Happy Birth Day!!!

James Sidney Adams

Born: March 27th at 2:47 am

Weight: 4lbs 11oz

Length: 17 1/2 inches

Jackson Esker Adams

Born: March 27th at 2:48 am

Weight: 4lbs 4oz

Length: 17 1/2 inches

D-Day

This is Bob. The last 24 hr urine came back as being over 5000 with a BP of 201/111. For those lacking any medical knowledge, like me, that means tonight its time. Dr. H decided that the preeclampsia was progressing too rapidly and the twins needed to come out and greet the world.

Currently we are in a labor and delivery room waiting for Dr. H to make a final decision and deliver a few other babies that were ahead of us in the line-up. Stay tuned for further updates.

Through Bob (the amanuensis)

Hospital Bedrest Days 4-6

Not too much going here just a lot of time in bed as you can imagine. Let's see Wednesday I finished the 24 hour urine. We got the results back and it had gone up 700mg, which puts us at 3700mg of protein total- not good but not yet severe enough to deliver yet. Thursday they did more labs which were the same elevated but not severe. Dr. F decided to order another 24 hour urine since we had another jump in just a few days- I seriously have come to dislike loathe this test. I finished it this afternoon so we should have results in the morning. My blood pressure can not make up it's mind, it gives us decent reading 140-150's/ 70-80's and then crazy ones like 179/101. Today Dr. H gave me permission to walk  a little and sit in the chair, to prevent another blood clot, as long as my blood pressure stays stable. I was so happy to be able to get out of the bed for a little bit today but then of course my blood pressure went up so that was short lived.  Anyways as you can tell we are still playing the waiting game, which is is fine with me every day brings us closer to delivering healthy babies. The game plan is apparently that when something does meet the severe criteria for delivery we will deliver after I have been off the heparin for 12-24 hours, unless an emergency warrants and immediate delivery. Since the boys are both head down it will depend on which doctor is on call for the practice and my blood pressure as to whether we will have an induction vs. c-section.  So for now we continue to wait and watch.

The days have not really been to bad. Bob went home Wednesday and did a bunch of laundry since I did not pack  enough to be here over 2 weeks. He also got upgraded from the pull out chair bed to a cot which he says is much more comfortable.

I have been doing a lot of reading and got Karen Kingsbury's new book Leaving on my Nook color. I just finished it, a fabulous book just like all her other ones. Ginger, our pastor's wife, came for a visit yesterday and brought us lunch, which was a nice break from hospital food. Today was the Triangle Mother's of Twins and Triplets Consignment sale. I had been planning to go this sale for months and since I could not go Bob said he would go. He got up at 6:15 to go to the sale. He got some fabulous deals, our main goal was to find a double stroller and he did a practically new Graco Duo Glider Double Stroller. He also picked out a few church outfits for the boys and some toys. Overall he only spent $79! He is such a good daddy and shopper.  Our friend Jonathen came by today to visit and brought us Starbucks, mine sans expresso, it is was delicious and we enjoyed the company. Overall we have had a good few days. We are still hoping we will be able to get to 36 weeks before we have to deliver- only 12 more days. I am so excited with each day that passes we are one day closer to meeting James and Jackson. Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers.

34 weeks...

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are 34 weeks. This is huge a milestone for us!! 

(This is definitely not the most flattering photo but for the sake of documenting our journey I am placing it on the blog.)

Size of our babies: Our twins are the sizes of honeydews this month. James is 4lbs 8ozs and Jackson is 4lbs 4 ozs to be exact.

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Maternity Clothes: Um seriously I think that soon only a big burlap sack will fit I am huge!

Gender: Boys!!! James Sidney and Jackson Esker

Movement: They are extremely active which is great! All you need to do is stare at my tummy a few minutes and you will see them fliping and kicking. The especially like to kick the nurses. My favorite thing lately is when they get hiccups especially when I can feel it and hear it because they are on the monitor, it is cute. 

Sleep: I sleep about 2 hours at a time. I take a few 30 minute naps during the day. I think my body is trying to prepare me for their arrival.

What I miss: mainly things related to not being on hospital bed rest like Izzy (being in the hospital makes me miss my sweet puppy she is great company), being able to sleep through the night, my bed-the hospital bed is not my favorite and not being so huge mainly more related to the swelling than the babies.

Cravings: Macaroni and Cheese, Coconut Cake, Broccoli 

Symptoms: Mainly swelling- it is everywhere and it is painful, restless, high blood pressure, braxton hicks and real contractions, frequent bathroom breaks, and a constant headache.

