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!

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

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!

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.

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.

I may need some prayers for patience too.

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.

Hugs!

Amber

Some of you may have gotten a sneak peak of this post. I accidentally uploaded the pictures and published before I added my pithy commentary. Stupid ipad! I tried to delete the post before anyone could see it, but I think it was leaked.

Anyways, just like any postpartum mother, I’ve gotten a range of commentary from the public. Here are some of the top conversations I’ve had since delivery:

;

Conversation with a hospital food court chef:

Chef points at my stomach as he says, “What happened?” (as if I am gushing blood from my abdomen)

Me: “Um….quadruplets.”

Chef: “What?” as he looks puzzled

Me: “I had quadruplets last week. They are all in the NICU here.”

Chef: “That’s four babies?”

Me: “Yes, FOUR babies.”

Chef: “Wow.” (then launches into the usual quadruplet questions. See the FAQs page for the usuals)

;

Conversation at Motherhood Maternity:

Salesgirl: “Can I help you?”

Me: “Yes, I need a postpartum support belt.”

Salesgirl: “Sure, they are right over here.”
(She examines the rack for a bit)

“What kind of belt do you want?”

Me: “The postpartum one.”

Salesgirl: points at the maternity belt “Are you sure you don’t need this one?”

Me: no words for a bit “No, I want the postpartum one.”

Salesgirl: “Not the maternity one????” (puzzled look)

My Mom: “She had quadruplets six days ago. She needs a postpartum support belt.”

Salesgirl: “OH! Quadruplets? That’s four babies, right?”

Me: “Yes, four babies.”

Salesgirl: “Oh, well you look great for having four babies.” (If I didn’t have four, I guess I look pretty bad…)

She then launches into the usual quadruplet questions.

;

Conversation with the dental hygienist:

Hygienist: “You look adorable!” (I have to admit, I am feeling pretty good at this point. I think the postpartum support belt is really working.)

Me: “Thanks!”

Hygienist: “When are you due?”

Me: “Actually, my quadruplets are two weeks old.”

Hygienist: “Oh wow! I’m sorry…..you look great for having quadruplets.” (Again, I guess I look good having quads, but bad otherwise?)

Me: “It’s okay.”

Hygienist: “With my one baby I gained 60 pounds and was wearing maternity clothes the first year.”

Me: “Wow…I think I gained 45 pounds.” (Seriously, if you gained 60 pounds what did you look like two weeks postpartum???)

Again, she launched into the barrage of quadruplet questions.

Honestly, I know that people have no filter and yes I am a little girl with a big belly. I’m not totally offended by their rude questions and I have to laugh about them. I do miss my old body though…I feel like I was hijacked and may never find my old self again. George and I decided it would be fun to take a picture of me in the outfit I wore the day before delivery. I seriously think I could be a Weight Watchers before and after picture. What do you think?

;

BEFORE

AFTER

;

hugs!

;

Amber

At the NICU, we are allowed to have our immediate family members on a list that allows them to visit when we are not there. This includes my parents (Grandpa and Nisey), my sister Courtney (Aunt CiCi), and my father in law (Grandad). They have all dutifully gotten their TDAP vaccine (tetanus and whooping-cough), which is necessary for handling preemies. Whooping cough can be carried as common cold in the general population, but be fatal to preemies so this vaccine is really important in protecting the babies. Since the babies were born, this bunch has also visited often and lovingly doted over the babies. At first, no one really wanted to get too close to the babies and all of us were unsure about what we could and could not do. Mom and Courtney started out gazing at the babies and gently touching them in their isolettes. The day we were allowed to hold the babies for the first time, Courtney was there to share the moment. She held Rylin for well over an hour and got a great snuggle. Shortly thereafter, Mom also held Rylin and then Harper. Courtney held Mason recently and is still making rounds to get everyone.

The grandfathers were another story. They were so worried about the fragility of the babies they hardly got near the isolettes. My dad has been hysterical. He is so proud of the babies that he wears his “Proud Grandpa of Quadruplets” polo as often as possible and loves snapping pictures to share with his friends as he brags about their cuteness. When he decides to take a picture, he creeps up to the isolette, quickly snaps, and then backs away as quickly as possible. Dad is sort of known as a “bull in a china cabinet” as he tends to break things (he attributes this to his Carpel Tunnel Syndrome). However, I really wanted him to love on the babies, even if it was just touching them gently. Well, this week one of our sweet nurses, Amy, decided it was time for Grandpa to step up to the plate to hold someone. Dad was really uneasy, but agreed to hold Harper. We reminded him time and time again that none of the babies are hooked up to anything that sustains life. They merely have monitors to check oxygen, respiration, and heart rate. That’s it. Dad was a champ and held Harper for at least 45 minutes. Then of course Harper decided to be a stink and de sat (drop his blood oxygen level) so he had to go back to bed. I just hope this hasn’t scarred Dad. He needs more snuggle time.

