Carter is home!!!

Kevin and I could not be happier today, because our youngest son is finally home!! Carter is home now, but he is hooked up to a monitor that checks his heart rate and breathing. Hopefully it won't ever alarm, but we are glad to have it on him. We are a bit nervous about him sometimes, but since he has been home, he has been doing great! We are going to be certified in infant CPR as soon as we can, just to be safe.

The kids are all gaining weight. Carter weighs 6 pounds 13 ounces. Seth weighs 6 pounds 1.5 ounces. Lily weighs 5 pounds 4 ounces. Logan weighs 6 pounds. At the pediatrician last week, the doc said they all are doing great, and she referred to Lily as a rock star. I know I am going to like that doctor.

Other than that, there is not much else going on...we are getting some visitors now and then. Both Great Grandpa La Fleur and Great Grandma Theisen Cronin have been here. I can't wait to get pictures with them and all four of the kids.

The pictures are all four kids in a quiet moment (L-R Seth, Lily, Logan, Carter), Grandma Theisen with Lily, and Carter at the top.

Well, it's time I got some sleep. That 3 am feeding will come sooner than I'd like. Hope you are well, and drop us a line anytime!

Carter

Well, it seems as though Carter just isn't ready to come home yet. He still has his spells where his heart rate drops, and we don't like that very much. The doctors keep pushing back the date when he comes home. Honestly, I wish they wouldn't tell me any possible dates, and just call me up one day and say, "Carter's ready to go home today." It has been a bit of an up and down thing, but at the same time, Kevin and I don't want him to come home until he's ready.

Seth, Lily, and Logan are doing pretty well at home. While they miss their brother, that hasn't stopped them from pooping, sleeping, or eating. It has been a bit of an adjustment for Kevin and I to not get much sleep....We both love to sleep very much. I have found that I am a much heavier sleeper than I thought.

My mom and Kevin's mom have been taking turns to stay the night with us so that on occasion Kevin or I can get more than two hours of sleep at a shot. If you want to help us out with this, that would be awesome. Uncle Tom is hooking us up with a Google Calendar that will allow people to sign up for shifts online. You must be invited, though....so let me know.

Right now the three of them are taking a nice nap while I do laundry, wash bottles, and prepare bottles for the next few feedings.

Please pray for Carter...

Love and peace, Jessica

Three Quarters Home...

Well, good news and not so good news....

Good news is that Seth, Lily, and Logan came home on Thursday. Carter, however, has to stay at Creighton Med Center for awhile. He was doing really well, but last Tuesday he bradied twice, which means that his heart rate slowed down. He does this when he is experiencing reflux. The tough part is that these two times he also held his breath and turned blue. The doctors decided to start him on previcid for the reflux, and that seems to be working for him. While his heart rate might slow, his weigh gain certainly hasn't! He now weighs 5 and a half pounds!!! I couldn't be happier about that.

While it broke my heart to leave Carter, we are so happy to have the other babies home. Grandpa John and Grandma Mary (Kevin's folks) came down to help us home. I guess I had accumulated a LOT of crap at my brother's house in Council Bluffs.... Anyway, the trip home went off without any crying babies, but when we walked in the door there was a mad rush for bottles! Those kids were hungry!!

Grandma Deb (Jessica's mom) came Thursay and will stay until Wednesday. At first I thought I'd want the first night home to just be Kevin and I with the kids, but BOY was I glad to have mom there!! The babies did what they do: eat, wet, poop, and sleep. Kevin and I didn't get much sleep, but we are getting better at mini-napping. :)

There are a few pics I'd like to share....one is Dr. Barsoom with the quads just before we left. He took care of me and the babies, and delivered them. It was his first time delivering quads, but he had taken care of another quad mom prior to delivery. The other is a picture of our favorite and primary NICU nurse, Deb with the babies. And finally, a pic of mom and dad with all of the babies.

Kevin is going down to Creighton tomorrow to spend time with Carter until he comes home. I miss him dearly, and can't wait for him come home.

I know that some of you have called, and I apologize if I haven't called back yet. We are still trying to get the hang of things. We sooo appreciate all the gifts and calls, and love you all.

Oh, and just an FYI for those of you who live in the Sioux City area....Some of Kevin's classmates from high school and others in the area have come together and decided to put on a benefit dinner for our babies. It will be on Monday, March 9, from 4-8:00 pm at Maxine's Restaurant in Lawton. Tickets (available at the door) will be $10 or $25 per family (Kevin and I would get a hell of a deal if our kids were eating real food!). There will also be a silent auction. Come if you are available!

Love to you all...

MTV (Malm TV) Cribs

Kevin and I are proud to announce that all our boys have successfully transitioned to open cribs!! This, along with the bottle feedings, is a huge step! We are so freaking excited. Even though Lily is not in an open crib yet, she is well on her way. Her isolette temp is 28 degrees and she is eating from a bottle at least 3 times a day. All she needs to do is be closer to weighing 4 pounds and she'll be good to go like her brothers.

