BIRTH DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, today was a very interesting and rewarding day. I arrived at the hospital just before 5 to find Nicole already awake. They took her off the magnesium sulfate thinking that labor would follow shortly after, and we were set for third in the operating room behind two other c-sections. By 8:30 it was apparent that nothing was going on with the babies, and they were either chillin, or Nicole's body was still feeling the effects of being on the meds for 10 days. Dr. S. came in and talked to us and, much to our disappointment, it looked like today was not happening. She checked her cervix and it was still at 5 cm. We were told that it could maybe happen this afternoon, but also told that going another week would be great for the babies. That was a catch-22 because, while we know it is better for them in their home, we want to meet them and Nicole was feeling pretty awful after the last 10 days of trying to make it until today.

I went to the store, Nicole's mom went home, and my mom went shopping with me. WE were going to try again another day.

While at the store i (thankfully) remembered the cherry twizzlers and tootsie rolls that Nicole wanted, and remembering that made me think for some reason that i needed to get back. Well, when I walked into her room, Nicole was definitely in labor and feeling some strong contractions. She and her friend Suzanne were having a conversation that got both of their juices flowing, and I think that may have done the trick. Nicole was still only having contractions every 15 minutes or so, but they were pretty strong and she was really uncomfortable. SO they called the doc in around 1:18, she checked her, and sure enough she was at 6 1/2 cm. Doc then said it was go time.

I had to work the phones rounding up family to tell them to come back, and we held up nicole going in until her mom got to the door. Nicole went int and got the spinal around 1:30, I went in around 1:42, and the first cries were heard from middle child Lila Sue at 1:50 p.m. Bennett Raymond followed only a minute later.

Everyone is doing great, the babies are eating well and breathing well so they are saying no NICU for the babies is expected.

As for why Nicole was having so much discomfort for the last month or so, we now know why. In the last two weeks the estimated weights for the babies has been somewhere around 5-6 lbs, then most recently just over 6 lbs each. We all knew Nicole was all belly, but boy, was she all belly.

The official weigh in:

Lila Sue Parnell - 7 lbs, .6 ounces, 19 1/2 inches

Bennett Raymond Parnell - 7 lbs, 10.4 ounces, 20 1/2 inches

As a few friends put it in their emails to me:

Holy Shit, that's a whole lot of baby!

Everyone is doing great! Lila had no real trouble at all, and looks precious. Bennett still shows the signs of being in the womb as he has the little baby acne stuff on his face and chest. While it is not the prettiest to look at, it will not prevent him from competing for the starting QB position at LSU as a true freshman in 2025.

Nicole will want to post about the first few days, so for now here are a few pics: