Updates on everyone

Carolyn aka Baby D

Alexis aka Baby C

Max aka Baby B

Aiden aka Baby A

Current weights are

Aiden 3.6lbs
Max 4.4lbs
Alexis 3.10 lbs
Carolyn 3.7lbs

Aiden was moved to an open air bed yesterday, but they moved him back to the isolette today because he got a little chilly in the open air. He is still doing well, but just isn't ready for the open air yet.

Max is a big boy sleeping in an actual crib, and taking most of his meals by bottle!!! We're hoping he'll be home soon. He looks so big compared to everyone else.

Alexis and Carolyn were both moved into an open air bed tonight to see how they do. If they can keep their temp up without getting chilly they'll get to stay in the open air. They could be like Aiden and have to go back into the isolette. We'll have to wait and see how they do.

I've been pumping and pumping and pumping. I haven't been keeping track of how much I've been pumping in a 24 hour period. I've just been pumping and taking it all up to the NNICU for the babies. Today I decided to start writing down the times and amount. In the last 24 hours I've pumped 841 ml. Not enough for quads, but a good amount. Pumping sucks, but Andy is very supportive. He is the milk police. He reminds me to pump and after pumping he takes the bottles and says "Oh wow good job babes!" after each session. :)

My grandparents are staying with me while Andy is gone on his mission. He'll be back soon, and it is nice to have them here while he is gone. My grandma cooks sooo good! They've been taking care of me and helping me around the house. My Pawpaw hung the blinds in the office and he fixed the mirror in the downstairs bathroom. Apparently the mirror was about to fall off the wall and I had no idea! My grandma keeps me in line and doesn't let me do too much or tells me when it is time to rest. The area below my belly button still feels like it's bruised when I touch it. I think it's because it was stretched so much and the pants I've been wearing sit right on that area. I can't wear my before pregnancy pants yet so I'm still wearing some of the maternity pants I was wearing before I became SO big.

Some videos we've taken of the babies...

They're not twins. Thanks.

Today someone said oh they're twins. The person knew we had 4 babies, but said the girls were twins. If they're 2 of 4 they're quadruplets not two sets of twins. OK? Thanks! Then again she did argue with the nurse when the nurse told her she wasn't supposed to remove the tape off the baby.

We had a big day today. We went up to the NNICU to visit the babies. I tried to feed Alexis, but she didn't really want to participate. She did take a poop while I was holding her though. I was positive of that. The nurse wasn't so sure since she had just changed a poopy diaper before handing her to me. I told her it was dirty and she asked if I wanted to change it and told me it could be gas. I said I'd change it since I've changed their diapers before just not stinky ones. I needed a poopy diaper to save for the memory book. Kidding--only kidding. Anyway I opened the diaper and sure enough poopy. Big poopy. :) We played around since she was awake while I was holding her. My grandma was holding Carolyn while I held Alexis. Carolyn never woke up, but Alexis was awake almost the entire time I was holding her. I figured out if I don't rock in the rocking chair they stay awake a lot longer.

Max and Aiden were both sleeping when we went to see them. Max opened his eyes for a split second before he fell back asleep. Aiden never opened his eyes, but we didn't mind because he needs his sleep. We like to hold the girls one day and the boys the next day. So tomorrow we'll be holding the boys. :) I know they'll be so excited.

Aiden started caffeine to help with his breathing. He sometimes forgets to breathe, and it is just to help him along. They were thinking of putting the girls on it, but haven't so far. Caffeine means Aiden will come home on a monitor. We were really expecting him to go on it so it wasn't really a surprise when I got there today and they told me would get his first dose today. Poor little guy is having a rough start, but thankfully his rough start is a blessing compared to what some preemie babies go through. I believe he is getting his IV out tomorrow. I'm not 100% sure about that though.

