A New and Challenging Chapter

Hi friends and family! I know many of you have heard the news already, but we want to make sure we reach everyone possible. Adam typed up an email explaining our current situation, and I've pasted it into this post below. My plan is to continue to update this blog regularly with our progress, both to keep everyone updated who is interested, and to capture every miraculous moment in our sweet boys' lives! Please read on, and I promise I (or Adam) will keep you updated as best we can. We love you all!

Hi Everyone.

I'm so sorry we didn't get to talk to everyone in person, but I thought at least we'd send a note to get everyone up to speed.

On Sunday night, Erin's water broke on one of the babies. She's at about 18 weeks, which is way too early to safely deliver any babies. At the time, Erin was having some contractions, and we were told we probably were going to have to deliver both babies that night. Obviously that was devastating news. However, praise God, the contractions stopped quickly later that night, and since then, she's been very stable. So although Baby A lost his fluid, it's still possible for her to carry both babies all the way to a normal delivery date. Our biggest risks at this point would be if she went into labor, or if she got an infection. But she's not had any contractions for the last 3 days, and she shows no signs of infection - in addition to being on lots of IV antibiotics. Life is going to be hour-to-hour, day-to-day for the Bortkas for a long time, but we know beyond any doubt that the situation is in God's hands, and with that we find comfort. As most of you know, our entire pregnancy has been miraculous and we feel so blessed to have experienced 18 straight weeks of miracles so far! We're just praying now that we get to see many more :)

If Erin continues to be perfectly stable, they'll send us home on Monday for continued bedrest. We'll be at home until she gets to 23 weeks, at which point we'd come back to the hospital, hopefully for a long time :) Right now we're at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital downtown in the Medical Center, and are so happy to be surrounded by a medical practice that specializes in high risk multiple births, and next door to one of the world's best neo-natal programs at Texas Children's!

We are so blessed to have such amazing friends & family that have been so supportive. We certainly love having your prayers to help through the journey ahead. For now, we've loved getting supportive notes from people, as phone conversations have been tricky buried deep in the concrete hospital. And although we are so honored to have folks wanting to come visit and are happy to host at our new downtown address, I'd like to ask that if you're going to come, please call, text, or write to me ahead of time (281-202-8228, & please use my gmail address at abortka@gmail.com) to double check that we're in a good state to have visitors at that moment. And, if you can't make it this week but still want to show support, we're going to have lots of time at home for the next month or so and would be happy to see people then :)

So again, for now we're doing really good. Erin is stable and healthy, both babies are healthy, and God's firmly in control!

I'll try to keep sending out updates on a regular basis, or as things change. Erin loves hearing from people at ebortka@gmail.com or texts at 281-633-6830.

We love you all, God bless you for your support in our time of need.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed" 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

With much love,

Adam & Erin

Getting a little carried away...

Sorry I've delayed in keeping everyone updated! Since we found out about our boys, I have been going nonstop to try and get ready for their arrival. We've picked out bedding, narrowed down furniture choices, picked a stroller, found a diaper bag (it's embarrassing how much shopping I did for that), and started a registry. Add to that a full week of work and an activity every single night, and I am absolutely worn out.

I'm not sure why - maybe it's the "nesting phase," maybe my natural tendency to get carried away, but I'm having a really hard time slowing down and pacing myself with this baby stuff. I want everything to be ready NOW, despite the fact that we have almost five months until our due date! I'm also having a hard time relinquishing control of anything. Adam offered to do the big closet cleanout and room rearrangement that's necessary before we can set up the nursery, and I straight up told him, "No, I want to do it, because I don't think you'll do it the way I want you to." Wha?! This is not normally like me; I promise!!

After a week of completely wearing myself out, I may be starting to learn my lesson (with the help of my very wise husband). I don't have to do everything right now, CAN'T do everything myself, and need to accept help when it is offered. It's okay that I don't know what the heck to do with a breast pump, that I don't know how I'll manage feeding two babies, that we haven't yet decided which car seats to buy. I need to stop attempting to steal control from God and just rest in the knowledge that He will take care of us and our baby boys!

A couple of side-notes from the week:

-Our boys are 5 inches long from head to bottom (and my stomach shows it!).

-I THINK I may be feeling some movement, but I can't be sure yet.

-For fun, I added up the cost we can expect to spend on diapers for our boys through potty training. A conservative estimate is $8000.

-My appetite is picking up, and so is my weight. That pesky little milestone I was worrying about a few weeks ago? Yeah, long gone.

-We're taking family photos with Adam's family tomorrow. I'm hoping a bulky sweater and artfully-placed scarf will hide the fact that I'll be pregnant on his parents' wall for the next 10 years.

-My parents are moving down here in less than a month!

Boy Oh Boy!!

The results are in, and I have given away the news in the title - we are having 2 boys!!! I might as well start embarrassing them now; photo proof of their genders is shown below:

Adam and I were both honestly shocked at the outcome. We had somehow both convinced ourselves that we would be having at least one girl. We also had both had dreams that we were having one of each, but I guess you can never really know until you know!

Now that the initial shock has worn off, we are both so thrilled. We are very excited to jump into the world of blocks, trucks, legos, and sports; it's going to be quite an adventure! We can't wait to really begin getting ready in earnest - decorating the nursery, registering, etc. It can all really start. Now we just have to decide on names...

In other news, I'm just trucking along! I FINALLY passed up that weight milestone I was struggling with; I have a resolution to stop worrying about it so much and just do my best. The babies are both still ahead of schedule in size, and everything is going great.

Happy New Year, all - 2011 will be the year of the BOYS!!