Birthday Boys

Joshua (left) and Jude (right)

Happy Birthday, Joshua and Jude! (And Uncle Heath, too!) Joshua David was born at 5:10 this morning, measuring 4 pounds 14 oz and 17 ¾ inches; Jude Andrew was born at 5:15, measuring 5 pounds 6 ounces and 18 inches.

Even for us, this birth was a quick one. I was lying awake in bed this morning (lots of pregnancy insomnia for me in the last few months) when I felt something like a punch in my stomach from the inside. Didn’t feel like an ordinary baby kick, much stronger and it hurt! Then I felt the fluid and I knew my water had broken. That was around 3:45. So Zach and I got dressed, finished packing my bag, woke up Mom to let her know what was going on, and were headed to the hospital by around 4:15.

We live close to our local hospital so it was about 4:30 when I was getting into the hospital gown and getting hooked up to the monitors. And that’s when my contractions (which, you know, I’ve been having for about two months) started getting uncomfortable. And uncomfortable turned into painful within five minutes. The contractions were coming one after another; at most I had 30 seconds between each one. The nurse checked me and I was 8 cm shortly after arriving but by the time they called the doctor and he arrived (thankfully he lives close, too) I was fully dilated and ready to push. Joshua was born, then they did a quick ultrasound to make sure Jude was head down. He was and so was born with the next contraction.

If you’re doing the math, that’s a mere 40 minutes of real labor and births only an hour and a half after my water breaking. Crazy.

Joshua’s condition looked pretty good from the beginning, but Jude stopped breathing after his first cry and had to have some extra attention from the doctors and nurses. Then he seemed okay. But within a few hours it became apparent that they were having some respiratory distress, Jude especially. So our pediatrician made the call to send them to a NICU. That was not what we were hoping for, obviously, but given their gestational age (34 weeks 1 day) we were not surprised. Their condition, especially Jude’s, is quite similar to Esther’s a few years ago so it feels like familiar territory we are walking through. I am so thankful for the way God arranges the details of our life: that scary, emotional experience a few years ago has allowed us to approach this chapter of our life with more confidence and less fear.

Zach got to go visit the babies this afternoon in their new hospital home. (We opted for a different NICU than Esther went to, one that is only 45 minutes away.) They are doing pretty well. Both are on supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula, Joshua at 20% O2 (close to the concentration of regular air) and Jude is at 35%. Their blood tests look okay so far so no antibiotics at the moment. Their NICU nurse was impressed by their size considering their age.

But enough medical stuff. These babies are cute! They have blond peach fuzz and adorable noses. Do they look identical? I guess so. Jude is noticeably bigger in person but I already have trouble telling them apart in pictures. We haven’t spent enough time with them to know if there are any easily-seen birthmarks…I’m kind of hoping for something like that.

I am hoping to be discharged tomorrow morning, then I’ll be off to Johnstown to spend some time with our babies!

Joshua

Jude

Joshua showing off the pouty lip he inherited from Esther

Jude ready to go to Johnstown