...And Then My Water Broke

Our lovely little ladies are three months old today, and I thought I’d hit the rewind button, to capture the crazy, exciting, and absolutely breathtaking experience of the birth of our twins.

The Bushwar girls made their grand appearance during the wee hours of the morning of June 15th. And they came fast. The night before, I went out with some friends and co-workers for a Mexican feast at one of our local favorites, Via Real. If you live in the Irving area, you know they have great food. What you probably don’t know is that eating at Via Real when you’re 37 weeks pregnant may induce labor. After dinner, I did the usual things—watched a little TV, straightened up the house a bit, and went to bed feeling fine (not even heartburn) around 11.

The next thing I remember, I was awakened by a huge cramp. I looked at the clock, and it was a little after two in the morning. I nudged Jon and said, “I think I just had a real contraction.” With Jon still a little groggy, he asked if I was sure, and I honestly didn’t know. It came and went really quickly, so I told him that I was going to go to the bathroom, and I’d wait to see if another one came. As soon I walked in the room, I felt it. Instantly, I knew what had happened. My water broke.

Within 45 minutes, Jon’s parents were at our house to stay with a sleeping Liam, my Mom and brother, Patrick, were on their way to Dallas from Houston (where my sister had given birth eight days earlier), and Jon and I were settling into a labor and delivery room at Baylor Hospital.
When the nurse came in to check me, she said she didn’t think my water broke, and it didn’t appear as if I was dilated. I knew she was wrong, and I told her that I was 100% sure one of the twins was no longer swimming around in a sack of water, so she had her supervisor come in to examine me. The supervisor had other news—I was dilated to an eight, quickly approaching a nine. At that point, they laid me flat on my back and told me not to push. The nurse called the doctor and told him to get there as fast as he could. While we waited for him, the staff prepped me for surgery. (Liam had a c-section birth, and my regular ObGyn had already schedule me for a c-section the following Monday).

Everything happened so fast. I was wheeled into the operating room. A very nice man gave me a lovely epidural. Dr. O’Neal, a man who I had seen once or twice before at my regular doctor’s office, arrived. Looking over the curtain that was shielding me, he said he had just squeezed me with a surgical instrument that looked like a giant tweezers. “I didn’t feel anything.” A lady in blue scrubs brought Jon in and told him to sit next to me. Wearing a surgical mask, Jon held and nervously rubbed my hand. Feeling a little pressure but no pain, the room suddenly filled with the soprano of a newborn wail which quickly turned into a duet. Relief washed over me when I heard that they both looked healthy, were normal weights, and no NICU visit was required. Marin was the first one out, and Ellery quickly followed. Within two minutes we became a complete family of five, and the love grows deeper and stronger every day. Happy three months of life, baby girls!