Carter, though he is doing well otherwise, still has a habit of freaking out his momma. Tonight after I had given him his bottle and was burping him, his heart rate decided to drop, and he started to turn blue. Thank God (seriously, thank you) that the nurse was standing right next to me...she told me what to do, and his heart rate came back up, and he started breathing better. While the nurses all reassure me that this is totally normal in preemies--that he is just experiencing some reflux that causes him to hold his breath and some spit up triggers some nerve to slow his heart--it totally freaked me out tonight. I even started to cry (yes, I am a wuss). What if this happens when he is at home, and I forget what to do? The nurses tell me that he'll have this eating thing down soon, and we won't have to worry about it anymore. However, these are the types of things that are going to cause me to be a way overprotective mother. I know it's true. I feel badly for anyone who babysits my kids.

Otherwise, everything is going great. I am spending most of my days at the NICU. I will miss the staff when I am gone....they are so awesome. Let me just say that I have never encountered such an awesome and loving staff of nurses in my life. I strongly recommend Creighton NICU (and their labor and delivery) to anyone. I spent a lot of time at CUMC, and am full of opinions...

Because this kids will be coming home soon, I am going back to Sioux City on Sunday to Monday to get the last bits in order...and to see the dermatologist. I feel like a "before" picture for Accutane. Oh, and it will be great to sleep in my own bed. :)

Peace to you all, and pray that Carter doesn't freak me out anymore....

Weights and Temps

So, one of the other "goals" we have is to get each of the baby's isolette's temperatures down to 28.0 degree Celsius. When the babies can maintain their body temp at this setting, they are close to 4 pounds, and they are taking 2 bottle feedings a day, they are ready to move to the cribs.

Today, Seth's crib is set at 28 degrees, Lily's is set at 29 degrees, Logan's is set at 28.5 degrees, and Carter's is set at 28 degrees.

They are all doing great with their weights, too. Seth, who was born at 3 pounds 7.8 ounces now weighs 3 pounds and 14.5 ounces. Lily was born at 2 pounds 15.8 ounces is now 3 pounds 9.5 ounces. Logan was born at 3 pounds 3 ounces is now 3 pounds 13.3 ounces. And our "little" Carter who was born at 3 pounds 8.5 ounces is now 4 pounds 3.6 ounces.

Hopefully it won't be too much longer and they will be in cribs, and then we'll all get to go home. Our primary nurse is way awesome. She has been great about giving me tips for the transition home. Her goal is to keep the kids all at the same pace so they'll go home all at the same time, all with a schedule that won't be horrible for mom.

Today Carter is being a bit naughty. Because the babies are born premature, their skulls are still pretty soft. Therefore, the physical therapist comes in once a week to make sure that no one is getting a flat head. To make sure this doesn't happen, the nurses rotate the positions of their heads. This morning, they were all supposed to be laying with their heads on their left side. Seth was not cooperating and kept moving it to lay on the right side. We keep moving it back, but the little kid won't leave it. Now that I type that all out, it doesn't seem as funny. But let me assure you that the nurse and I were getting a kick out of his determination. While Philip is his namesake, he might be more like his cousin Alaina! :)

Kevin is coming tonight, and so we will get some more pictures and post them.

Now that the babies are in the NICU, I am here almost all day every day. Therefore, I am behind in Grey's Anatomy. However, I did catch the episode of The Office after the Superbowl, and MAN was that funny. You gotta love Dwight. And the roasting was hilarious.

Bottles...and I don't mean Boone's Farm!

Yesterday morning as I walked into the NICU, I was surprised to see the nurse holding Seth and giving him a bottle!! I thought it wouldn't be for a few more days, but she decided to try it because he was showing "interest." Anyway, my oldest son took the bottle like he had been waiting for it is whole life. Wait. He HAS been waiting for it is whole life. Well, he took the whole bottle, anyway, which I guess is a pretty big deal. And he took it fast...like his momma used to drink Haitian rum and Diet Coke in her younger days.

So, the nurse passed him to me, and I finished giving him the bottle before I went to Sioux City for the night to take care of a few things (aka support my husband as he roots for the Steelers).

Then today I called the NICU to check on the kids while I was finishing up in SC and getting ready to head back to O-town and see my babies. The nurse then told me that ALL of the kids had taken bottles! I couldn't believe it.

For those of you who don't know, the kids have take bottles for 48 hours straight before they can come home....so, this is a pretty big deal. Of course, they also have to gain/maintain their weight for a week as well as their body temperature and a few other steps as well.

Then the nurse said the doc wanted to talk to me, and he told me that they are all doing very well, and that they might be able to come home in two weeks, maybe a little more!!! Woo hoo! I was thinking it would be more like four weeks, so this was a bit of a surprise. I decided to stay a few more hours at home and do a few more things around the house to "get ready" before heading back.

When I got back to Omaha, I was able to give each of our darling babies a bottle...they took it all! So, needless to say, Kevin and I are pretty darn excited about their progress, and can't wait for them to get home. However, Carter freaked me out a few times while I was holding him...his heart rate dropped three times! the nurse explained that it was probably just reflux, but I am sure as his heart slowed, mine stopped. I didn't like that very much.

Two other updates: Lily's red blood cell count is a little low, and if it is lower next week, they might give her a transfusion. This is common in preemies, I guess. Also, Seth is taking medicine for being hypothyroid...like his mother. He might just have to take it for a little while, he might take it forever. Regardless, we know about it and he is getting treated for it.

I am off to bed...after I call the NICU to make sure that Carter hasn't had anymore "episodes," that is!