Les Photos...

We've been counseled to be selfish this first two weeks - not the "three pieces of cake for me and no cake for you" kind of selfish, but the "y'all just had twins and need to keep your priorities straight" kind of selfish. I think we've done a pretty good job of it. We're getting some good, two hour chunks of sleep in between feedings and a few friends have visited with meals and a box or two of diapers. All in all, it's one wild experience that we are thoroughly grateful for.

Hope you enjoy some of these first "official" photos from our collection!

AP & CP

Jezreel arrives!


Joyful Jovi!


Mommy & her only son



Sunrise, Day 3



Sunrise, Day 3



Cristine - Elastigirl... and the two new Incredibles!

He does this one sided "Harrison Ford half-smile" like Papa



"Don't make me come over there!"



Brie and the wee-ones

To All of Our Volunteers, Family & Friends

Thank you, thank you, thank God for you and all He's done!

Arrived home late Saturday night. Nice to start "settling in".
Photos coming up early in the week. Probably get a few out to close friends and fam before then. Now, sleep, feed, get babies on a schedule, stay unplugged when possible.

God is great. God is good. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you to all of the volunteers and visitors who've been so vital to us. The meals, the diapers, the van, the everything. We are truly amazed at God's provision, your generosity, and obedience to Him.

Love from all to all.

in Christ,

AP

What Else Can You Say?

When you get a ringside seat to see God do something completely amazing, what more can you say but "Osssssssum"?! Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Jezreel Jaxton Pina arrived at about 5:47 PM, weighing in at 6 lbs. 4 oz., roughly 19 inches long. His sister joined the family about 12 minutes later - 6 lbs. 2 oz., 18 inches.

Mommy's tired, but she... did... awesome.

Resting, enjoying our two new additions and praising God for His faithfulness.

Photos up sometime in the next day or two. Family first.

in Christ,

Pina, Party of 6

What It Takes

If you're not 10 cm dilated, you ain't allowed to push. Right now, we're between 6 and 7 cm (alright, 45 minutes ago...). So, we're a far cry from where we were this AM when we showed up at Hotel Babyfactory. But, there's still 3 cm to go...

I've never been pregnant - (you noticed?), nor will I ever be, right? So, I've got a limited perspective on what it's like to have a baby (much less, two) inside your body for an extended period of time. What I do know, is Cristine is a champ for all she's endured and it's extensive. Exhaustion, back pain, belly pain, cervical pressure, muscle strains, and then a little more exhaustion on top, just for fun. She's got what it takes to have these babies, right?!



It's all good, though - thanks to our dear friend Dr. John. Dr. John has been an anesthesiologist for over 25 years. He strolled in with the coolest pack of stuff a laboring mother could ask for - specifically, that drinking straw sized needle known as an "epidural". Anyone who's ever had one knows it brings a strange smile to the face of the woman about to receive it - a smile of joy about the floating-on-fluffy-clouds feeling it's soon to bring, undergirded by wincing of pain required to deliver the happy clouds.

Cristine's had that happy feeling for a couple of hours now. So, we've had the privilege of telling her when her contractions are coming, since she can't really feel a whole lot. The contractions are great news, though, because they're doing the work of helping Jezreel make his trip down the slide and out the chute. We're estimating it'll only be a matter of a couple more hours to get the doorway wide enough for the Great Escape.

For now, pray for Cristine - once they do the epidural, you're not allowed to eat anything more than ice chips and she hasn't eaten since last night. Good LORD, give her strength, right? Mommy wants some yummy in her tummy!!!

Looking up.

Papa P

Ooops! Gotta run. Having babies!!!

30 Second Time Out

Water's broken and we're just waiting for the contractions to get so unbearable that Cristine stands up and screams "YOUUUUUUUUU did this to me!!!"

She just explained to me that having a contraction is like having someone grab all of your intestines and squeeze them. Okay. this is the point where I unplug from all social media and give her my undivided attention. You might hear from me in another couple hours. Or, you just might get some photos posted later tonight.

(Nice timing - the epidural lady just came in!!!)

Peace and chicken grease!

AP

What's for Lunch?

Cristine's all checked in, hooked up, and just waiting for lunch time to roll around. They've started the Pitocin drip to kick the labor into a higher gear and expect our doctor to come back pretty soon to break Jezreel's water.

Twins should be here in time for a late lunch...

Thanks, to all the well wishers, prayer warriors, housesitters, baby transporters, tween watchers, and unbelievable friends for all you're doing!

