200th Post

4tunate is celebrating it's 200th Post! Who would have thought this little blog of prayer requests and doctor's visit updates would turn into such an addiction? A HUGE THANK YOU to you, our faithful readers, for your encouragement, prayers, friendly advice, and laughs along the way. I've gained great friendships through blogging and it's been a great way to document our adventures in parenting multiples. Most importantly, we enjoy sharing the story of what God has done and continues to do in our lives. It's all because of His amazing grace.....

Take a look at our visitor map -Africa you need to step it up! =) You international "lurkers" thought you were secretly watching...but we've got our eye on you too! =)

Top 10 Countries in Love with the Murray Crew:
1. United States 2. Canada 3. Austrailia 4. United Kingdom 5. Sweden 6. Thailand 7. Germany 8. Spain 9. New Zealand 10. South Africa

And now for the 50 Nifty United States....

The Top 10 States in Love with the Murray Crew:
1. Indiana 2. Texas (it's a close 2nd, thanks Texans!) 3. Illinois 4. California 5. Tennessee 6. Ohio 7. New York 8. Alabama 9. Georgia 10. Michigan

I think there's a future competition/contest looming here....anyone game?

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures.....

And now, what you all have been waiting for.....Pictures!!

Clark and Brooks, looking a little more alike all the time now that we finally have good ole' Clark home where he belongs, growing and trying to catch his chubby brother Brooks! :)

Clark.....with his fuzzy hair right after his first real bath!

Clark.....sleeping

Henry....sleeping

Henry, Isaac, and Brooks before Clark came home.

Henry and Clark

This picture taken by the Hendricks Co. Flyer

See article @: http://www.flyergroup.com/local/local_story_075163531.html

Murray boodies!

Brooks and Clark, finally together again!!

Sharing....this is something the Murray boys are going to learn to love!

(Isaac, Clark, Brooks, Henry)

Clark...sleeping...ain't he cute? :)

Isaac....chillin

From left: Isaac, Clark, Brooks, and Henry

This is right after we got home from the hospital and had all four for the first time!

Henry....yawning...

From left: Isaac, Clark, Brooks, and Henry

Clark.....thinking...

Clark....sleeping.....

Our Family of 6 is Complete!

Friends and Family,

Wednesday evening we finally went up and got Clark and brought him home! We are so excited to finally have our family at home complete. After over two months in the hospital, we finally have no reason to go to St. Vincent Women's Hospital anymore. We want to thank everyone at the hospital for the amazing care that Jen and the boys received.

We took our first trip out with all four boys yesterday since Clark got home. The boys went to the pediatrician for a check-up and weight check. Our boys are thriving and continuing to gain weight.

Updated Weights:

Isaac: 6lbs. 13oz.
Brooks: 5lbs. 11oz.
Clark: 5lbs. 1oz.
Henry: 5lbs. 3oz.

This will be the final post for this blog. We are so thankful for everyone who has followed our progress here for the past 7 months. God is so gracious and continues to provide in amazing ways for our family. If you would like to continue to follow our family, please check out our new blogspot, I will be posting pictures there in the near future.

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Praise and H-E-L-P!!!

Friends and Family,

First, we want to praise our God for the amazing work He has done in allowing our boys to develop quickly enough to come home before their due date. It is truly amazing to bring all four of my boys home without any monitors or other assistance. Our doctors tell us that they plan to send Clark home to complete our family sometime tomorrow. This is just simply amazing. My son Clark, who came so near to death a few days into life, is coming home more than two weeks before his due date!!

Also, we are so thankful as we prepare to bring Clark home that our family, church, and co-workers are beginning to pitch in and help us get through these rough early months. We already have many, many people signed up to take shifts, day and night, for the coming weeks and months. I would like to specifically thank Carolyn Terry and Cindy Hamilton for their organizing work to begin this journey, we would have very little done without them.

I wanted to come back again and extend an invitation to any of you who would like to take a shift to help take care of our boys and have not been contacted about doing so. Please e-mail me and give me your phone number, and I will pass that on to the ladies mentioned above. We need a few more people to ensure that Jen has help during the day so that I can return to work, and we are also accepting evening and night help from those of you who are willing.

Please e-mail me at bradley.g.murray[at]gmail [dot]com to be added to the list. Please be sure to include your name, phone number, and the times of the week/day that you might be available to help.

Thank you all so much!

(Post copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Oh What a Night!

