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Howdy! My name is Andrew Adams and my wife is Anne Adams. We have been married for six years this coming February and live in Houston, Texas. The past few years we have been trying to start our family. My wife and I have been seeing countless doctors and praying desperately for a miracle. The first week of May we received news that we were pregnant, and a few days later we found out the news that we were going to be welcoming twins into our family.
The first two trimesters of the pregnancy were relatively uneventful. Although we had the benefit of receiving twice the ultrasounds, we looked at it as a way to see our kids growing and thriving. In August we found out the news that we were expecting girls. My wife being the person that she is, already had the perfect names picked out for them, Charlotte and Catherine. Now that we had found out the gender and had names it made ultrasound appointments that much more special.
On Sept 2nd we went to our routine sonogram appointment. The appointment went as well as other had in the past except at the end the sonographer said we needed to speak with the doctor. Our doctor came in and told us that Anne’s cervix was funneling and she would have to go see her OBGYN immediately. We sensed some concern and went to our OBGYN immediately to get her take on the situation. Once we were in her office, Anne completed a diabetes test as we waited to speak with our doctor. Once she came in, she told us that the situation was bleak, but if there was anyone who could help it would be a doctor she knows in the Med Center. She immediately called him on the phone and we drove straight to his office.
Once we arrived, Dr. Gei rushed us into an ultrasound room and performed another examination. Unfortunately, at that point the situation had deteriorated and Anne was beginning to dilate. Dr. Gei had a plan to perform a rescue cerclage that would close Anne’s cervix until the 28th week of her pregnancy in order to save the girls. We were immediately admitted to Children’s Memorial Hermann and waited for our turn in the operating room. Late that night Dr. Gei attempted to perform the cerclage. Within minutes of prepping, Dr. Gei discovered the situation was more severe than he had originally thought. Charlotte’s amniotic sac had been compromised and she was losing fluid. Dr Gei checked Catherine’s and it was holding strong. Dr Gei was forced to abort the procedure.
Once Anne got out of the OR, Dr Gei came into meet with us to discuss our options. By this time my mother, who happened to be in town during a break from her travel nursing assignment in California had arrived. My Father in Law was in town for work and came to see us as well. It was about 1AM when we had been given our options. At 21 weeks of gestation the twins would not be able to survive birth. Even at 24 weeks their lives would be severely impacted by severe birth defects. On top of this, Anne’s blood work came back and she was fighting an infection from an unknown source. Dr. Gei laid out the following options. We could abort the pregnancy in order to protect Anne’s health and in a few months try to get pregnant again. We could do nothing and wait until 24 weeks which while it would get the girls to viability it would put Anne’s health at risk due to the infection. Finally, we could stop Charlotte’s heartbeat and hopefully Anne would pass Charlottes body without impacting Catherine. Dr. Gei was extremely professional while being extremely empathetic at the same time. He gave us all sorts of evidence and journals to support his conclusions. Anne and I were left alone by our families and we privately discussed the fate of our children. At around 2 AM September 3rd we had decided that we would induce labor in order to abort the pregnancy. While we loved our children, my wife’s health was a priority as if she couldn’t beat the infection then she would have no chance to sustain this pregnancy or a possible future pregnancy.
At around 2AM my mother and I went outside to smoke a cigarette when a man approached us to ask for a smoke. He instantly saw by the look on our faces that something was terribly wrong. My mom briefly explained to him that my wife was pregnant but we are losing our children due to a medical condition. The stranger in that moment prayed the most beautiful prayer I have ever heard. It was in this moment that the little faith in God I had was restored. Once the man finished his prayer, he walked across the street and disappeared into the park.
