An Independence Day to Remember

On July 4th my wife and I decided to take it easy this year, mostly because she was pregnant with twins and the high temperatures were especially uncomfortable and dangerous for her.  We spent the afternoon at her parents' house, swimming in the pool and eating her dad's always delectable grilled hamburgers.  We got home in the late afternoon, and I went over to our co-op's pick up spot in the neighborhood to get our week's share of farm-fresh veggies, and shot the bull with a couple of people I knew there.  When I got home I cooked dinner while my wife rested, and right at the moment where I put the food on the table, she told me her water broke.

Needless to say, we had to leave dinner on the table, but I did manage to cram about half of it down my throat in about half a minute's time because I knew that I would not be getting a full meal for quite some time.  I drove to the hospital in a determined and nervous fashion, worried and excited in ways I'd never felt before.  We got there at seven, and finally, at about 11:30, the c-section was done and I welcomed my twin girls into the world only briefly before they were taken to the NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit, for those of you who don't know.)

It was fast and unexpected, since the official due date was a month off.  I must admit I felt a little helpless and purposeless at first, since my wife was laid up in bed attached to an IV and catheter, and my daughters were in incubators.  We had to wait for over nine hours in the post-op room after the birth before being moved to a regular room because of my wife's high blood pressure, which is now thankfully falling.  I got maybe three hours of sleep (I had to make do with a recliner), and spent the next day in a walking-dead like daze, introducing my babies to my in-laws before collapsing in a heap in the chair next to my wife's hospital bed.  She sent me home to sleep last night, and by the time I showed up this morning, she was able to walk around and I was human again.

Today I finally got to hold my daughters, which has been the thrill of my life.  One of them spat up all over my hands after I fed her, and I just laughed giddily.  They might be in the NICU for another week, it's been hard to be separated from them all this time.  I've kept my hospital bracelets wrapped around my wrist as a way to have them near me when I can't be there.  I can't wait to get up tomorrow and hold them again.