The Birth of Armor & Ronin
On February 6th, 2014 I went in for an appointment to see my MFM Doctor in order check on the position of the Boys and to make sure they were not under any stress, because I was tentatively scheduled for induction at 37 weeks on January 8th, 2014, due to pre-eclampsia.
(Last month of pregnancy and pre-eclampsia).
The night before our appointment Josh finally let me get out of the house, and we made the trek to Waffle House; which is only about 7 minutes from our house. We’d been having late night Waffle House rendezvous for the last half of my pregnancy. I craved eggs the entire pregnancy and who can beat scrambled eggs and hash browns at 1:00am in the morning? Haha. Little did I know this would be our last trip to Waffle House as an “Expecting couple”.
 |
| One of my last "Belly" shots!! |
The morning of the 6th, I got up, showered, squeezed into my shoes and pants, and actually did my hair for the first time in weeks. Outside of our Waffle House trip, I had not been out of the house for many, many days, because I was on bed rest. I was excited about getting out and putting on clothes, because lets face it, when you are on bed rest, you basically live in pajamas all day, every day. Before leaving the house Josh said “Do you want to load up the bags again”? I say “No, there is no reason that I would be staying since we are scheduled for Wednesday, I’m not 37 weeks yet”. He stares at me and says “Are you sure” and I say “Yes, I’m certain”. So I didn’t have him put anything in the car, but he did put his bags in the car just in case. Such a smart guy, lol.
We got to the appointment and luckily did not have to wait as long as normal. And as usual, I got called back to leave a urine sample and get my blood pressure taken. At this point in my pregnancy trying to pee was a difficult task. I sat on the toilet for what seemed like forever and finally managed to get a little bit of urine out. And, then as I was trying to set little cup on the counter, I spilled it all over my pants, every last drop. I immediately burst into tears, threw down some paper towels and just cried. I was so upset. There I was 9 months pregnant with twins, barely able to bend down and I’m mopping up my pee and trying to towel dry my pants. When I walked out to get my blood pressure taken it was a whooping 165/123 - Ahhhhhh. So, soooo high. We immediately got situated in a small room and hooked up to the monitors to check out the Boys. I was only hooked up for about 20 minutes for monitoring and the Doctor came in. He said “So are you ready to have some babies”? I looked at him and said “Yea, I can’t wait until Wednesday”. At this point, Josh, fully understands what the Doctor means and I’m completely oblivious as to what he really means, lol. The Doctor then says “It’s happening today”. Insert “wide eyed, shocked face”. I then look over at Josh and giggle, because he was so smart to put his bags in the car. I asked the doctor if I could go home and get my bags and he politely says “No”. Then we started to discuss how this show was going to go down. He of course immediately recommended cesarean, to which I politely replied, “No”, because Baby A was very low in a head down position and Baby B was only transverse with his head hanging out on my lower left side. The Doctor pondered for a few minutes and decided to let me go for vaginal birth!! I was so excited to have this chance even though I was pregnant with twins.
The Doctor said “Good Luck” and said to head over to Labor & Delivery and they would be waiting for us.
As soon as he left the room, Josh laughed and said the look on my face was priceless. I then grabbed my phone and called, Sheila, my mother in-law. She answered and I said “Its happening today”. I could hear the excitement in her voice and she said “Yea!! I’ll be there soon”. We gathered ourselves and made our way across the Hospital to Labor and Delivery. Jen, my sister in-law and also our Birth support for labor and delivery, called as we were finding our way to L&D, she was so excited and it only added to my own excitement and anticipation. The walk over was exhausting on my hugely pregnant body.
We made it to L&D at 3pm, signed all the paperwork, answered tons of questions and then I got a fancy wheelchair ride to my room. We’d gotten there so quick they didn’t even have the bed in the room. So I spent that few minutes trying to text my best friend, Anna. My hands were shaking and my brain was going super fast. I think all my text said was “we're in L&D, its happening today” and then I set my phone down and didn’t pick it back up for several hours. As soon as I set the phone down the bed came and I was handed a gown. I changed clothes, hopped in bed and started answering tons of questions while also getting an IV put in. Then Josh’s, Mom, showed up! Shortly after she got there, Jen, arrived and then we sent Josh back home to feed the dogs and get my bags. A little while later my best friend, Anna, arrived!! I was surrounded by those who loved me and I felt so secure and so ready to get the show on the road.
 |
| Josh is ready!! |
From 3pm to 6pm the time was spent trying to get both babies on the monitors, together, at the same time for a specific amount of time before I could receive any medications for induction. It was frustrating at times, because once we’d get everything set, I would have to pee, and then it was another 15-20 minutes of trying to get them back on the monitor. It was pretty easy to get, Armor, since he was head down and in mostly in the same spot each time. Ronin, on the other hand was being a little nija, I felt so bad for nurse, Violet, who had to try and find him each time, haha. I kept apologizing for Ronin and his antics, and my overwhelmed bladder, because at this point was I only dribbling out a tiny bit of urine each time I made it to the bathroom, and had a constant feeling of my bladder being full.
