Keepin' It Real Rewinds 12

First Trimester:

Although it's a bit of a blur now, the uncertain days of the first trimester seemed to last a lifetime.  Every week, we returned to my RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) to complete blood work and count heartbeats while we held our breaths. Although we knew that one or more of the embryos disappearing or absorbing would be a more favorable outlook for the rest of the babies; We breathed a sigh of relief each time the fourth heartbeat was accounted for, knowing that God had chosen to sustain life yet another week.

Ultimately I chose to trust God's sovereignty in each of those growing little bodies, but I struggled every single day with our circumstances.  I attempted to prepare myself for the worst case scenario, yet I wanted to believe that God could save all of them. He was the God of miracles, right?  He would work all things according to His purpose. He promised to do so, but I wrestled with trusting Him completely.

Because of the increased risk due to the mono-mono complication and the fragility of a high order multiple pregnancy, we kept a very short-list of people who knew about our quadruplet pregnancy during the first trimester.  It was SUCH an involved, complex, emotionally-loaded, time consuming, conversation.  (In fact, I'm STILL explaining Monoamniotic Monochorionic Twins, over two years later!) The idea of triplets was daunting enough without throwing in another number and complication that we ourselves didn't understand completely. Looking back, would I let more people be "in the know"?  Perhaps. I think it was our coping strategy to deal with the exponential unknowns.

Physically, I was handling the demands of a multiple pregnancy incredibly well.  Although I dealt with serious fatigue and fell asleep to the music of Final Jeopardy most evenings, I was able to keep meals snacks down with ease.I even went the whole trimester without purchasing a single maternity clothing item. (Thanks to the rubber band trick I learned from Natalie!) Working my speech therapy job at the school was tiring, but I enjoyed the distraction of the kids, and the support of my colleagues. 

Towards the end of the first trimester, I was referred to our perinatologist, Dr. Sumners, who would take over my care exclusively.  If I remember correctly our initial appointment went well over 3 hours. (Our doctor was in an emergency c-section for a woman having her 14th baby. Apparently there's no stopping the fourteenth!) However, our prolonged wait was no accident. A photographer was in the office doing a shoot for an upcoming brochure, featuring 10 month old QUADRUPLETS on the cover!  While we waited, we were able to observe them interacting, and interrogate ask their mom a million questions about her own experience. We could hardly believe our eyes!  We barely knew quadruplets existed before now, and here they were right before our very eyes smiling, climbing, giggling, ALIVE and HEALTHY!  So incredibly healthy! 

Meeting Denise and her babies became our "living proof" that with God all things are possible and filled us with a new hope...

 

Keepin' It Real Rewinds 08

If you are new to 4tunate, you might be new to KIRR (Keepin' It Real Rewinds). I'm in the process of getting our story down on "paper", detailing our journey of infertility that led to an extreme high risk quadruplet pregnancy.  You can catch up on the Rewind Series HERE.

After finding out that we were positively pregnant, the two weeks that followed were pure bliss.  Although I knew my risk for miscarriage was elevated (due to my PCOS), it was a victory to know that my body was capable of becoming pregnant.  Regardless of whether we carried to a full term, I knew that God had granted our desire to become parents. We decided to keep the news between immediate family until our first ultrasound, and it was a joy to have such an intimate secret to share with loved ones. 

During our two week wait we had several conversations involving the "what if" questions. What IF there's more than one?  I purposefully tried to dismiss the idea of twins.  I desperately wanted children, so if that was God's way of accomplishing that desire, then I knew He would give me the grace, but honestly, I thought twins would be overwhelming.  I wanted to be able to give individual attention to one baby, instead of being an attention drawing family.  Hilarious, right?  Brad in his naivety, envisioned all the positives of having twins and became partial to the idea.  Fourteen days couldn't come quick enough...

The night before our first ultrasound, Brad and I went out of town for his cousins wedding. We celebrated the night together and with giddiness talked about our little "baby".

Singular.

