This week has been an amazing one for our family as the babies have each made their way home. Just like d-day, it has all been a bit surreal. As I find spare moments, I will tell each baby’s homecoming story. After all, Harper got his own post!

For weeks, hospital staff told us to be prepared as, “Rylin could come home soon!” We dutifully took the required baby safety course, brought our assortment of “baby containers” into the living room, and let the fur babies sniff Rylin’s blankets. Well, Rylin wasn’t in a huge hurry to come home and at the NICU she stayed. She ate well, but was inconsistent at times so she couldn’t come home. The night Harper came home, the babies’ nurse, Richelle, told me the others acted funny. They all seemed fussy and more difficult to console as if they knew he left. Mason gagged on bottles as if he’d never seen them, Sydney still didn’t take bottles at all, and Miss Rylin took only 13 ml (of 50) at one feed. It did not look likely for the others to come home since eating well is the key to discharge. Harper was getting to be an only child.

On Thursday, Mom and I took Harper to visit his siblings in the NICU. To our surprise, we learned that Rylin was slated to take her car seat test and be discharged that night. I have to admit, the 90 minutes she spent in her car seat for the test were a bit long. I wanted her home so badly, I worried she might not pass. At the same time, I felt unprepared to take her home. Who knows why I felt that way. I mean, we’ve waited for that day so long and had everything in order as much as possible.

Once Rylin finished her car seat test (and passed), it was a mad dash to get both Harper and Rylin home since we didn’t have enough feeds for Harper to stay at the NICU any longer. I dashed to the van where I fought to correctly install her car seat. I believe I said a few colorful words and ended up having the hospital’s car seat expert install the thing anyways. Why do they make it so difficult to safely and correctly install car seats???

Our first night with Rylin was a bit more tricky than with Harper. We kept both babies in pack ‘n’ plays in the study next to our room. Bad idea! These two little darlings chatted and fussed at each other all night long, making sleep between feeds especially elusive. The next morning, Mom and I had to take the two babies to the pediatrician. While Harper attracted quite a bit of attention as a solo baby, Harper plus Rylin stole the show at the pediatrician’s office. Others in the waiting room were seemingly impressed by my “twins”. It’s funny because Mom and I had the same thought not to open the whole can of worms. When you go telling people you have quadruplets there is always a barrage of questions. If I am in the mood to answer them, I go ahead with it. If not, Mum’s the word! With just Rylin and Harper we decided they could “pose as twins for a day” and they did. If two babies attracted that much attention, the time we get out with our quad stroller is sure to become a four ring circus.

hugs!

Amber

Rylin’s car seat test

Heading out with twins

Bye Miss Lisa!

Rylin’s first bottle at home!

Well folks, this has been one busy week for our family. Believe it or not, as of today we have all FOUR babies at home. That’s right, all of them including Sydney are currently snuggled up in their very own beds at home. Actually, I take that back Harper is currently fussing and spending time with George in the living room. Just like with delivery, it all seems surreal. I have to pinch myself sometimes when I gaze at all four beautiful, healthy babies in our house. Of course I have lots to say about when and how each baby came home, but at the moment time is slim and sleep is a precious commodity. As for now, I will just say we are now taking the time to figure out what our new normal is and find a semblance of routine. We have been on quite a journey, but the adventure is really beginning now!

hugs!

Amber

Now here’s a real family picture, the fur babies are included!

Thank you, Miss Kim for these adorable outfits!

Harper getting ready to venture outside the NICU!

Mason telling Harper goodbye.

Can you tell we just stayed up all night in the NICU and haven’t had a shower yet? Welcome to the perils of parenthood!

Harper is the first to get a ride in the van.

It’s official, George and I survived rooming in at the NICU and our first night at home with Harper. Just like with delivery, it is surreal to finally have a baby in our home. We have waited for this moment so long, it is almost hard to believe it finally arrived. Harper did not mind riding in his car seat one bit and pretty much slept through the ride. I have to wonder what it is like to be out in the big world outside NICU walls for the first time. Was it hot? strange smelling? overwhelming? Who knows because Harper was pretty quiet about it. He only grumbled a little during the ride.

Once home, Harper got to meet his furry sisters, Sasha and Lily. While he was unphased, Lily was particularly curious about her new brother. She could not stop smelling him and wanted to be close by all the time. When we fed Harper in our rocking chair, Lily sprawled on the back of it so she got a bird’s eye view. When he slept in his pack ‘n’ play, Lily kept a watchful eye. I have a feeling they will be good friends one day. While Sasha was not nearly as curious, she investigated the pack ‘n’ play quite often especially when she heard baby gurgles and fusses.

