The Big Day

**Pictures are of Jack/Jacob and Grandpa Darrell/Luke.

First of all, this is Jack stepping-in for Suzanne as the author of this blog (at least for the next two or three entries until she feels better).


On July 3rd, I stayed with Suzanne because offices are closed on July 4th. We enjoyed a quiet evening of watching an Amish documentary. During the night, Suzanne began to have some discomfort that we attributed to the increasing size of the boys. After a nice evening of sleep, I decided to head home to shower-up before lunch. The Tate's were planning on bringing Grandmother over for a 4th of July feast.



Upon returning to the hospital, Suzanne was experiencing increased discomfort, which turned-out to be labor pains. The nurse called Dr. Nokleberg to check on Suzanne. Dr. Nokleberg came-by and told us that Suzanne was 6 cm dialated and that we would be parents in less than two hours.


The labor and delivery team whisked Suzanne, Gail and myself down to the pre-op area to get her epidural put-in. Before long, Suzanne and I were staring at each other in the delivery room
completely FREAKED OUT that this was happening. The whole experience was completely surreal. Aside from the realness of our family doubling, there were triple the amount of medical personnel in the operating room because each child requires a full NICU team to be on-hand for immediate attention. To get us through this, we turned to prayer and asked blessings on our new family and Suzanne's current medical situation. After about five minutes, we heard the cry of the first twin, Jacob. One minute later, we heard Luke come into this world and we were relieved to know that both of our boys were okay!


Here are their vitals:


Jacob William Patterson
3 lbs, 14 oz
2:42 p.m. on 7/4/07



Luke Charles Patterson
3 lbs, 10 oz
2:43 p.m. on 7/4/07


Suzanne and I then got to converse (briefly) with each boy and give them their first kisses. Next, I escorted them to the NICU, while Suzanne stayed behind to get stitched-up. The entire staff at Presby was VERY professional and efficient. Both boys were placed on C-PAP machines (the same machines that are used for people with sleep apnea) to help open-up their lungs. Both boys have Suzanne's kinky-curly hair and Jack's long feet.


After I was sure they were in good hands, I went down to greet the gathering of friends and family. Thank you to Laura Robertson, Olena Reid, the DeHay family, Lauren, Alison, and Dana Vaughn for sharing this special time with all of us. Of course, we are SO thankful for our families. The support we've received over the last few months shows us how much we are loved. Family members in attendance included Darrell and Gayle, Pam and John, Erica, Julie, Jeffrey, and Grandmother Lanier.


No one could put in words what it means to love a child, let alone two! Unequivically, this was the best day of our lives. We love Jacob and Luke with all of our hearts and we are so blessed to have the rest of our lives to spend with them.


We are going to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday, July 6th. Obviously, this will be our favorite anniversary ever!