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A Passing Grade

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Dr. Tabor was back this week for our weekly appointment for the 26 week mark. I was glad to see him because he teased about not returning from vacation despite my pleas that he return to deliver the quads. Prior to my appointment, I began a one hour glucose test. That meant I got to chug this delicious bright red dye #40 fruit punch flavored beverage within five minutes (can you sense the sarcasm here?) George told me to pretend it was a hurricane at Pat O’ Brien’s in New Orleans, which was cute. I tried my best to imagine this scarlet colored drink in a hurricane glass with a slice of pineapple and pink umbrella during a sing-a-long, but no avail. It wasn’t that bad, but it was no hurricane and I would prefer to never have another. The problem with the drink wasn’t so much the gross flavor, it was more the queasy fullness it caused afterwards….not pleasant. Plus, after finishing that thing I got to lay on my back for the ultrasound. I managed to keep it down, but it wasn’t easy!

I think all of the prayers have been working because we got a passing grade this week. I don’t think we got an “A”, but we are at least pulling a “C” if not a solid “B”. Of course, Sydney’s fluids are still lower than preferred, but they actually increased from 2.7 to 2.94. Dr. Tabor said she appeared visually smaller still, but it wasn’t “ominous”- that was good, I think. The pressure in her umbilical cord has remained stable as well, and she is still very active. They did another ultrasound to monitor fetal movements and reactivity. When it was her turn, Rylin decided it was time to take a snooze. When prodded by the ultrasound transducer she did give a few kicks and moved her arms, but pretty much slept the entire time. Harper followed suit and copied his sister, Rylin. The funny thing was that Sydney kept peeking into Harper’s ultrasound picture. We would see Harper’s profile as he slept then Sydney would poke her face into his territory and face forward as if saying, “Look at me! I’m here!”. Mason was better behaved this week, he moved about, but this time kept his hands and feet to himself. I guess he realized we didn’t want him beating up his siblings. My vitals were good, which means another week at home. Before we left Dr. Tabor said things were “great”. YEAH!!!

Before we could leave, we had to wait for my hour to be up for the glucose test. Since Dr. Tabor was on time this morning, that meant I had to wait for about half an hour to pass. UGH… After my blood draw, we were free to leave, but the nurse let me know that 1. no sugar for the rest of the day 2. upon getting home I should eat a high protein snack. When I thought about a high protein snack I immediately thought of peanut butter (YUM!), but realized that would be full of sugar. Ah, snap! Then I thought about a protein shake, which is also full of sugar. Darn! George ended up making me leftover chicken and mashed potatoes, but then what did I want? A popsicle! Seriously? Pretty much all day I wanted the very thing that was forbidden sugar in any form. Oh well.

Here’s to surpassing that next goal of 28 weeks!

hugs,

Amber

26 weeks, 3 days

Stable!

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Dr. Tabor was out of town this week so we got to see Dr. Bleich again. I really like her and as it turns out, she was a resident with our reproductive endocrinologist, which I thought was neat. Today, the babies movements and reactivity were recorded. Our tech started with Rylin then moved to Harper and Sydney and saved Mason for the end. Apparently Mason is an aspiring kick boxer….his feet or hands were poking all of his siblings at one time or another! By the time he was checked, he decided to take a nap. Gah! I guess all the kicking and punching tuckered him out. I mentioned the navel bruising and learned that Sydney and Harper have their little bums situated right under my navel. They have been booty bumping me!!! Maybe they are future disco aficionados…. Oh, and Mason is sitting right under my ribs, which explains my constant rib discomfort. I can imagine him kick boxing my ribs or doing chin ups on them. I will take the discomfort any day, they are always worth it!

Of course, Sydney’s fluids are still low, but they are stable. I will take that! Dr. Bleich said that she does have enough fluid, which made me feel a little better. The pressure on her umbilical cord is also stable. She just needs close monitoring. We weren’t scheduled for a growth scan, but sweet talked our ultrasound tech into measuring Sydney. She is still small, but has grown. Again, more relief for me. Thankfully, my vitals continue to be good. As long as Sydney is stable we can avoid delivery, and hospitalization. Rylin and Harper had average fluid levels and Mason had some extra. Here is to making it at least 28 weeks.

Hugs!

Amber

Ps…we have some updated pics in the photo gallery.

Here is Mason kicking Rylin!