Well, after leaving the grandmas and aunt Kristy in charge for the night to go and pick up Henry, we soon realized we were in for quite a night! Brad and I decided to go by Babies R Us before picking up the little guy to look for a rocker/glider, since we just can't keep the Hurt's recliner forever. (Thanks Dan and Karen, it's been a true comfort to all of us!). No luck on that - where do you buy a good nursery rocker, anyway?

Well, on our way out of the parking lot, Brad noticed a strange noise coming from our van. He pulled back into the parking lot to take a better listen....We really should have video taped this for you all to get a hoot out of....well, when he went to pull the key out of the ignition the car kept RUNNING!!!! That is NOT normal! He put the key back in the ignition in the start position and it shut off and then it would not restart.

Making an incredibly long story brief, we had to call a tow truck (by the way, the cars on the northside must not break down, because it's impossible to find a tow truck up there! - must be all those Beemers and Lexus'). Kristy came in our car to pick us up, we threw all the "stuff" into the car, strapped in the car seat and finally headed to get our little Henry. I think he thought we had forgotten him. We finally arrived home around 10:30.From there until about 3:30 we had a crying fest between the 2 alumni (Brooks and Isaac) until my mom used her g-ma magic and got them settled. I think they were just missing Clark. =)

Anyway, it was quite eventful, which I think has just now become the theme of our lives!

More adventures later,
Quatro Mama

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Our Little Henry is Coming Home!!!!

Friends and Family:

Awesome news to share with you, Henry is coming home!! They told us last night that Henry was ready to join us in Pittsboro today! We are so excited to get this much closer to having our family all together. God has been so incredible in supplying our every need the past few weeks as we learn to care for babies for the first time. We are ready and waiting for our little Henry to come home to us tonight.

Could you pray that the transition would go smoothly for him and for us? We are handling two babies pretty well now, so we are hoping that Henry will now fit right into the schedule. Please also pray that Clark would join us soon also. Clark continues to have digestive issues, but will hopefully come home in the next week or two if those clear up as they expect them to. The doctors recently took him off of his feedings for a few days to give his intestines a rest. They have now resumed a full feeding schedule for him and hope that his body will begin to function correctly after this rest. I guess I think of it like your computer locking up. You have to shut it down and let it cool off, then restart and hope for the best. Hopefully Clark just needed a restart!

Thank you all for your prayers, support, and help with physical needs.

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

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

New Murray Blog Spot

I was so tired of seeing the word "triplet" in our blog address, I decided we would start a new chapter, at a new address, when the boys all get home. Once Clark gets home, this will be the new location where you can follow our family. (Referring to our old blog www.triplet-update.blogspot.com that tells our pregnancy journey, the miracle birth of our quadruplets, and our stay in the NICU. I am so glad there was yet another blessing inside my belly, instead of "just" triplets!)

Update in the Madness....

Hey everyone,

Sorry that I have not updated the blog in a while, as you can imagine, life is much different in the Murray house these days! Brooks and Isaac are thriving at home, gaining weight, and sleeping really well so far. We are so thankful to have two of our little boys home with us. It has been a long time coming and we are loving taking care of them. Each day has been a little better and we are getting just enough sleep to get by.

Henry and Clark continue to hang out at the hospital for the time being. Henry is doing great, should be home in the next week or two. Henry is taking most of his food by bottle now, but still requires the occasional tube feed, so he will remain in the hospital until he can stay awake for all eight feeds per day.

Clark is still the one that needs your prayers the most. Clark continues to have digestive problems with his intestines. They had to stop his feedings completely in the last few days due to loops in his intestines that were bloated. The doctors had to place a new IV line to give him fluids in the meantime. They have now put him back on minimum feeds, but are doing a series of tests to try to find the root of his problem. Please pray that Clark would make a final recovery and come home to us as soon as possible.

On a lighter note, we were blessed beyond our imaginations yesterday evening when Jen's parents brought gifts from a shower held for us at Calvary Baptist Church in Danville, Illinois. They filled our living room with gifts yesterday evening for our boys. This is just one more example of the amazing provision that God is providing for our family. Jen and I have not been able to keep up with all of you who have blessed us in various ways in the past few weeks since the boys were home. The cards, gifts, food, love, and prayers that have been offered has been amazing. We are so far behind on thank you notes at this point, that I am absolutely certain that we are going to miss some people in thanking them for their generosity. We do want to thank each of you individually, but for those of you that we miss, thank you very much. We are more thankful than we will ever be able to express to each of you.

-To our parents, siblings, great grandparents, and extended family: Thank you for your never ending support and help.