Best Moment this week: Making it this far! We could not be more excited and neither could our doctor's. We are still taking it one day at a time but we are one week closer to 36 weeks!

Hospital Bedrest Days 2 & 3

Hospital bedrest has been a huge adjustment! I am so thankful for my sweet nurses. I am actually on a Women's floor instead of Labor and Delivery as we wait this out. The hospital room is so nice and room service is amazing- yes you read that right they have really good hospital food. Yesterday we had our two NST's and Jackson was not into it at all. Every time they would find his heart rate he would literally kick the monitor or the nurse's hand. You could hear him just a moving trying to squirm away- boy I think we are in for it when they get here! Eventually we got both tracings and they were great. My blood pressure stayed around the 170-160/85-95 for most of the day. I did get one better reading of 141/76 in the middle of the night. I find myself trying to find things to do all day so it doesn't drag. Luckily I have plenty of resouces with my bible, our laptop, a few books, my Nook color. I really did not realize how much I enjoyed our dog  furbaby Izzy's presence all day. Thankfully Bob was off work yesterday so I was not alone as much during the day. He just had class in the morning and went home to do some laundry for us and grab a few things from the house- did I mention how grateful I am for him. He is already settled in the the hospital room too. He even has a "workstation" as he is trying to finish up his big papers and such for this semester before the boys get here along with other homework. 

He is such a trooper sleeping on the pull out  chair bed. I know that he can not be comfortable plus he gets up with me every two hours to help me to the restrooms since they put the compression boots on my feet to prevent blood clots while I am on bed rest. Last night Josh and Jessica came to visit and give us an update on Izzy since she is staying with them. I really enjoyed the time we spent with them, as always, I am so thankful for them.
 Today has been a good day, one more day the boys get to stay in my tummy and grow. My blood pressure has been a lot better today around the 140's-150's/80's. We did an NST this morning and both boys, after a little coercing, did wonderfully!  I am hoping they will cooperate again tonight.

This is the monitor James heart rate is on the left and Jackson is on the far right.

I like to call my NST's gel parties because they have to use SO much gel, it feels really itchy after a while. Thankfully I am able to time taking my shower after it.  They drew blood at some crazy time this morning and Dr. M  came by to check on us. The blood work was still staying ok nothing severe to warrant immediate delivery. That was such a relief to hear, I get a little anxious while waiting to see one of my doctors in the morning just because we are on a day by day watch right now. She did order another 24 hr urine, you know how I love that test. Basically this could determine our next step if it rises to severe criteria we may have babies  by this weekend, which I feel a little bit better about and they do too since tomorrow we hit the 34 week mark-yay. I will say God is teaching us a lot about relying on Him right now. I get so anxious about the boys being born early and all the possible complications but I am just letting His word wash over me! I believe Him and His word and no there is no need to fear because He is in complete control. He forming these little one's in my womb, He knows the number of hairs on their head, and the days of their life. I trust Him completely, because I know He is faithful and has a perfect plan.

 So what can you pray for? Pray that my pressure stays down and the boys remain healthy and they continue to grow. Pray for our doctor(s) as they make these day to day decisions about when to deliver and our care. Pray that if there is an emergency we have peace about the decisions we may have to make. Lastly please pray for Bob and I as we try to remain calm and relaxed during this stressful waiting/unknown period. Thank you so much for you prayers already. I love reading your sweet comments. Feel free to follow our progress on the blog through our new email button on the right or by clicking on followers to get updates. 

