Oh Pillow, How I Missed You...

...And Of Course My 3 Other Little Men too! 

We are HOME!  Just in time for tomorrow's birthday! Sooooo great to all be under one roof again!!!

We have been so blessed by your faithful prayers. We were able to rest in God's sovereignty and in His faithfulness during these past few scary and uncertain days. (Although we frequently had to remind ourselves to do so.)  It was so reassuring to know that people all over the nation (and some throughout the world) were praying!  Our only request is that you would continue to do so...

Clark was treated for a combination of croup and most likely RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, (aka The Rotten Stinky Virus).  He is being treated with steroid and breathing treatments as a support, but for the most part we have to just watch and wait.  He had another coughing attack last night, but we was able to resolve it in under 10 minutes and a few shorter spells this afternoon/evening.  We would really appreciate your specific prayers that he would not need another ER visit to address his breathing difficulty. As you can see from the pictures taken today before discharge, he has perked up quite a bit! 

Brooks was close to a hospital admission, as well, but seems to slowly be improving.  Isaac and Henry, although they are not themselves, are recovering as well.  We most likely have a house full of RSV that will make it's presence known for quite a few more days (maybe even weeks) to come.  Even Brad and I have been socked with it!   Hopefully by getting more than a couple of hours of sleep, we'll be able to fight this so we can care for these little germo munchkins to our best ability.

Obviously, their 2 year old birthday will be a low key event tomorrow, but we are so thankful for two years of life with four precious little boys.  We are more in love with them today than ever before!

A few more shoutouts (is that even a "cool" term anymore???) to some people who wouldn't want the recognition, but to whom we are SO grateful for:

• Melissa and Kara T. for picking up the other 3 boys at the ER, taking them home, and tucking them in
• For Tami W. for coming to the rescue once again and serving us overnight Friday night
• For Pam D. for praying with me over the phone with me while in the ER after being told that Clark was the sickest patient there, and the possibility of  "intubation" had us freaked out
• For Gramma and Grampa for coming on Saturday and staying overnight so that mama and daddy could be with Clark. 
• For Grandma and Grandpa for coming up today and for my mom staying overnight tonight so that we have extra hands, allowing me to some MUCH needed rest.
• For Dan H. for delivering a air pump at 10 pm last night, so that I could rest on an air mattress last night.
• For Emily U. providing some video distractions for the boys at home.
• For the many churches, including our own, who have been supporting us with their love and prayers.
• For my quad sistas who used their blogs and facebook pages, to update others and who were texting me constantly with messages of love.
• To the Goerlich's for delivering pizza and wings to our house tonight.  All the way from Texas, and it was still warm when it got here!
• To Peyton Manning Children's Hospital at St. Vincent for providing us with incredible care. We were in such great hands!
• To our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for holding little Clark's life (and our other 3) in His hands
• To All of YOU!  We consider you our dear friends - and your support means the world to us!

SOS Answered

Because of your faithful prayers, Clark is HOME right now. Praise God! They treated him with a different type of breathing medication than I had administered here at home and a round of steroids. His airways became less constricted and his breathing became easier within minutes of the treatment. His x-ray came back clear. We're so grateful to have him back safe and sound with a bad case of croup!!!!

It's been an overwhelming, draining, scary, emotional, day - but we are full of gratefulness and thanksgiving for Clark's well being. God was and is in complete and absolute control.

We would appreciate your contiuned prayers that Clark wouldn't experience any more attacks and that Brooks, Isaac, and Henry would also be able to shake this quickly. Our hearts are overwhelmed with gratefulness for your prayers and concern.

SOS

Dear friends,

We would covet your prayers this morning as Brad is in route via the fire department to the ER with Clark. The boys have been battling a respiratory illness that has taken a bad turn with Clark in particular this morning. He has been coughing continuously for over an hour and is experiencing what appears to be respiratory distress.

Trusting our Savior,
The Murray Crew

Safe and Sound....

I'm relieved to report that Brooks is tucked in at HOME! We are so grateful to be here safe and sound, after a nightmare night of 2 Emergency Rooms, 1 Urgent Care, and 1 Earthquake! We have been blessed by your prayers and concern and would request that you continue to pray for us during the next few days. Brooks' is still a pretty sick little dude, but his O2 saturation is much improved from last night and overall it looks like he's turning the corner. He is on a "full meal deal" of steroids, breathing treatments, and antibiotics here at Casa de Murray. We have so much to be grateful for tonight!

