Twins!

Today started off as a mundane Friday. I have Fridays off, so I usually run all of my errands then. While I was at the dentist (new patient at this office) I got a phone call from my brother, Nate, saying that he and Kellye were at the hospital and she was going to have an Emergency C-section in the next five minutes. Right then, the dentist walked in to introduce himself. I pretty much hung up on Nate. The dentist was trying to make small talk when he noticed how out of sorts I was. He asked me if everything was ok, and I blurted out something like this: "twin babies...coming now...1 month early...my brother...my 15 month old niece...heart transplant...anxious!" He told me that it was probably in my best interest to reschedule our appointment due to the state that I was in (this was after they'd already taken Xrays). I checked out, got in my car, and hit the interstate immediately. Two hours later I was in Marietta with my family.

Kellye gave birth to Ella Claire Cunningham first, at 10:26 who weighed in at 4lbs, 13oz, and was 16.5 inches long. Avery Ann Cunningham arrived just after, also at 10:26. She weighed 4lbs 14oz, and was 18 inches long.

We met up with Nate and got the story of how the events had unfolded for them. Around 7am today, Kellye started having sharp pains. Nate was supposed to be in an important meeting for work at 7:30, but Kellye asked him to hang around for a little bit to see if she felt better. She's a tough one, so Nate knew that she wasn't crying wolf.  The pain became so intense that Kellye said she couldn't go anywhere. Nate said something like 'Oh, no, you are not staying here. There's no way I'm delivering babies today.' He put her in the rolling office chair and rolled her out of the house! Luckily, the lady who occasionally watches Paige was out running errands and was able to stop by and pick up Paige for the day. Another bonus is that Nate and Kellye live about two minutes from the hospital.

While checking into the hospital around 10, Nate overheard some doctors saying 'she's ready to go now.' He thought they were talking about someone else, but then quickly realized it was Kellye. Once they'd put the monitors on Kellye, they realized that Baby A's (who would later be known as Ella) heart rate was dropping. They told Nate and Kellye that they were going to operate immediately and fully sedate Kellye because she had Abruptio Placenta (where the placenta spontaneously starts to tear away from its attachment to the uterus - life threatening to the fetuses if not delivered quickly).

Ella had suffered the most distress with the Abruptio Placenta, and her APGAR score was 0 at birth. After a very quick CPR, she was doing awesome with a five minute APGAR of 8 (that's pretty much perfect)! Avery came next and she was pink and healthy, but both needed to be admitted to NICU for surveillance with their premature state.

Avery was able to go to Nate and Kellye's room around 6:30pm after her temperature had stabilized. Here are a couple of pictures of her that I snapped with my phone (I didn't pack my camera since I didn't go home after the dentist):

Ella was having a little trouble with her respirations being too fast because some fluid had gotten into her lungs during the delivery. The idea right now is that she'll probably stay in the NICU for a few days until her breathing improves. Please pray for the health of these babies! Here's a photo of Ella that Nate took:

My uncle pointed out that Ella Claire's nickname will likely be E.Claire. Cute!
It's unbelievable that Nate and Kellye showed up at the hospital at 10 with practically no expectations and 26 minutes later they went from a family of 3 to a family of 5! Paige is a big sister! She joined us at the hospital later in the afternoon:

In less than 5 years, Harrison and I have SIX nieces and nephews (Ryan, Blake, Paige, Hailey, Ella, and Avery)! We are a very happy aunt and uncle! Hailey's baptism is actually tomorrow night! Nate and Kellye are her Godparents, but I'm thinking they won't be able to make it. Andrew's parents will be standing in as proxies.

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Happy birthday, Avery and Ella!