Mommy’s dream

Every Mommy dreams of having healthy babies. And only now I realize what a blessing that is. I was very happy today to hear that the babies continue to grow and to be healthy, gaining about half a pound every 2 weeks. I am doing pretty well too. I thought I’ll get admitted because my cervix length has shorten to 1.7, but because it’s still closed and hard I guess I’m fine. Contractions are still light and not that many, yay! I am a little nervous because anytime things could change, but I am hopeful. Monday morning I’ll have my cervix checked again and we’ll go from there. I definitely need to stay off my feet and horizontal. I can’t believe how close we are to the big day that will change our lives forever! In my mind, getting to 28 weeks is absolutely mandatory, but every single day after that, will be a heavenly bonus! I do hope to go as far as possible, but I need to be realistic. I don’t have super powers, my body has limits and I am not the one in control, God is. He is the only one that knows the exact day and time that He has planned for our quads to arrive.

Times four!

It’s funny how my big belly easily opens up conversations, no matter where I am. For me and my husband it feels so normal to be expecting quadruplets, we even forget that this might be a shock for anyone else. Sometimes it’s really fun to see how people react. Other times, not that much, especially when I am tired and I can’t even put 3 words together. But it has been a great experience for us. It does bother me when people that never give me a call, a txt or show any sort of interest in our family, come up with weird stories and gossips. I was expecting this actually, but I thought that my blog would keep everything clear for everyone. I mean, it’s me here, writing about my life, sharing this amazing experience with everyone. Oh well, as we all know, there are others out there that have nothing else better to do than come up with things that are not true.

Baby weights from today’s growth scan:
Baby A: 2 pounds, 6oz
Baby B: 2 pounds, 4oz
Baby C: 2 pounds, 7oz
Baby D: 2 pounds, 12oz

We are glad to know that all of them are within the normal range and we’re praying that they keep on going strong! I wish I could get a picture of all of them, to show you how crazy it looks in there, but they are too big and it’s very crowded inside my belly 🙂

Lori.
27 weeks, 2 days.

First night in the Hospital

Yesterday started pretty early for me. I woke up around 4am and just couldn’t go back to sleep. I was not feeling too well, my belly just felt weird. Around 5 the contractions started, but nothing unusual, They were not hurting that bad. But my belly was hard as a rock and stayed like that the whole day. So after going back and forth all morning long, on what to do, I called dr.Jeffer’s office and spoke to a nurse. They made an appointment for me right away. I called Oly’s work and asked if he could come home and take me to the hospital. Fast fwd: I got admitted. My blood pressure was higher than normal, lots of contractions… but the cervix was still fine.

Once I got into my room, lots of equipment was brought here. They had to keep track of each baby so they needed another computer and a few more heart monitors. It took a while to get all those monitors on my belly, I had one for each baby and one for my contractions. I just couldn’t believe it – I was having contractions every 6 minutes! I probably spent 30-45 min laying on my back with all those things attached to me and my back started hurting a little. In the beginning I thought it’s from my belly contracting so much. But at some point the pain was unbearable! The left side of my belly all the way to the back was hurting me so bad! I kept breathing thinking it’s just another contraction, a very serious one this time around. But why just half of my belly and the back? The 3 nurses that were in my room at that point were looking at me very worried but there was nothing they could do apparently. Looking at the monitor, they said it sounds strange because I’ve had contractions like that before but couldn’t figure out why I have so much pain this time. I thought I am going to lose it at this point. Oly was holding my hand and he kept telling me it will go away, well it wasn’t! I was covered in sweat and I really thought I am about to have these babies right at that moment. I asked made the nurses take the 4 monitors for the babies off me so I can turn to the side and try to relax. Even breathing was to hard for me. It slowly went away, but my side all the way towards the back still hurt. It was manageable though. Then I got the chills, I was freezing! Even after I warmed up, my body kept shivering for a while. I thought that was it, it went away. But shortly after, I needed to go to the bathroom. The second I got up, the pain was back. I don’t even know how Oly managed to take me in and out of the bathroom, I thought I will faint every step of the way. I got back in my bed, terrified… Is this what being in labor means? are the babies coming? am I ready? All these questions and many more crossed my mind. Tears were rolling down my cheeks, but I was trying my best to keep myself together. My hubby kept telling me that we’ll be ok, the babies are good and all that pain doesn’t mean they are coming so early. He reminded me that only God knows the day that He picked for these angels to enter our world, we should not worry.

I did get some pain killers and it helped a lot. This is just for a short period of time, until they figure out what is wrong with me. I was happy to see Ada and my in laws later at night. The doctor -that was on call- stopped by and checked me out. He thinks I might have kidney stones on my left side. So they’ll make some urine tests and hopefully this morning we’ll find out. Not sure what’s the plan if that’s the result. I will be spending the whole day here. They said I have a chance of going home tonight but I am not getting my hopes up. Whatever they consider better for me, I’m fine with it.