George and I have been working on figuring out our “system” for feeds and it will absolutely be a work in progress as babies come home. (I have to admit I am a bit anxious about what having all four at home will be like). It looked like a chemistry lab in our kitchen as we tried to calculate the best way to mix formula and milk. You see, preemies are fed in mililiters and formula recipes as well as bottles are geared towards ounces. Needless to say, math is not my forte and it was a bit overwhelming. I’ve really taken the NICU milk bank for granted. We will get it down to a science and then someone else will come home only to force adjustments to the calculations. We’ve also discovered we need more bottle drying racks to capicitate the 32 bottles we will use per day (eight feeds x four babies). Our plan is to make all of the feeds for a 24 hour period at once and then wash bottles as they are used, storing them on the drying racks. Our kitchen will never be the same! Farewell Kitchen Aid and Calphalon, hello Avent and Similac!

Feeds aside, Harper had a great night. He wasn’t a huge fan of the pack ‘n’ play, but managed to sleep relatively well once I put him in a swaddle sack. He also proved to be a good night time feeder and finished pretty quickly. Praying that continues and siblings follow suit.

Today we will be taking Harper for his first return visit to the NICU so we can spend time with the rest of the crew. Wish us luck.

hugs!

Amber

We have now been in the NICU over six weeks and it is starting to wear on us. Yes, our NICU is amazing but it is still a hospital and we don’t get to be home with our family. I recently started feeling like I am headed to work when I go to the NICU as if it is a nine to five rather than bonding time with my babies. It makes me feel totally institutionalized. I am ready to find our new normal and just be home.

Harper finally decided to shake up this routine so he can come home! He really started eating like a champ, taking full bottle feeds in 15-20 minutes and letting us know when he was ready to eat. Last night, he took his car seat test. This is where his car seat is fitted into a car chair while he is attached to the monitors for 90 minutes. We thought he failed it because the monitor alarmed a few times, but as it turned out he PASSED! This means that we are currently at the hospital and fully took over Harper’s care without monitors attached. Assuming all goes well, he will be home Tuesday night! YAY Harper for being the first home! Now I just hope he will tell his siblings how great home really is so they can start heading this way.

hugs!
Amber

My cousin, Lindsay, is a reporter/ anchor for NBC 5, but also has a photography business (Lindsay Wilcox Photography). She was kind enough to come to the NICU last week to take family portraits for us. We turned the quad suite into an all out four ring circus and had the best time doing it. The original plan was for me to babysit Lindsay’s children while she took pictures of the babies. However, our nurse, Lisa, thought of asking a hospital volunteer to help us. I was so happy Lisa thought of this because we were able to take a family photo of all six of us. We are so grateful for Ms. Hilcher who took care of Reese and Hayes while the circus unfolded.

Lisa helped me coordinate the babies’ outfits so they were all wearing pink and brown with footed pants. Too bad I didn’t have the foresight for George and I to also wear pink and brown. Oh well! Lisa called in Care Partners and other nurses to help us make pallets and grab blankets to hide leads and hospital equipment as much as possible.

In addition to the pink and brown outfits, we took pictures of the babies in turtle capes made by our friend, Maureen. She found this adorable crochet pattern after hearing our sea turtle story, which I wrote about here:

https://fourtoadore.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/sometimes-god-whispers-but-you-have-to-pay-attention/

Hugs,

Amber

For about the past week and a half or two, Rylin has been the star eater and we’ve been told she might be coming home in the next week or two. Well, she is still eating well, but is not completely consistent with it. She takes many full bottles each day, but sometimes still leaves milk and on occasion needs some in her gavage tube(this is similar to an IV bag but instead of going into a vein it goes directly to a tube in the nose). Before she can come home she has to be gavage feed free for a while.

While Rylin has been working on getting to that point, her brothers started figuring it out. Harper learned the feeling of hunger pangs this week and really lets us know when it is mealtime. The downside to this is that he sometimes tires out from being so vocal and dozes off while eating. Falling asleep doesn’t always bring his feeding to a complete halt as he can sleepily eat too. Mason is also getting the hang of eating, but is sort of all or none. Many times he is completely asleep when it is time to eat while at other times he will guzzle a full bottle without problems. This means that whoever decides to consistently feed and not need a gavage will be the first one home. They are all at various stages of this so really it is anyone’s game.

Sydney is not to be forgotten in this whole feeding race. She had a huge setback this week with her reflux and mild pneumonia, but is improving. After a few days of IV antibiotics and being propped in a “Danny” sling she started to sound better, but still needed continuous gavage feeds to keep it under control. Two days ago, Sydney had a HUGE blow out diaper, which prompted a full clothing change and sponge bath. In the midst of it all, her transpiloric feeding tube slipped out, which put her in a precarious position. She was getting close to not needing it, but wasn’t there yet. After much talk and consideration, her doctor opted to leave it out and use a regular NG tube to her tummy. She still needs to take it easy with feeding so we don’t take steps back again, but is allowed to try a bottle feed twice a day if she is up to it. Despite all of her struggles, Sydney has tons of desire to feed. She is amazing with her pacifier and is the only one who can keep it in unassisted. Nurses like to call her “Baby Maggie” (as in Maggie Simpson). Go Sydney!