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25 weeks, 3 days

Frequent Flier

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After my first rendezvous in the hospital’s maternal observation ward, Dr. Tabor told me it wouldn’t be my last visit; there would be lots more. He was right. I went a week and a half ago and again today. I had irregular contractions yesterday evening, but never more than six in an hour. Sure I was uncomfortable, but not too worried. Last night got rough when the babies enjoyed ganging up on me by taking sides. When this happens, they all seem to ball up in their respective corners so it looks like someone turned my stomach into shrink-wrap around them and my belly becomes all misshapen. Plus, all of that baling up and kicking has caused a nice bruise around my navel. It looks totally disgusting and really hurts. My doctors have told me it’s just the babies baling up and not to worry, so I don’t.

This morning, the contractions continued. Of course I eventually had six in one hour. You know what that meant….another visit to the good old hospital! This time, I threw the “go bag” together in minutes and helped my parents navigate to the hospital since George was working. I felt like an old pro at the whole maternal observation stuff. As usual, once I got into the car, the contractions slowed down considerably and I may have had one or two before they put me on the Toco monitor. I was monitored for an hour and had only one mild contraction, which was really good news. My cervix was fine and my FFN from last week was negative so they discharged me. Yippee!!!

This week marks the beginning of week 25, which is only three weeks away from our first goal of 28 weeks (we are still hoping for 30 weeks). Three weeks seems totally manageable, but in some ways so far away still. I know there is plenty more discomfort to come. At the same time, three weeks is scary close. In just three weeks we could have four babies here. We have been preparing and planning for a long time, but I don’t think you can ever really prepare yourself for a baby, much less four of them!

hugs!

Amber

25 weeks

Pollyanna

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It’s true, strict bed rest is no picnic.  It drives me batty to know I can’t go outside the walls of my bedroom and bathroom.  Sometimes I just want to get the mail.  However, it’s not as terrible as I imagined it would be either.  I went Pollyanna on it and  found a huge upside to it this first week of strict bed rest….I get to see my friends!!!  With busy work schedules and little time to take care of chores and such, we don’t see our friends nearly as often as we’d like.  With bed rest, my friends are so sweet they are coming to visit me =) 

My friend Judy brought us some yummy chicken salad sandwiches and salad earlier this week.  And the next day, our friends Billie and Bob brought over some more yummy chicken salad sandwiches for dinner!  It was hilarious that they all had the same meal idea.  We enjoyed it all anyways, and their company even more.      

On Wednesday before my doctor’s appointment, my cousin, Lindsay, came over with some Eatzi’s and took some amazing “bed rest” maternity pictures.  She did an amazing job of moving things around in our bedroom and fixing me up so it looks like I went to a studio or something.  Nope, all of the pictures were taken from my bed or chaise lounge!  Pretty cool!

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When Lindsay said, “treat” Sasha and Lily sat for a quick picture.  Notice, Sasha’s tongue is hanging out. 

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We didn’t have near enough baby blocks to spell out the babies’ names so we made a little Scrabble board on my tummy. 

 

Yesterday my Grandma and mom came over to help tidy up the house and fill out envelopes for promotions for multiples.  George was ecstatic to come home to a clean house.  Before their help, there were dust bunnies so large on my dresser that you could have made a life-sized bunny out of them. 

Today, our family friends, Terri and Kaylie, came over with some delicious Pei Wei.  They didn’t just keep me company, they also helped George hang things in the nurseries and walked the fur babies around the block.   You can’t have Pei Wei without a fortune cookie, look at what was inside mine: 

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  George always says you’re supposed to add, “in the bed” to whatever the fortune cookie says.  It is technically true for me, I am touching the lives of many (well four for sure) in the bed while on bed rest. 

 

We have game night and pizza night with friends coming up soon!  Now, I bet you’re wishing you were on strict bed rest. 

hugs!

