Our twin labor and delivery story

by Stephanie Holts
(Jacksonville Florida)

Labor and delivery story with the twins:

I went into labor at 32 wks 1 day. Had back pain the night before. Woke up at 6. Told my husband I thought he should call out and being Monday knowing if I wasn't going into labor and him being in the Navy it was going to look really reallllly bad. Luckily yep, it was labor. I decided to jump in the shower before heading off to the hospital and my water broke then. The Naval hospital, where I was to deliver was far and we would have to go through tunnels in VA beach to get there, not wanting to deliver in a tunnel in the back of our brand new van I opted to call 911.

Feeling so embarrassed they came and carried me on a stretcher down the apt. stairs to the ambulance because at this point I could not walk. My husband was 5 mins behind the ambulance with my daughter and I delivered as soon as I reached the hospital in the examination room on the ambulances stretcher. I insisted they "check" me now and then they came. Less than an hour after I felt any labor pains and before my husband could get to the hospital and yes...without any medication which man oh MAN I wish I had.

At 6:59am and 7:04 am on June 30th Jacob Adam and Brayden Anthony were born. 4 lbs 6 oz and 4 lbs 2 oz. I was shocked but thankful they came so fast because I was in labor for 12 hours with my daughter. Later that day they were transferred to the Naval hospital because they had a better NIC u and they stayed there for 4 weeks until they could eat enough and all their bottles without feeding tubes. 2 weeks after they came home and 6 weeks after they were born my husband had to leave for a long deployment overseas off the coast of Africa. He left August 2008 and returned April 2009, when they were almost 10 months old. So yeah, it was difficult taking care of my 3 year old daughter and my 2 boys alone but now my husbands home and on shore duty for the next 3 years and things couldn't be more perfect. We're now stationed in Jacksonville, Florida.

My husbands in the Navy and we were blessed with a daughter, Isabella (who's now 4). When he returned from his second deployment in October 2008 I got pregnant right away and a little shocked to find out at 7 weeks that I was having 2. It took me two years to lose most of my baby weight with my first child so going down from 167 to 125 (108 at pre-pregnancy weight) I really wanted to be careful and watch what I ate and exercised.

With the twins I got up go 158 which wasn't as bad as my first time around, thanks to horrible morning sickness and my daughter keeping me more mobile. After the twins I weighed 144 right after the birth and just a few weeks later down to 135. I stayed there for a few months and then started ballooning again because of birth control. Right now 14 months postpartum I stand at 140 which yeah...isn't bad but I'm only 5'3"...but I exercise around an hour 5-6 days a week alternating between the elliptical and exercise videos. I don't want to get discouraged. Hopefully I'll get down to at least 120 someday, so wish me luck but I'm not going to lie. It is frustrating.