These adorable outfits were sent to us from a sweet blog reader that is in Germany. H & M of Germany knows how to make the perfect onsie, they snap up the side so they don’t go over the head!

Rylin is whispering secrets to Harper. I asked them to please coordinate with each other about what order they would like to come home in.

Mason finally got to enjoy sitting in a bouncy seat and he loved it. We didn’t tell him Sydney’s pink blankies were still in it.

Our sweet OT Betsy and PT Kim brought Sydney this duck wubanub pacifier.

P.S. I started writing this blog post two days ago, but never got to finish it. Since that time, one of the babies really took off with feeds and will likely come home early in the week. Can you guess which one???

hugs!

Amber

As usual, this week has been one of ups and downs. One of the downs was a disgusting 24 hour stomach virus that plagued me. I was literally holding Rylin feeling all cozy and comfy and 45 minutes later praying to the porcelain gods. I bolted out of the NICU faster than you could say, “Bob’s your uncle?”. I was terrified about contaminating the place. I was in so much pain not only from writhing in illness, but also being quarantined from my babies for two days. The babies have shown no signs of infection and we are praying they do not. We are also praying that George does not get this monstrosity of a bug. While it was just a 24 hour bug for me, illness like this would be a major set back for any of the babies. I figure I got the bug from the hospital so I am now a full on germ-a-phobe like Monk. Today, I started punching elevator buttons with my elbow and washing my hands until they are chaffing. On the bright side, I have now totally disinfected my house, caught up on some trashy daytime television, and lost a few pounds of baby weight. In case you were wondering…I do not recommend contracting a 24 hour stomach virus to lose lingering pregnancy pounds.

Here’s what happened with the babies:

This week Rylin has figured out the whole suck-swallow-breathe mechanics of bottle feeding! She cues at almost every feed so she gets to practice quite often. She has done so well in fact that there is talk of her coming home very soon! Since Rylin is likely coming home soon we decided it was time to try using the Avent bottles we already have. Most quad mamas say they had to use Dr. Brown’s preemie bottles, but I am trying very hard to boycott them (due to being a little costly, but mostly because they have a gazillion parts to clean!) Our NICU nurses told us they do not discharge babies with preemie nipples anyways and to give the Avent a try. Rylin has done fine so far so let’s hope her siblings can follow suit! Avent are much more cleaning friendly and we already have them!

Rylin now weighs 4 lbs, 15 oz

Rylin snuggled up in her big girl crib with her lovey.

This week Harper was hanging out on his oxygen and content to gavage feed much of the time until he turned a new page (while I was sick, mind you). Two days ago he apparently figured out he was being beat by his sister. Thus, Harper kicked the oxygen and started to suck swallow breathe too. Harper is really showing off some cute little faces and his pretty bright eyes now that he is oxygen free. I also noticed that he has amazing eyelashes, which his sisters will really envy one day. He’s not quite as consistent with feeding, but Harper is very capable and is rumored to have a chance at coming home too.

Believe it or not, Harper eclipsed Rylin in weight and is now 5 lbs, 6 oz! I had to bring him some bigger footie pajamas today!

Harper all snugged up in his sleep sack.

Little brother, Mason, moved into his big boy crib this week and managed to snag a really cool blue one. However, once he moved from his isolette, Mason started being on the cool side. He was never too cold for intervention, but needed sleep sacks and lots of warm blankies to stay in the comfort zone. It was tricky keeping our set of four (two pink and two navy) sleep sacks clean. The nurses were given permission to dress Mason in the pink sleep sacks. After lots of contemplation, one of our primary nurses, Elizabeth, and I noticed that an air vent blew right into Mason’s crib. We tried lots of creative techniques to help from making a sort of tent over his crib to burrito bundling him. In a last stitch effort, George partially covered the vents with paper and tape while no one was looking. Once the vent was covered, Mason did an excellent job of staying warm! Unfortunately….someone noticed after a few days and the paper is now gone. So….Mason is a bit chilly again. More problem solving is in order! Mason started out mostly gavage feeding, but is also starting to suck swallow breathe rather well. He just tends to take a bit and then dozes off before finishing. He seems to need a bit more stamina, but I expect it is coming.

This guy is hanging out in the four pound club at 4 lbs, 9 oz.

Mason rockin’ the pink sleep sack!

