Thursday, July 7, 2011

One Year Ago...............

One year ago today we welcomed our two beautiful miracles on July 7, 2010 at 7:22 and 7:23 am.  I cannot explain how happy we are to have Alexandra (Allie) and Olivia in our lives.  It is so hard to believe that Justin and I have made it here.  God has blessed us with the most amazing miracles and we thank Him EVERY day. 


I often sit back and think about the struggles that Justin and I went through to get our bundles of joy and still have to pinch myself.  From tears, arguments, silent treatments, doctors, tests, and most of all, prayers, we ended up here.  It was a long traveled road but all worth it in the end.  Being parents has made us new people.  I didn't think that it was possible for Justin and I to become any closer but having the girls in our lives has changed that.  We have become closer than ever and continue to do so every day.

On this day one year ago I can remember waking up at 3:30 am with Justin by my side hearing the alarm clock go off.  I remember thinking to myself, "We are meeting our babies today.  Our lives are changing today."  I can remember showering and preparing to "look my best" for the big day.  As I sat down at my vanity and began to put on my make-up, Justin laughed and made fun of me for putting on make-up.  I didn't care.  Cameras would be there along with visitors and I was not about to look back 20+ years down the road and see how terrible I looked.  We got to the hospital, my heart seemed to skip beats.  When we walked into our room, I looked to the right and saw two beds for the babies.  I started crying.  I dressed in the infamous hospital gown, mascara pouring down my face (I don't know why I didn't choose waterproof mascara).  We had numerous people come in to hook me up, monitor me, ask me a bazillion questions, medicate me, and do anything else but deliver my babies.  I was so ready.  At 6:43 am, my two nurses, two nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist, pediatric nurses, and Lord knows who else strolled me back to the operating room.  I said one last bye to Justin and he kissed me as they pushed me out the door.  I smiled the entire way to the operating room.  It was like a movie.

When we got into the room, Doctor G (Dr. Gordon) was on the phone and he saw them wheel me in.  He quickly hung up the phone in mid conversation, which sounded like an important one, and hurried over to my side to hug me.  He was wonderful.  He joked with me about my make-up and how gorgeous I looked.  He scored points with the emotionally huge pregnant woman.  I looked around the room and didn't see Justin.  I asked where he was and they told me he was dressing and would be in after they got my spinal done.  As they prepared me for surgery I looked around the room.  It was like a mad house, a very organized mad house.  There were people everywhere.  There were:
-2 nurses for myself
-2 pediatric nurses
-2 nurse anesthetists
-1 anesthesiologist
-2 pediatricians
-2 extra nurses
-2 surgeons (Dr. Gordon and Dr. Farmer)
-2 surgical nurses
-and about 15 nursing students there to observe.  Surprise!

We laugh at this.  We don't know what one of anything is like anymore.

After they "prepared" me for surgery, they brought in Justin.  After he sat down and got the camera ready everything happened so fast.  As Doctor Gordon started the operation, a class of student nurses came in to watch (there they were, about 15 of them with their instructor plus the rest of the "Team").  As I lay there, I was feeling so sick and feeling so much pressure.  It seemed to last forever.  Then IT happened.  I heard the most beautiful voice in the world.  Alexandra Lynn Armstrong was born at 7:22 am and Justin cried.  Then came the other most beautiful voice in the world (not very happy, though).  Olivia Grace Armstrong was born at 7:23 am.  Justin cried more.  They quickly cleaned them off and handed them to their adorable, amazing, proud father.  He showed them to me and we locked eyes in amazement.  He kissed me and we both cried.  They let us have a few minutes with them before they took them away.  The nurse anesthetists were so incredibly sweet.  They took turns filming everything for us so that we could focus on the glorious moments.  Below is the video of the girls being brought into our lives.

After they took the girls, they made Justin leave so they could finish whatever they were doing behind that curtain.  Justin kissed me, told me he loved me, and told me he was proud of me.

After Justin left, it was like a switch had been turned on.  I got so sick from the anesthesia and other medicines.  I stayed sick until about 10:30 am.  They took me back to the room where Justin was waiting for me with our beautiful babies.  I don't remember anything until about 10:30 am.  I do remember being sick and having tons of doctors and nurses coming in and out checking on me.  Justin stayed by my bedside the entire time helping me.  He would stay with me a few minutes and then walk over to the girls in their beds to check on them.

Our families got to the hospital around 7:00 that morning.  I told them that surgery wasn't until then and just to get there then.  I didn't want them up there waiting for hours and hours.  Well, they ended up waiting for hours and hours.  They were so anxious and excited.  Justin and I told our families that we wanted to be with the babies by ourselves after surgery for a little while and they could come back later.  We thought that we would be able to have them back to see all of us around 8:30 or 9:00 am.  Wrong!  I was so sick and didn't even get to hold my babies until 10:30.  Poor Justin was all by himself battling the front lines.  Our family was waiting for us in the room before we came back from surgery but the  nurses kicked them out before we returned.  Everything ended up being perfect, though.  I started feeling better and after begging and pleading to me, I told Justin the families could come back.  Remember, I still had not held either of my babies.  Finally once everyone came back, I was feeling better and able to hold my perfect miracles.

Words cannot explain the way I felt when I held them. It really was like a dream. I felt as if I was not even in my body. Justin had the honor of handing Allie to me. As he brought her to me I watched him walk over to me just staring at her. He placed her in my arms and I couldn't breath. I don't remember if my heart stopped or not, but I didn't care. She was the most amazing, beautiful, perfect thing in the world. There we were with our first born. Everyone was crying. I just stared at her. I asked Justin to get Olivia. He brought her over. Again, just staring at her. He placed her in my arms and I cried. My body was so full of excitement that I could not control the tears of happiness. I stared at them both forever. There were cameras flashing, videos being recorded, hands being shook, tears being wiped, and silent prayers being said.

Justin and I talk about that day everyday. We cannot imagine our lives without them. People ask us all the time, "What's it like with two?" Well, we don't know what it's like with one so two is just like one. I am not going to sugar coat it and act like super woman. Being parents is the toughest job EVER. There were nights that Justin and I thought we would never survive. We thought we would die from sleep deprivation. We have soldiered through diapers, bottles, feedings, laundry, colic, ear infections, stomach viruses, tears, crying, colds, schedules, and it has been pure BLISS.

I wanted to take time and post this because I appreciate everyone who has been there for us this past year. Thank you to our family, friends, and most importantly Christ our Savior.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful and perfect girls, Allie and Olivia. We love you and cannot wait to see what this year brings.

The night before our lives changed forever