The following morning, we were making the final preparations for the procedure, talking with the nurses that coordinate the grief counseling services when Dr. Gei came in. Dr. Gei had been doing more research and thinking about our situation and came up with a new plan. The plan was to induce labor using Pitocin, slowly increasing the amount of meds until Anne was in full blown labor and then stopping the delivery of the medication before Anne labored to give birth to Charlotte. Then we would wait and hopefully the contractions would stop and Catherine would remain comfortably inside of mama. He said if this works we would know within days. So that was the plan, we all agreed that it would give us the best chance for a positive outcome.
The following day, Sept 4th, Anne began receiving the medication to induce labor and her epidural. Slowly Anne began contracting, with each contraction the reality of the situation grew stronger. I sat there in the hospital room helpless of what my wife was experiencing. I honestly did the only thing I knew to do which was pray. I sat there and I prayed and prayed. I asked for my father to intercede and pray for his first granddaughter, I asked God to receive her into his kingdom with open arms. I prayed that she would not experience any pain and I prayed for the miraculous outcome we were hoping for. We prayed that Catherine would remain safe within Anne’s body.
The following morning, 5 September 2015 at 0747 my wife gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl we had ever seen. She weighed 14.5 oz and was 11.5 inches long. Charlotte Ann Adams had ten fingers, ten toes, a perfect nose, and absolutely gorgeous face. As we grieved as a family for the loss of our daughter and our parent’s first granddaughter (Anne’s parents first grandchild) we waited to see if Anne would continue to contract. Miraculously the contractions quickly faded, and ultrasound confirmed the Catherine was still safe and sound inside of Anne. While we lost one child, we gained a saint in our family to continue to pray for Catherine. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about our beloved daughter.
Once the contractions completely stopped on Sunday, September 6th, Dr. Gei made another attempt at a rescue cerclage. I was told that there was a huge sigh of relief in the OR as Dr. Gei was able to complete the procedure successfully. After Anne was out of recovery, Dr. Gei said now we have to wait to see what will happen and we would also have to treat the infection that was blooming since the first procedure. Dr. Gei consulted some of his colleagues that specialize in infectious diseases and created an aggressive yet safe treatment plan. Anne was given a strong cocktail of antibiotics and we were moved to our new home in antepartum on the 5th floor of Children’s Memorial Hermann where Anne would continue her bed rest. At this point we were only a couple of days shy of 22 weeks.
In Antepartum Anne remained under the care of Dr. Gei, but we were also blessed by the amazing nursing staff. This group of women would prove to be essential to allow me to be able to continue to go to work while Anne remained on bed rest. These ladies were the most amazing group of medical professionals that we had ever met. They would be there to provide comfort and encouragement at a moment’s notice and were extremely vigilant regarding any of Anne’s medical needs. The next few months were both uneventful and challenging in their own right. Anne had to immediately focus on Catherine without having time to grieve for the loss of our sweet Charlotte. Each week that passed we had weekly ultrasounds and celebrated the slightest relief of being one week closer to a safe gestational age for Catherine’s delivery. By this time, the conversations with Dr. Gei were less medical related and more personal. Dr. Gei was quickly becoming a close friend, even at one point brought Anne homemade pasta and pate! As milestones passed, 24 weeks, 28 weeks, 30 weeks, we watched our daughter grow and begin to take on her own personality.
The weekend of November 17th things began to change. We had our regular ultrasound and we were excited about being able to see Catherine’s full head of hair, snapped a couple cute shots of her face on the 4D machine and went back to our room. Little did we know Dr. Gei had noticed a small leak between the two layers of the amniotic sac. He didn’t tell us at the time as he didn’t want to cause any anxiety. This was something he had seen before and didn’t feel like it would compromise the pregnancy. Anne started feeling symptoms of a UTI that Sunday and the problem seemed to persist. Dr. Gei ordered a urine culture and prescribed meds to treat it and we thought that was the end of it. On Tuesday, November 17th I went to work like any other day and shortly after lunch I received a text from Anne saying nothing more than “Come now.” I immediately I left the office and sent my boss a text that something was wrong with Anne and I was heading to the hospital.