Our sweet nurses, Mindy and Elizabeth staged this picture of the foursome showing off their accomplishment.
The cheapie Vivitar camera we leave at the NICU doesn’t do the best job with pics, but you get the idea!

While I was sick, Rylin, Harper, and Mason all took more than one full bottle feed! Little stinkers showing off in my absence!

Our tiny little girl works overtime trying to keep up with her larger siblings and does a great job. Early in the week she moved into her big girl crib and got to try the bouncy seat! She kicked her oxygen before Harper by several days, but then decided she’d like it back. Sydney has a lot of desire to bottle feed and usually cues, but severe reflux has gotten in the way. She has suffered from nasal and chest congestion, which progressively worsened over the course of the week. Many interventions have been tried from nasal suctioning to adding cereal to her milk with no avail. Today, Sydney’s gavage tube was moved past her stomach to her intestines so milk cannot reflux. Her neonatoligist wants her to grow more and hopefully out of reflux before trying to bottle feed her. X rays were also done today to check the position of Sydney’s tube as well as her lungs. There was some haziness present, which may indicate pneumonia. Blood and urine cultures were taken to check for it and in the meantime she is being given IVs of antibiotics to help any infections.

Sydney sporting the boys’ sleep sack while giving the “stop” cue. Maybe she doesn’t prefer to cross dress?

I may need some prayers for patience too.

Brother time

Sister time

Rylin spent some sister time in Sydney’s crib so we snagged a three generational picture.

hugs!

Amber

I intended to write this post before the quads arrived, but I’m glad I didn’t because now there is so much more to the story now.  When I went on bed rest I was a bit concerned about how George would handle it (well, handle EVERYTHING from taking care of me to paying bills and doing the laundry).  You see, George is a wonderful husband, but a notoriously awful nurse.  From our days as newlyweds, when I’ve been sick with something like a cold he’s underestimated my level of discomfort.  One time we were both convinced that my stomach flu was anxiety about an upcoming presentation, until he caught it.  Once I was sick with the flu and gave him a list of requests from the grocery store.  My main request was Jello cups.  He returned with an assortment of sick people food, but no Jello cups.  This is because he doesn’t like Jello.  UGH!  That made me really worry about bed rest. Would our house implode?  Would I starve?  Would the dogs run loose?

George proved me totally wrong.  The first week of bed rest was tough on both of us.  I was frustrated with my lack of freedom and ability to do things.  He was frustrated with handling pretty much all of the household upkeep.  As the pregnancy progressed, I became increasingly frustrated with my limitations, but George stepped up to the plate and proved himself to be an excellent caretaker and father.  After working a full day, he would come home to tidy up the house, make sure I ate a decent dinner and had snacks ready for the next day, stayed on top of my fluid intake, and best of all kept me company.  If I didn’t drink enough water, he would remind me that the babies needed it.  When he was home, George spent many an hour next to me in bed allowing me to choose what we watched on TV or what we would talk about.  He knew that it was important that I was well cared for so that the babies would thrive, and they did.

Aside from taking care of a bed ridden me, George diligently transformed a house for two to one that would accommodate six.  That meant carving out lots of storage and organizing everything.  He hung our quad stroller using a bicycle pulley system, created a poop shoot, sacrificed part of his work bench to garage the van, carved out closet space under the stairs, moved an outlet for our new freezer, and helped decorate the nurseries.  He did all of this on his own accord, never complaining or procrastinating.  He did an amazing job of everything he tackled.  As I watched him “nest” and care for me, I knew that George was already an excellent father.

When Father’s Day arrived, many of our friends and family wished George a happy Father’s Day.  He, however, insisted he was not yet a father.  He was wrong.  He was a father the day our quads came to exist and has been preparing long before that time.

As soon as the quads arrived, he began to get his hands dirty so to speak.  Before I could really even get around independently, he was changing dirty diapers.  Honestly, he was changing stinky diapers before I knew we were even allowed to touch them.  When I was nervous about handling fragile Sydney, George held her with gentle hands.  He adores our babies and misses them severely when he has to work all day. Just like during the pregnancy, George continues to make sure I take care of myself for the babies’ sake.  He insists that I drink water and eat well so they get plenty of good milk.  When he’s around he helps wash pump parts, label milk bottles, and do milk drops at the NICU.

George may be new to the gig, but he is already an excellent father.  I can’t wait to see how he hones his super dad skills as they grown older.  I see lots of imaginary games, camp outs, and nature talks in our future.  There is no one I would rather share this amazing adventure with than George and for him I am thankful.

George feeding Mason.

George and Harper in kangaroo care. It melts my heart when George decides to kangaroo someone.

George gets his hands dirty even when he’s suited up! Sydney and her stinky diaper couldn’t keep him away.

Rylin just after her bath.

George holding Harper for the first time.

Hugs!

Amber