Our first walk around the block!

From left to right, Emma, Katie, Austin, Matthew.

It was so nice last night. Tom and I had an adventure walking the babies around the block for the first time. So many neighbors came outside and loved looking at the babies. It was nice. We think the babies enjoyed the walking-we had minimal crying and many cat naps!!!

Katie had an unexpected visit to CHOP late last night. Tom was bringing her to bed and when he grabbed her from the swing, her J tube got caught on another swing, and came out! Her J tube is what she eats through, so the visit to the ER could not wait! Tom spent the night at the hospital with Katie, and we are still waiting for the radiologist to put the J tube back in. In the meantime, they have an IV in her for fluids, until she can eat again. Oh, my Katie girl can't get a break.................

Matty, Emma, and Austin are doing well. Austin has exzema (sp?) and he has scratches all over his face-his poor skin is so sensitive! Emma is still our little flirt-she will follow you with her googling eyes around the room, trying to get your attention, until you pick her up. Then when you do pick her up, she's all smiles.............And Matty is still growing! We can tell his belly still bothers him, and his teeth still hurt him, too. If it's not one thing, it's another!

And we can't forget Emma girl............

Some new pics.............

Are we getting teeth????

So, this is my Matty. He has been soooo fussy and having this piercing cry for a week or so now. He has not taken his bottle well either. I thought this was all due to his severe reflux issues, so I made sure I made a follow up appointment with the GI doc at CHOP............WELL, Tom bathed him tonight and noticed two white spots on his bottom gum in his mouth! They look like teeth coming in! They feel a little bumpy. Tom ran to CVS to buy some ambesol. Within 30 seconds of putting the ambesol in his mouth, he got quiet. Now, mind you, much like this picture, before the Ambesol, he was fussy and screaming bloody murder at times............my head was pounding! Instantly, he calmed down. I ran to put some of the teethers in the freezer, and he like them as well! So, he is only 4 months 3 weeks, but I think we may have some teeth coming!!!!

Katie is still in the hospital. Her sodium is down to 146 and doing well. Tom spent the afternoon with her, giving her lots of kisses! Tonight the nurses tell me she is doing great, looks great, and has not had a diarrhea diaper in some time. Yay! She is tolerating her feeds well, so I think she will be home soon...........maybe Sunday or Monday, but we're not for sure yet.

And lastly, I ventured outside the home today! (Thanks to my friend, Sarah!!!!) Sarah convinced me that it is possible to take 3 babies to the mall......................and we did! It was so nice to get out of the house and be among other people! I bought some things and just enjoyed being out of my living room....................The babies did well, they only slept a little, and enjoyed looking at the different surroundings. But, boy, were we a spectacle! Everywhere we went, people came up to us..................and most people were great. Nothing but nice things to say about the babies and me. They were just amazed to see triplets, not realizing we were actually quads!! Imagine all the other people we would have amazed!!! Next time, right, Katie girl?????

Katie Update

So, Katie is still at CHOP. Docs are working on getting her sodium level down. It should be in the 140 range, and hers is still 156. It was as high as 170, but has kind of plateaued at 156. When she was admitted to Mercer, her potassium level was double what it should have been. Thank God that came down right away. She has a blood IV and a fluid IV. Fortunately, her diarrhea has stopped. Any diarrhea she was having was replenished with Pedialyte in her IV drip. She looks a lot better, but still not 100%. She was moved from the PICU to a general floor today. So that is good news, that docs don't feel she requires an ICU level of care. Tom went to see her today and will go again tomorrow. We have no idea at this point when she will be home, but we want her to get better as quickly as she can. I have a feeling this is how our first year with Katie girl may be...............in and out of the hospital. With a "term" baby, they can usually get away with not being admitted in the hospital for rotovirus, but with Katie, I think the doctors are concerned because of all her health issues. And I want her home with me, but I agree, I rather her be in the hospital, where I know she is well taken care of.

Let's hope she makes a speedy recovery..............................