Once I arrived to Anne’s bedside, Anne was connected to the fetal monitor and we were watching for contractions and observing the baby’s heartrate. I remember it being over 200bpm. Dr. Gei arrived and immediately looks at the strip and said that there is an issue with Catherine’s placenta and we had to deliver her immediately. Before we knew it Anne’s “dream team” of nurses filled the room and prepped her for an emergency c-section. I am not sure what was going through Anne’s head, but I just about lost it. I was scared. I was scared of losing my wife and scared of losing yet another child. Once Anne was prepped, we were moved to the OR. I sat outside as they prepared her and gave her the spinal anesthesia. I remember praying the rosary harder than I have ever prayed it before. I remember cursing at God in anger. I remember the feeling of complete helplessness overcoming me. I decided that I would give my anger and fear to God and that I would trust him. Then Dr. Gei came in to scrub up, and reassured me that everything was going to be alright. That Catherine was healthy and we just had to make sure she remains that way. A few minutes later I was allowed into the OR and I was seated next to Anne.
At 5:52PM on November 17th my life began. My daughter Catherine Adams was born alive and had the most beautiful cry and a gorgeous face. She weighed in at 4lbs 0oz and required very little assistance to breathe. As she was taken away to the NICU, they brought her by Anne’s bedside and it was amazing to see the instant connection between mom and daughter. Once Anne was out of surgery, we began sharing the news to all of our loved ones. Anne’s mom arrived from Austin about an hour later. As soon as I could, I went to see my daughter on the 7th floor. Laying eyes on her was surreal. Although she was in an isolette (incubator) with an IV, an NG Tube, CPAP mask, various leads monitoring her heartrate and breathing, a temperature lead, in that moment I was able to look past that and meet the strongest person I would ever meet in my life. We were told that the first 24 hours were a bit of a “honeymoon” period so the following day I stayed at the hospital as opposed to going to work. I started ordering some of the essentials that we would need and had them overnighted to my office the next day.
Thursday, November 19th I planned to have a short day at the office. I needed to do a little custodial work to prepare my projects for me to be in an out of the office for the next few weeks as my newborn daughter was in the NICU. I was in the office for a few hours and found out that we had layoffs the day before. I worked for Cameron International and layoffs in the current Oil and Gas market were somewhat of a reality. I finished my work and was waiting for my packages to arrive when I was approached by one of the HR Managers and led to a room where an IT Director I had never met informed me that my position was being eliminated due to a reduction in force. My heart sank. I informed both gentlemen of my daughter’s premature birth and of what I had worked through in the past few months but there was nothing they could do. My boss found out that I was laid off a short time later. And there was the reality. I had a newborn premature daughter and I was let go from my job and was going to struggle to provide for my growing family.
The past six weeks I have split my time between hunting for a job and spending time with my daughter in the NICU. Slowly, the financial impact of losing my job is starting to become more apparent. Anne has been out on disability since September 2nd but after Catherine’s birth she was given 8-weeks of maternity leave. I was given some severance, but due to the time of year, the job market is slow, the medical bills are beginning to pile up, and it might not last as long as we had hoped. Anne is now dealing with a lot of depression issues as well as what I believe is PTSD because of the whole ordeal that we have faced since September 2nd.
I have generally avoided starting a go-fund me campaign because I have been confident things would work out. One of Anne’s old friends from her time as a freelance makeup artist approached us with the idea. We talked it over and agreed that we would be willing to try it under certain conditions. We would be raising money to put towards medical expenses, and any money left over would be donated to a charitable organization that researches pre-term labor and preemies.
It’s been a long, difficult, stressful journey. This Christmas was especially bittersweet as we spent the night in the NICU so we could be with our baby. Not the ideal festive setting, but my wife and I couldn’t think of any other place we’d rather be. Thank you for reading our story, and if you decide to help, we’d be extremely grateful. Merry Christmas, and happy New Year from the newly expanded Adams Family.