-The Bible Church of Brownsburg: You are the reason that we know that we will be okay. Your continued support and prayer is priceless. It is exciting to have such a great body of believers to support our boys growth.

-Teachers at Brown Elementary, thank you so much for the money you raised, we could not believe how generous all of you were, thank you!

-Brownsburg Teachers in general, you are an amazing group, thank you for your support.

-Calvary Baptist Church: I have never seen such a faithful group of prayer warriors.

There are so many of you to thank that I could not possible list you all. To all of you who have been so helpful and generous, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we love you all!

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

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Brooks and Isaac are HOME!!!

Hey all,

Not much time, but I wanted to post a quick message to tell you all that Isaac and Brooks made it home last night at about 8pm. Jen and I decided we wanted to spend our first night home with the boys alone, but after one very fun and exciting night, Jen's mom is coming up this afternoon to give us a hand.

It is an amazing joy to have two of our boys home so quickly, we are praising God for this amazing day in our lives.

Please pray for Henry and Clark. They are doing well so far, but need to begin gaining weight and eating better. They are really having trouble getting them to gain, so we ask you to join us in going to the Great Physician to allow them to begin to grow as needed.

Thank you all, here is our first complete family picture since the boys were born, then one of Brooks and Isaac when they got home.

First Family Photo!



Brooks (left) and Isaac (right)

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Coming Home????

Hey all,

So sorry that I have not been on to update in a while.

Awesome news flash: We may have two of our boys home within the next two days!! Isaac and Brooks are doing so well, that they are going to come home more than a month before their due date, praise God!!! This is only a guess, but it looks like Clark and Henry will be home within a week or two of their brothers.

God continues to do amazing work in the lives of our little boys. Please pray that they come home soon, and pray that God would give Jen and I the strength and wisdom to care for our little boys. Also, praise God, Jen's fever broke and as of this morning, she has gone more than 36 hours without a fever! Looks like God may have healed her up just in time. She is still very weak from 12 weeks of bed rest, so please pray that God completely heals her and gives her some renewed strength.

Due to the short notice of their homecoming, we are going to have to get our help lined up. Cindy H., if you read this, give me a call sometime on the cell phone if you still have that number, Kirb and Sally have it if you do not.

We are so excited. Thank you all for praying!

Brad, Jen, and the miraculous quads!

(Post copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Could We Ask for Your Prayers....Again???

Hey everyone! It's Friday - celebrate! It's Jen writing...Brad took off today from work and is making yet another Walgreens run. We totally should have bought some stock in them. I unfortunately am fighting yet another infection (most likely my uterus) with fever and the whole bit. It's hard to not be discouraged after feeling so well the last 2 weeks. Again it's keeping me from the boys much more than I like and just wearing on Brad and I both. I'm on 2 antibiotics and will be getting an ultrasound next week to see what's going on, but in the mean time we were shocked with the mention of the possibility of 2 of the boys coming home early to mid of this coming week. (They also may show a stubborn spell and take their time for a few more weeks.) We cannot wait to bring them home and have them with us all the time, but needless to say, it was a little bit surprising. We knew the boys were doing well for 32 weekers, but didn't realize they were doing this outstanding! The Lord our God is awesome! Would you please pray that I could make more of a recovery before the boys are sent home? We are asking for strength and wisdom as we face a new phase of this awesome adventure. Also, that we would be able to get some things ready and make some serious Target/Babies R Us runs before the hand-off? We continue to be amazed, blessed, and elated by your outpouring of support and generosity. There is no adequate way of thanking each of you here on earth.

Also, I'd like to say a Happy late Bday to my sweet man. (Feb. 21st) I know that his celebration kinda got lost in the craziness of me being sick and the boys. It would take me days to try and describe his goodness to me. What an example he has been of "how to love your wife as Christ loves the church"! He truly has completely given up himself to care for the boys and I. It's so exciting to see him already as an amazing father. These boys are blessed through God's grace.

In addition it's my parent's 50th anniversary today. WOW!!!! They have truly shown us their love for us through this journey and we are so thankful for their life example. Congratulations Ed and Janet! I'm sorry that we can't be there to throw a big bash for you today. We have the whole year to celebrate, right?

Again, thank you for your prayers and continued care for our big family.

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Another Praise...

Friends and Family,

I wanted to give you all a quick update. Once again, it seems as though God has chosen to answer our prayers with a "YES". Clark's last x-ray showed a significant improvement in his intestines and they were finally able to get things moving with him last night also! It looks as though he will begin to be given milk again today. They will be starting him very slowly and watching him as his digestive tract starts back up again. Please pray that his body would be able to handle the food better this time.

