's feeling dizzy and that she has a headache. Is this normal, perhaps a side effect of the anesthesia?" I glared at him as he said this, while at the same time was thankful that he asked that question.
The doctor laughed. "As a matter of fact that's very common." We both must have looked relieved after he said that, because he had a tiny little smirk on his face after he said it. "Would that be it for your questions or are there any others that you'd like to address?"
I spoke up then. "Er, I know I said I didn't have a question but I actually do have one small one," I began. "How long do you think it will after the C-section will it be before I'm allowed to go see the babies in the NICU?"
"That will depend on how you're feeling and how the surgery goes," he said. "However, we like to try and get the mothers up to see their babies as soon as possible. Now, any more questions?" We both shook our heads, so he continued. "Okay, since the two of you are now ready I'll go tell the rest of the staff that we can start now. I think that all four of your babies will be delivered very shortly now."
As he walked off, Gordo looked at me and whispered, "This is it."
"I know," I whispered back. "After all, I felt like I wet my pants or gown or whatever for a while and now I'm in an friggen OR ready to be sliced open. I realized that a while ago." He rolled his eyes at me and I giggled, when I was told that they were going to start surgery in the next two minutes or so. I bit my lip and looked up at Gordo.
"Well, they're coming now whether we're ready for them or not," he said, squeezing my hand tightly. His eyes were filled with anticipation, joy, and pure excitement. All I managed to do was smile back and grasp his hand tighter. From that point on, it was out of our hands and we had to put the fate of our babies into the hands of complete strangers and pray for the best.
I had been silently praying, just moving my lips, when one of the surgeons spoke up a few minutes into the surgery. "Okay Lizzie, this is it. We're going to open your uterus now and try to get all of the babies out as quickly as possible. We'll show you the babies if nothing seems to need immediate care, but if there is something we'll have to try to rush them off to the NICU as quickly as possible."
After a couple of minutes, I heard one of the best sounds that I've heard in my entire life, or at least since Brigette and Hailey were born. In a very loud, clear voice came a baby's cry. Looking up at Gordo, I could see tears in his eyes and that he was brimming with pride. The two of them set me off, of course, and I started to cry as well. One of the nurses quickly yelled out, "Eleven ten AM!" while another called out "It's a boy!" and showed him to Gordo and I. After a mere two or three seconds she hurried off on her way to the incubator.
"What baby was that?" asked Gordo to somebody on the other side of the sheet.
"That was Baby A," a male voice replied. "We're going to take them out in alphabetical order, unless something serious comes up."
When he turned back to me, he said in a somewhat shocked voice, "We have a boy. A son. We are actually the parents of…"
He was interrupted with a shrill shriek at that point. "Baby B has a good set of lungs," I laughed, starting to feel better about what was going on. Just as I was finished saying that a nurse called out, "Eleven twelve AM, and it's a girl!" We got to see our newest daughter for a couple of seconds as well before she was taken away to her incubator.
The nurse had just arrived to put Baby B down when we heard "Another girl, eleven thirteen AM!"
"She's not crying," I said to Gordo, eyes wide. "She's not crying."
"Shh, it's okay honey. Remember, Hailey didn't cry either right away when she was born." He tried to say this in a reassuring way, although I could tell that he was having a hard time believing that himself at the moment.
Though we suspected that something was wrong, we were still not prepared to not get to see our second daughter. She was rushed towards the incubator and towards a team of specialists before we had the chance to see her. My motherly instinct really kicked in then, and I began to panic more than I had throughout the rest of the delivery. Thankfully though, Gordo noticed this and kissed my forehead as an attempt to calm me down. "It's okay, she's going to be okay," he repeated a few times in a soothing voice before we heard another very loud cry.
We both held our breath in the antagonizing seconds while we were waiting to hear the words that we had been waiting so long to hear. First came a call of "Eleven fifteen AM!" The final baby, Baby D, was then brought over to us. "It's a boy," said the nurse unnecessarily with a grin before she whisked him away.
By the time I was allowed out of the Operating Room, Gordo and I were both still grinning from ear to ear. I had been told to get some rest before seeing the babies, as there was nothing that we could do up until they had all been settled in the NICU. Although I had every intention of only lying down for an hour or so, I drifted off to sleep. It had been a long day already and I hadn't had a good sleep in months. Just before I dozed off, I saw Gordo walk out of the room. Before I had any time to think about it though, I was off in dreamland.
"Glad to see you've woken up," Gordo said with a grin as I opened my eyes. His eyes were dancing with excitement and he was fiddling with a little piece of paper. I took a look at the clock, and it was already past three!
"Why didn't you wake me up!?" I cried. "I want to see the quads!" I paused for a moment, before continuing. "The quads. Our quads… I like the sound of that."