Howdy! My name is Andrew Adams and my wife is Anne Adams. We have been married for six years this coming February and live in Houston, Texas. The past few years we have been trying to start our family. My wife and I have been seeing countless doctors and praying desperately for a miracle. The first week of May we received news that we were pregnant, and a few days later we found out the news that we were going to be welcoming twins into our family.
The first two trimesters of the pregnancy were relatively uneventful. Although we had the benefit of receiving twice the ultrasounds, we looked at it as a way to see our kids growing and thriving. In August we found out the news that we were expecting girls. My wife being the person that she is, already had the perfect names picked out for them, Charlotte and Catherine. Now that we had found out the gender and had names it made ultrasound appointments that much more special.
On Sept 2nd we went to our routine sonogram appointment. The appointment went as well as other had in the past except at the end the sonographer said we needed to speak with the doctor. Our doctor came in and told us that Anne’s cervix was funneling and she would have to go see her OBGYN immediately. We sensed some concern and went to our OBGYN immediately to get her take on the situation. Once we were in her office, Anne completed a diabetes test as we waited to speak with our doctor. Once she came in, she told us that the situation was bleak, but if there was anyone who could help it would be a doctor she knows in the Med Center. She immediately called him on the phone and we drove straight to his office.
Once we arrived, Dr. Gei rushed us into an ultrasound room and performed another examination. Unfortunately, at that point the situation had deteriorated and Anne was beginning to dilate. Dr. Gei had a plan to perform a rescue cerclage that would close Anne’s cervix until the 28th week of her pregnancy in order to save the girls. We were immediately admitted to Children’s Memorial Hermann and waited for our turn in the operating room. Late that night Dr. Gei attempted to perform the cerclage. Within minutes of prepping, Dr. Gei discovered the situation was more severe than he had originally thought. Charlotte’s amniotic sac had been compromised and she was losing fluid. Dr Gei checked Catherine’s and it was holding strong. Dr Gei was forced to abort the procedure.
Once Anne got out of the OR, Dr Gei came into meet with us to discuss our options. By this time my mother, who happened to be in town during a break from her travel nursing assignment in California had arrived. My Father in Law was in town for work and came to see us as well. It was about 1AM when we had been given our options. At 21 weeks of gestation the twins would not be able to survive birth. Even at 24 weeks their lives would be severely impacted by severe birth defects. On top of this, Anne’s blood work came back and she was fighting an infection from an unknown source. Dr. Gei laid out the following options. We could abort the pregnancy in order to protect Anne’s health and in a few months try to get pregnant again. We could do nothing and wait until 24 weeks which while it would get the girls to viability it would put Anne’s health at risk due to the infection. Finally, we could stop Charlotte’s heartbeat and hopefully Anne would pass Charlottes body without impacting Catherine. Dr. Gei was extremely professional while being extremely empathetic at the same time. He gave us all sorts of evidence and journals to support his conclusions. Anne and I were left alone by our families and we privately discussed the fate of our children. At around 2 AM September 3rd we had decided that we would induce labor in order to abort the pregnancy. While we loved our children, my wife’s health was a priority as if she couldn’t beat the infection then she would have no chance to sustain this pregnancy or a possible future pregnancy.
At around 2AM my mother and I went outside to smoke a cigarette when a man approached us to ask for a smoke. He instantly saw by the look on our faces that something was terribly wrong. My mom briefly explained to him that my wife was pregnant but we are losing our children due to a medical condition. The stranger in that moment prayed the most beautiful prayer I have ever heard. It was in this moment that the little faith in God I had was restored. Once the man finished his prayer, he walked across the street and disappeared into the park.
The following morning, we were making the final preparations for the procedure, talking with the nurses that coordinate the grief counseling services when Dr. Gei came in. Dr. Gei had been doing more research and thinking about our situation and came up with a new plan. The plan was to induce labor using Pitocin, slowly increasing the amount of meds until Anne was in full blown labor and then stopping the delivery of the medication before Anne labored to give birth to Charlotte. Then we would wait and hopefully the contractions would stop and Catherine would remain comfortably inside of mama. He said if this works we would know within days. So that was the plan, we all agreed that it would give us the best chance for a positive outcome.
