Too Beautiful for earth

Ever since we’ve learned that our family is about to expand  from 2 to 6, by becoming parents of quadruplets, our world has changed completely. Our new normal is very different from most of the other families and sometimes it is very hard to relate to others. But very early in my pregnancy, we were introduced to a new online community of quad families, where we do feel normal! I had a tremendous support system through all these moms of quads and I have been encouraged by them since day one. We share stories, worries and laughter, we pray and try to help each other as much as we can. In the past year our community has suffered tremendously because we have had families that lost all their babies due  to the fact that they were born too early. We always make a big deal when a pregnant soon-to-be mommy of quads reaches certain milestones, like 24 weeks or 28 weeks. Because, when you carry 4 babies, there are SO many risks of early complications and  miscarriages. Our bodies and minds, our spouses and families go through A LOT during a quad pregnancy and it is heartbreaking when there is not a happy story at the end of it. When I was about 24 weeks pregnant with my crew, a fellow soon to be quad mom, experienced probably the worst thing in her life, loosing all four of her babies, when she was about 22 weeks pregnant. It affected me so much because we were in the same boat at that time. A couple of days before her tragedy, we were talking about our pregnancies and how we “got this” . Well… we cannot control anything, especially human lives. I cried that day so much and I was so upset for her, I just wanted to be able to say or do something to help and make her feel better but there was nothing I could do.

We have been so blessed and I will never stop saying how amazingly God worked in our family. Our babies are doing good just because of God’s grace and not because we did something or we deserve it. But my heart aches for another family that went through the same tragedy as the one I mention earlier.

Chris with 3 of their babies and the teddy bear belongs to their 1st born baby that came a couple of days earlier

I wrote a little bit about them on Facebook, asking for prayers as they were going through this difficult situation. You can read all about their story on their Facebook Page – Prayers for the Fantastic Four. I can’t stop thinking that it could have been me and my husband going through this! They have lost all four of their babies… We pray for them every day and we ask you to do it too! They need our support. Jen and Chris, I know God did not make a mistake. I know He has a plan, but we cannot understand His will sometimes. Please do not be discouraged, your faith will help you overcome this. You have four angels in Heaven now! They were too beautiful for earth ❤

We are trying to help this family with the cost of the funeral arrangements, so if you would like to help too, please visit their Go Fund page.

Any donations will be greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

A few of us , Quad Mommas, decided to link together and spread the word about this special couple and others like them. Read more about this topic at :

Four to Adore : http://fourtoadore.com/

Capri + 3 :  http://www.multiples-mom.com

Chillin’ with Chad : http://chillwithchad.blogspot.com/

Lori.

Half their birthday!

It feels surreal that the Quads have reached the 6 months milestone today. I am happy but also sad ( they are growing way too fast!). I am happy that they are doing great, we are all doing good and I dreamed about this day! To be able to say that everything is in place and that we pretty much have it under control. It does not mean it’s perfect, but it means we can handle what God gave us, no matter how scared and shocked and uncertain we were in the beginning. It was pretty overwhelming! We were excited even back then, but I cannot describe how much better we feel about everything right now. When I was pregnant and my belly was growing so big by the minute, I use to do a lot of research, read everything I could possibly find, about quadruplets. I tried to prepare myself and my husband for what was ahead of us, and I was SO nervous. We were about to become parents for the first time! Nothing really can prepare you for that, less alone to become quad parents. I watched videos and pictures of other families with quads and tried to “see” ourselves in the future. It does give you a glimpse but still, you don’t really know what is yet to come. But God is so wonderful! He doesn’t just give you something and lets you figure out everything by yourself. He guides you and shows you what and how to do it. I am grateful to Him for our family and how beautifully everything has come together. I am even thankful for those terrible boring bed rest days, when I thought I will go crazy! Those days of complete rest helped me carry my pregnancy all the way to 29 weeks and 4 days!  I am thankful for the 2 weeks that I spent in the hospital before the babies arrived. I was very well taken care of and I had no worries. I remember how I was in so much pain in the last weeks, it was hard to roll in bed, get out bed, walk around, shower… everything felt like it was just too much for my body. My belly stretched out so much that my uterus lining was extremely thin. So the fact that the babies came so early was very good for me at that point. I am even thankful for the NICU days, even though every single time I think back at those times, my heart sinks and it’s heavy. But we managed to be happy and hopeful even back then, because our faith was bigger than those circumstances. I am thankful for every day and every moment; everything makes sense now. It was hard for me to go back and look at the pictures from 6 months ago. But now I can clearly see again how wonderful and amazing is our God! The work of His hands is always perfect! We just need to trust Him.