Well, a few days later, George’s dad came for a visit and we put the pressure on him. We let him know that everyone else was brave enough to hold a baby and he should too. I don’t know why but George decided that Grandad should hold Sydney (I would have chosen a bigger baby since he was already intimidated by their tiny sizes). Well, he did it for at least five minutes. He did great, but decided he had enough for one session. I think he will try again in the near future. Holding the babies is just too much fun.

Hugs!

Amber

This week was a big week not only for the babies, but for me too. Dr. Tabor released me to drive. Mind you, I had not driven since May 16th. While I was craving freedom, it was a bit intimating at the same time. Freedom to drive meant that I would not have to bum rides to and from the NICU and I could run errands if I wanted to. I know errands sound less than exciting, but I literally have not done so much as grocery shop since May. The automatic opening doors at Target have been beckoning for such a long time. Not only could I now drive myself to Target, but I would be able to walk freely about the asiles without a power cart. Oh sweet freedom!

Before driving solo, George and I did a test run the evening I was released. We decided I better stick with the Accord since it’s familiar and I’ve barely driven the van. I really haven’t even ridden in the Accord since May either. It felt awkward at first. When I started the car, it seemed really noisy. I inquired whether the engine was okay. George assured me it was. Then it seemed to accelerated slowly, but again George told me it was fine. After a while it began to feel “normal” again. Since Wednesday I’ve gotten back in the groove so you don’t have to worry about me running you off the road or anything.

But wait….I’m not totally free of my shackles just yet. I am now a slave to the Medela Symphony pump. Since delivery day, I have been tethered to that darn piece of equipment every three hours, at 12:00 am, 3:00 am, 6:00 am, 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and 9:00 pm. To keep track I have an alarm set on my phone which I now loathe. The buzz of that thing takes me away from snuggles with my babies, a savory meal, a shower, you name it the Medela takes me away. That thing buzzes and I have to answer. If I happen to go out for a drive, I have to return to the loathesome pump before my three hours are over. After a nice little date with good old Medela, I have to wash everything only to begin again. The worst is the nighttime when I am trying to steal away a few minutes of sleep and buzz it goes. One night it sounded at midnight, but I apparently wasn’t jumping into action. George nudged me gently and said, “Babe, you need to go pump.” In a sleepy stupor, I retorted, “YOU PUMP!!!!” Oh goodness…I think I have a love/ hate relationship with my Medela Symphony. I do love that it is helping me nourish the babies, but I really do hate being at it’s mercy. Don’t get me wrong, I know that when the babies are home I won’t be getting much if any sleep and obviously I won’t be getting out to Target either. I’m not totally disillusioned (probably a tad disillusioned though). It just would be nice to enjoy my freedom to drive a bit while the babies are in good hands.

At the same time, when the babies are home they will be there to tell me why the heck I’m up and at least can snuggle for a bit. The Medela is a bit um, mechanical. When my 3:00 am duty calls, I think of my sweet babies and how well they are doing. That makes it all worthwhile. Everyone has grown a good bit. Here are the current weights:

Rylin 3 pounds, 13 ounces (before we know it we will have a four pounder on our hands!)

Harper- 3 pounds, 11 ounces

Sydney- 2 pounds, 12 ounces (come on, Sydney let’s break 3 pounds!)

Mason- 3 pounds, 6 ounces

 

hugs!

 

Amber

The babies are now two weeks old and continuing to make progress in the NICU.  Monday as my Dad and I headed up to the NICU one of our favorite nurses was in the elevator with us.  She told us she wasn’t with our babies today and that Sydney had her own nurse while the other three were with one nurse.  This meant Sydney was likely on her CPAP again.  I was okay with that, but I have to admit I was bummed.  As I rounded the corner to enter their room I noticed that nothing was attached to Sydney’s isolette.  That meant no CPAP!  There was an added bonus….all four babies were now on room temperature air, which meant the were wearing clothes!  The night nurses were precious and made sure to coordinate each baby’s bedding with their pajamas and hat.

The next day, I was so excited that I brought all of their miniature preemie clothes for them.  I wasn’t sure if we had too many or not enough clothes, but brought everything we had.  That day, Harper and Rylin decided playing dress up was fun business.  They each went through at least four outfits!  By the end of the day we had a load of laundry already.  It’s a good thing that we bought a larger capacity washer and dryer about a year ago.

 

 

Also this week, I learned how to give the babies a bath.  Of course they didn’t much enjoy the bathing process (especially Mason who wailed the entire time!), but they were so relaxed afterwards.  And they smelled so nice.  I can’t wait for George to be able to bathe them with me.

Each baby also contributed to a mini masterpiece.  The art therapist stopped by and helped us make a canvas with their foot prints.  She is planning to come back several more times so we can do a progression of their foot prints.  It will be a really cute piece for their playroom.

Signing off for now….I have babies to visit today!

hugs,

Amber