Life lately ~ in pictures

The babies are gaining weight and that is good news! Our heaviest is Isaac – 4 pounds 1 oz!!! You probably think it is funny that we are so excited but it is a huge deal for us 🙂 Then comes Andrew right at 4 pounds, way to go baby! Alexis is next with 3 pounds 11 oz and Hannah right at 3 pounds 7 oz. We’re getting there! Oly said something really sweet the other day. The advantage of having preemies is that we are going to have babies at our house for a longer time! True 🙂 Here they are!

Big boy Isaac, after bath time

Mommy & Isaac

cute little feet ❤

with Hannah, after bath time

Daddy love! with Hannah

Alexis and Daddy

Daddy next to Alexis’s incubator and Hannah’s is in the back

Andrew and Daddy

The boys in their cribs!

Andrew without his oxygen cannula

Sweet Isaac! He did not take his eyes off me, he made me feel so special!!

Baby Isaac’s IV. But he is our little champ!

Little angel, Alexis

A smile from Alexis 🙂

We still don’t know the final results about Isaac but so far, everything that came back looked good. No sign of infection!! The Dr. thinks he might be ok and maybe he will start getting his feedings again by tonight. I really hope so, he obviously is hungry. Thank you for keeping him and all the babies in your prayers! It’s amazing to see God’s work in their lives!

Lori.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riding the NICU roller-coaster

Things are slowly changing on our side of town. It’s all about the babies!! The priorities have changed, our plans have changed, everything that has to do with our family has changed. I spend pretty much the whole day in the NICU with the babies. Oly is at work and he comes over at night. I try to get other things done in the mornings before I get to the Hospital. Most people probably do not understand why I have to be there with the babies all day. Or why I feel the need of being there with them. I don’t blame them, I don’t even expect them to understand. They are my babies!! It’s not normal to give birth and then go home empty handed. So now my home is the NICU. I laugh with the nurses all the time, they told me I should forward my mail to the Hospital because I am always there 🙂 It’s great to be surrounded by these wonderful nurses that care for our babies and do everything they can to help them grow. Spending time with each baby every day makes a whole lot of difference (both for them and for me). Holding them skin to skin for at least an hour a day is so good for the babies (and their mama). Actually the doctor insisted in me being there with them as much as I can. And because there are four babies, time really flies away. I know that there are babies in the NICU that don’t get many visitors or their moms live very far away from the hospital and can’t come to see them everyday. Makes me sad…

They changed so much since they were born. I feel like the boys are so big now! The girls are smaller, especially baby Hannah, she’s our littlest 🙂 But probably the loudest! They each have their own personalities and not afraid to show it. Like I said, Hannah is probably the loudest and she doesn’t like to be bothered. She is contend in her pink preemies clothes and her warm incubator. Do not even think of changing her diaper or change her position! It seems like only Daddy’s voice works like a charm for her. Alexis is a very good sleeper. Even when we hold her, she just likes to sleep. She is totally different from her sister (looks and behavior). Doesn’t cry a lot and loves to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy. She likes to hold on to our fingers and if we try to pull our hand away, she grabs it even tighter. Isaac is the oldest (by 1 and 2 minutes) and our heaviest at the moment. He is very laid back and loves bath time. I was able to give a bath to Hannah and Isaac this week, very exciting! They both enjoyed it, of course Hannah grabbed everyone’s attention but Isaac was so quiet and really loved it. It will be very fun to show them later on how tiny was their first bathtub:) Isaac loves to sleep, maybe that’s why he grows so fast! He is now out of his incubator and into a big baby crib! He can maintain his body temperature so that’s a big step for him! He also likes all the attention, grabs our fingers and doesn’t let go. Baby Andrew is one of a kind too! He is very funny, always makes us laugh. He likes to grab and pull his oxygen cannula out of his cute button nose. Last week we had a big surprise. Alexis and Andrew moved in the same Pod (NICU room) with Isaac and Hannah. So now we call it the Lupei Pod because 4 out of 6 babies are the Quads! It’s great to have them all together. I don’t think it will be for long because somebody will graduate soon. When the babies are completely off the oxygen and breathe on their own, they graduate to the 7th floor. So our sweet baby Andrew got his oxygen cannula out last night and he is ready to graduate any time now. It’s great for him but a little sad because we only had all of them together for a few days. We are not able to take a picture of all the babies together yet, I just cannot wait for that moment. I bet they miss each other after sharing the cozy, warm womb for 29 weeks and 4 days.