Today we don’t just celebrate the babies turning 6 months. This is kind of funny and also interesting. A year ago today, very early in the morning, I took a pregnancy test and it showed 2 lines. We were beyond excited! Little did we know that March 7th was just the beginning of a beautiful story that became our life. Here we are, a year later celebrating our miracles! If you do the math, you’ll find out that my pregnancy was pretty short.

I made some collages with a few pictures of each baby in the first couple of days after they were born and also I will post pictures of them at 6 months. I am amazed and my heart is full of gratitude. You’ll see why!

ISAAC NATHAN

Our first born, Baby Isaac. He was the first one I got to see the day after the delivery. I was shocked and terrified to see how small and helpless he was. All I wanted to do is pick him up and hold him tight but I wasn’t allowed yet.

My big boy, Isaac, today! tears are rolling down my face as I type this in. Isn’t God amazing? He is over 14 pounds now.

Isaac ~ I get to kiss those cheeks and hold him tight every day now!!

Isaac ~ handsome little man

Isaac ~ Love you to the moon and back!

HANNAH LIANA

Baby Hannah in the first days of the NICU life. Strong personality from the first days of life! She’s our little peanut

Baby Hannah today! How beautiful she is! Her smile lights up the room and she’s not shy to show it! She is over 12 pounds now.

Hannah ~ This little girl has so much energy! If she wakes up at 3AM, she is ready to smile and play

Hannah ~ We love you so much sweet baby girl!

Hannah ~ So precious!

ALEXIS MADELINE

Baby Alexis, our little fighter baby girl. There were some rough days back in the NICU and waiting for her to come home, felt like it took forever. But it was all worth it in the end. SO proud of her!

Alexis ~ Sweetness should have been her middle name! This girl melts any heart! She is over 13 pounds now

Alexis ~ Beautiful little princess

Alexis ~ Those eyes!! Love you bunches!

Alexis ~ Special in every way!

ANDREW DAVIS

Baby Andrew in the NICU. This feisty baby fought for his life and he proved every day what a strong little man he is. He made the funnies faces even when he was this tiny, such a fun baby!

Baby Andrew today! That face melts my heart! He was the biggest at birth and still is a front runner! He also weights over 14 pounds now.

Andrew ~His smile just makes my life wonderful! Love you so much little buddy!

Andrew ~ Handsome baby boy!

Andrew ~ The baby of our family. Such a unique personality!

From L to R
Isaac, Hannah, Alexis & Andrew

Isaac: Finally I grabbed Andrew’s hand!
Hannah: You are about to embarrass me, Alexis! Leave it down!
Alexis: That’s it! Here’s a good picture!
Andrew: What? We’re done?!

We are truly blessed and we don’t take anything for granted. Think about the blessings in your life and don’t forget to give Thanks every single day!

Lori.

5 months schedule

Things are starting to settle down, uh oh- maybe I am speaking too soon! I feel like I got this 🙂 Some days I feel like that and then other days I feel like I am going c.r.a.z.y.! The babies are just like other babies, with good, happy days and also not so good, whiny, fussy days. The only difference is that having 4, chances are that someone is in a good mood every day, but also someone else is in a bad mood every day. The weeks are going by fast and the Quads are growing & thriving, praise the Lord!