Babies soon!

AP

Paul Revere's ride...

You remember the cry of Paul Revere, right? "The British are coming, the British are coming!" I think if we were in olde Boston tonight, we'd be hoisting a lantern up at the Old North Church. Then, we could have old Paul ride through the streets to declare "The babies are coming, the babies are coming!"

We've been cordially invited to head to the hospital tomorrow to either go into labor naturally or be induced, whichever comes first. At 37-1/2 weeks, the docs agree - Jovi and Jezreel are ready for prime time, and with all the last minute preparations we've done today, we're ready for them to come on out!

Thank you, to everyone who's pitched in a hand, an hour, or a meal to sustain us this far. Thanks, also to a small handful of y'all who are considering joining Mommy and Papa's support team at Seasons of Life. Papa does most of the fundraising work (while we know God actually raises the support, ultimately), and he'll be giving full time to Mommy, the twins and the rest of the kids for the next two weeks while she recovers and the rest get settled into a "normal" schedule. Thank you for your prayers, all of y'all. It's wild watching the body of Christ at work. We're seriously honored.

So fired up for tomorrow - how cool are these two, right? They'll NEVER forget what day is tax day...

Papa's hoping to do some live blogging from the hospital if the world's slowest laptop gives him a little grace. Got the camera loaded up? Yeppers!

Yes, keep Mommy in your prayers as well as all the awesome volunteers who've come along side to help watch Brianna and Presleigh while Mommy and Papa are ushering in the twins! Sorry we'll miss you at church on Sunday, but remember we'll be there in Spirit (and online!) Hope to join you there at www.northpointonline.tv!

'Til morning...

AP & Fam

Heading Out Soon?

We had a rather uneventful visit to the hospital last week - you know, contractions, little dilation, blah, blah, blah... Then we knew we'd be off to see the OB and the Perinatal gang again on Monday. At this point, Momma had resigned herself to hearing either or both Doctors say "come back in another week!"

Instead, there was light at the end of the tunnel - the cervical tunnel, that is!!! Both agreed that the babies look really healthy (6lbs. 6oz. and 7lbs. healthy, at that) and are ready to join us outside the womb - SOON!!! In fact, we've made plans to head down to the hospital so they can head out on Thursday!

Mommy feels great about having a date-certain, and Papa's grateful to be able to set down all the plans that were previously floating. He's also looking forward to what many are referring to as "vacation" for the rest of the month. But, we know him better than that. He'll be cooking up a storm in the kitchen, taking care of Mommy and the twins, getting Brie and Presleigh off to school, and preparing a lot of reading and writing projects that can be done while the twins are (hopefully) sleeping blissfully.

We're extremely excited to meet Jezreel and Jovi and can tell by all the kicking in there that the feeling is reciprocated.

Keep us all in your prayers, as always.

in Christ,

AP & Fam

What are YOUR Plans?

Last week was the "perfect" week to have twins - it was Spring Break, so there would have been no shuttling of older siblings back and forth to school, plenty of volunteers to watch the kids and the house, and Papa would have been able to spend full time at the hospital caring for Mommy, Jovi, and Jezreel.

But, of course, that was not God's plan. And, around here, we know how to make plans, but do our best to get out of God's way when His timing doesn't match up with ours. So, we had our brush with Braxton-Hicks, played with the kids, did our best to entertain our "bored" tween (who's still grounded for life, but gaining back privileges), and kept the twins in for one more week.

Probably a better plan than ours was, anyway - you think?

Saturday, we officially rounded the corner of week 37, an important milestone in the development of the unborn. While long term results for twins born at 36 weeks are virtually identical to those born a week later, the short term troubles go from 15% for those born at 36 weeks down to less than 8% for those born just one week later.

I'm not much of a betting man, but if I had to bet on odds, I'd like the odds on week 37 babies by a long shot.

Sometime tomorrow (I'll have to check my schedule), we'll get to visit our ultrasound Doc and our OB to get a look at the state of the union. Hopefully, one of them will say "you're dilated 5 cm, let's get you to the hospital", and that'll be it. Either way, they'll be taking measurements tomorrow and we'll know how big these babies are (with a margin or error of several ounces). Two weeks ago, I believe the ultrasound indicated Jovi was about 5 lbs. 6 and Jezreel was tracking 5 lbs. 11, so we ought to see weights over 6 lbs at this stage for each. That's healthy, right?