However, the next day brought more than 1 surprise. Anxiously we gazed at the black and white screen as our nurse, Lisa scanned for a viable embryo. She was strangely and uncomfortably quiet as we waited for her to interpret what she was observing.  I vividly remember seeing what I thought was 2 sacks followed by silence that lingered for minutes. As I lay motionless on the table, Brad spoke up with, "What are you thinking, Lisa?" I'll never forget her quiet reply.

"I'm still counting."

Panic swept over me.  Was this some kind of bad dream?  Was I going to be the breaking news story of the evening?  "Woman becomes pregnant with 17 babies". I thought of the McCaughey septuplets. I thought about our normal little life as we knew it. 

Lisa left the room to get my doctor.  I knew this wasn't good news....

They were looking carefully at one of the sacks that appeared bigger and different than the others.  After examining it momentarily, they concluded that it was "just one".  I still didn't know the total count. 

"How many then?" 

"Three." "Triplets."

Although I was completely shocked (especially after having a conservative cycle with "2" viable eggs), I couldn't help but feel relief over the number 3.  Sure, this would be a higher risk pregnancy.  No, this wasn't what I had in mind. But three isn't that freakish of a number.

And I most certainly wouldn't make the six o'clock news...

1st Ultrasound August 7, 2006

"Triplets"

 

 

We're All (Infected) Ears!

5/8 quad-ears are "ILL" as the on-call pediatrician described them yesterday.  Henry has a double. We made 2 trips to the immediate care clinic. (Can you believe Brad hauled 3 of them there by HIMSELF? Yep, that's my man! Sorry, Babes, just had to tell on ya! It's quite impressive, after all!) 

Shortly after finding out we were expecting 4 babies, the thought of all of having 4 sick babies at the same time haunted me.  It has proven to be one of the most difficult aspects.

So we're resorting to some jammie time with Baby Einstein - Baby McDonald and Baby Noah to get us through the screams...

(Brooks was embarrassed of his puffy eyes and dark circles, so he asked to wear his shades, as a cover.)

And we have 4 bottles of "Pink Potion" (aka Amoxicillin) to hopefully get us over the high fevers, sore throats, and painful ears.

 

I really can't shouldn't complain.  This is our first official ear infection and with four 22 month olds, that's a pretty good track record.

HOWEVER, because I know that many of you are faithful to pray for our family (to which I am ETERNALLY grateful), I'm asking that you would specifically pray for us to get over this illness.  The last 4+ weeks we've been faced with high fevers, the Big "D", runny noses, wheezing, sore throats, coughing fits, you name it, and we are BUSHED!  I know things could be soooo much worse, we have SO MUCH to be grateful for, and in reality this is just a small little valley, but it has been a difficult trial, nonetheless.  I've been frequently reminded of James 1:2-3.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance."

Would you join us in praying that we would find "pure joy" amidst this minor trial and that we would persevere?  Thank you, friends!

If You Look Up Miserable in the Dictionary....

You might find an illustration similar to this picture of Brooks:

The boys (minus Isaac) have been suffering from a respiratory illness going on a week now. We'd like to kick it out of our house and home, but it keeps on lingering. Good news is their O2 saturations are well in the acceptable range (meaning no hospital visits), just lots of TEARS!

Our doctor's visit went well despite the shots, measurements, tears, and waiting (Doctor's offices are SWAMPED right now!) Here's the updated weights and since we have several math nerd readers (Jaimie),some extra stats to go with...

Henry 18lbs. 14oz. (6.9 x his original birth-weight)

Brooks 19lbs. 0oz. (6.3 x his original birth-weight)

Clark 20lbs. 6oz. (5.9 x his original birth-weight)

Isaac 22lbs. 1oz. (5.5 x his original birth-weight)

Quad-Pounder of Beef Total: 80lbs. 5oz (By next year they should out weigh me!)

You can compare their weights from their 9mo appointment here. Their growth rates have leveled out a bit since they are on the move, but they are doing GREAT! We always walk away encouraged (and wiped out) after our check-ups!