Things are not always the way we want them to be. I really try to stay positive and continue walking by faith because without our God we are just dust in the wind. We can only do so much. Our faith has been tested many, many times during this pregnancy. Now that the babies are here and we see them, we hold them, we hear them crying and struggling, it’s even harder. Their little bodies sometimes cannot do the work that they are supposed to  do, they are still immature and too tiny. I can’t even explain how I wish I could be there going through everything that they need to go through. I know they will not remember anything but for us as parents it is heartbreaking.  Yesterday we got a bad news about Isaac so we ask all of you to pray for our little guy. It seems like he has an infection in his body. It is normal for a premature baby, because they have a very weak immune system that is not able to fight against bacteria. And the good bacteria that is good for the body, they cannot tolerate it. So for a couple of days the Dr.stopped the feedings and he got his IV back in his little hand (it looks terrible but he is a champ). We pray that there is nothing wrong with his tummy and that soon he will be back to normal. Even in there is an infection, we hope it’s not that bad and it can go away with antibiotics (which they started already just in case). If it’s something worst , he might need surgery. So how can I even describe in words what I feel right now? Last night when Oly came to see the babies, we just stood there next to his crib, we watched him sleep and he looked like an angel that came from heaven. He is such a sweet little buddy and he doesn’t fuss or cry but now, with that ugly IV in his arm and everything that is going on, he is not himself. Every time I woke up last night to pump, all I could think was him and I wish I could do something but the only thing we can do is to lift him up in prayer. On the other side of the pod, Alexis took a small step back… her breathing wasn’t right so she is back on CPAP. She needs more help breathing than her siblings and I know they are not all the same and that’s something we need to get used to. But we just wish they could all breathe on their own and graduate to the 7th floor already! She is growing and maintaining her body temperature, so very soon she will move into a crib too.

I will try to post some new pictures of the Quads hopefully tonight. They are so cute! And I will try to be better with the updates.

Lori.

First week of life

Yesterday (Saturday) the babies celebrated their first week in our world. Time flew by and it is scary to think that this is how week after week after week is going to pass by. We have been SO busy, I never thought that is going to be like that. On Sunday, only a day after my surgery, I started walking and making trips to the bathroom. The pain wasn’t horrible, or the pain killers were doing their job really well. The doctor told me that in order for me to go and see my babies, I have to let go of my epidural (I still had it in my back and every time my pain was bad, I would push a button and get more medicine in there) and just relay on pills. Of course I agreed immediately, I wanted to see my quads more than anything else, so I didn’t care about the pain. But, as I said, I managed it pretty well. They moved me back into my room on the High Risk Pregnancy floor and I was happy to see my favorite nurses again. I felt at home there. Moving around wasn’t easy at first, I needed a lot of help. Especially because I started pumping that afternoon and so every 3 hours I had to get everything ready, pump and then wash all the pump pieces. Thank God my hubby was there with me and he did everything in his power to make things easier for me. I think it was the hardest week ever for us. The exhaustion kicked in at some point and we had to change things a little because we were not getting enough sleep, we were constantly stressing ourselves about everything… I guess that’s part of being a parent.

Sunday night I got to visit my babies. I finally got to shower and change, I was very nervous and excited to visit the NICU for the first time. Oly got me a wheel chair and off we went. Isaac was in room A, Hannah in B and Alexis and Andrew in F. Apparently there were so many babies in the NICU that Saturday so they had to split up the Lupei Team. We visited Isaac first and it was a little bit of a bad timing because one of the nurses was changing the tube from his CPAP and of course he didn’t like to be bothered and so he was very fussy, he cried and he was very unhappy. That was too much for me. It was the first time I saw my baby after I peeked at him for a second in the OR and now I get to officially meet him and he is so upset, he has all these wires connected to him, the oxygen tube and many machines around him… it just looked scary to me and made me very, very, very sad. So tears started running down my face, I just couldn’t stop crying. I wanted to stop and just be strong, I knew my babies had to be there, there were premature, they still needed time to grow and develop but it was too hard for me to see the good side in that moment. The only thing I wanted to do was to take Isaac out and hold him, and protect him. Just like any other mom, right? You really want to hold your baby and care for him, hug him and kiss him. Oh, I was very sad. At that time I thought I won’t be able to go through all this. Finally I calmed down and we went to see the others. Honestly I don’t even remember much, I know I got to see all my babies but I was still so worried about the whole situation. Even though all the nurses told us that the babies are doing very good and for 29 weekers, they look amazing. I wasn’t happy… At some point I told Oly that we had to go back to my room, I just wanted to cry…that’s all. That night I cried myself to sleep and I prayed so hard. I felt the weakest person on this planet! There was this huge valley in front of us and I had zero power to go through this. Oly tried to encourage me and everything he said was right, but my heart just wouldn’t let go. I wanted my babies with me, to keep them safe.