Back in the hospital...............

Yes, back in the hospital again.........Mercer this time. Katie has been having yellow loose stools (sorry-TMI) since she's been released from hospital. I think it is caused by the antibiotic she is on. This diarrhea has caused dehydration for Katie girl. Tonight, she just did not look good. She wasn't responding well to Tom or I, her extremities were cold, and her coloring was off. I knew something was just not right. She is doing okay now; the nurses put her on a warmer to get her nice and toasty. They gave her IV fluids, and are checking for infection and such. We hope to have her home shortly, and then MAYBE this will be our last hospital stay!!! (We can hope..................)

All four together...............

Matty, Katie, Emma, and Austin............together again! (one day they'll have matching outfits on, I promise!) At this point, I am happy they have clean clothes on!

Oh, and this is "scary Nicholas"! He made his scariest face for this pic....................!!!

Some new pics............

Katie, Matty, Austin, and Emma (looking so big holding herself up!)

Katie girl is home!

This is a cute pic-Katie looks shocked she is actually coming home! lol

Yes, Katie came home tonight. Radiology fixed her J tube early in the day. So, now we are hoping for no more stays in the hospital!

Katie's NOT home yet!

So CHOP calls this morning and says Katie is cleared to come home tonight! Yay! We were all so excited to have her home with us again!

I finally get to the hospital around 8pm, and as I am dressing her around 9pm (after all discharge papers are signed) her J tube falls out! Nothing can ever be easy with this little girl!

She already had her IV taken out and neonatologist did not want to put another IV in if he didn't have to. So, the nurses ended up putting a feeding tube down her nose temporarily. In the morning, hopefully, her J tube will be replaced and she will come home tomorrow night. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

As part of her discharge requirements, we will discontinue feeding her by mouth for now. Give her time to recover from her aspiration pneumonia. She will continue on an antibiotic for six more days. We are increasing her formula from 35 cc/hr to 40cc/hr, to ensure she is getting the nutrition she needs. We already have an appt on 4/9 to follow up with the feeding team. By that time, hopefully, we will continue to feed her by mouth.

On a brighter note, Emma rolled over for the first time on Tuesday night, 3/13. She does it so easily! She did it twice on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday night, she rolled over like it was nothing, within seconds! And she's scooting around a bit already. Tom thinks she will be the first one to crawl-we'll see!

And even on a brighter note, Emma no longer needs her apnea monitor! I was shocked, because it seemed to be going off a lot lately. The company called today and said they got clearance from the NICU neonatologist who reads Emma's apnea reports. The company said that this past month Emma had 173 incidents (where alarm sounded), however, they were all false! So, they are picking up the monitor tomorrow and we are done with it! Yay-one more thing to cross off the books for my pumpkins!

Some cute pics..........

Update and pics of our girls

Here is a pic of Emma (top) and Katie (bottom) from Friday. They had matching outfits on and looked adorable!

Anyway, I went to see Katie today (thanks to Patti for watching all the other kiddos) and she looked good. She did have this horrible wretching (almost a vomiting but nothing came up). I spoke with the doctor and she seems to think the wretching is caused by a combination of her reflux and her tracheamalacia. Otherwise, everything came back negative. No respiratory viruses, no meningitis-they are simply calling this a pneumonia caused by her aspiration of formula. They will attempt to remove her off the nasal cannula oxygen tonight and begin her tube feedings and see how she does. Tomorrow, the feeding team will evaluate her to make sure she is safe to swallow her one ounce twice a day. The feeling is that she may be home tomorrow as long as she progresses how they expect her to.

Hopefully, tomorrow, all four babies will be together again.............

Katie's back in the hospital.............

