Happy Halloween

Aiden as Mickey Mouse

Maxwell as Pooh Bear

Alexis as Minnie Mouse

Carolyn as Piglet

We LOVE us some Disney!

Getting ready for our first walk in our quad stroller!

Busy

It has been a while since I last posted. Nine days or so. I never updated the blog to say WE'RE OFF CAFFEINE! We are, and have been for almost 2 weeks. The way they decide who comes off the monitor is the baby or babies with no events during the two weeks after the caffeine is stopped come off their monitor. So far we've had zero events since stopping the caffeine. So if they downloaded the monitors today we would have four wireless babies. That can change within the few days we have left, but I don't see them having any events since they've gone this long without any. No monitors for us means if a baby is fussy and we need to go downstairs we just pick him/her up and walk out of the room. It means no more tripping on cords, no more untangling, no more picking out clothes to work around wires, and no more avoiding zippers! I'm so tired of pulling outfits out and thinking "maybe when the monitors come off". We tried zippers, but Max had his cords within 15 seconds of pulling the zipper closed.

Max is almost out of newborn size and into 0-3 months while Aiden isn't far behind him Carolyn and Alexis still have a lot of room to grow into the newborn size.

On to what people really come here for...pictures!

Carolyn Aiden Alexis & Maxwell

Maxwell & Aiden

Alexis & Carolyn

Maxwell covered in Fudge Rounds. The story behind this is Maxwell is named after Andy's best friend and he loves Fudge Rounds.

Carolyn & Alexis sharing a boppy pillow.

the manual pump, sleep deprived, and Andy's mom

I've gotten a few emails about this so I thought I'd clarify something I said in the last post about the manual pump. I have NOT been using a manual pump since I got out of the hospital. I was sent home with one to get me through the night. The day after my discharge I had an appointment at WIC to see if we would qualify and could get a hospital grade pump rental while the babies were in the NNICU. The night I was discharged I tried the manual pump for 30 minutes and had close to nothing so Andy went and bought a Pump In Style. That is what I was using for the last 2 months.

Sleep deprived. Since Andy went back to work I've been getting up at 9pm instead of 1am or 2am however long Andy would let me sleep basically. I never could fall asleep at 4 when my "shift" ended so having to go directly to sleep now is even harder. I sleep for 1-2 hours before waking back up. I try to sleep in the nursery after the 10pm feeding, but it really depends on the babies if I get any rest. The last few days I haven't been getting enough sleep so Andy had me take something to help me sleep. Instead of waking up at 9 andy stayed up and fed the babies with his mom. She then tried to rest in the nursery and I woke up at 230 and she went to bed.

Speaking of Andy's mom I have no idea what we would do without her. She has been a huge help and is working very hard with us to keep these babies under control. I cannot imagine moving away from home for a while to help with four infants. (Aiden, Max, Alexis, & Carolyn don't have quads because I'm not doing this again!) It is truly a blessing that she is here with us, and we will never be able to express how much we appreciate her coming to live with us.

We got our first synagis shots last Friday to help with preventing a serious RSV infection. They also got their 2 month vaccinations on that day as well. They were not happy. At all.

1 hour before feeding...must sleep!

Remembering the pregnancy

I remember taking several pregnancy tests thinking hmmm I wonder how accurate this is? They were the cheap ones that you buy online so I figured if they came back positive I would buy and take a digital test. I took the cheap ones every day and watched the line grow darker until I finally took a digital test.


Andy wouldn't believe it really until the doctor confirmed it. He kept saying well I don't know how accurate that is about the home pregnancy test and then again with the blood test. So when I went to the doctor's and they confirmed I was pregnant we had tests run on Friday and returned on Monday so the ultrasound tech could check me. That is when we found out there were four. Four....but they didn't think D would make it and C was small as well so that one might go away as well. So we went home thinking we would probably have twins. Alexis & Carolyn said no that's not how this party is going to turn out. They continued to do well surprising I think everyone. I went for a consult at MUSC, but my insurance changed the consult to transfer so I went to MUSC starting in late March. I wasn't excited about driving downtown, but once I got there and met all the friendly people I was so happy to be a transfer. I loved MUSC everyone was so friendly and while they were happy I was doing so well they didn't sugar coat that with quads it could change in an instant. They didn't give false hope or give us the doom and gloom outlook. As time went on I heard how awesome, great, wonderful, spectacular, and amazing my cervix is. My cervix was a rock star.

You never really know how big you are until you see yourself in pictures. I stopped taking pictures once I was admitted to the hospital. Just didn't feel like being trapped in my room and seeing how big I was. At the beginning I wanted to last to 34 weeks. 5 September. That was my goal. At 24 weeks I wanted to make it to 34 weeks but was happy to finally be past 24 weeks! At 28 weeks I was so happy to still be pregnant, but was reconsidering that whole 34 week goal. 33 weeks would be awesome too I thought. The longer I was pregnant the less I wanted to make it to 34 weeks. Sure I wanted what was best for the babies, but good grief I was uncomfortable. I felt at any moment I was going to burst and babies would go flying everywhere.