Oly decided to spend the night with me, he was too worried to leave me here. I thought that was very sweet of him, it did make me feel a lot better just seeing him sleeping on the sofa next to me. I didn’t get much sleep though, even after taking some Ambient. Before we went to bed, I was pain free, so we had some fun taking pictures 🙂

prego style in my new room

O & L

the view from my room

Can’t wait to see how today is going to be and how long I’ll end up being here. Thank you to all of you that have been praying for us! I know God is in control!

Lori.
27 weeks.

~26~

Happy to say that today I am 26 weeks! 2 weeks away from the BIG milestone! We woke up early this morning, my bag was all packed and we were ready to go to Northside and get admitted. That’s because yesterday I had an appt with my OB and even though she was not worried about me, she felt like it might be time to be on hospital bed rest. I am having contractions, but it’s not that bad. And for now there are just a few. But she said that based on the next day’s check up (meaning today) at the Perinatal office, I will most likely be admitted. So last night we packed the last little things and we set our minds that we’re both going to the hospital but only one of us is coming back home.

26 weeks

Things turned around in out favor! Today my cervix looked better than last week, it went from 2,5 to 3cm. I guess being really careful and staying home on strict bed rest does help. Contractions are also normal at this stage in the quad pregnancy. I do have some really bad headaches, sort of migraines I would say, but that’s because of the increased blood volume and circulation. I think I need to start drinking coffee again! I used to love coffee until I got pregnant, then I lost all my interest in it. Babies looked very good, fluids continue to be great so what else could I ask for? I was happy to hear “You are going home!”. I don’t have measurements for the quads, they only do it every 2 weeks, to give them time to grow.

 

The thought of soon becoming parents is sinking in more and more. And we do feel truly blessed to have four angels sent from above. Can’t wait to meet them !!

Lori.

26 weeks

Good to be home

As most of you know, this week has been a little different. On Monday I had an appointment at Atlanta Perinatal Consultans, my regular every 2 weeks check up. I wasn’t nervous but I had a feeling that things might have changed a little bit. But because I was “ready” for not so good news, it went pretty well, I think. It’s easy to freak out … don’t we all want to hear good news all the time? Especially when there are little hearts (that depend on you) involved. Thankfully, the babies are good, growing day by day just like they should. It’s so nice to see them every now and then, because I always feel them!! It’s fun now that they move so much. We already know who’s the leader, who’s the crazy one, who’s the laid back one, but we can’t wait to see if it’s going to stay that way when they enter this world. For example baby D keeps us entertained the most! She is extremely active and truly believes that she deserves the most space! She stretched all over my left side, pushing baby B down and baby C to the side. She moves so much that sometimes my belly changes into different shapes, it looks pretty crazy – believe me! I like to talk to them and it’s just so fun. Today I asked them if they would like to eat something and of course baby D kicked right away 🙂 I thought it was so cute, even though it was probably a coincidence. My belly is very wavy sometimes, we just look at it and wonder what is going on in there! So yes, the quads are growing beautifully and that makes us SO happy. We get more and more excited to meet them but they better stay in there as long as possible.

Here are the weights for the quads (at 25 weeks):
Baby A: 1 p, 15 oz
Baby B: 1 p, 15 oz
Baby C: 2 p, 1 oz
Baby D: 1 p, 14 oz
Wonderful!!!

I am doing pretty good too. Some things have changed though but I am not worried. I am blessed to have a lot of encouragement around me and some very nice quad Mommas that have been on this exact journey reaching out to me! Busy Moms of quadruplets, some of them have other kids besides their quads, and they take time for me? That is amazing! I appreciate every single one of them and I appreciate our families, friends, just everyone that cares and prays for us.

My cervical length got shorter from last time. Used to be 4cm and now it’s down to 2,5. But it’s still firm and high enough so that’s very good. It only means I need to be on strict bed rest from now on and be more careful. Also I’ve been having contractions. I could tell sometimes that I feel something weird, some sort of pain and toughness of the belly but not too bad. Those are contractions, sort of the “mild” ones. They had me lay down at the doctor’s office so they can monitor them. I had a few. At that time I thought I will get admitted in the hospital. But I didn’t! It’s still ok. I am taking Indomethacin for 48h to help the uterus relax, it seems to think it’s time to deliver. Think again uterus! We still have a long way to grow together so please work with me!!! I am also taking a set of steroids shots, to help mature the babies lungs. That’s because we know they will come earlier than 40 weeks so their lungs need a little help. Those shots are not that bad; they sting and once you’re done…it’s hard to walk because of the pain but it goes away pretty quickly. This is nothing compared to other things so I don’t mind at all. Today was my first shot (a great celebration of 25 weeks) and tomorrow is my second. Today I went back to the doctor’s office, this time to see my OB and hear what she has to say about staying home or getting admitted. She has a special way of explaining me things without getting me worried! Same thing with my Perinatologist. Wonderful ladies! They both decided that it’s fine for me to be home (yay!) until my next appointment and then we’ll see what’s happening again. I guess from now on that’s how we roll. If I get serious contractions, then I go in. I’ll keep you guys posted.

To celebrate my 25 weeks, I will end this post on a sweet note 🙂 This is a must at our house these days!

Lori.