And some more pictures to document our 1 year appointment:

Henry

Isaac

Clark

Isaac

All Aboard! Next Stop: Pediatrician's Office

Choo! Choo! Here they are (front to back) Clark, Henry, Brooks, and Isaac sporting their Colts' Blue for Blue Friday. Hopefully our Colts can "chug" on to another victory on Sunday to make us a perfect "7" (7-0).

This is our new Choo-Choo Wagon. Do you like it? It was highly recommended from other higher order multiple families. We bought it for the boys for Christmas, but decided this was an occasion to try it out. It worked great since there's 4 of them and only 2 of us, and as you can imagine undressing, weighing/measuring, holding for the examination, getting shots, etc. takes a lot of effort! They were able to sit safely in their own car while they waited their turn. The only down side is, I think the wagon draws even more attention as our boys got their pictures taken 4 times in the doctor's office! They are so stinkin' cute in it, though, I have to admit! I can't blame them.

We have nothing but good news to report from our check-up. You can refer to our 7 month weight post to see their progress. Here's the latest weights:

Henry - 18 lbs. even

Brooks - 17 lbs. 11 oz.

Clark - 19 lbs even

Isaac - 21 lbs 9 oz!!!! (20 lbs is the 1 year goal)

Unbelievable! They are all on the charts for weight and are right on track or better for developmental milestones, especially for preemies! Our doctor was encouraged and amazed. We love that!

Here's Brooks waiting for his turn (Clark in the background looking embarrassed) Just want to kiss those cheeks!

Thanks for letting us share our great news! Go Colts!

With Love,

The Blue Crew

Scale Tippin' at 7 Months

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I interupt this post to inform you of some eventful news live from the Murray house. Brooks Layton Murray is exhibiting 2 lower teeth! They appear to be central incisors. That brings the Murray Quad Tooth Count to 4! Henry 2, Brooks 2. Stay tuned here to 4tunate as we bring live teeth updates, as they appear. Back to our regular posting....
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We had an awesome check-up on Friday. Our boys are growing and thriving - Praise be to God! Here are the updated weights in birth order:

Henry: 16lbs. 3oz. (2 lbs. 12 oz @birth)

Brooks: 15 lbs. 14 0z. (3lbs. @birth)

Clark: 16 lbs. 11oz. (3lbs. 7 oz @birth)

Isaac: 19 lbs. 3 oz!!!!! (4lbs @birth)

29% of you guessed correctly on Isaac's weight. Congratulations, winning voters, you get the joy of changing a dirty diaper of your choice redeemable any day of the week!

Everyone is on the growth charts for weight for actual age. A huge accomplishment, because usually they are still going by the adjusted age for charting (5 months vs. 7). Isaac is in the upper 50-75% for his actual age. Henry is not our "little Henry" anymore -he's passed up Brooks! Our doctor was quite pleased with everyone's progress and isn't referring us to any therapies at this time. It was a very encouraging appointment.

Our first shot at cereal was Saturday. It was pretty much a disaster, but last night showed measurable improvement. We are anxiously awaiting our feeding table to be shipped. A group of our volunteers went together to basically cover the cost for us to purchase one and now after trying to feed them in 4 bouncy seats on the floor, we are even more excited to use it (and so are our achin' backs)! I think it will be a HUGE blessing! Thank you to all of you who went together to make it possible, it was an incredible surprise. We'll post more pictures as our adventure in solid foods continues!

Also, we would continue to ask for your prayers for our family. We know that we are well "out of the woods" by now, but raising four babies is a challenge, especially as we are trying to feed 4 babies at the same time, and as I have less help coming in. We are definitely staying positive and LOVE this adventure, just pray that we would have strength, patience, endurance, and energy to run this race and for wisdom in upcoming decisions. We are soooo grateful for each of their lives and want to raise them to our best possible ability through God's power. Often, we catch ourselves trying to do so much on our own, without depending fully on HIM! This is how you could specifically be praying for us. Thank you so much, friends!

Isaac, Brooks, Henry, and Clark after their first attempt at semi-people food.

Next up, baths for every sticky one of you!

