Family Vacation to GA Day 3

Posted on July 16, 2011 by whitneyladams
Today was another great day. We went to lunch with my best friend Erica, her husband Bryan, and their adorable son Aiden!
 
 Isn’t he precious! I can not believe how big he is! He was so sweet with the boys.
  It was so nice to catch up and just spend time together. After lunch Bob, the boys and I made a quick Target run to pickup some formula and gas drops for the boys. We ended up running into some friends we haven’t seen in awhile too, the beauty of a small town! Of course when we left Target it began pouring rain! Just so you know carrying a baby carrier and umbrella isn’t that easy. We went to my Great Aunt Sara’s house to see her, Granny, Aunt Linda, and Nana.  Granny Bowen was having a really bad day. She had not been responsive that much and wouldn’t hardly wake up. During the course of our visit of course the boys became fussy. We were trying to calm them and Granny’s nurse came out of her room said Granny asked us to bring the babies to her. This was a shock! So we took the boys in there and they got really quite and smiled and cooed at Granny. She was awake and talking to them and loving on them it was precious!
 I will never forget these moments and I praise God she is able to see and enjoy them. Jamey came by to see the boys.
 He is so wonderful with them. They think he is so funny they both smiled and talked with him. We enjoyed a great afternoon visiting with everybody. Tonight though Bob and I did
something we haven’t done in AGES! We went on a date, without the babies.
We went to the mall and browsed. Later we went to see the new Harry Potter movie (it was really good by the way).
 Bob and I haven’t gone to the movies in 2 years it was so fun. We had such a great time together laughing together and forgetting all our worries for a few hours! The boys were in great hands and had a great time being babysat by Aunt Sarah, Uncle Ben, Uncle Chris, Grandma and Grandpa. We came home and they were fed, bathed, and in bed sound asleep. Bob and I really enjoyed our time together alone but we sure missed our boys. Tomorrow is another exciting day, we are going to a birthday party for Bob’s dad. Then tomorrow afternoon the boys get to meet Grandaddy and we are switching houses to stay with my parents till Tuesday.
Posted in Aiden, Date, Erica, Family, Friends, GA, movies, the boys, vacation | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Posted on July 15, 2011 by whitneyladams
Today was Bob’s Dad’s (Grandpa’s) 70th Birthday! We had a really great day! The boys slept well last night they were wiped out from such a big day traveling. They ate breakfast and Bob’s mom made us some breakfast. Then they spent the morning playing and took a nap in the pack and play. Bob’s parents have a cat and she can not figure out what we have brought into her house. So she was laying around the pack in play watching them trying to figure them out, it was funny. 
 Grandma Gooch came over and met the boys today.
They were so cute just laying there and cooing at her. We went to lunch for Grandpa’s birthday at Pearly’s with Grandpa, Grandma, Great Grandma Gooch and Nana. Then Erica dropped by and met the boys for the first time. 
We headed back to Grandpa and Grandma’s house for the boys to take a nap but Bob’s keys would not unlock the door. Thankfully it was during a rainstorm and it was cool, so we sat on the rockers and waited for Grandma to get home. They napped in their carriers during the rainstorm.
 Tonight we went to Dothan, Alabama to see Bob’s sister, Aunt Rachel. The boys were entertained during the ride by Uncle Ben. 
James was just a talking to Uncle Ben it was so cute. When we got to Alabama we went and picked up Rachel. She is working with Winshape kids camp this summer. Then we all went to dinner for Grandpa’s birthday at Longhorn Steakhouse in Dothan. It was a fun night the boys enjoyed being with everyone. They were intrigued by their talkative Aunt Rachel, who was still in her war paint from camp, and Uncle Ben.

 It was a wonderful dinner. On the way home the boys fell asleep thankfully they slept the whole way. Uncle Ben was thinking ahead and grabbed their sound hippo to put in the car. In fact Uncle Ben is wonderful with the boys. Tonight he even helped put them to bed with Bob.

 

 Then he brought them some stuffed animals to sleep with, it was so sweet. These boys are so blessed to have such wonderful Aunts and Uncles.  
Posted in Birthday, Family, roadtrip, the boys, twins, vacation | Leave a comment

