Happy Birthday!!

So who would have ever guessed that May 3rd would become such an important day in our lives?

At 11:21 and 11:23 am Winston and William decided that they couldn't wait any longer to join us. As I'm sure everyone's first birthing experiences are it was a surreal experience for us. On Monday, Alex had been having more regular Braxton Hicks contractions than normal and in the evening started to feel some cramping. We called the on-call doctor and he had us come in to see what was going on. Alex really wasn't much more dilated than she had been a week earlier, so he gave her some fluids, sent us home, and had told her to call him if anything changed or got worse and to have her regular doctor check her again at her appointment later in the week.

Well in the next few hours the cramping started getting worse so we headed into the hospital to find that she had jumped to a 4. They called the doctor to take a look and see if they should try and slow it down, but when he got there Alex was suddenly at a 7 and he prepped the OR for a quick C-section. I barely had time to call our Dads before they rushed us into the operating room.

We were both nervous as Alex was only at 30.5 weeks, however we were grateful that the doctors had identified her short cervix early on in the pregnancy so she could be on bedrest and receive a steroids treatment to help the boy's lungs earlier on. The operating room had what Alex called a "drive through window" which allowed the doctors to immediately pass the babies from the OR directly to the NICU.

I don't think I will ever forget the sweetest sound I have ever heard, when Winston was pulled and let out a consistent loud cry. William was two minutes behind and was also crying although with a little less energy. The doctor quickly flashed each baby in front of us before he passed them through the drive through window. Both of them looked bigger than we were expecting and I am still awed that they some how fit inside of Alex's belly minutes earlier.

About an hour following their birth I was able to go back and see them. They both were doing great considering their circumstances. As indicated by their crying, William struggled with his breathing a little bit more than Winston so they immediately put him on a ventilator and treated him with surfactant. They started Winston out on a CPAP to see if he could breath with less help. In the end Winston was working a little too hard so they put him on a ventilator as well.

Alex was able to be wheeled by them in her hospital bed a couple of hours later and we wheeled her down in a wheel chair later that night to spend some quality time. Grandparents and Aunts were able to come in late that night two by two to say hi to their new grandsons/nephews.

Both of them have had a great first day considering their dramatic entrance into the world. We have a long road ahead of us as their official due date was not until July 8th (which they tell us is a good target for them to come home although it could be a few weeks earlier). We are already so appreciative and grateful for the amazing NICU nurses who are holding our hands though this process. We are praying that they will get through these first few critical days without any major setbacks. We'll try and keep you posted through the blog on how things are going. Thanks for all of your support and prayers.

Winston Dunn Davis

Born 11:21am on 5/3/11

3 pounds, 6 ounces

16.5 inches long

William Todd Davis

Born 11:23am on 5/3/11

3 pounds, 7 ounces

16 inches long

Alex meeting William

Alex meeting Winston