Clark's thoughts: "What's the big deal over eating by spoon? I'm all over it!"

We are SWEATY!!! PLEASE READ!!!!

Hey everyone....we have a prayer request/cry for help. Our air conditioner went out this afternoon. I know, crazy. We have 4 cryin' babies in a house that is getting pretty uncomfortable. We already have had a guy come look at our unit and unfortunately the ENTIRE unit needs replaced for about 2500 buckaroos and it won't be fixable until next week. The forecast is 90s all week long (see attachment below). We have our 6 month appointment on Friday, so I'm thinking sweaty kids getting shots is just not a fun picture. We are only telling you all this because we know we have a great audience with possible temporary solutions or at least a little relief for us. I'm not sure what to ask, but if you know any one with an extra window unit, someone out of town that needs a house sitter, fans, squirt guns, you fill in the blank. Me as a mom, I'm fighting a bit of panic, but I know that God is in control of this very situation. Thanks for your prayers and maybe sympathy. Just another bump in the road. We can do this!!!!!

A GINORMOUS Praise!!!!!

We went to the hospital today to have Brooks examined because Brad noticed that his hernia had really changed in appearance recently. We were hopeful that perhaps the severity had decreased and that we could postpone the surgery until Brooks was at least a year old, since he would have to go under general anesthesia and just the trauma of a surgery at his age. After talking to the surgical nurse, she assured us that it would be something to consider, but would be highly unlikely to get better or go away on its own. We really felt like since we have 3 other boys to compare him to, it would be worth looking into before taking him in Friday morning for surgery. We had awesome news after the pediatric urologist read the ultrasounds and examined our Brooks. Praise God - his hernia has disappeared! We are amazed once again that the God that we serve can do the IMPOSSIBLE! Thank you so much for your faithful prayers - we are so grateful!
Rejoicing Together,
Brad, Jen and the BOYZ

Adventures

The plan is to share this posting (this is Jen for now). Brad and I wanted to share with you one of our great outings with the boys. Who says if you have quads you have to stay cooped up forever?



Our afternoon started by making some wonderful visits with people we trusted with my life and the boys - literally. Our first stop: Dr. Sumner's office. Personally, I was thrilled to see so many of the staff that took care of these boys before birth. Their lives were valued highly and we are so appreciative and thankful for the care we received. I'm telling you, Dr. Sumner's is genious material (hopefully his head isn't getting bigger by this posting, if he happens to be reading - hahahaaaaa!). It's so strange to see this staff every week, and some of them everyday and then go 4 months without them! Introducing them to the boys was a real treat!




Dr. Sumners with our boys
I think the boys recognized Dr. Sumners from their birthday!





Since we were in the area, we decided to pop into the NICU to see if any of our nurses happened to be on shift. We saw some familiar faces there as well, including Nataline (Clark's primary nurse).


By then it was feeding time, so we headed to the lobby to feed, and there was Dr. Henry (my endocrinologist)and his wife. He happened to be there for a surgery. Very nice timing! His office is responsible for providing our stollers, which have been a huge blessing, as you can see.










Alright, I'll let Brad take it from here......


After leaving the hospital, Jen and I were trying to decide what to do. You see, our lives are now lived in 3 hour increments during the day. You plan everything you do around their feedings that begin at EXACTLY 9am,noon,3pm, 6pm, and 9pm. So, when we go out, it is usually right after a feeding and we either plan to be back by the next feeding, or we have to take one with us. What Jen wrote about above was timeframe number one. We fed the boys in the lobby of Women's hospital after coming down from the NICU. By the time they finished eating, spent some time talking with Dr. Henry, and got them loaded up, it was about 4pm.

We have two hours before we have to be home for their next feeding. One thing you do not want to do is be late for a feeding with four hungry boys in the van, that makes for a loud drive home! Since we already had the boys in the car, we wanted to try to do something else before heading home. We considered the drive thru, but as we passed Texas Roadhouse, my mouth started watering. Jen saw their sign that advertised two dinners for $13.99 before 5:30pm. In my head, I was thinking it would be nice to go out someplace and not eat in the car, but with four babies this seemed impossible. Then Jen said, "we could try it".