Here are a few pictures of sweet Brooksy during the last 24 hours +Prayer Requests Following

Finally Getting Some Shut-Eye

Sleeping Through a Breathing Treatment

Caged yet Cuddly

Brooks Unplugged Plugged In and Recharged!

Peace Out Peds Unit, Hello Home!

Here are some specific requests that you could be praying for:
*For Brooks' lungs to open up and to allow air in with ease
*For his side-effects from the meds to be small
*For a GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP for the whole fam. (I'm operating on about 1 1/2 hours of broken sleep; Brad not much more to brag about)
*For Henry, Clark, and Isaac to remain healthy
*For us to glorify God in our circumstances regardless of the challenges we face.
*For Brad and I to continue to have patience with each other

Update On The Brooks

Thank you all for your prayers and comments, we really appreciate it.

Brooks stayed the night in the Ped. unit since he needed some oxygen support. So far, no clear diagnosis, but it is some kind of respiratory illness, and they are treating it as pneumonia.

God has been so good to us in providing the help that we need so that Jen and I can both be here with Brooks. Also, praise God with us that Brooks has been protected from harm and is in great medical care. We are so thankful for the nurses, respiratory therapists, and doctors here.

Please continue to pray for Brooks to get well, and for protection from this illness for Isaac, Henry, and Clark.

Brad

PRAYERS

Brooks has just been admitted to the hospital with respiratory issues. Brad is with him and I'm on the way there now....We'd appreciate your prayers. God is sovereign. I'll update as soon as I can....
Jen

New pics, update

Friends and Family,



I wanted to give you a quick update on our family.



The boys continue to grow and fill our lives with joy each day. It seems like one or more of them does something new each day as they develop before our eyes. It is neat to see each one of them already going in different directions and doing different things.



We had our first virus/bacteria go through the house this weekend. Jen and I decided to take the boys to babies r us on Saturday afternoon so that we could pick up some things that we needed. These outings have all gone well so far, so we were excited to get out again. Well, the boys decided to make this trip a little more interesting. After about 20 minutes inside the store, I looked down and noticed that Isaac had spit up "cottage cheese" all over himself from his formula feeding two hours prior. I had never seen anything quite like this spit-up. It was not pleasant, but I was able to clean him up without having to change his clothes.



Next, I met back up with Jen on the other side of the store. Just as I approached her double stroller, I noticed Clark had just had a similar spit-up, only his was HUGE. It got all over the carseat, him, his clothes, etc. We had to pull him out and change him in order to get everything reasonalbly cleaned up. By the time we got all that done, it was time for the boys to eat.



Babies r us has a nice "mothers room" where you can feed your baby/babies. Jen and I took that room over and fed the boys there. After about a 40 minute feeding/scream fest, we were done and resumed our shopping. By the time we left the store it was almost 8pm and Jen and I were starved. We had underestimated how much time it would take to get in and out of the store, so we cancelled the rest of our plans and decided to hit the drive-thru and head for home.



When we arrived home, Brooks decided that he would join the fun and he spit-up all over his carseat and himself. During the 9pm feeding, Clark spit-up (projectile style) all over Jens shirt, the chair, her shorts, and even managed to get sprayed in the mouth.



After taking Brooks' temperature, we realized that our boys had been infected with our first bug! In some ways, we were releived that there was a reason for our crazy night, but we were disappointed that Brooks was sick. He had a temperature of 100.0 and was very fussy along with his brothers. Our doctor instructed us to take him to the hospital if it reached 101.0 or higher. Brooks was the only one to run a fever, but they all seemed to have it. At 3am, Brooks' temperature hit 101 and I headed to the hospital with him. The docs at the hospital took some blood, gave him an antibiotic shot, and sent us back home. Brooks has not run a fever since Sunday morning, so hopefully it was just a quick bug. They are all kind of congested, but nothing serious at this point.



Anyway, I just thought I would share a bit of the craziness with you. As for Brooks, he is now scheduled for hernia surgery on July 13th. After his sonogram, it was determined that the hernia does pose some risk to his health if left long-term, so they are going to fix it. We are a little nervous about it, but overall it is an easy surgery and should not be too risky. We would appreciate any prayers that could be offered on his behalf.



I have posted some new pictures below. I cannot tell you how fun the past few months have been for Jen and I. Yes, it is exhausting, but the rewards far outweigh the struggles with the daily grind. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for our family. We love you all.



Brad, Jen, Henry, Brooks, Clark, and Isaac