Around 7:00 pm my Midwife came in to finally check me down below, and I was shocked to learn that I was dilated to 1 cm and 80 percent effaced. I felt great and so happy that things were already happening. I was finally able to receive cytotec, which was small tablet to help thin out the cervix. Within the hour I started to feel small, manageable contractions. At this point I was told I could finally have something to eat since the induction process can take a while so, Anna, and Jen, went out and found Jack-n-tha-Box. I just wanted something super filling, and fattening, hahaha. So had the burger and fries and then my Midwife came back in to check. At this point it was about 10:00 pm and I was dilated to 2 cm and 90% effaced. Since my body was responding well my midwife decided that she wanted to go ahead and insert a balloon foley. The balloon was placed into my cervix to help it dilate and I was told this could take up to 12 hours.
 |
| Last Belly Photo!! |
Around 11:00 pm Jen and Anna headed home, sheila had left an hour before. Once they left, Josh, got the Ipad out and we started to watch “American Dad” while watching the show I started to have more contractions, they were starting to feel a lot more intense, yet still manageable as long as I closed my eyes and breathed through them so, I told, Josh, that we needed to turn it off and I could not focus on the show. The nurse came in and offered me an ambien for the night to help me sleep since we had a big day ahead of us. I got the Ambien, Josh got situated on the tiny little couch/bed (not made for 6’2” tall people), the lights were off and all I could hear were sounds of beeping machines and my blood pressure cuff going off. Since my blood pressure was so high, they had it going off every 30 minutes. In order to keep, Ronin, on the monitor I had to be in a sitting position, they nurses wanted me on my left side, but then we could not keep him on the monitor so, in turn it made my blood pressure stay high.
 |
| Josh helping me through contractions |
So there we are, balloon in, contractions coming and going, husband tossing and turning on the tiny couch, and me unable to sleep even with the Ambien, because of contractions, having to pee and my blood pressure cuff going on and off. At about 3:00 am I told Josh to go home and get some real sleep so, he left and after that I was wide awake and feeling a bit loopy from the Ambien. I was making trips to the bathroom at least every 30 minutes and it was becoming very uncomfortable, because I was getting to the point where I could not release any urine at all. I was starting to get upset, and worried, and at one point I just cried sitting on the toilet. At about 6:00am I made a trip to the bathroom and as I was walking to the toilet I felt like I might pee on myself so, I just stood there, let it go and peed all over myself, it was embarrassing, but so much relief came after. I threw my hospital gown on the floor and mopped it up, apologized and told the nurse and she said “Congrats, don’t worry - do you feel better”. I felt so much better.
7:00 am hit and the nurses switched shifts, so my new midwife for the day came in to check and see how much I had progressed with the balloon. She checked and tugged on it and it came almost all the way out!! She pulled it out all the way, which was totally uncomfortable, but I was now 90% effaced and dilated to 5 cm. I was excited that it did not even take 12 hours. After that she said I could take a shower so, that I could feel refreshed and I did. Once I got back into bed from taking my shower my contractions started to get intense again. I started to get a little nervous, because no one was with me yet, I started to become afraid that things would suddenly happen fast so, I texted, Josh, and let him know my contractions were getting more intense and that I was dilated to a 5. He said he’d be on his way soon.
 |
| This is what Love is!! |
While waiting for him to arrive my Sheila and Jen arrived, then Josh got there and we were all just kinda hanging out while I had regular mild contractions. The midwife came in around 10:00am and they decided to go ahead and give me some pitocin. That got my contractions going even more.
Toward the end of pregnancy my midwife and I talked about planning to get an epidural at some point, in case I needed to have a c section. Since Baby B was transverse there was always a possibility for one, and if I didn’t have an epidural in place and c section was needed last minute they would have to knock me out, and I was not cool with that so, we agreed it was a good idea to get one at some point. I wanted to labor as long as possible before getting it.
