During last year's Labor Day weekend, a Michigan couple found out that they were going to become parents soon.
Nicole and Matthew Ziesemer soon started discussing their options when it came to the pregnancy and birth process. It wasn't long before they both agreed on going the natural route for as much of it as possible.
They wanted "as little medical intervention as possible," so they decided to forgo the ultrasound too. The pair also hired a midwife to assist them with the home birth.
"This was my first pregnancy, and it was all new to me," Nicole told the Grand Haven Tribune.
However, the pair would've never in a million years guessed just how much their plan would change.
A stressful labor
On a snowy December day, four-and-a-half weeks before Nicole's due date, her water broke.
Since they weren't expecting their baby so early, the couple were forced to drive through a storm to get to the hospital in case complications arose.
"We called our midwife because we were planning on doing a home birth, but since the babies were less than 36 weeks, we couldn't do a home birth," Matthew wrote in a Facebook post. "So, we decided to go to Gerber Hospital in Fremont because they work well with our midwife and think more on the natural side of things."
Nicole's contractions continued for another 24 hours, so she and Matthew had no choice but to give up their natural birth plan. Still, even though she was in pain, Nicole insisted on delivering her child without medication.
However, 30 hours later into the process, both Nicole and the baby were starting to be under stress, so she finally agreed to let the doctors induce labor.
Over 40 hours after her water broke, Nicole and Matthew welcomed their daughter Blakeley Faith at 10:06 p.m. on December 30.
The first-time mom and dad had already been through a lot and were looking forward to bonding and resting with their baby, but there was so much more in store for them.
Dr. Megan Froshee was checking for the placenta, but instead, she felt something that was shaped like a head.
Surprise, it's twins!
"The OB stitched up my wife's small tear and then started to work on the placenta and to EVERYONE'S surprise in the room she said there is a 2nd baby in there and we all crapped our pants and then all hell broke lose," Matthew recalled. "The entire floor of the hospital was in our room it was packed just making sure everything was going to be OK."
59 minutes after his sister was born, Cade Matthew, made his debut at 11:05 p.m.
"It was just a shell-shocker because no one was expecting it, everyone in the room thought they had seen a ghost," Nicole told WZZM. "My first thought after delivering the second baby "” 'Oh crap! We need a second crib, a second car seat, a second everything."
Matthew also had similar thoughts going through his head, admitting that their "whole house is prepped for one child."
The couple had some extra time to prepare their house for twins since Cade had to remain in the hospital for a few extra days because of complications during his birth. His lungs were reportedly filled with fluid so he had breathing problems at first.
Thankfully, the family of four were eventually able to go home together and the babies have been growing up well.