The Birth

    Here I am 5 days after the babies arrived, and I just now have the time, energy, and focus to write.  I am still on pain medication so if I ramble, spell things incorrectly, don't form a complete thought, please bear with me and hopefully you will get the gist of what I am saying!

      Typically Matt leaves work early on Friday and he and the boys head to Augusta a little after 4pm, that way we have Friday night, Saturday, and then they leave Sunday around 3pm.  The weekend of March 20th we had planned for Matt and the boys to come down early Sunday morning since Campbell had a baseball game Saturday, late afternoon.  We had scheduled the c-section for the following week on Friday 3/27.  The plan was for Matt to check the boys out of school at lunch time Thursday and come to Augusta so that I would have a chance to spend some time with them before our world would change early the next morning.  I don't know why I thought this particular plan would actually come to fruition when no other plan this pregnancy had!
     Saturday at 3:30pm Campbell started his baseball game, and I started contractions.;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;l(I have to apologize, I fell asleep! Of course, right after I say I finally have enough energy!)  Anyway, back to what I was saying.  Campbell at game, I'm in hospital with contractions.  My tech came in to check my vitals and asked if I was ok.  I had the tv turned off and I was sitting on the bed, holding my belly with my eyes closed. I told her I was fine...just having my contractions!  She asked if I wanted her to get my nurse and I told her it wasn't necessary, I have contractions all the time.  Looking back, I should have let them put the monitors on me at that time, I hadn't felt right all day.
      I woke up that morning and had a hard time waking up.  I told my nurse about it and she thought it was because, for the last few nights, I had been on Ambien and one of the side effects is a prolonged groggy feeling the next morning.  I felt it was more than that, the Ambien hadn't effected me any of the other mornings.  Hind sight I think it was the babies using up the last bit of energy my body had to prepare themselves for their journey into this world.
       Fifteen minutes to 5pm, my nurse came in and we decided it was best to get the monitors on me, my contractions no longer felt like my typical contractions.  As the nurses were trying to get the babies to stay on the monitors, Matt called.  He was on the way home from Campbell's game.  He told me they were still planning to come see me Sunday morning.  I responded shortly with him.  He then asked what was wrong.  I told him I was having contractions and I was in the middle of having monitors put on.  We decided to talk later...
        Within 30 minutes of monitoring, the doctor had been called and looking at the frequency and intensity of my contractions, he decided it was time to move me to labor and delivery.  The concern was uterin rupture. Having had two previous c-sections and having my uterus stretched to the max holding four babies, it was a real possibility and one no one wanted to see happen.  As I was being wheeled to L & D, my MFM Dr. Browne(aka BEST and KINDEST DOCTOR EVER) was being called.  Everyone was on their toes, it was crazy to watch all the "clogs of the clock" working together to get the job done.  The ob doctor came back in to tell me Dr. Browne was on his way in and we were going to be "doing this."  I asked if I needed to go ahead and call my husband, who was two hours away.  He said absolutely call, we will be delivering tonight.  I called Matt and told him that we would be having the babies tonight and to go ahead and come down.  His response was typically Matty "are you sure?"  I responded with a definite yes!  He got the boys packed, called my mom, and headed to her house to pick her up and bring her with him.