"Yes, and I do too," he said with a grin. "But I also think that you may just want to know all the information I have about our newest additions now."
I grinned, which he must have understood was telling him to go on. "Okay then, first off we have Baby A, who's a boy. He was born at 11:10 AM and weighed a whooping 3lbs 7oz. He's also the longest of the kids at 16½ inches. So far he seems to have a mess of dark hair, but who knows if that will stay.
"He was followed by the identical girls, Babies B and C. Baby B was 3lbs, 4oz and born at 11:12 AM with a length of 15¾ inches. Baby C, she's the littlest, weighed in at 3lbs even being 14¾ inches tall and was born at 11:13 AM. Both of the girls are bald at this point.
"And, of course, Baby D brings up the rear. He was 3lbs 5oz, just a bit more than Baby B, and was also taller at 16¼ inches. Our last baby was born at 11:15 AM. His hair is lighter than Baby A's."
"Well, at least now I'm not completely out of it," I said with a laugh. "I don't feel like a complete dunce of a mother. You may have to relay some of those numbers to me later, as I'm not sure I'm going to be able to remember lengths and weights. Though I suppose the fact that they've been born but are still known as Babies A, B, C, and D does make me a bit of a… er… something not so great, but not horrible either."
"You're doing fine hun," he said, kissing my forehead. "You haven't had the chance to even really see the babies yet so you can't be expected to have everything memorized."
"Ah, but a good mother would," I said grinning. "Anyway, when do I get to see them? Have you talked to anybody yet?"
Gordo raised an eyebrow and gazed into space before replying this time. "Soon enough I guess, since they want to make sure that the kids are fine and settled in before they let us spend too much time gawking at them. Also, they're going to have to come and check you out before we get to go see them together. But we can get our names ready."
"Okay," I said, perking up and trying to sit up straighter. I had a searing pain across my abdomen then though. "Gah, bugger, fu… fudge." I changed my last word as one of the nurses walked in.
She smiled. "Incision?" She asked with a sympathetic smile. When I nodded, she said, "Okay, just let me see how this is healing. We're going to try to get you walk around for a few minutes to make sure that you heal faster before letting you get a wheelchair and go to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit."
She did just that, examining my incision and giving me special instructions on how to care for myself after a c-section birth. She and Gordo had me walk around for a bit before they finally let me go to see the quads in the NICU. In reality it wasn't actually that long, but for me it seemed to take a very long time. After what seemed like hours on end, I was finally given a wheelchair. Once I had my chair, Gordo and I were allowed to go see our babies.
On our request, they had placed all four of them together. They were so tiny and angelic looking, with nothing but a pink or blue hat and an itty bitty diaper. They had the girls incubators pushed together so they could see each other. We had heard that it often helped multiples feel more safe and reassured if they could see their siblings when they were at the point that they could open their eyes. As precious as our children looked, my heart broke when I saw that all four of my babies had tubes and machines hooked up to them. I knew that care was still critical at this point, but it was hard to see my babies like that.
As we were looking over our new children, I looked up at Gordo and pointed to Baby A. As I looked at Gordo, I saw that he was pointing to the other baby boy, Baby D. I had just started to say "Patrick" when Gordo began saying "Jason" at nearly the exact same time. We both smiled then, we had managed to agree on which of our sons was going to get each name. We had already come up with the four names for sure, it was just a matter of deciding who got which one.
As we moved to the girls, there wasn't an immediate inclination one way or the other as to who was going to be named what. With the boys both their personalities and their looks seemed to point to the oldest one being Patrick and the younger one being Jason. With the girls, it was all about personality and the slight differences to determine who got which name. After a couple of minutes we decided that the bigger and older baby, Baby B, was Liliana and younger and smaller Baby C was Rosemary.
As I was being wheeled back to my room, I looked up at Gordo. "It's good to finally know who's who and to be able to call them by real names and not just A, B, C, and D. It's good to be able to know them by name. Patrick Wade, Liliana Kate, Rosemary Erin, and Jason Michael. Our four babies, our kids, not just tiny little blobs on a screen or alien-like creatures who are poking me in various internal organs continually."
"Yeah," he said. He was still grinning from ear to ear, as he had been for most of the day. "It's good to finally see them. Identical girls Lily and Rosie, both little baldies. Then there's their bigger brothers, both in weight and length Paddy and Jason."
We looked at each other and were at peace. Our family was complete now with eight people… a mother, a father, four daughters, and two sons.
Okay, the babies are finally born. This was long (word counts says 4 277 words!) and hard to right well, so please reply and tell me what you liked, didn't like, and so on. I may have another couple of chapters to finish this off so I'd like to know how to end it well. Thanks in advance guys.
-- The happy, but worn out, author Lily