Admission to the hospital

So this morning I got a phone call from my OB office saying my lab work had come in from over the weekend and that I needed to come to the office today not tomorrow as scheduled. They wanted to check my blood pressure and urine especially. So I called Bob, who was at work, and told him we needed to go to the office and we did. When we got there we went through the usual routine. My weight had actually come down by 3lbs- wahoo some water has left my body. Then I provided a urine sample this came back 3+ protein, not good. Lastly they checked my blood pressure, it was horrible, 189/106- I was shocked. Honestly I was feeling relatively good, one of my better days. Even my constant headache was not that bad, so I was really surprised. So the nurse took me to the exam room and laid me on my left side so they could recheck my blood pressure. Dr. R came in and looked very somber. She rechecked my blood pressure 170/98- not a good improvement. She then checked my tummy and listened to the boys heart rates. After that she sat down with us and told us about our labs. The second urine test had come back 10x higher than the previous one not only was this concerning but more so that the change had happened in only one week. I was very surprised, she said the protein had gone from 297mg to over 3000mg. This put us in the delicate in between stage of  preeclampsia (PIH) stage and meant my kidneys were not functioning well. The danger is when you get to severe preeclampsia this can lead to seizures, stroke, maternal and/ or death of the babies. She said if it was up to her she would probable deliver me today but she said it was up to Dr. H who was on call at the hospital. So she sent us over for more blood work, tests, and to see Dr. H. We were shocked and feeling overwhelmed. Each of us called our parents to give them a heads up on what was going on and told them to wait by the phone. We got to the hospital they immediately took us back to a room started a NST and lab came to draw blood. We had the same sweet nurse from Friday- just a side note the nurses are wonderful at Rex! Dr. H came in very concerned and said she just was not sure what she wanted to do yet. We are in that delicate balance where we have to weigh the options of delivery vs waiting for the health of the babies. This is based on whether if I have not developed severe PIH- we would know more after the blood work- and if the babies are not in distress they would be better off holding off delivery. So she sent us down to the UNC specialists for a consult and detailed ultrasound to check the boys. We had the ultrasound done and the boys showed no signs of distress, in fact they are as content as can be to hang out in my tummy. The blood flow in the placenta- which can become compromised in PIH- looked great. The boys got a perfect score on their biophysical profile. It was a huge relief to see they are doing so well.  Their growth was even good-James weighs 4lbs 8ozs and Jackson weighs 4lbs 4ozs. We spoke with the specialist who recommended we just watch and wait until something changes to severe with me, the boys show signs of distress or we reach 36 weeks. By this time my blood work came back and nothing came back alarming so Dr. H decided no delivery today- we were again relieved. While they look wonderful in my tummy they could be very sick if we took them out now. Now we have a new set of plans and change of scenery. I was admitted to the hospital for bed rest and observation.

We are here for till the end.

 We will have twice daily NSTs, lab work, ultrasounds, and very frequent blood pressure checks. I was also changed over from my Lovenox to Heparin- which is a shorter acting blood thinner. Now we just wait, basically we can have a baby any day just depends on me and the boys- that is so mind boggling to me! Hopefully we can get to 36 weeks because every day they can stay in my tummy  and grow the better. 

My Wonderful Husband...

I just want to take a second to brag on my wonderful husband. He is going to be such an AMAZING father. He goes above and beyond and I know it is not fun carting me around to multiple doctor's visits, going to seminary full time, working 40+hours a week, and keeping up the house. He has been wonderful throughout the pregnancy and especially during bed rest. He caters to my every need and most all of my wants, like cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory just because! He cooks meals for us when he is off and makes me plates for when he is at work. He always makes sure I am well taken care of. He is also so sweet to our little boys he talks to them and plays with them- they love to kick back when you press on my stomach and then if you stop they kick repeatedly acting like "Hey where did you go?" it is so funny. He reads them books, they are so responsive to his voice it amazes me. He is so ready for them to get here, I think a little more than me. I feel a lot less prepared. My favorite thing is when he prays over me and our children at night, it melts my heart and reminds me how blessed I am. Today was a relaxing Sunday we were able to spend together since he was off and tonight he made a wonderful steak dinner- it tasted as good as it looks!

I cherish these moments before the boys arrive. I am so thankful for him throughout this pregnancy and could not ask for a more wonderful husband and father to our children.

Another Urine Test...

So we went back to the OB for our biweekly appointment. This was actually the first time in 4 weeks that I did not gain any weight between appointments. The swelling stayed the same, which is fine with me as long as it didn't worsen. I have been gaining 4-5 lbs every 3-4 days due to swelling. Anyways so then by now you know the drill (even if you didn't want to know you know what every pregnant woman must endure each doctor's visit) I had to provide a urine sample. I was hoping it was going to be ok. Well it came back with 3+ protein- not good at all! Then we took the dreaded blood pressure. It was 175/96- again NOT GOOD. So Dr. C was not happy at all. Even when I laid on my side it only came down to 150/ 89. So Dr. C sent back to the hospital to get our usual NST but she also added blood work and another lovely 24 hour urine. Thankfully the blood work came back ok. The boys also both cooperated for the NST, and I was not having contractions. So we got to go home- yay!! Unfortunately the brown jug went home with us again! I really do hate that dumb jug! Since Bob had to work our sweet friend Gene took the jug to the outpatient lab at the hospital Saturday- yeah it was really inconvenient to do the test over the weekend but that is ok whatever needs to be done for the babies. We have another appointment Tuesday so will see how that goes.