Again, I say all of this under the proviso that this is "our plan". HIS plans will ultimately prevail. And, for this, we are eternally grateful. God. Is. Good.

In Christ, AP

Drum Roll, annnnnnnnd Nothing!!!

So, the contraction meter that was hooked up to Cristine was very active most of the night... most of the night. Somewhere in the medium hours of the morning the large, lengthy, and frequent contractions she was having gave way to a strange absence of contractions. Babies look fine, heartbeats strong, just no more contractions and a high cervix. If Mommy had dilated any more than the 2 cm she was at when we came in, the Doctor said he'd have kept us and induced. But, as it stands...

"You're free to head home..."

That's what we want to hear AFTER the babies come. Can someone shake that Doctor, make sure his batteries are fresh, and see if he understands we're ready to have us some twins?!

Thanks for all the prayers, keep them coming, we're headed back to Cumming, and hopefully the contractions will be coming back, we'll be coming back, and the babies will be coming to Cumming today... tonight... this week...

God is righteous, sovereign, and good.

in Him,

Papa

Update

Contractions - big suckers... Yet, still not fully dilated. The Dr. should be returning soon to let us know if they're going to send us home and make us come back again. For now, Mommy's a little more comfortable from the meds they gave her. Actually, more like "asleep" from the meds they gave her.

Back to the waiting game - this time it feels like the "full contact waiting game".

Owwwie.

- Papa

Hurry Up & Wait

We got the call back from the doctor following an episode of "pressure" Cristine was experiencing. Considering she was experiencing contractions and all else that comes to bear on the situation, he gave us the go-ahead to... go ahead. We dotted a few i's and crossed a few t's and once we were comfortable the house and the girls would be well supervised, headed out to the hospital. Come 1AM, there weren't a whole lot of wheelchairs available in the lobby (there's a big wheelchair basketball league in this part of town and I'm guessing they were a man down or something). But, we managed to get Mommy into the elevator - Papa almost didn't bring Mommy OUT of the elevator once it arrived.

She's moving as fast as she can, Papa. Cut her some slack, right?

Once we got to the admin desk, of course we had plenty of paperwork to fill out, but soon enough, we were on our way to our room. Now, let me set this up - Mommy's a little nervous about the fact that the babies are finally coming. She's also sweating and a little freaked out over the back pain, etc. she's going through.

So, is it okay if we walk into our wing without hearing a woman screaming at the top of her lungs a few doors down?!

Yeah, Mommy wasn't too reassured by that.

Regardless, we followed up on our housewatchers, settled into the room, and are now awaiting... awaiting... the twins!!! It looks like they'll be here soon, just not as soon as the uncomfy Mommy may like. For now, it sounds like we'll be here for several hours while Jovi and Jezreel finish cleaning up their wombs.

More as soon as it's available.

Thanks, for your prayers!

Aarron & Cristine

Really?

Yeah, after a whole lot of waiting and thinking that our plans were going to work out, we get to see God's plan - three days later than we had expected, but right on time in His timing!

Mommy's having some serious contractions at 36+ weeks and the doctor just gave us the go ahead to head to the hospital! Could be anytime, now!!!

Keep her and the twins in prayer!

Oh, yeah, and me, too!!!

AP

Ouch!

Alright, now THAT was a contraction. Too bad the last one was over 90 minutes ago!

Easter twins, maybe?

Could it be?

Well, we've been waiting quite some time now (35.7 weeks to be exact) and still have only signs that the twins are coming. What Mommy's aching for now are some signals!

Cristine has been such a champ - to date, she's carrying two 5-1/2 lb. babies who kick and roll at every turn, making it truly uncomfortable for her to stand... walk... sit... lay... breath. And yet, she perseveres. Sometimes, she even tries to do regular household chores, which Papa has to scold her for. Lately, Papa has been flying solo to church, events, meetings, and people ask him - "how's Cristine?" to which I can only reply "ready..."

Earlier this week, we had some pressure that we thought was contractions, but turned out to be... turn-ing. Yeah, as the twins are now both head down in preparation for an Olympic photo finish, they're creating all kinds of pressure in all kinds of unfamiliar places. Although the most recent pelvic exam resembles my old favorite haircut (high and tight), we can't help but imagine that could change at any moment.

Today, Mommy's feet are swollen for the first time and the pressure is more evident, but we're both still scratching our heads wondering if this will be the day. For now, keep praying and we'll keep you in the loop.

in the love of the Lord,

AP