The babies are still trying out new foods, it is still a new territory for them and of course we are taking it reaaaally easy. I started making my own baby food and I am ecstatic about it! It feels SO good to know that I am feeding them healthy and fresh produce every day. I am in love with my Cuisinart Baby Food Maker ! I never thought I will enjoy this so much, but it is easy and fun.

The days are busy and the nights… well the nights sometimes are quiet. But sometimes this momma doesn’t get much sleep. The Quads have started teething, I can’t feel or see any teeth yet, but I can tell it’s happening. So I blame the teething when I get no sleep 🙂 Andrew has been challenging us a lot but we had a game plan and it worked out. We always have a plan A and then B, C… as many as we need until we figure things out. Every night after the last feeding, we read books and sing songs. It seems like the babies enjoy this time a lot and we do too. But when it’s time for bed… Andrew decides it’s time to scream! And he is so smart; he knows we are headed to his room and that’s when it starts. The night terror 🙂 We had to do something so Isaac has been sleeping over in the girls room. They can still hear Andrew, even though we have noise machines in each room, but this baby can be is loud. As much as it hurts and we hate doing it, we had to let him cry it out. The first night he went for 50 intense minutes. I just wanted to go in and comfort him. But Oly encouraged me not to because that would have ruined everything. He finally fell asleep and only woke up  couple of times during the night, cried for a few minutes and again back to sleep. I used to hurry to his room every single time he would wake up to calm him down and give him his pacifier just so he won’t wake up Isaac. So now I am hoping he will quit doing that too because he needs to sleep all night, and so does his brother. The second night things got better. After I put him down and left, he only cried for 10 minutes and then kind of whined for another 20. Third night things got even better. He only whined for 5 minutes and went to sleep! I couldn’t believe it! Every morning when I get him from his crib, I tell him how proud he makes me and I snuggle with him for a few minutes before we do anything else. And he is so excited and happy, I think he is proud of himself too!

Here is our 5 months schedule. Things are not written in stone of course and they vary, but I try my best to keep the routine going – it is great for the babies and us.

7 AM : First feeding of the day
Usually everyone is calm and happy in the morning, it is easy to entertain them. Most mornings they sit in their Rock&Plays all around me and I play music toys for them, sing songs and read books. It’s pretty amazing how a simple rattle can keep all four babies attention for minutes! I’m sure that won’t be for long!
8:30 AM : Down for nap
10 AM : Spoon feeding followed by bottles
They get messy while eating solids so this is when I change them into day clothes. They take a bath every other day, sometimes right after this feeding or next one (if they are not very messy).
11:30 AM: Down for nap
1 PM : Bottle
Our living room looks like a nursery of course. We have a play area on the floor with baby gyms. I love it when all 4 are down there having fun. They also take turns on the swing and bouncer. They are a little too small for the bouncer, they can’t reach the floor but we have a pillow under and it works great. Also, they love the rocking chair. Especially if they are fussy, that thing calms them down right away. Two of them can sit in the rocking chair, always under my supervision.
2:30 PM : Down for nap
4 PM : Bottle
Playtime in the living room again or in their rooms. I like having all four babies in one crib with the baby mobil on. Or sometimes boys in one crib, girls in another one. A couple of times we went outside for a stroll because the weather was really nice. I am sure we will be going outside a lot more in the coming month. The babies don’t really like to take another nap anymore. We used to have a 4th nap because they were so tired. They do get fussy and things can get crazy but they like to chill in their Rock&Plays in the living room; some take a 15 min cat nap or they just hang out with us.  Close to the last feeding, I like to take time and get everyone ready for bed.
7 PM : Last feeding
After they eat, we read books, sing songs, hugs & kissed and off to bed! Usually by 8 PM babies are out and we enjoy the rest of the  night are exhausted!

I had fun taking some cute pictures of them. I just can’t stop !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

snow storm 2014

Have a good week everyone!

Lori.