A post five years in the making

Today my little girls are five. No longer babies anymore, they are truly young ladies. They have been for some time, but this age thing makes it seem more official.

October 6, 2005 was my third day at UNC Hospitals. I knew the girls were coming that day, but had no idea when. Finally around 9am they came to get me and take me to L&D. That may seem early, but days in the hospital started at 6.

They put me in a laboring room to wait for prep for the OR. I was there for three hours. The only person who checked in on us was a med student who asked if we would participate in her nausea study. Apparently we'd been delayed due to an emergency.

Around noon, our nurse arrived and seemed annoyed we hadn't started the paperwork yet. But then things got started. I got into the OR and got my anesthesia. Dr. Strauss walked in and said, "so why am I cutting you?" He read the file and got down to business.

12:44 pm. Lily arrives. All I see is a tiny hand above the curtain before they whisk her away to the other room.

12:46 pm. After a lot of tugging, Madeleine arrives. They take her to the exam area to my left where I can see her surrounded by nurses. They wrap her, bring her over so I can see her, and take her out the door.

That would be the last I would see of them on their birthday. I headed to recovery while they headed to the NICU. They spent a few hours on CPAP, but were off it by the evening.

I was totally out of it pretty much into the next morning.

Happy Birthday Lily and Madeleine! You have been such a joy to me. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. I can't wait to see what the next five years bring!