getting epidural

       While he was getting everyone together and hitting the road...Dr. Browne arrived with a big smile!  He asked if I wanted to do this tonight or try to stop it with Magnesium.  I knew the babies were going to come that night, no matter what we tried to do to stop it and I was ready.  I had made it 31 weeks and 1 day, my body had been through war, I was having severe pain around my c-section scar,  and I was not about to volunteer to be put back on magnesium!!!!  He said ok and he would go get his team ready. He asked if my photographer was going to be here and I said "unfortunately she is in Savannah!"  He said his daughter, who is a photographer is in town and he could see if he could get her here in time(again kindest doctor ever).  I responded with a thrilled yes and thank you so much!  He headed out the door and another ob doc walked in.  He said the OR was being prepped and the NICU team was getting into place.  My heart started pounding...I asked how long, he said 20 minutes....I said, "I need to call my husband!"  At 6:32pm, I called Matt as everyone was running in and out of my room getting everything into place, and right as he picked up the phone, the anesthesiologist walked in.  I quickly asked Matt how far away he was and he said he  was an hour and a half away...my heart melted!  I told him I would be taken back to the OR in 20 minutes.  We said our I love you's and hung up.  Moments after finishing up with the anesthesiologist's questions, I was swiftly wheeled into the ice cold OR, as I passed all the NICU nurses standing in the hallway I smiled, asked everyone to be on their A game and said thank you.  I was sitting up on the operating table surround by 20 some odd people all talking and working and my heart started racing.  Thankfully Dr. Browne came over and helped me get into position to receive my epidural and spinal.  He held my elbows and shoulders to try and keep me as relaxed as possible.  As I am having a very large needle shoved into my spine, a nurse walks up to me and says "you sister Katelyn is here."  I found that odd, as my sister's name is Karen and was in Savannah at that moment.  I then said " I have a cousin named Katelyn."  The nursed asked if I wanted her to come in and be with me until Matt could get here.  I replied, "if she's up for it!"

just hanging out waiting for babies

Ashton

      I laid down on the table and the blue screen was put up.  Katelyn came in and sat beside my head.  I asked her to keep talking to me during the first part and when the babies are about to come, stand up and take pictures.  7:58pm Ashton Blake Kirkland was born weighing 3lbs 6oz, 7:59pm Bradlee Ann Kirkland was born weighing 2lbs 11oz, 8pm Walker Hayes Kirkland was born weighing 3lbs 2oz, and at 8:02pm Meyers Wayne Kirkland was born weighing 3lbs 9oz. (I am aware that the day after they were born I posted on FB that Meyers weighed 3lbs 11oz; however, I was on petocin and heavy pain meds and I got his ounces confused with Bradlee's.  Of course all the news stories took the weights off FB, and by the time I realized my error, I figured I would correct it here!).  I never heard the lengths on the babies and have yet to investigate what they are.  No worries...I will find their foot print papers that have all the birth info on it and report back.  But for now, I can hold their head in my hand and their feet fall in the crease of my elbow.

Bradlee Ann

Walker

     The moment Dr. Browne called out "here comes baby A" and I heard Ashton's sweet cry, I began to cry. Then I see his little bitty, goo covered body being held at the top of the curtain and I cry a bit more, and so on and so forth for the other three. Bradlee made herself known as the girl with her hi pitched, squealy cry...precious.  Once all the babies were out, I got to see them being wheeled out of the OR, but that was it.  I told Katelyn she could go show pictures to anyone(other family) that had arrived.  I remained in the OR for a little while longer as I got a tubal ligation, aka tubes tied, and Dr. Browne was kind enough to stitch my abs back together!!! Lying behind the blue curtain while everyone else was on the other side I was hoping Matt and the boys arrived in time to see the babies being wheeled to the NICU; however, that was not the case.  They arrived as I was being wheeled into recovery.

Meyers

     The birth of our quads went much like the pregnancy...not at all as I had planned!  One of the most frustrating things for me during pregnancy was having so many contractions and not ever dialating. It was a good thing...but I couldn't ignore the emotion of feeling like my body wasn't working properly. Looking back to Feb 2009 when I was induced with Campbell, I was on petocin for 13 hours and couldn't dialate past 5cm, resulting in an urgent c-section.  I had the same emotions of my body failing at the birthing process then as I did with the quads.  Now it is clear to me that 6 years ago, God knew I would be having quads down the line and giving me a Fort Knox cervix was all a apart of His game plan!  I just didn't know that!
 

watching my babies go by

       The Recovery...and I thought magnesium was bad...