The following day, Sept 4th, Anne began receiving the medication to induce labor and her epidural. Slowly Anne began contracting, with each contraction the reality of the situation grew stronger. I sat there in the hospital room helpless of what my wife was experiencing. I honestly did the only thing I knew to do which was pray. I sat there and I prayed and prayed. I asked for my father to intercede and pray for his first granddaughter, I asked God to receive her into his kingdom with open arms. I prayed that she would not experience any pain and I prayed for the miraculous outcome we were hoping for. We prayed that Catherine would remain safe within Anne’s body.
The following morning, 5 September 2015 at 0747 my wife gave birth to the most beautiful baby girl we had ever seen. She weighed 14.5 oz and was 11.5 inches long. Charlotte Ann Adams had ten fingers, ten toes, a perfect nose, and absolutely gorgeous face. As we grieved as a family for the loss of our daughter and our parent’s first granddaughter (Anne’s parents first grandchild) we waited to see if Anne would continue to contract. Miraculously the contractions quickly faded, and ultrasound confirmed the Catherine was still safe and sound inside of Anne. While we lost one child, we gained a saint in our family to continue to pray for Catherine. Not a day goes by that we don’t think about our beloved daughter.
Once the contractions completely stopped on Sunday, September 6th, Dr. Gei made another attempt at a rescue cerclage. I was told that there was a huge sigh of relief in the OR as Dr. Gei was able to complete the procedure successfully. After Anne was out of recovery, Dr. Gei said now we have to wait to see what will happen and we would also have to treat the infection that was blooming since the first procedure. Dr. Gei consulted some of his colleagues that specialize in infectious diseases and created an aggressive yet safe treatment plan. Anne was given a strong cocktail of antibiotics and we were moved to our new home in antepartum on the 5th floor of Children’s Memorial Hermann where Anne would continue her bed rest. At this point we were only a couple of days shy of 22 weeks.
In Antepartum Anne remained under the care of Dr. Gei, but we were also blessed by the amazing nursing staff. This group of women would prove to be essential to allow me to be able to continue to go to work while Anne remained on bed rest. These ladies were the most amazing group of medical professionals that we had ever met. They would be there to provide comfort and encouragement at a moment’s notice and were extremely vigilant regarding any of Anne’s medical needs. The next few months were both uneventful and challenging in their own right. Anne had to immediately focus on Catherine without having time to grieve for the loss of our sweet Charlotte. Each week that passed we had weekly ultrasounds and celebrated the slightest relief of being one week closer to a safe gestational age for Catherine’s delivery. By this time, the conversations with Dr. Gei were less medical related and more personal. Dr. Gei was quickly becoming a close friend, even at one point brought Anne homemade pasta and pate! As milestones passed, 24 weeks, 28 weeks, 30 weeks, we watched our daughter grow and begin to take on her own personality.
The weekend of November 17th things began to change. We had our regular ultrasound and we were excited about being able to see Catherine’s full head of hair, snapped a couple cute shots of her face on the 4D machine and went back to our room. Little did we know Dr. Gei had noticed a small leak between the two layers of the amniotic sac. He didn’t tell us at the time as he didn’t want to cause any anxiety. This was something he had seen before and didn’t feel like it would compromise the pregnancy. Anne started feeling symptoms of a UTI that Sunday and the problem seemed to persist. Dr. Gei ordered a urine culture and prescribed meds to treat it and we thought that was the end of it. On Tuesday, November 17th I went to work like any other day and shortly after lunch I received a text from Anne saying nothing more than “Come now.” I immediately I left the office and sent my boss a text that something was wrong with Anne and I was heading to the hospital.