After receiving the pitocin, my contractions picked up to the point I asked, Jen, to go and heat up my rice sock pack that I made for labor. I also asked the nurse at what point should I ask for the epidural. The nurse said “When you get to the point that you can’t sit still during your contractions”. The contractions were becoming more and more painful, I was using the rice pack, Jen, was rubbing my back and hips, I was then up and hanging onto, Josh, swaying back and forth. The pain was intense!! At about 2:30ish I asked for the epidural and I probably waited a little too long, because they were back to back, no breaks in between the contractions. Anna, arrived as I was in the middle of full on contractions, she said the little line on the monitor was all the way at the top and it wasn’t going up or down, it was just a straight line across, lol. I will just say… trying to sit still for an epidural while you’re having hard core contractions was CRAZY… the most intense thing I’ve ever been through in my life. Thank God for Nurse Violet, she held me in place and let me squeeze the shit out of her shoulders, its as if I was hanging on for dear life.
Once the epidural was in, Sheila, Jen and Anna got to come back in the room. The nurse also mentioned that once I had the epidural in they were going to give me magnesium, because of my high blood pressure, she said it would probably make me feel bad, flu like… Yuck. It made me feel really, really hot. I had them turn the air down in the room and I’m sure I was causing everyone else to freeze to death. The epidural was in and from this point on it was all very smooth and calm. I had my Husband at my side, my super woman support team and a few more were on their way.
 |
| Test Pushes |
Around 7:00pm the midwife came in to check me and I was 100% effaced and dilated to an 8!! They decided to break my water, but Armor was so low when they broke it, nothing, but a dribble came out, they even scratched his little head. He was so ready and my water wasn’t going anywhere!! She came back at 9:45 and I was READY!! Completely dilated and completely effaced. I could feel my contractions, but they were not painful, it was just an odd pressure sensation. At that moment she said it was going to be about 45 minutes until the midwife was able to come in so, I was going to labor down and wait. I was a little frustrated, because I was so ready for the little guys to come. At about 10:45 ish my nurse came back and said it was still going to be a little longer and that I she was going to let me start doing test pushes!! I was so excited. Everyone cleared the room except for Josh and Jen. I did test pushes and moved Baby A (Armor down pretty quickly). Josh and Jen both got to see his head and I was even able to reach down and touch his head. The midwife came in at about 11:30 we did a few test pushes and then I was crowing!! They notified the Operating room that we were on our way.
 |
| Armor - Born at 12:01 AM 1/8/2014 |
As they were wheeling me down to the OR my midwife asked if how I felt about having the babies on two different day, ahhhh. I said “No”. We all laughed, but I was super serious… Normally I’d think that kind of thing was neat or fun, but in that moment I was not going to let them be born on separate days after carrying them together for 9 month. When we got in the operating room, they got me on the bed and we all watched the clock. As soon as the clock hit midnight I gave one beautiful push and I felt his head come out, then one more tiny push and he was completely out at 12:01AM!! They immediately put him on my belly and I just lost it. I cried “Oh my god”. There was my sweet Armor, all purple and quiet, resting on my belly with his little cone shaped head and swollen eyes. I placed my hand on his little back and rubbed his head and just cried… It was incredible, beautiful and the most amazing feeling in the entire world to finally meet this little person that was growing inside my body. After a few minutes they took him off of me,, because he wasn’t breathing and we needed to find the position of, Ronin. Josh cut his cord and they swept him away to other side of the room and Josh followed. Armor, weighed in at 4lbs 13oz and was 17 inches long.
 |
| Ronin - Born at 12:25 AM 1/8/2014 |
The doctor then started feeling my belly to see where, Ronin, was and unfortunately he’d stretched out across my whole belly. The Doctor tried to turn him from the outside of my body and that wasn’t working so, then he reached his hand into my body and tried moving him that way. Talk about an insane and out of this world feeling. I could see my whole belly moving around, it was very strange. I felt scared, but not necessary worried… It was just such a strange experience. While this is happening I kept asking Jen and Josh if, Armor was okay, because he still had not cried. They assured me that everything is okay. The Doctor kept grabbing Ronin’s back and then he said, “All I can grab is his arm, this isn’t going to happen, we need to do a cesarean”. I immediately told him, Thank you for trying”, because not all Doctors will try a breech extraction and I was just so thankful that he did give it a shot. In that moment the entire room and mood shifted. It went from casual vaginal birth, to serious, We need to get this baby out birth.During this time more people started filling the room, they put the sheet up and start pumping medication into me, and finally I hear this tiny little squeak from across the room it was, Armor. Finally I heard him cry, finally I felt relief and ready to deliver, Ronin… I believe they had to use some sort of machine and oxygen to get him going and when he started to cry and I cried, and Josh said “He’s starting to pink up”. Jen came over and said “He is fine”, then shortly after, Josh came over with, Armor… He was pink and wide eyed, he was absolutely beautiful. They made Jen and Josh step outside of the room for a little bit while they got me completely prepped for the surgery. I just remember lying there, shaking my ass off. The amount of drugs they pumped into my body caused me to shake uncontrollably.