Last night, Katie vomited again. It seems as if every time she vomits, she aspirates, and ends up back in the hospital. I gave her the Phenylbarbitol med (antiseizure med), and a short time later, she threw up. As soon as she threw up, she began coughing a lot, and breathing heavier. This continued for about an hour at least. I called a friend and finally her doctor around midnight. He said, that because of her heavy breathing, she should be taken to Mercer. Luckily, my mom came over to check on her, Tom had come home from work, and we whisked her off to Mercer. Before you know it, Mercer called CHOP, and the ambulance was there! She did not seize last night; I think we caught it early. Her lungs looked clear last night, however the doc said it could take up to 24 hours for an xray to show something. We arrived at CHOP around 4am and she was in the ER. She was breathing heavy and as such, had a high respiratory rate. We kept her elevated in her carseat; that helped her breathing. She was on an oxygen mask; and we are just thankful she did not need to be intubated again. In any event, Tom and I left the hospital this morning, came home, and got some sleep this afternoon. (I slept on the recliner in the living room. Marc and Lexi were a GREAT help with the babies. They took care of them all afternoon-I am giving them a nice cash payment for the help! I needed the sleep!) Anyway, Tom is up there tonight to visit her. He took Nicholas with him. (Nicky wants some candy from the gift store!) I spoke with the nurse a few hours ago and she seems to think Katie had another seizure around 10am this morning. Ironic enough, that was about 12 hours from her vomiting, much like the seizure last month............12 hours from vomiting. They did bloodwork but are awaiting the results. Neurology did an EEG but we have not heard those results either. From what I understand, the docs seem to think she aspirated when she vomited, and again, that caused a seizure. We are still waiting to hear a more definite answer. Nurse said she is doing great, though. She's sleeping comfortably, her respiratory rate is down, and she looks good.................Nurse kept saying what a cutie pie she was...........We already know that!!!

4 month checkup!

So, we ventured out again today for the babies' 4 month checkup at the doctor's. All babies did great-we had minimal crying the whole visit. (even with the 4 shots they got!)

So, at 4 months, these are the stats:

Matthew 8 lbs 11 oz 21 inches long (he's come a long way b/c of his reflux!)
Emma 11 lbs 7 oz 22 3/4 inches long
Kaitlin 9 lbs 15 oz 21 inches long

and our big guy..........
Austin 14 lbs 7 oz 24 1/2 inches long!!!!

Austin and Emma actually made it on the growth chart for their size. If I remembered correctly, Austin fell in the 25th% while Emma was in the 5th%. The doc said that they may not be completely caught up until 18 months old. It is a great thing, though, that with being 2 months premature, two of the babies are actually comparing well to a singleton baby born full term. Mommy's doing something right!!!

We ordered our new "custom built" Ford 12 passenger van today. Yahoo! Everyone will definitely see us coming! It should be ready within 3 weeks..................I'm trying to get myself excited.......................

And, last, my Katie girl..........so big!

I love this pic of Katie-she's getting sad and her personality is really shining through. She's already learned how to use her bottom lip to get her own way!! What a smart girl! She has come so far...............and done so well. Tom and I always say she is our "fighter", our "strong girl".....................

And Emma has grown so big, too!

Wow-when you put the comparison down, it is amazing. I haven't thought they changed much, but they really have. Amazing.

Look how Austin has grown!

What a difference in my 4 lb baby boy!!!! He is my baby-my Baby D!!!!!!!!!

Look how Matty has grown................

It's amazing how much bigger/fuller the babies look when you compare pictures.............Matty actually looks like he wasn't done cooking in me when he was born! He's grown so much in four months..............I can't believe they're all getting so big!

RSV shots.........

So, Tom and I (and Nicky!) took the 4 babies to the pediatrician Monday for their monthly RSV shots. All babies did well, and as espected, our "noisy girl" Emma cried the most and longest..............she is definitely my future drama queen!!!

The nurse weighed the babies and my big pumpkins are as follows:

Austin 14 lbs

Emma 11 lbs

Kaitlin 9 lbs 5 oz

Matthew 8 lbs 5 oz (up from 7.15 last week!)

Doctor said it is great they are all growing on a great pace. Babies are due to go back on Tuesday for their four month checkups. (I am told they will be getting 4 shots then!)...............