Thats all it took for me. I said, seriously? She nodded yes and I flipped a U-turn and went back. We then spend the next 5 minutes discussing how to get four carseats into the restaurant. We knew that the boys were sleeping, and as long as they stayed asleep, it could go really well, but we also knew that it could be a complete disaster with four little boys screaming at the top of their lungs.


Anyway, we went for it and they were angels! Isaac wasnt real happy with the country music when we first got in there, but he was back asleep in a minute or two. Jen and I ate in peace for the next 30 minutes or so, and our waiter helped us carry the boys back out to the van. It was just so great to push ourselves a little bit and get a little more confidence.

God has been so gracious to us in allowing us to figure out ways to get out and enjoy our boys. I cannot describe how much fun my life is right now. Many people comment on how difficult and hard it must be to have quads when we are out with them. But, what most people don't understand is how much fun they are missing out on. Yes, it is difficult sometimes, but I think for every difficulty that has been added to our lives, we are getting four times more joy out of too. So now, when people say that kind of stuff, I just think to myself how blessed I am to get to experience this awesome adventure that God has given us.

Murray Family Dinner

Steak Isaac?

Nuts boys? Come'on, they're free!

I told Henry he could order off the kids menu, but he fell asleep trying to decide.

Until our next adventure......(which begins at 9am sharp tomorrow morning!)

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

Bulkin' Up

Well, for those of you curious about weights we had our 4 month appointment on Friday and according to our pediatrician their gains are "phenomenal".

Henry: 11lbs 4oz (2lbs 12oz at birth)
Brooks: 11lbs 14oz (3lbs at birth)
Clark: 11lbs 14 oz (3lbs 7 oz at birth) - yes, Clark finally caught up to Brooks, he's been working hard since his hospital stay
Isaac: a whopping 14lbs (4lbs at birth) He's unashamed of his flabby thighs. =)

The shots went alright, just low grade fevers and a bit of fussiness. We were very encouraged by our pediatrician. They are truly doing great! God is gracious!

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deed which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3: 4-7






Isaac, Brooks, Henry and Clark all in their race attire in celebration last week for the Indy 500!

Catching You Up....

Alright, so where should I start?????? Let's just start with the boys and what they've been up to.....We have a doctor's appointment today, their 4 month appointment - can you believe it? 4 shots a piece for a grand total of 16 shots and 8 bandaides. Ouch! We will be Tylenoling (yes, it's now a verb) all night. There's a specific prayer request for ya! I'll try to get on and update you on weights. We look forward to that part!

Let's see....the boys are growing and are so much fun each day. Especially now that they are all smiling up a storm, it makes you feel like, "hey, he likes me". Everytime one of them smiles it makes my day over and over. What a blessing! They are sleeping about 9 hours on average a night, with an occasional pacifer run. Whoohooo! It was hard work, but it's now paying off. We are such better parents with a good nights sleep and we are so thankful for some real shut-eye! Their day consists of feedings every 3 hours, playtime, and naptime. They enjoy their bouncy seats, boppies, and gym mostly. Here's a short run down of what they are doing individually.

Henry: Henry has been showing that he still is the oldest by rolling over, (which is quite an accomplishment for a 2 month old (adjusted age)). He loves to do his trick in his bed, while he should be sleeping! Occasionally he rolls into his big brother Isaac, which he isn't too fond of, but we are keeping them in 2 cribs for as long as possible. The crib dividers maybe just around the corner, though. Henry smiles with his whole face - too cute. He has such a sweet personality.








This Henry right after he rolled over for the first time!



Brooks: Brooks continues to be laid back and go with the flow. He likes to smile most when you're feeding him, which is very cute, but a bit frustrating when you are trying to feed 4 babies! He's been figuring out how to bat at his toys and loves to look at his brothers. He curls up with Clark in the middle of the night - so cute!





Clark on the left, Brooks on the right. Yes, we really can tell them apart! Promise!