This is where things get a little foggy. Jen comes over and stands beside me and It feels like I’ve been on that table for an hour, I ask, Jen “Have they cut me open, and she shakes her head, Yes. Josh is with, Armor and I’m there shaking like a leaf on a tree. Jen says they really had to work hard to get, Ronin out. They even cut me up and down instead of sideways, to give more room. All the sudden the room is quiet and then excitement erupts, Jen, screams out “Oh my God, Crystal, he’s huge”. They literally pulled, Ronin, out by his feet… head last and was born at 12:25 AM, just 24 minutes after, Armor..
 |
| Proud Dad!! |
He came out and screamed right away, such a beautiful sound to hear. Again, I lose it and cry… I do not see him right away. They take him to the other side of the room and clean him up and weigh him really quickly, then, Josh, brings him over. He is also wide eyed and absolutely beautiful. When Josh brought him over I was shaking so bad I didn’t want to hold him, I feel bad now looking back, but I was afraid of scaring him or not being able to hold him, to be honest I was sooo messed up from all the drugs pulsing through my body that I could not think straight. Ronin weighed 6 lbs and 2 ounces and was 17 inches long just like, Armor. All the nurses said “He was stealing all the groceries”, lol. Josh takes, Ronin, back over to where, Armor, is and he is just in awe of his Boys. Jen hangs out with me and as they begin to sew me back up I start to get really sick so, Jen, held a little plastic bag next to my head so that I could throw up. Jen was amazing and I’m eternally grateful that she was there for Josh and I.
 |
| Incredible moment |
I barely even remember being moved back into my room, but as soon as I’m all put back together, they wheel me back to my room and I remember waking back up from a tiny drug induced nap to family being in the room. Sheila and my Mom are in the room when I wake up, they are holding both Boys, it’s so funny to think everyone held the Boys before I did, lol. I start to wake even more. Next my Brother and sister come into the room and then Anna, Sarah and Sennicca. I’m so messed up that I'm fading in and out of sleep. I mean after all I had not slept since Monday morning and it was now Wednesday morning. Finally they bring the boys over to me for me to hold. I’m still shaking uncontrollably, but Josh insists that I hold the Boys and that it will help. They place, Ronin no my chest first and my body immediately stops shaking… I look at, Ronin’s little face, wrap my arms around him and began sobbing. Meeting him was amazing, beautiful and surreal. I could not believe he was mine, that after all that time… I was finally holding my one of my babies. Next, Armor, is placed on my chest right next to, Ronin. I can’t even fully explain how amazing that moment felt and still feels to me. I was in awe of their beautiful faces. I felt like it was a dream and it was, it was a dream come true and I was literally having the best moment of my life. I sat there crying and snuggling my beautiful Boys and then nursed them…
 |
| In Looooooove!! |
|
|
|
|
|
It was truly an amazing experience, pregnancy and birth... And I was surrounded by the best and most supportive people in my life. Even though I had to have a cesarean for, Ronin… it was the most epic and amazing birth experience I could have ever asked for, I do not regret anything about my birth experience, not one thing, except maybe feeling so messed up on all the meds they pumped into my body. Josh and I were surrounded by love and support and we felt so great having our family and friends right there by our sides. Josh went home a while later to get some real sleep and Sheila stayed with us the whole night, as I drifted in and out of an exhausted sleep, she is truly amazing and the best mother in-law a girl could ask for!! The Boys both had Jaundice and low sugar at birth and Armor spent an entire day under the lights to help him with his jaundice levels, but overall were super healthy even at 3 weeks early. I feel so empowered as a woman to have had this amazing experience... It was worth every tear, heartache, loss, and worth all the pain I ever endured along the way...
They were born on January 8th, 2014 at 4lbs 13oz & 6lbs 2oz and both 17" long! I am beyond blessed to have them in my life and I feel so
incredibly lucky to have them after such a long struggle to become a Mother.