I woke up the next day feeling a little better. Still, in my mind, the NICU was this ugly place where they made my Isaac cry the first time I saw him, so no good feelings about it. I was nervous to go back there. But I had to overcome my fears and check it out again. This time was way better. I got to ask anything I wanted about all the machines and everything that was in there. I calmed down more and more and the NICU wasn’t that bad after all. This week I’ve learn my way around there, I’ve learn a lot of things about the babies. I got to hold each baby (which made me the happiest person ever), change diapers, help with little thing that mean so much to me. Daddy is doing a great job, everyone is so impressed how involved he is with everything and I am so proud of him. We shared some awesome experiences this week and he taught me a bunch of things. He spend a lot more time in the NICU than me, because by the time I went there for the first time, he had already spent a bunch of time there. And the first days he got to go more often than me, it was still hard for me to walk and move around as I would have liked it. So he made me feel comfortable around all the machines and this new environment. I will talk about this more but I just want to say that my hubby has been by my side every step of the way throughout this pregnancy, in the operation room and now after the surgery. He saw everything from start to finish and it wasn’t just a regular C-section. He wouldn’t even tell me everything that he saw… Everyone was impressed of how well he managed to handle everything and I could not have done anything without him. God put us together and He knew we needed each other.

The babies did very good from the beginning. All the wires, that scared me in at first, were meant to always let us know their heart rates, temperature, breathing level and things like that. Andrew came off the CPAP (those big tubes that covers their faces) in the next few days and so he is the easiest to be held, he can just rest his head on our skin and he feels really comfortable. We can’t wait for his siblings to be off the CPAP too. They increased their milk dose and everyone did very well so they will continue to increase their feeds every 24h. The light therapy was great for them, they all went under this blue light for a while and it helped a lot with the color of their skin. They look so good, pink little munckins 🙂 Every day we can see improvement, they are stronger and just better looking.

On Wednesday I got discharged from the Hospital, not a happy day at all. I didn’t want to leave. My babies stayed so how could I go home? I was sad once again, but I’ve learn that in this journey there will be lots of ups and downs. God is giving me the strength to keep going, He is the one taking care of our babies every second of their life so I will trust in Him. Even though I am sad to leave them every night when we have to come home, I know the next day we’ll be back to be with them. Time flies when we are there. I don’t know how that is possible. But the time goes by so fast and this is how this week has been. Things will change a little bit, since Daddy is going back to work on Monday. We are all dreading that, we’re so used to being together, this change will be hard on everyone. He will miss us and especially the babies and we will definitely miss him. But our plan is for him to come and visit the babies every day after work.

Later this week, Hannah’s incubator was moved in the same room with Isaac. We are so happy about that. Now they are roommates just like Alexis and Andrew! Love it!

The NICU ended up being a great place. The nurses are very special and they care for our babies like they are their own. I will be spending a lot of time here for the next few weeks and I feel comfortable now. We are happy that all our babies are doing good, that’s the most important thing. We got to bring some laundry home, they have some special sheets that go inside their incubators, so we were excited even about that. The first load of laundry for our quads 🙂 I know there will be tons more and I can’t wait.

We’ve learn to appreciate every single day as a gift from above. Our precious babies mean everything to us. It is unbelievable how much we’ve changed and all these amazing feelings  that we have. We think of them all the time, we are in love with our little angels. God has been so good to us and we feel abundantly blessed. It’s such a wonderful feeling, I can’t even describe it. Here are some pictures from the first week of our Quads!

Alexis & Andrew’s incubators

Skin to skin with baby Isaac

Daddy getting ready to change Hannas’s diaper. To the left is Isaac’s incubator.

Oly will become an expert in changing diapers. He is doing an awesome job! Hannah & her Daddy’s hands

Daddy, Mommy & baby Andrew

Andrew is our big boy 🙂 A perfect snuggle bunny!

Sweet Alexis peeking at us 🙂

Baby Isaac holding our fingers

Baby Alexis under the blue therapy light

This has been our first week, busy but fun. A new beginning for us, as parents of Quads. We are happy and super excited. We know these babies are our miracles and we thank God for them all the time.