Once I arrived to Anne’s bedside, Anne was connected to the fetal monitor and we were watching for contractions and observing the baby’s heartrate. I remember it being over 200bpm. Dr. Gei arrived and immediately looks at the strip and said that there is an issue with Catherine’s placenta and we had to deliver her immediately. Before we knew it Anne’s “dream team” of nurses filled the room and prepped her for an emergency c-section. I am not sure what was going through Anne’s head, but I just about lost it. I was scared. I was scared of losing my wife and scared of losing yet another child. Once Anne was prepped, we were moved to the OR. I sat outside as they prepared her and gave her the spinal anesthesia. I remember praying the rosary harder than I have ever prayed it before. I remember cursing at God in anger. I remember the feeling of complete helplessness overcoming me. I decided that I would give my anger and fear to God and that I would trust him. Then Dr. Gei came in to scrub up, and reassured me that everything was going to be alright. That Catherine was healthy and we just had to make sure she remains that way. A few minutes later I was allowed into the OR and I was seated next to Anne.
At 5:52PM on November 17th my life began. My daughter Catherine Adams was born alive and had the most beautiful cry and a gorgeous face. She weighed in at 4lbs 0oz and required very little assistance to breathe. As she was taken away to the NICU, they brought her by Anne’s bedside and it was amazing to see the instant connection between mom and daughter. Once Anne was out of surgery, we began sharing the news to all of our loved ones. Anne’s mom arrived from Austin about an hour later. As soon as I could, I went to see my daughter on the 7th floor. Laying eyes on her was surreal. Although she was in an isolette (incubator) with an IV, an NG Tube, CPAP mask, various leads monitoring her heartrate and breathing, a temperature lead, in that moment I was able to look past that and meet the strongest person I would ever meet in my life. We were told that the first 24 hours were a bit of a “honeymoon” period so the following day I stayed at the hospital as opposed to going to work. I started ordering some of the essentials that we would need and had them overnighted to my office the next day.
Thursday, November 19th I planned to have a short day at the office. I needed to do a little custodial work to prepare my projects for me to be in an out of the office for the next few weeks as my newborn daughter was in the NICU. I was in the office for a few hours and found out that we had layoffs the day before. I worked for Cameron International and layoffs in the current Oil and Gas market were somewhat of a reality. I finished my work and was waiting for my packages to arrive when I was approached by one of the HR Managers and led to a room where an IT Director I had never met informed me that my position was being eliminated due to a reduction in force. My heart sank. I informed both gentlemen of my daughter’s premature birth and of what I had worked through in the past few months but there was nothing they could do. My boss found out that I was laid off a short time later. And there was the reality. I had a newborn premature daughter and I was let go from my job and was going to struggle to provide for my growing family.
The past six weeks I have split my time between hunting for a job and spending time with my daughter in the NICU. Slowly, the financial impact of losing my job is starting to become more apparent. Anne has been out on disability since September 2nd but after Catherine’s birth she was given 8-weeks of maternity leave. I was given some severance, but due to the time of year, the job market is slow, the medical bills are beginning to pile up, and it might not last as long as we had hoped. Anne is now dealing with a lot of depression issues as well as what I believe is PTSD because of the whole ordeal that we have faced since September 2nd.
I have generally avoided starting a go-fund me campaign because I have been confident things would work out. One of Anne’s old friends from her time as a freelance makeup artist approached us with the idea. We talked it over and agreed that we would be willing to try it under certain conditions. We would be raising money to put towards medical expenses, and any money left over would be donated to a charitable organization that researches pre-term labor and preemies.
It’s been a long, difficult, stressful journey. This Christmas was especially bittersweet as we spent the night in the NICU so we could be with our baby. Not the ideal festive setting, but my wife and I couldn’t think of any other place we’d rather be. Thank you for reading our story, and if you decide to help, we’d be extremely grateful. Merry Christmas, and happy New Year from the newly expanded Adams Family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Andrew Adams
Beneficiary