Flying on a Jet Plane

Posted on July 14, 2011 by whitneyladams
We are now a jet-setting family of four! Having kids drastically changes everything especially how you travel. We debated for months on how we would take our first trip to GA to introduce the boys to their family they hadn’t met . Do we fly or do we drive?? Each had their pros and cons but in the end flying won out. I am so glad we chose to fly because the boys did awesome! I seriously thought we would be “that” family with the screaming kids you are stuck beside on a flight but no my boys were awesome! The slept, played, looked around at all the people and just were such happy babies. I was so relieved and it was so nice to hear all the compliments on what good babies they were. I am sure 12 hours in a car divided most likely over 2 days would not have been as pleasant as this. We did have a delay in Atlanta but they took everything in stride. We decided to  fly infant in arms which worked out well plus gave us lots of cuddle time.
(Jackson asleep in the Atlanta Airport)
 We are so thankful to the Messersmith’s who let us borrow their carriers so we could maneuver around the airport easily. The worst part was TSA, just because you had to unpack everything and it seemed so scattered trying to pack everything back to where you can get to it when you need it. Overall I was very surprised by the smoothness of our trip. When we got to town Grandma, Grandpa, MiMi, Pop-Pop, Aunt Kait Kait and Uncle Ben were there to meet us at the airport! After a quick change and picking up luggage we set off for my Great Aunt Sara’s house . My Great Grandmother, Granny Bowen,  is 99 years old and was placed on hospice 9 weeks ago our prayer has been for her to meet the boys and today she did! 
In fact we had a five generations in the room it was such a blessing! 
She has been waiting to meet these boys since we told her we were expecting last October. I was so happy to see them in her arms she held them and kissed on them, we video taped it and took pictures. I told her about how Jackson was named after he husband Ollie Jackson and she said she was so proud it was a beautiful moment for our family tonight one I will never forget! The boys were able to not only meet Granny but Aunt Sara, Aunt Linda, Jamey, Uncle Chris and Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Ben.  
Jax and Grandpa 
 Uncle Chris holding James with Aunt Sarah- it was the first time he has ever held a baby
Jamey and Jax
We all ate dinner at Blackbeards tonight for dinner, which is actually were we told everyone we were expecting twins at. It was such a joyous night I am so happy to be home and my heart is so full! 
Posted in Family, GA, Trip | 1 Comment

Happy Birthday Pop-Pop

Posted on July 8, 2011 by whitneyladams
HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP-POP!
The boys got to skype with Mimi, Pop-Pop, and Aunt Kait Kait tonight. Mainly they wanted to wish their Pop-Pop a  very happy birthday! We cant wait to see y’all next week!
Posted in Birthday, Family, the boys | Leave a comment

Loving Life as a Family of 4!!

Posted on May 21, 2011 by whitneyladams

Hey Everybody! It has been forever I know! We dont have internet at our house just on our phones so updating the blog has been a huge challenge!! We are doing great loving our new life as a family of 4. As most of you know after our sweet boys were born they spent some time in the NICU due to their early arrival. They came home a lot sooner than the doctors anticipated and have been thriving! Bob and I were blessed to have family around for James and Jackson’s first 6 weeks of life which was a HUGE help as we adjusted to two babies in the house. We also were incredibly blessed by our church family who provided meals for us for three weeks when our parents left. We are so in love with our beautiful boys and so is Izzy! She is such a little mama to them it is too cute! The boys are doing great and are growing so much!  They will be 8 weeks old Sunday which is crazy to me it seems like them were just born! Currently we are trying to sleep train them so that is proving to be a challenge especially when you have two babies. We know it will be worth it, especially when we can sleep longer than 3 1/2 hour increments. It has amazed me how much our lives have change and how smooth the process has gone to adapting to two babies in the house. I say smooth because I am sure it could be a lot harder. Sometimes thought of what  life must be like with one baby saying parents of one child must have it made (this is usually in a very sleep deprived state when we have two screaming children) but I can not imagine nor do I desire our life any other way. It is a crazy life but wonderful. I have found the key is organization otherwise you wont survive with multiples.  Looking back to last year I could never have imagined that we would be parents to twin boys today but I am so incredibly joyous that God choose to bless and grow our family this way. Bob and I will celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary on Memorial Day time has flown by. I could not have asked for a more wonderful husband or daddy!
Soon we will be making some more transitions at our house. Bob will be quitting his job to stay at home with the boys when I head back to work in June.  To sum it all up our life is crazy as you can imagine but we are doing great and still appreciate your prayers especially as I get ready to head back to work. Don’t worry I wasn’t going to leave you without pictures 🙂 and hopefully I can blog again soon!

Posted in adjustment, home life, lab work, twins | 1 Comment

Happy Birth Day!!!

Posted on March 27, 2011 by whitneyladams
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

Posted in birth, twins | 3 Comments

D-Day

Posted on March 27, 2011 by whitneyladams

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)

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Hospital Bedrest Days 4-6

Posted on March 26, 2011 by whitneyladams
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.

Posted in bedrest, consignment sale, High Risk, Hospital, lab, pregnancy | Leave a comment

34 weeks…

Posted on March 24, 2011 by whitneyladams
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.
photocredit
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!

Posted in Hospital, pregnancy, stats, twins | Leave a comment

Hospital Bedrest Days 2 & 3

Posted on March 23, 2011 by whitneyladams
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. 

Posted in bedrest, family and friends, Hospital, lab, pregnancy, testing, twins | Leave a comment