 

Lori.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Quadville

These 3 days have been the busiest days ever! The pregnancy is behind us already and we have entered the second phase of this amazing journey. All babies are doing good – Isaac, Alexis and Andrew are on CPAPs , only Hannah needs a little more help with her breathing and she is on a mechanical ventilator. But they all look great, each day better than the day before.

Last night I got to see all the babies for the first time and spend some time with them. I was a little overwhelmed… the NICU is a new territory for us and only the parents that had babies in there can understand what I am talking about. But just like we did when I was pregnant, we have to continue to take one day at the time and pray for the best. One day can be great and others might be a little less. The staff in the NICU is amazing. They were waiting for our Quads with open arms. The nurses on our level have told us that days before the babies were born, the NICU staff would call to check on us and see what’s going on, if there are any signs of the babies arriving soon. There were absolutely no signs and so the babies surprised all of us!

Today I got to hold both Isaac and Alexis, precious moments!! Daddy changed their diapers, so maybe this will become a routine 🙂 It’s so fun to hang out with the babies. But we are limiting that to family only, at least for now. I hope everyone understands that these babies need some extra time to grow and get stronger. We appreciate every single person that wants to know what is going on and cares about their well being and we will do our best to keep you updated. Also we apologize if we can’t return all the phone calls or messages. I am trying to do everything the doctors tell me to do in order to recover faster and Oly has been amazing, helping me and giving me all the attention I needed, day and night. My body is recovering well but we need time. So now it would not be the best idea to “surprise” us with a visit at the hospital. Plans made ahead are welcomed in this circumstances. We will probably get to go home in a couple of days anyway. The babies will stay here and we will come to see them everyday. But we do want to limit their visitors. Being preemies, they are very sensitive to germs and bacteria. Even we exaggerate with washing hands and being very clean and careful around them. But that’s how it has to be. These days were so exhausting for us! The nurses made a note on our door in order to not be disturbed, we really needed to rest. It is a very exciting moment in our lives but we need to take it easy.

Can’t wait to see the Quads tomorrow again. We are so happy that they are here and that they are real champions! What a mighty God we have!

Lori.

 

Happy Birthday Lupei Quadruplets!

This is the beginning of a new life! Words cannot express how blessed we are. What a special day!  We are very proud to announce the birth of our FOUR babies, true miracles! No matter how much we tried to “plan” this event, once again God showed us that He controls everything. I won’t get into details now because I am very tired but we wanted to share some pictures of our angels. Many of you are not used to seeing preemies, so you might be shocked. Disregard the tubes and all the medical equipment that surrounds them; they are tiny but true champions! We are so proud of each and every single one of them and they are the cutest, most beautiful babies! 

Baby A-boy:  Isaac Nathan Lupei born at 11:03 AM, 3 pounds 5oz
Baby B-girl:  Hannah Liana Lupei born at 11:04 AM, 2 pounds 14oz
Baby C-girl: Alexis Madeline Lupei born at 11:04 AM, 2 pounds 13oz
Baby D-boy: Andrew Davis Lupei born at 11:05 AM, 3 pounds 9oz

Their weights are a little different than they were at our last ultrasound. The Dr. told us that it is hard to get the exact numbers when the babies are inside the belly. 

Getting ready for the C-section. Taking pictures is part of the preparation 🙂

Part of the Lupei Family, excited to meet the Quads

Robin & Oly

My big belly – in the surgery room

Last pictures of us before the babies arrived

Daddy with one of the babies

Daddy cutting Hannah’s umbilical cord

Getting to see each baby before they went to the NICU

Dr.Smith and us. She is wonderful! Also a mom of triplets!

Andrew holding Daddy’s finger. Priceless!

Sweet Hannah

Baby Alexis

Can’t wait to hold this tiny hand!

They all look pretty much the same right now, it’s kind of hard to tell who is who. And all of them have the same hats 🙂 Thank you all for your messages, txts and phone calls! It means a lot to see how many of you care and pray for us. Please keep our quadlings in your prayers. They need a lot of attention and supervision. It will take a while until they get out of the NICU, but we know all of them will come home soon.

This has been the most amazing day ever. We will never forget those moments of anticipation and excitement. It was scary too, we have never been in this position before. But everything was ok, I can’t believe I had a C-section today! I will write a special post with lots of details but not today.

Lori
First day as a Mommy of Quads 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miracle babies

We have a happy Quad Mama today! Every now and then I feel like my cheer “tank” is on low and I really need a good motivation to keep me going. Tomorrow night will mark 2 weeks of hospitalization! Honestly, I can’t believe it! How in the world did the time pass? It helps a lot to know that my hubby comes “home” every night after work. He laughs at me because I ask him every day “when are you coming home?” 🙂 But he gets off from work at different times each day, so we he never knows. During the day I spend a lot of time on my computer, I read or watch TV. I love the fact that there are many doctors and nurses, hospital staff that stops by to say hello and we just talk and talk. All this keeps me busy!