33 Weeks...

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are 33 weeks, YAY!

Size of our babies: Our twins are the sizes of honeydews this month. 

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Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes are all that I can wear and only a few pieces now due to the swelling and my growing belly

Gender: Boys!!! James Sidney and Jackson Esker

Movement: They are all over the place all the time. They are most active during our biweekly NSTs, they know we are trying to monitor them and they kick the monitor and move all over the place.

Sleep: I sleep about 2 hours at a time and that is it then I HAVE to go run to the restroom. I am very uncomfortable not so much from the pregnancy but the large amount of swelling and extra water I am carrying around on top of the babies.

What I miss: A good night's sleep, being able to bend over, not being on bed rest, and not be exhausted since being on bed rest our twice weekly outing to the doctor are exhausting just walking is exhausting.

Cravings: Macaroni and Cheese, Cheesecake (my sweet hubby brought me some from the cheesecake factory- it was delish!)

Symptoms: Mainly swelling- it is everywhere I actually started to hold pockets of fluid and it is painful, restless, braxton hicks and real contractions,frequent bathroom breaks, and a constant headache. I am thankful the shortness of breath is not as bad turns out the boys and moved down some and are both head down.

Best Moment this week: Making it on week 3 of bed rest, every week counts! Also my sweet husband bought me a Vera Bradley Diaper bag- it is actually the weekender style which is a little bigger perfect for the twin's stuff. 

It is so cute I love it! 

He also got his dad bag in the mail, it is pretty neat!

He is happy to have a manly diaper bag!

24 Hour Urine...

So you may remember me mentioning having to do a 24 hour urine on the 8th. I like to call this the dreaded brown jug test. It is where for 24 hours I have to get a urine sample every time I go to the bathroom. Each sample has to be placed in a brown 3000 ml jug. They run labs to check my kidney function and protein levels on it because of my high blood pressure. If you miss one sample you have to start all over. Did I mention you have to keep the brown jug in your fridge, which is kinda gross. I just told Bob be sure you don't drink out of the brown jug because it looks like a half gallon chocolate milk jug.

 Anyways so we did this test all day Thursday and took it in Friday at our appointment.  At our next appointment we got the results, there was only .297g of protein which meets the criteria for mild preeclampsia. This meant if our NST at the hospital looked good we could basically stay on at home bed rest.  

Jackson did not want to cooperate with the NST so we had an ultrasound at the hospital and he passed his biophysical profile. This is a test which basically looks at his organs, fluid, breathing motions, and blood flow; he got a perfect score. The  other thing that threw us for a loop today while doing our NST was I was having regular contractions. I thought they were just slightly painful Braxton Hicks but no they were the real thing. So they gave me and IV and loaded me with fluids and they eventually stopped. Thankfully it all worked so we could go home and now we are hanging in there till our next appointment on Friday.

32 Weeks...

Pregnancy Stats:

How Far Along: We are 32 weeks

Size of our babies: Our twins are still the sizes of squashes this month. 

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Maternity Clothes: Maternity clothes are all that I can wear

Gender: Boys!!! James Sidney and Jackson Esker

Movement: They are all over the place kicking all the time especially at night time

Sleep: I wake up all the time there is no longer a full nights sleep and the pillow count in are bed has grown exponentially, poor Bob

What I miss: A good night's sleep, being able to bend over, not being on bedrest

Cravings: Mexican, milkshakes, and Asparagus (I know weird)

Symptoms: swelling, headaches, fatigue, heartburn, frequent bathroom trips, shortness of breath, round ligament pain, and nausea.

Best Moment this week: Another reassuring ultrasound this week the boys look great and so did the non stress test (NST) this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Maternity Photos

A few weeks ago I was asked to model for my friend Lisa whose is a photographer. She was working on a project for school and I had thought about taking maternity photos but just had not really made it a priority. In fact if it was not for one of my best friends, Victoria, I would not have made a big deal about trying to take weekly belly pictures but I am so glad I have. Turns out it the shoot was perfect timing since it was the last week before I was placed on bed rest. She did a wonderful job and it was so much fun I am really glad I did it! Here are some of the photos she took and feature on her blog- www.lisapotterphotography.wordpress.com

 The book I am holding contains all their ultrasound photos

Thanks so much Lisa, I love what you were able to capture!