The evening of my doctors appointment when I found out I was 2.3 cm dilated I went to bed late but had a hard time sleeping, getting up every 30 minutes to use the bathroom over a 2 1/2 hour period. I asked my nurse for a second sleeping pill, something I had never done and that helped me get some sleep in between my hourly bathroom visits. Even though I was very out of it, with each bathroom break I increasingly became aware that my contractions felt slightly different than usual, I was having lower back pain and feeling extra pressure from the weight of my uterus. Around 6:15 a.m. I realized that I should time my contractions. In 10 minutes I had 4 contractions so I called my nurse in to monitor them and the babies' heart rates on the machine. After 15 minutes of monitoring she and the charge nurse decided I was in preterm labor and called my doctor while I called Keith. The next thing I know my room was being packed up and I was told that I was going to Labor and Delivery to be checked - either I was having these babies or getting on magnesium to stop the labor. Of course we hoped for the latter.
A Labor and Deliver nurse ended up coming to my room and checked my cervix - ouch! She said, "You are 5 cm dilated, 100% effaced and in a -1 to 0 position. You're having these babies." I asked, "Now?" and she said, "Now!" Around 7:10 a.m. just as they were wheeling me out of my room Keith was walking down the hall to meet me.
I spent some time being prepped in triage and even had to stall a bit while my doctor fought traffic on the tollway. At this point I definitely felt the contractions but was not in real pain - after all, I'd been having contractions for 10+ weeks. At 8 a.m. I had to leave Keith behind as they took me to the surgery room get a spinal-epidural combination anesthetic. By 8:25 they had started the c-section with Keith by 
my side and by 8:33 all three babies were out. They each cried upon being delivered and I was brought to tears immediately with Hayden's first cry. At 8:49 Hayden was brought to my side for me to see followed by Payson and Madison. My surgery was complete by 9 a.m.The rest of the day was spent resting in bed and visiting with family while our babies received care in the NICU. I began pumping milk for the babies in the afternoon and Keith spent the day delivering it for the babies and bringing back photos and video footage of our precious babies for me to see. Finally around 8:30 p.m. I was wheeled down to the NICU in my bed to see my little ones and I even got to hold Hayden, who wasn't on any breathing assistance at the time.
I had been told that when it all went down that it would likely happen very quickly and it did. Despite the fact that the babies came earlier than we had hoped, we were thrilled to finally meet our little ones and were delighted that they were doing so well despite their early birth date.
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