This morning I got to see my sweet babies! I am so proud of them, they are doing REALLY good! Especially considering how squished they are! I used to be able to see clearly each baby on the ultrasound, but now, I have no idea what’s in there. They moved, they switched places, it’s crazy:) The girls are now next to each other, and they used to be across from each other. The boys are in the upper side of the belly, they measure a little bigger too. All their little hearts are working just as they should, the fluids continue to be good and their weights are so good! That’s what made me extremely happy! They have reached 3 pounds each!!!!!

Baby A: 3pounds 1oz
Baby B: 3pounds 2 oz
BABY C: 3pounds 7oz
BABY D: 3pounds

It is amazing to me that these babies are developing wonderfully. And even more amazing I find the fact that contrary to what everybody says – the body is not build for this kind of pregnancy – all 5 of us continue to move forward and we keep going strong! It’s not easy but I am happy of how things are going. Today, when I got out of bed, my legs were shaking! No wonder! All the weight that I am caring is taking over. There are 12 pounds,10 oz worth of baby in my belly. Each placenta weights about 1 pound or more, and there are 4 of them, one for each baby. Plus the fluids. So the pain at this point is very normal. I am glad that my contractions are still light and I hope they will stay like that. My uterus is behaving pretty well 🙂 All these good news gave me a push to keep fighting for our babies. I need to keep all this in mind all the time. It’s so easy to just give up and break down. But they need me. They need my body to be stronger than ever so they can grow and be ready to meet us one day. We pray for that special day! I don’t think there will ever be a more spectacular moment in our lives to top that. I can’t even talk about it without getting all teary!

Our faith is being rewarded everyday. Through this journey, we’ve learn what it really means to trust God completely and let go of our own plans. What I hope and wish the most is for everyone to see how amazing and wonderful God is, though these babies and their lives.

Lori
29 weeks, 2 days

 

 

 

Labor day Wknd & lots of visitors

Soon to be Mommy and Daddy

Such a busy weekend! But fun, fun, fun! First of all, my hubby officially moved in the hospital with me. And that makes me so happy! He goes home only to do laundry and bring stuff that we need, but he will be here after work every single day. It was so nice to have him with me this whole long weekend.

On Friday I had some cute furry visitors from the Happy Paws. They bring in dogs to cheer up patients. Not that I needed to be cheered up but it was fun to chat with the owners, especially because they are older people with lots of stories to tell and I love that. They were so impressed by the fact that I am carrying quadruplets and they wanted to hear all about the pregnancy. It was nice to see how amazed and excited they were about the babies! They will be back every Friday and they want me to keep them updated 🙂

On Sunday I had the privilege to go outside for 30 minutes, in a wheel chair of course. It was so good to feel the fresh air and enjoy a few minutes out of the hospital. We took a bunch of pictures and had a lot of fun. I’m learning to appreciate the little things!

I took pictures of everyone that stopped by to see us and I’ll post some here. I am sure I’ll be happy to look back on my blog and remember that even though the days sometimes seemed to be too long, I still managed to keep myself busy and that I was surrounded by so many people that care. Also, I have to mention again how wonderful the nurses are. Never thought that I will be making friends in the hospital but I am!

My everyday visitor – Naty. Girls, watch out! 🙂

The Lupei’s

Good times with good friends. Banciu and Boldor Families

Many beautiful surprises! Orth Family

Narcis, Andreea and her parents

I retook the glucose test a few day ago and I failed. But it’s ok. I mean, we were all expecting this. There are 4 placentas in there, a lot going on, so the doctors have told me a while back that most likely I will get gestational diabetes. A dietitian came by and explained how my diet will change and how things will work out. And it’s fine, it’s not such a big deal. They are giving me some medicine  to control the blood sugar (glyburide) and I also have to pay close attention to when and  what I am eating and drinking.

Today is a very special day because we’ve reached 29 weeks of pregnancy! It is absolutely wonderful and I thank God for every single day. He has been faithful to His word and showed us that He truly is in control. I have nothing to complain about. And I feel very good considering how hard my body is working right now. Can’t wait for Thursday to get another ultrasound and see the babies and also get updates on their weights. Please continue praying for our growing family!

Lori
29 weeks 🙂