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.