That is the only bit of news I have for today. I'm enjoying my grandparents being here with me & getting to see the babies. :)

A good day

Andy & Aiden

Today we found out the hole in Aiden's heart has closed after two rounds of medication, and he was able to start eating again! Andy actually gave him his first bottle, and he ate all of it! He doesn't start out getting the same amount of breast milk/formula as before, but will gradually get back up there. He is having some issues where he forgets to stop breathing, but patting him will remind him. I've read about preemies doing this, but it's a little different when you experience it the first few times.

Lisa & Max

Max got to kangaroo with me tonight since I've never held him I've been really looking forward to it. He's a little clown and was smiling a lot. He also had the hiccups and took a video of him hiccuping because it sounds like a little bit like a squeaky toy. :)

Andy & Carolyn

Carolyn let me take her temp and change her diaper. She fussed a little bit when I was trying to take her arm out of the sleeve, but other than that she was great! She was stretching and moving all over the place most of the time I was trying to change her. Andy got to hold her for a few minutes while the nurse changed her bedding out.

Andy & Alexis

I sat and talked with Alexis while Andy played with Carolyn. I'll try to hold her next time we go depending on how much time we have and what is going on. Her turn to be held is def. next though! She was all dressed and looking cute tonight when we got there. She threw a little bit of a fit when the nurse took her temp, but she just didn't think she needed it taken is all.

Andy's mom sat with the girls for most of the time we were over with the boys. It gives the girls attention while we give the boys attention. I feel less guilty about not spending time with the girls while I'm with the boys and vice versa when she is there to visit with them. :) I'm sure they really appreciate it too. I've now held all the babies kangaroo style!

More good news is the brain scans were done yesterday, and all babies scans came back normal with NO BLEEDS! That is very very good news! :)

NNICU & Going Home

I wasn't able to go to the NNICU right away because I was put on a medicine that didn't allow me to be out of bed. So I didn't get to see the babies until late the next day, and then I got to see them twice because Carlene wheeled me to and from the NNICU! :)

The nurses are all very nice at the NNICU, but I really didn't expect anything else. I was able to hold Carolyn one night and it was so very nice. So nice in fact that the morphine and the rocking helped me fall asleep holding her. Don't be alarmed though I didn't drop her :)

So far I've held Aiden, Carolyn & Alexis. I wanted to hold Max tonight, but decided to wait until tomorrow because I was able to feed Carolyn & Alexis their first bottles! Another thing I did was change Aiden's diaper yesterday!

I was so excited to go home & then when they finally set me free on Friday I freaked out about a mile down the road. I cried most of the way home because it was at that point that I realized I left my babies there. I knew they were being cared for better than what I could do, but the idea of going home without them really got to me. I did better the next day until I found out Aiden has a hole in his heart that needed to be treated with medication to see if that would close it. I tried to keep it together but after about 10 minutes I started crying. It wasn't easy to hear, but what made it worse is that he looked so uncomfortable yesterday. I felt so bad for the little guy. He looked so much better today when we went in though! We're praying the medicine is working & that he won't need any surgery.

Updates on everyone


Aiden--was removed from his CPAP, and is now using a nasal cannula. He got 2 of the 3 doses of medicine to help close the hole in his heart. He urine output dropped off so they held off on his 3rd dose. They want him to start peeing more before they give him another dose. The nurse also said he may not need another dose the 2 may have done the trick. Right now though it is a wait and see time with Aiden. He looked a lot better tonight than he did last night though!



Max-- was sleeping with his bed open when we left to see if he can keep his body temp. in the open air. He is still on the nasal cannual. He is off his IV, and is eating really well. I believe he is eating the max amount at each feeding.


Alexis-- continues to do well. She got her first bottle tonight, and drank about half of it. I call her grandpa phillips because she looks like an old man. :-) She is also off the IV as of today.


Carolyn-- like her sister she is doing well. She is off her IV, and drank over half of her bottle tonight. Her hair seems to be getting lighter every day.

