Gabriel and Nathaniel

We found out we were expecting in October 2003. Happy and excited, we were slightly anxious due to a previous miscarriage that had taken place in March of that year.

The first appointment went well. My midwife tried finding the heartbeat with a doppler and couldn’t. Of course this left me feeling scared and unsure of what was going on, mostly concerned that another miscarriage was in my future! The midwife saw this and immediately got a portable ultrasound machine to check things out. After a little while of looking around--my baby's gestational age was only nine weeks-- she finally saw the baby. It was beautiful and moving around like crazy, so I finally left the appointment, reassured that things were going as they should be.

My first official ultrasound was scheduled at 12 weeks, and just happened to fall on the 23rd of December. My husband naturally came along with me for this. There was the technician "doing her thing," looking around and then she said, "Did they say anything about this pregnancy being abnormal?"

Of course that put my husband and I into a state of panic! I answered, "No, why? Is something wrong?"

Her response came with a smile on her face: "Oh no, there's just two babies in there!"

I almost fell off the table in shock. My husband's mouth gaped open, then he said, "Are you serious?"

The technician looked at him and said, "Oh yes I'm sure, and that's one thing I don’t kid about...twins!" She continued to do the scan, and both babies were doing wonderfully and appeared totally healthy. We left that appointment with so many emotions running through our heads! Happiness, excitement, shock, worry, and several more I can't even begin to describe!

We were immediately turned over to an OB instead of a midwife due to the pregnancy now being a twin pregnancy.

Things progressed perfectly. Since this was my seventh pregnancy--we already have five other kiddos at home--I thought I knew what to expect, but I was wrong. It was the best pregnancy I've ever had, even if I did get totally HUGE! Nothing abnormal happened and the babies continued to thrive. I had ultrasounds every four weeks and OB appointments on a regular basis with short scans taking place during those appointments as well.

Right before Valentine’s Day, we found out that we were going to have two boys, which was just wonderful, especially as we already had four girls and one boy. My son said, "It's about time we even up the odds around here!" We were living in our bliss of expecting not only one baby boy, but two!

My due date was July 9th, 2004, but my doctor told me to expect to deliver early due to this being a twin pregnancy. So at 36 weeks I went in for my regular appointment and they did the short scan once again. The babies were in breech presentation and I was dilated to 2, almost 3 cm. My doctor seemed a little concerned, and told me to give it a few more days in the hope that the boys would turn again. Of course he said he didn’t expect that, but was still hopeful. So that's what we did; we went home and hoped for the best.

Four days later I came back for another appointment. Yep, the babies were still breech and by then I was 4 cm. dilated. Immediately my doctor escorted my husband and I up to Labor & Delivery for a C-section. Due to the position of the babies and my dilation, he didn't want to take a chance of cord prolapse or my water breaking since I was dilated so far along. By then I was at 36 weeks, four days.

So Gabriel entered this world on June 15, 2004 at 11:53 a.m., weighing in at six pounds, four ounces, and measuring twenty inches long. His brother, Nathaniel, came a minute later at 11:54 a.m., weighing in at six pounds, five ounces, and measuring twenty inches long. Both boys were absolutely perfect! They spent no time in the NICU, roomed in with me for our whole hospital stay and came home with me three days later. It was perfect and they were healthy and happy. I couldn’t have asked for more, we are so truly blessed.

So now our family of seven has grown to a family of nine, and we couldn’t be happier with our newest additions to the clan!