Our Birth Story: Felix & Penelope

I really can’t believe that after over a year of trying to get pregnant, nine months of pregnancy, a global pandemic and a whole lot of cinnamon toast with extra butter, I’m finally sharing the birth story for our twins—Felix James and Penelope Rose Duffy. We welcomed them to the world on October 1st, 2020 at 6:41pm at Mount Sinai on the Upper East Side, weighing in at 5lbs 9oz and 5lbs 2oz respectively. Here’s the story of how it all went down.

This time last week, we were waiting very impatiently for me to either go into labor naturally or get off the waiting list to be induced. Yes, that’s a thing in New York (eye roll). On Wednesday, September 30th, I got a phone call that a spot had opened for me to be induced later that night at midnight. Chris and I did what anyone would do—took the spot for induction and went for one last adult dinner at our neighborhood favorite, Cecconi’s. After dinner, we took a nap, grabbed the hospital bag and hit the trail.

When we got to the hospital, we waited to get into a room and started the induction process. Since twins tend to come a bit early, I never imagined that I would be induced and hadn’t done any research at all on how it works until the week before. Thankfully, I have a friend who has been induced with all four of her pregnancies that gave me a crash course on what to expect. The process can vary, but in my case, I had the epidural first thing—because priorities—and then they used a balloon to dilate my cervix to three centimeters. This took about four hours, during which time I forced Chris to watch episodes of Real Housewives of New York and fetch me more ice chips.

By the time the balloon was done, it was the morning of October 1^st, and the doctor gave me Pitocin to move my contractions and labor along. Thankfully, the epidural worked wonders, and I didn’t feel much of anything throughout the balloon and Pitocin part of the process, besides some manageable cramping and serious head-to-toe itchiness as a side effect of the anesthesia. I will say that the one thing I really wish I had in my hospital bag was a back scratcher, so add that to your list if you’re giving birth anytime soon with an epidural. I just wanted to be able to scratch my own back, is that so much to ask?

After continuing to labor and having my dilation checked throughout the day, the doctor came in around 6pm to let me know that we were quite literally at a roadblock. Felix was positioned to be out first the entire time I was pregnant, but he couldn’t drop down to make his big debut, because Penelope’s fat head was pushing into his shoulders. She said that I would need to get a c-section, in order to get them out anytime soon, or I could keep trying but it may never happen vaginally. It was such an emotional decision to move forward with a c-section, because I really wanted to have the experience of delivering them, but I also felt like I had given it my best effort.

Here’s another thing I didn’t know. Once you say you want to have a c-section, things start to move at warp speed. Everyone was running around like we were on Gray’s Anatomy, which made the whole experience a bit of a blurred rush. I guess you don’t ever casually get surgery, but I would have loved for us to bring it down a notch or twelve. After we gave the green light, Chris was told to bring all of our stuff with him and we were rushed to an operating room. I went inside to get prepped for the surgery, while he was frisbeed a white hazmat-esque suit to put on over his clothes, while juggling our suitcase and all our other stuff. He said he was with two other dads, who were equally as panicked. I laugh so hard every time I think about this scene.

Meanwhile, in the operating room, I was given more anesthesia and being prepped for the c-section. Warning: another anesthesia side effect ahead. The medicine made me shake on the operating table like Rose in the freezing cold waters of Titanic. I’m talking hardcore, teeth shattering shakes. Thankfully Chris came in at this point, which helped a lot, but I won’t lie, the shakes took a lot out of the experience for me.

But all of the chaos faded away at 6:41pm when I heard Felix’s first cries as he entered the world. And, of course, Penelope wasn’t wasting any time and made her debut in the same minute. No amount of chaos can take away the bliss of that moment—knowing that your babies have finally arrived healthily and safely. The sense of relief and gratitude that rushes over you is so indescribable, and it’s such an emotionally overwhelming moment. Even as I write this and every time I think about that moment, I tear up all over again.

{their first photo, thanks to dad the photographer!} 

Afterward, we were brought to a recovery area, where the numbness left my feet and legs much quicker than I expected. After about half an hour, I had feeling back in my toes and legs, followed by the rest of my body shortly after. Modern medicine is truly wild. We stayed in the hospital for two nights with the twins in the room with us overnight, because all of the nurseries were closed due to Covid. Talk about diving in headfirst! We lucked out and got a private room that overlooked the park though. I love that they can say they were literally born in Central Park. New York babies, through and through.

{the view from our hospital room}

Finally, on the afternoon of October 3^rd, my sister picked us up from the hospital, and we headed home to Brooklyn as a new family of four to start our beautifully messy lives together. We definitely won’t be the perfect parents, but we’re just so in love with these children already. Thank you so much for all of your love, kindness, and support as we’ve gone through this journey!

{my postpartum bump before we left the hospital}

{our first family photo right before we left the hospital}   

Felix James & Penelope Rose Duffy

The Beginning