Delivery at 31 weeks 3 days

It started off as your normal day waking up for meds and vitals, and then again for breakfast. I got something for a headache the night before that didn't work. When I woke up my head was still hurting so I requested more pain meds to help get rid of it. I stayed in bed with the lights and tv off for most of the day only checking my emails a few times a day. SO when I requested more pain medication the nurse asked if I had any relief from the previous dose, and when I said no she said you haven't had ANY relief? I said no I hadn't. She walked out and when she came back she said you're not allowed to have anything else to eat or drink. She removed my ice and my glass of water, and then said she needed me to give a sample of urine so she could test it. I was thinking ALL I WANT IS SOMETHING TO GET RID OF THE HEADACHE! I knew that wasn't going to happen. Due to my urine test coming back with protein in it, the headache that wouldn't go away, an elevated blood pressure, and that the babies weights had dropped off the resident from L&D came to see me. He said he wouldn't put off delivery since all of these things were coming together. SO I requested they call Dr. Platz to notify her so she would be there for delivery. I then called Andy about 5 times before he finally answered. I told him he should get things done around the house that he could and come up because they were thinking of doing the delivery! He said "Nu uh." and I said something along the lines of I wasn't joking and he needed to come to the hospital as soon as he could.

I sent text messages to everyone in my family, and called my grandma and his mom. I told his mom if she wanted to be there for the delivery she needed to leave her house at that moment. More people came to ask me when I last ate, and I also mentioned my last shot of heparin. I was transferred to L&D where I continued to ask every person I came in contact with if Dr. Platz had been called. Finally someone said she has and she is here! YAY!

We were going to start the delivery process around 800-830, but we were bumped by someone that needed an emergency c-section. Once they finished with her and finished working on her baby I was wheeled in where they tried 2 or 3 times to get my epidural in the right spot. I would like to note that I didn't enjoy that process at all. When he finally got my epidural in the next thing I remember was Andy coming to sit next to me.

They started cutting and there was a splatter of fluid at one point on the blue sheet blocking our view. Behind us someone said don't worry about that it's just amniotic fluid, and Andy and I both thought the person was a liar, but appreciated his attempt. :)

I heard Baby A's cry, and then Baby B's, Baby D came out before Baby C because she was head down, but I don't remember much of any of it after hearing Baby B's cry. Andy stayed there with me, and I was out of it at some parts because the next thing I remember is them bringing Baby A over to see me before taking him to the NNICU. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do remember being taken from the delivery room to my L&D room where I saw Andy's parents and baby B.

Our friends Carlene and Laura came up on their days off to be with us during delivery. That was awesome of them because they kept us from freaking out before delivery. :) Thanks you two!

I had some trouble with bleeding during the delivery so they gave me medicine to help. I won't go into details about that, but it was a lot of no fun. I didn't get much sleep at all because I was starving. I slept for a little bit, but woke up each time the nurse would come in to check my bleeding. Also not pleasant is when the doctor came in to check my uterus. I went between awake and asleep not feeling well at all for most of the night/morning.

I was let out of L&D back to my old room. I loved that because I should have gone over to a different hallway, but it was full so I got to go back "home" where I knew everyone. I was cranky and tired and not feeling very well, but they all took my cranky mood well. :) They just smiled and let me sleep.

31 Weeks

We made it to 31 weeks! YAY! Really that should read like yay. I'm excited, but I'm uncomfortable. Everything is harder now...which is to be expected, but good grief! I fall asleep a lot during the day, and one night I even fell asleep on the phone with Andy.

They did a growth scan today and the weights are listed below.
A-3.0lbs
B-3.3lbs
C-3.6lbs (her estimate was hard to get because of how she was folded up and the tech said she may have over estimated her weight)
D-2.14lbs

The blood flow looks good to all the babies, but they did say it was on the high end of normal. If next week it is abnormal they'll go ahead and take the babies. Because being on the high end of normal can lead to abnormal. My next appointment is Thursday so we'll see.