Clark: Clark loves to kick (this started way back in wombville). He was definately my most active one in there. He loves to hang upside down by kicking backwards in his boppie. He has a wonderful grin and is quite the happy boy when you wake him up from his nap. He has rolled over once in the boppie and once in his crib - we'll see if he keeps that up! He's also quite the cuddler.

Isaac: Isaac is the talker of the bunch. He makes noise from sleeping to waking. I'm thinking he might be immitating his cousin Jonathan. He loves to smile and coo at you while you talk to him. He just loves to eat! Isaac loves to be held and loved on.

Isaac showing off his big ole cheeks and no neck!




They each have their own personality, as you can see. Hope you enjoyed my little update.

More blogging later,
Quatro Mama and the Gang!

Out and about......

Friends and Family:

Our doctor gave us some exciting news this week......we can get the boys out more! Jen and I are excited for a weekend of warm weather. If you happen to be at a mall this weekend, you might even spot our boys and their double strollers running around the place! He cautioned us that we should not allow everyone to touch and pick them up, but we are just excited that we can begin to get them out more. (Although they have already been out many times for walks around our neighborhood and a few others, not to mention one trip to starbucks)

At their appointment, our boys surprised us again by their incredible growth and health.

Henry: 8lbs. 11oz.
(Henry is longer and thinner, so he fooled us. Jen guessed 7 something, I guessed 8 even, he is coming up on 9lbs.!)

Brooks: 9lbs. 8oz.

Clark: 9lbs. 1oz. (Clark is gaining on Brooks, they look more alike each day)

Isaac: 10lbs. 14oz. (I dont know if he is ever going to let everyone else catch up!)

We are really enjoying watching our boys start to smile and gain enough strength to hold up their own heads and move around a bit. It is so fun as you can tell they are seeing more and more of the world around them for the first time. Our boys all love our skylights and the ceiling fan that is between them. They stare at them in amazement everyday from the comfort of their boppy pillows/bouncy seats.

More later, thank you all for your continued prayers. Brooks has an ultrasound on Monday to ensure that his hernia does not need surgery to fix it. His urologist is confident that it will close on its own in the next year as long as no intestines are protruding through it. Please pray that this is the case and that we can avoid surgery once again! Our God is great!!

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

PS I was just informed that I had a setting messed up on this new blog that did not allow non-bloggers to leave a comment. This has been fixed, so you should be able to leave comments again if you have tried before.

Update:

Friends and Family:

Sorry it has been a while since the blog has been updated, but as you can imagine, the daily grind has taken most of our time recently. But, the pace has been tolerable thanks to a bunch of awesome help that we have received from many different places. Brownsburg schools employees and our church members along with some other friends and family have made the first couple weeks of caring for four babies a lot of fun. It is so awesome to have the reality of our four children in our home for the past two weeks. God has an great plan for these little guys and I am excited that the journey into their lives has begun.

Today, we went to the pediatrician for a check-up and the dreaded two month immunization shots. Each of our boys received four shots, two in each thigh and really did great with them. They each cried during the actual shot, but our nurse, Kim, did an skillful job of making it quick and they quickly settled down in our arms.

We also got new measurements and weights for our boys. They continue to have incredible growth and weight gain with each passing week. Our pediatrician, Dr. Kersteff, said that the goal is 1oz. per day average weight gain and our boys continue to average closer to 2oz. per day.

One minor setback was found with Brooks this morning. He appears to have a lower abdominal hernia that will need to be repaired. We are setting up an appointment to have him looked at in the very near future. This is not a serious problem and is causing Brooks no pain or ill effects, but it will need to be fixed soon. Please pray that this problem would have an easy solution and no other issues associated with it.

Ok, here are the weights as of 10am this morning:

Henry: 6lbs. 5oz.
Brooks: 7lbs. 15oz.
Clark: 6lbs. 7oz.
Isaac: 8lbs. 4oz.

I will try to get back on here and give you an update with a little more regularity, thank you for keeping up with, and praying for, our family!!

We love you all,

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