I woke up around 3:15am. This was early but not as crazy early as it sounds because with my Ironman training I had been going to bed as early as 9 or even 8:30 to get up and get my training in before the Arizona heat and before work. I got out of bed and walked down the hall and saw Tiff in the office chair sort of smiling. She says “oh good I was going to wake you up soon to time my pressure waves”. I was excited but didn’t want to let myself get too excited for some reason. I went in to the kitchen and saw a bunch of towels on the floor and asked her if her water broke. She said “I don’t know, it's probably just some leakage”. I started timing and writing down her pressure waves. I grabbed some Hypnobabies material about the timing of pressure waves. I was reading about the timing being 10 minutes apart and thought – OK I guess we're past that. Then I read about them being 5 minutes apart – we’re past that too. I came to realize that we were already at the point where most people go to the hospital. I thought - I knew Tiffany was going to be awesome at this. I called our doula Kimberly soon after this.
Tiffany had been birthing really peacefully and I remember when Kimberly was inflating the birthing tub, it took away from that atmosphere Tiffany had created. We got in the tub and there was a time when it was getting very difficult for Tiffany and she said she couldn’t handle it anymore. I reminded her that we had talked through this exact scenario, that everybody has that moment and that she was prepared for it. Several of the windows were open in the house and Tiffany was moaning really loud. It was sort of amusing to wonder what our neighbors thought was going on at our house at 5:30 in the morning. I mean her moans were loud.
Tiffany had been birthing really peacefully and I remember when Kimberly was inflating the birthing tub, it took away from that atmosphere Tiffany had created. We got in the tub and there was a time when it was getting very difficult for Tiffany and she said she couldn’t handle it anymore. I reminded her that we had talked through this exact scenario, that everybody has that moment and that she was prepared for it. Several of the windows were open in the house and Tiffany was moaning really loud. It was sort of amusing to wonder what our neighbors thought was going on at our house at 5:30 in the morning. I mean her moans were loud.
The drive to the hospital was almost as fun as I expected it to be. They brought us to the labor and delivery room and when they told Tiffany to start pushing we were thrilled that we had avoided going to the operating room. The midwife said “I’m afraid if we take you to the OR, you’ll deliver this baby in the hall”. It instantly became like a zoo in the room. It was at this time that I texted Tiffany’s mom, saying “babies are a couple minutes away” then put my phone on silent.
After a couple minutes, baby a was not coming out as quickly as we originally thought. We all went in to the OR and we had to put full scrubs on with a mask and cap. The midwife, doctor, nurses, Kimberly and I were all awkwardly squeezed in between operating tables, Tiff's labor bed and lots of equipment. At this point the ideal birthing atmosphere went from bad to worse. The OB was now in the room because she is supposed to be there since we were in the OR but she quickly left to attend another birth. The midwife went back to encouraging Tiffany with her pushing. I continued talking Tiffany through everything and tried to keep her motivated. She said differently, but I remember saving my “this is your Ironman” line for these last big pushes. Once Thomas came out I went over to the table where they took him. Next thing I knew I was being kicked out of there with Kimberly. I was fine because I was able to go be with Thomas and Kimberly could wait for Tiffany to come out. I was in the nursery staring at Thomas when it seemed like a minute later they brought another baby in. This baby was bigger had a different shape and his skin color was different. I seriously asked “who’s baby is that?” or something along those lines. They told me it was mine and I was excited. Thomas had a major cone head from coming out of the birth canal, had dark hair and I would say darker skin. Nathan's head was long but perfectly shaped, had blond hair and his skin was lighter. They asked me for their names but we hadn’t decided who was who yet.
After a couple minutes, baby a was not coming out as quickly as we originally thought. We all went in to the OR and we had to put full scrubs on with a mask and cap. The midwife, doctor, nurses, Kimberly and I were all awkwardly squeezed in between operating tables, Tiff's labor bed and lots of equipment. At this point the ideal birthing atmosphere went from bad to worse. The OB was now in the room because she is supposed to be there since we were in the OR but she quickly left to attend another birth. The midwife went back to encouraging Tiffany with her pushing. I continued talking Tiffany through everything and tried to keep her motivated. She said differently, but I remember saving my “this is your Ironman” line for these last big pushes. Once Thomas came out I went over to the table where they took him. Next thing I knew I was being kicked out of there with Kimberly. I was fine because I was able to go be with Thomas and Kimberly could wait for Tiffany to come out. I was in the nursery staring at Thomas when it seemed like a minute later they brought another baby in. This baby was bigger had a different shape and his skin color was different. I seriously asked “who’s baby is that?” or something along those lines. They told me it was mine and I was excited. Thomas had a major cone head from coming out of the birth canal, had dark hair and I would say darker skin. Nathan's head was long but perfectly shaped, had blond hair and his skin was lighter. They asked me for their names but we hadn’t decided who was who yet.
The nurses had been checking the babies blood sugar levels and after a few minutes were talking about giving them formula. Mostly because Tiffany was still coming out of the sedation. After some struggle with the nurses and a little more time, I was able to bring Thomas and Nathan in to Tiffany who was absolutely delirious still. Kimberly and I got the babies on her breasts as quickly as possible while Tiffany was regaining consciousness. After that we moved into the postpartum room and that’s when the real craziness began.