My cervix is still closed and high, but softer because there is a baby pressing against it. I feel the pressure from this especially when I stand up.

My right leg is still swollen, but I don't have a blood clot. They did an ultrasound to make sure, and now I'm wearing TED hose. I call them socks because they don't go over my knee, but the real name is hose. My arms are still lumpy and bruised from the shots I get twice a day. They've stopped giving it to me in my arms, and are now giving them in my left thigh. They have to check to make sure it is ok to give the shot in my right leg since it is swollen. We'll see. Everyone thinks I'm exaggerating the bruises on my arms from these shots, but then they see my arms and are shocked.

I met another doctor here this week. I met her briefly when I was in L&D, and she is awesome. One of my favorites. I look forward for her to come by each day, and will be sad when her week is over tomorrow because she makes me laugh. The resident that I see everyday is off next week so I'm hoping to make it to the Monday after I hit 32 weeks so she can be there for the delivery.

Those are all the updates I have for now.

30 weeks

I went to my appointment this morning. There was some confusion on when I was getting there and also what was being done when I got there, but it was all figured out and I was only starving when I got back to my room. :)

I had an ultra sound to check the BPPs (biophysical profiles) which checks to make sure the babies are practicing breathing movements, a cervix length, and a doppler to check the blood flow through the umbilical cord to the babies. Each baby did really well for the BPP & doppler tests. I was expecting a growth check, but after much discussion they decided no on that until next week or the week after. My cervix has changed to 3.4cm, but they are really happy with that because they said it is normal for my cervix to change as I get further along. All babies are now facing down except C. She is our diva that always wants to be available for pictures.

So all around good news from the ultrasound. Everyone knows I don't wish to be released from the hospital because I'm a what if sort of gal and I don't want to put myself at risk for an earlier delivery than I could have by staying here. Yes I'd love to return home, but I'd also like to have the latest possible delivery date. The last I heard they said I would be staying with them until delivery. I had someone new come in the room this morning and check on me. It was 0515 and he asked me all kinds of questions that I'm normally asked and then wanted to listen to my heart and lungs. So the decided he needed to flip the light on in my face. Not pleased at all. So I couldn't just fall back asleep because 1 I was annoyed and 2 I was wide awake. Thanks guy! They won't be doing that again though because the resident I always see apologized for him coming in so early and said she would talk with all the new students and let them know not to come in my room so early. I'm hoping she also tells them not to turn the light on in my face because that is not cool.

I'm going to eat now.

Is it REALLY August?

Yes I know it has been a while since I've blogged. I haven't been busy, but I'm still in the hospital so there isn't really a lot to update. They were thinking of sending me home this week, and after a lot of thinking I told the doctor I see every day I don't feel comfortable going home. The reasons? We have stairs I would have to go up and down, my bed is hard to get out of bed, our couch is very hard to get on and off for me 2 weeks ago so I can only imagine now, and there are the dogs. I love them and I miss them, but if I were sitting on the couch at home I would have to get on and off of it to let them outside. Sometimes if I don't get up right away Ace will jump up in my lap to tell me to get up off my lazy butt! I feel like I am where I need to be to get the babies as far along as possible. I still have to talk to the attending doctor on this week to see if he will allow me to stay. So we'll see how it goes. Since I said I want to stay the doctor I see everyday decided to put me on a medication to prevent blood clots since I am always in the bed. She didn't tell me it was a shot, that it was 2 times a day, and she also didn't say it would burn like it came from the depths of hell. It is at least given in my arm and not my rear.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to check the growth of the babies and to check the blood flow to each baby. I'm excited to see the weights of the babies. I'm hoping we have at least a 3lb baby at this point.

Since I couldn't sleep I decided to write this update, and now it's after midnight so I'm officially 30 weeks!!!! YAYAYA! So happy to be 30 weeks...the end of this pregnancy is near and we'll begin the next chapter of insanity. :) I look forward to it!