We sat down to interview Jourdan Adams to get her perspective on having a high-risk pregnancy with twins, and ultimately delivering her tiny twin boys as ‘preemies’.
We also discuss the long weeks her babies had to stay in the Northside Hospital Cherokee NICU (Neo-Intensive Care Unit), and the ups and downs that she and her husband experienced as they went through the roller coaster of emotions during this difficult journey.
A Mother’s Perspective
Jourdan recalls, “The pregnancy was good – up until about 22 weeks. That was the first time I had to go to the hospital.”
Jourdan and her husband Tyler had been trying to get pregnant for a couple years, so when Jourdan’s home pregnancy test read positive, she went to the OB right away. Jourdan chose Cherokee Women’s Health.
“We came in super early. And then again at 5 weeks, when we saw 2 sacs! And that was how we found out we had twins.”
She admits the twin pregnancy came as a shock. “I just remember looking at my husband and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, what are we going to DO?!’ And my husband was so good, he just said to me, ‘Babe, we’ve got this.’
“But I was thinking, ‘No, you DON’T!!! You have no CLUE what we’re in for!”
Hospital Trips and Bedrest
Jourdan relates that early on in the pregnancy she had a small bleed, which, she quickly adds, is not unusual. But at 22 weeks the real trouble started. “I was feeling kind of weird at the office one day. My doctor gave me an ultrasound and put me on the monitor. They realized I was having contractions. She sent me to the hospital.”
At Northside Cherokee, Jourdan saw her high-risk specialist, who put her on fluids and sent her home, anticipating that the contractions would settle down once she was off her feet.
“But the next day I was still having contractions every 10 minutes. I went back to the hospital, and got three injections of terbutaline. Because it was so early, I just wasn’t worried. I figured they’d fix it and that it was normal. I never really felt super fearful they were coming. Then I was put on bedrest until 24 weeks because that is viability. At that point I was allowed to work three days a week.”
But at Jourdan’s next check-up, an ultrasound revealed a troubling development. “We realized my cervix was shrinking. After that, I was on bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy.”
An Emergency Ambulance Ride to Atlanta
At Jourdan’s 27 week appointment, there was more trouble. “I was dilated and my cervix was shrinking further. They sent me to Northside Hospital Cherokee. The monitors showed I was having regular contractions, but I didn’t feel them. They gave me more terbutaline, and then magnesium, which made me feel really sick. It was horrible.
My doctor came to check on me and she sent me straight to Northside Hospital in Atlanta because she was afraid the boys were coming.”
Jourdan admits this time she was scared. “My doctor said she was transferring me and I didn’t know she meant I needed to go by ambulance. It was terrifying. I was hooked up to all these machines and had an IV and catheter. There I was, at 27 weeks, looking at birthing my twins. But after a few hours at the hospital, I got settled and the contractions stopped. They let me go home again. And after that I was on bedrest until 31 weeks.”
Waiting Alone, the Dog By Her Side
Jourdan describes the final weeks of bedrest as lonely. “I was sitting by myself all day. I came down from my bed every morning. My husband had to work of course and he was saving up his sick days for when we had the babies. He would help me downstairs, make my breakfast, and then he was gone for the rest of the day. At lunch, my mom or his mom would come over to make me lunch and sit with me a while. I felt very helpless but my husband was very supportive.”
Jourdan smiles when she mentions her dog. “We have a bulldog and he sat with me every day. I made sure to put his bed right beside me, so I had him with me. He really did help me. I remember my brother offered to get him and take care of him so I wouldn’t have to worry about him but I refused. I said, “He’s the only company I have all day long!’”
Jourdan made it to 33 weeks. And that’s when her boys decided to come.
Early Labor and a Rush to a C-Section
Jourdan’s boys decided to come at 33 weeks. She recalls the morning the twins were born. “I told my dad, ‘I feel weird, I just feel off.’ I went to the high risk specialist and I was feeling my contractions in the waiting room. That was the first time I’d ever felt them. My doctor evaluated me and I was already at 4 centimeters. She told me we were going to do my C-section within the hour.
All of a sudden, I was surrounded by so many nurses. I looked over at my husband and he was getting fully scrubbed in. I thought I had prepared myself, but it happened so fast. Our families got there really fast and I was able to see them for a minute before I was taken back to the OR.”
Jourdan was admitted to the hospital at 7 pm. By 9 pm her twins were born, at just 33 weeks. Briar John was 4 pounds, 10 ounces, Wyatt Graham was only 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Jourdan describes the uncertain moments after the delivery, wondering, Would her babies be okay?
The Cry Of Her Babies
“My doctor showed me the boys right away, and I heard them cry. I had been anticipating that moment for so long, and I was so scared, so to hear them cry, I was like, ‘Okay I can breathe. They are okay.’
I had two separate NICU teams. They were doing a full evaluation, and that was hard to wait for them to finish to hear how the boys were. My first baby, Briar, had to be put on a C-Pap [a device providing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure] because his lungs weren’t fully developed. It was helping him breathe. So when I first saw him, he had the tubes stuck up his nose, and around his face. He just looked horrible. And I could only see him for a second before they took him upstairs.
My second baby, Wyatt, was fine. And he was the smaller one! I got to see him for a little bit. They laid him on my chest and in that moment, everything just stopped. Nothing else mattered. I didn’t hear anything, I don’t even remember my doctor sewing me back up. None of it! I just remember him being on my chest, and we were able to sit like that for a few minutes. And then they took him to the NICU.”
Jourdan remembers being in the recovery room for a few hours, where the neonatologist came in to talk to her about her boys, and that Briar would be on the C-Pap for 2-3 weeks.
“I remember them telling me that you normally couldn’t get up for 12 hours after a C-section. But I had hardly seen my babies!!! I said, ‘THAT’S NOT going to happen. I’m going to get up, and you get whoever you need to, because I’m getting UP!!!’ So I got up about 4 hours after my surgery and I went up to the NICU and I was able to see my boys”
Northside NICU is a Blessing
Jourdan now sits with her twin boys beside her, each sound asleep in a car seat. She looks bright and well-rested. No one would guess that she recently had a dangerous pregnancy, or even that she gave birth to twins just 3 months ago.
Regarding the waiting period before the boys could come home, Jouran recalls, “It was hard to see them in the NICU, especially Briar, because he was doing this whimpering thing. They said he wasn’t in pain, that he was just getting adjusted to the C-Pap, but that it was hard not to have them home with us. I stayed in the hospital as long as I could, 4 or 5 days, but because I was fine, I had to go home.
Luckily, we only live five minutes from Northside Hospital, so we were there every single day, all day long. We got there every morning and only left for lunch. The boys had feeding tubes for the first week and a half, and we wanted to hold them while they were being fed so they would associate food with mommy and daddy. The NICU team was so wonderful. The boys had their own room so it was really nice.
It was a blessing that we were in Cherokee County. I couldn’t imagine them being in Atlanta, and having to drive there every day so I was grateful for Northside Hospital in Canton.
Advice for Mothers of Preemies
“In the NICU, I was very hands-on. I was always changing diapers, giving them baths, feeding them. I wanted to do those things, like I would do at home. We also had a lot of people come visit them. I really liked that I could show them off, and tell people how good they were doing, and all the improvements they’d made. It was so hard but they DO come home!”