Amber

Growing

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We finally had our growth scan today with Dr. Tabor. This is where they measure each of the babies major bones (e.g. skull, femur, thighs) as well as their fluids and estimate their weight. Everyone had great fluids and Rylin is apparently our “big girl”. She is on target or ahead of a singleton at this stage and weighs around 1 pound 5 ounces. The boys are within the average range (weighing just over a pound), but Sydney is our tiny one (right at a pound). Dr. Tabor gave us a scare when he started describing what he sees when there is something wrong with a baby or a baby that is starving. After giving me heart palpitations, he said that wasn’t the case with Sydney, but she is smaller than the others overall and smaller than a singleton at this age. He said that at this point, he’s not alarmed, but will be watching her very closely. I remember back to very early on our pregnancy that there was a tiny one and one that was much larger. At that point, Dr. Kaufman’s nurse said, “Oh this one is getting all the groceries!” (meaning the largest one). The difference between the smallest and largest baby early on (7-9 weeks) was about 5 days worth of growth. It makes me wonder if Rylin was the largest and Sydney was the smallest the whole time. Of course, I will never know for sure.

Since Dr. Tabor is not worried, I am not going to let myself get worried about it. I absolutely must stay calm to take care of these babies! Dr. Tabor is going to repeat the growth scan in three weeks to see how they are doing. George wants me to pack on the calories better to make sure there’s enough for everyone. I got really full while eating dinner, but George said, “You have to clean your plate!” So, I did, for Sydney. Please pray that Sydney gets whatever nourishment she needs to grow to a healthy size.

hugs,

Amber

23 weeks, 3 days

And then I jinxed myself!

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I’ve been working full-time and have been managing it day by day. Fatigue has been my primary nemesis, but otherwise I have felt decent. After work, I’ve been totally exhausted and have taken two-hour naps most nights. Someone came into my office on Tuesday and noted that there were only 11 more school days for the students. I thought to myself, “Hey, I think I can make it to the end of the school year. What’s 11 more days?” So, I opened my big mouth and announced that thought to my visitor and office mate, Gina. Immediately, Gina shot me a look and replied, “Oh no, I think you jinxed yourself!” Well, I went to work again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sure I was tired, but again managed.

After work Wednesday, my weekly appointment with Dr. Tabor went great! The babies looked great regarding size and fluid levels. My vitals were good and no signs of dilating. He did dryly announce, “Well, I have good news and bad news.” We asked for the good news first. Dr. Tabor stated, “You don’t have placenta previa. The lowest placenta isn’t covering the cervix.” I said, “Okay, that’s great! Now….what’s the bad news?” Dr. Tabor repeated himself, “You don’t have placenta previa. The lowest placenta isn’t covering the cervix.” And he was right, it is good news and bad news all in one. Not having placenta previa means I won’t bleed and am not at risk of hemorrhaging (GREAT!!!!), however if I do dilate, there will not be a warning sign. For some reason Dr. Tabor didn’t realize I was working full-time and seemed surprised that I was still managing ok. He was concerned about me over-doing it though so he decided to put me on a 1/2 day work schedule. I was released for another week of freedom!

After my appointment we had to fight rush hour traffic yet again and I had quite a few Braxton Hicks contractions. UGH! That evening I had more contractions, but was able to keep them at bay by essentially resting and going to sleep at 9:30. I thought I fixed the problem, but when I woke up….more Braxton Hicks contractions, which started up with almost every movement I made. I felt my stomach contract when I tried to sit up let alone walk or do anything else. I rested on my side and drank water by the gallon, but none of it seemed to help so I had to call Dr. Tabor. He ordered me to the maternal observation unit at the hospital so George and I were off to the hospital. Gina was right, I totally jinxed myself!!!!

Maternal observation was fun….NOT! I got a very painful cervical exam before they hooked me up to a Toco monitor, which keeps track of contractions. Since I was at rest there weren’t any contractions, which was a good thing. That did mean, however that Dr. Tabor had to put me on bed rest since contractions were triggered by activity.

I knew bed rest was coming, but it was a nice dream to think I could make it those last 11 days. It’s okay though. I had been a little worried about over exerting myself and causing trouble, so bed rest was needed. Today was my first day of full bed rest and it’s been okay. That’s because my mom’s been with me and has been helping organize and tidy up while I rest on my side or sit. I’ve been able to do some things like fold laundry that she delivered to me and sort baby clothes. The nurseries are much more organized now thanks to Mom. I made myself a laundry list of things I want to accomplish while on bed rest like read The Hunger Games and write thank you notes. I’m trying to make the best of house arrest here!

hugs!

Amber

PS- Since I’m home…I will try to catch up on all the blogging I didn’t do this week while I was napping every evening. I have new pictures to add to the photo gallery and everything =)

21 weeks, 5 days