Finally the time came at 31 weeks 3 days I had a headache that wouldn't go away. When I requested more pain meds for it they questioned me and then took away all my water and food. Not that I cared about the food part, but I really did want some water! The doctor came in to talk to me around 3 and I heard the words I had been longing to hear "you'll probably deliver tonight". A lot less fantastic when you're expecting to make it to Thursday and it is only Sunday & when you've promised your favorite resident you'd wait for her to get back before delivering. Not that I had any control over it, but I really wanted her to be there since she took care of me the 3.5 weeks I was in the hospital before delivery. I asked the first doctor to call Dr. Platz. It was a Sunday, but she said she wanted to be there for the delivery. I also refused to let anyone else cut me open. He said he would try to page her. He came back I asked if he had called her he said it was Sunday and he wasn't sure where she was. I explained it is in my chart for her to be called. He said he would page her again. I asked the nurse if she knew if Dr. Platz had been called and she said she didn't know, but would ask. When they moved me to L&D I asked Molly if Dr. Platz had been called and she said yes and Dr. Platz was on her way! I could rest easy and wait for Andy to arrive. I remember I was to deliver around 8-830, but there was an emergency c-section so I got bumped to 10 or so. Finally they wheeled me in and started my epidural, or tried to at least. I was told it was simple and took no time, but then I was unlucky and it took forever and many sticks to get it in. Thankfully Dr. Platz was there the whole time telling me it would all be ok. At 10:36 Aiden was born. I heard him cry and then I was out of it. I remember coming to briefly to hear Baby C was out, but then I was out again. I remember someone bringing a baby over to see me and then I went out again. Dr. Platz came to see me before leaving and said my abs looked great and that I did great. I didn't know who she was for a minute until she had walked away.
The recovery was hard. I apparently lost a lot of blood during surgery and I was on morphine so I felt like 100% crap. The morphine made me feel horrible so I asked for something else. Something that would make me feel better, but not make me so out of it. I got a blood transfusion that really grossed me out, but I felt so much better after it.

Once I was released I was so happy until I was about a mile down the road then I cried the whole way home because I was leaving 4 tiny babies behind. I knew they were where they needed to be. MUSC took excellent care of our babies, and we are forever grateful to them. Especially Carlene & Laura who came in on their time off for the delivery and looked after the babies while they were in the NNICU & level 2 nursery. You ladies are awesome. Even though Carlene makes me sick because she is going to Disney World. Again. J/K!

Life with quadruplets isn't easy, but it is worth every second.

Aiden

Maxwell

Alexis

Carolyn

Time Flies

Not only when you're having fun, but also when you're exhausted.

We're doing well here, but we're a little bit more tired now that Andy has returned to work. Andy's mom and I have both picked up additional feedings in order to work around his schedule so he isn't a zombie at work. Here at home though...zombie is the new thing to be.

On Sunday the babies turned eight weeks old! I cannot believe they have been in the world for two months. It seems like just yesterday they were taking away my food and drinks just in case my lab results said I had to deliver that day. Five hours after I requested more drugs to get rid of my headache babies were born. Let's see how the babies have grown just since coming home.

Then...

Now...

They're big! Ok they're still around the size of a baby that is just born, but when you start out 2 & 3 lbs 6 & 7 lbs is HUGE.

They're doing awesome. Max is still the biggest, but Aiden is right behind him. Carolyn is right there with Aiden, but Alexis is still our little skinny Minnie. What she lacks in size she makes up for in attitude and personality. She drives Andy crazy at feeding time so I will usually try to feed her. She makes me laugh even when I'm exhausted by her constant hand movements and facial expressions. Max screams like crazy when he wakes up and other babies are being fed. He is STARVING and expects to eat right at that instant. I tell them all "you can't always be first with 3 other siblings" they don't care at the moment and only want me to give them a bottle. We are getting them to wait longer in the middle of the night what use to be the 2 o'clock is now the 0300-0330. We haven't been able to get them to 0400 yet, but that is our target hour.

I almost gave up pumping this week because I was just SICK of the pain and how much of my time it requires. Andy went and rented a hospital grade pump for me on Sunday to try, and the difference is like driving a Cadillac after you've been driving a Geo Metro. The manual pump I got from the hospital? That's like walking barefoot on broken glass. Not recommended.

I never showed the necklace Andy bought me for having the quads. I picked it out on etsy.com and he paid for it. I love it and think it is perfect!

The Incident

Let me first start out by saying I love all my babies. I think they are all special and cute in their own way. Each has something they do that is cute, but can be frustrating when lack of sleep is involved. For example Alexis is constantly moving her hands and touching her face and mouth while you try to feed her. It is cute, but when you're tired and just want her to eat it can be hard to laugh when she is fussing bc she is hungry but won't move her hands so you can give her the bottle. We have learned to sometimes to change after the bottle. You just never know what these babies will do. Usually it is Carolyn that you will change and midway through the bottle she poops.

Today is Aiden's night to shine. While feeding him he talked like normal through the whole thing. Before, during, and after. I went to change him, and he peed on my hand. I wasn't expecting this so I jumped back because it startled me. I turned for two seconds to get something and he pooped on the changing pad. During my "Awww MAN!" he pooped again. While I was trying to clean up the changing pad he peed on me again. At least he was done pooping. Or so I thought. He then pooped some more. Andy is behind me laughing while I clean poop off his legs and feet. The changing pad was ruined during this incident, and that is why on the feeding chart for the day Aiden has "Nasty Beast" written in his comments section for this feeding.

Fat Babies

Ok not really, BUT they are gaining! :-)

Maxwell -- 6.11lbs
Aiden -- 5.12 lbs
Carolyn -- 5.11 lbs
Alexis -- 5.7 lbs

So Alexis is the smallest, and I'm really not believing that Aiden is bigger than Carolyn. Sorry she just seems bigger to me.

Since people have already started trying to shorten Alexis I will post it here. Alexis goes by Alexis not Lexi. We do NOT want her name shortened. Thank you!