Thank you all, to God be the glory!

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Please Pray...

Family and Friends,

Sorry I have not updated you the last few days, but I have a couple prayer requests for you tonight.

First, Jen started having some severe pain last night that has come and gone throughout the night and day today. Her doctor is aware of the issue and we are keeping him up to date on it. Please pray that her pain would go away soon. Our God has brought us through so much, and we know that He will bring us through this too. But, please, in the mean time, pray for relief for Jen along with peace and endurance as she just tries to get through this time. Please pray that this pain would not lead to anything further and full recovery is just around the corner.

Second, Clark is having some problems again. This time, it is his intestines. A portion of his intestinal tract is dilated and not moving enough. They have taken him off of feedings and placed a line to deliver IV fluids again. He is in no immediate danger, but if the condition continued or worsened, it could be very serious. Please pray that his intestines would get moving again soon and that God would heal our son once again. Clark may not be able to eat again for a while, so please pray that God would comfort him as he deals with hunger.

Thank you all so much for being faithful to pray for our family. God has blessed us with so many of you to pray for us, thank you for the encouragement. Here are some updated pictures for you!

Jen holding two at once for the first time!!
(Isaac and Henry)

Isaac (2.19.07)

Clark (2.19.07)

Brooks (2.19.07)

Henry (2.19.07)

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogpspot.com)

Weights Update

Hello Everyone,

We wanted to give you all an update on the boy’s growth over the past two weeks. Can you believe it? Tomorrow will be the boys two week birthday!!

Henry
Birth weight: 2lbs. 12oz.
Weight today: 3lbs. 7oz. (wow!)

Brooks
Birth weight: 3lbs.
Weight today: 3lbs. 7 oz.

Clark
Birth weight: 3lbs. 7 oz.
Weight today: 3lbs. 12oz.

Isaac
Birth weight: 4lbs.
Weight today: 4lbs. 8oz.

Henry has grown the most because he was able to start his feedings the earliest. Clark and Isaac are now taking all of their nutrition from milk through a tube that runs down their throat and into their stomach, no IV’s! Henry and Brooks are still on IV fluids but are digesting milk well and should be off their IV fluids in the next few days. Then, the next big hurdle will be learning to eat by mouth. Please be praying for this. Our nurses have told us that for some reason, white males typically have the hardest time learning this skill. This is hard to believe because as a white male, I know we have no problems eating later in life!!

More later….

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

NICU Pictures

Friends and Family,

I wanted to let you all know that tomorrow our boys will be in the Hendricks County portion of the Indianapolis star. So, you will have to be in Hendricks county to get it, but hopefully we can get out to get a copy. Also, I assume it will also be on www.indystar.com in the Hendricks county portion.

In the interim, here are some new pictures of our little boys!

This is our little Henry. (2/12/07)

Brooks already likes to smile (2/12/07)

Clark (aka Superman) (2/12/07)

Isaac decided to open his eyes for this picture, very exciting!! (2/12/07)

This is Henry five minutes after birth (2/2/07)

This is Brooks five minutes after birth. (2/2/07)

Clark right after birth. (2/2/07)

Isaac, our big boy, right after birth. (2/2/07)

Mommy holding Brooks for the first time! (2/6/07)

Mommy very excited about finally getting to hold one of her sons, Brooks. (2/6/07)


Proud papa, I only wish I could hold all four at once!! (2/6/07)

(Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Snowed in, but Resting...

It's Jen writing again.....Not too much to report today, which is great news, actually! Everyone is increasing their feedings and tolerating them well. (Which is keeping me busy, I might add. Even if I am snowed in! =) ) Isaac is getting very close to trying out an open crib - which is quite exciting. Since he's our chubby one, he should be able to maintain his body temp better than his brothers.

I'm definitely missing them today, but I know that this is a great chance for me to rest and recover. I'm still experiencing some incisional annoyances, so I'm hoping by laying low, it will heal faster. So far, recovery is much easier than my trans abdominal cerclage surgery. I think mostly because I'm not growing and stretching this time and because of your prayers.
Brad got a snow day today as well, so it's been nice to get some things caught up around the house. Living at the hospital for over a month makes for a lot of things to put back in place. My mom is here hunkering down with us. She's been such a blessing! We're really keeping her busy with laundry, since the boys are wearing clothes now in the NICU. Talk about cuteness!
Also, for those of you wondering about the monos in the pic below - Brooks and Clark were the troublemakers. However, as you can probably tell, Isaac and Clark definitely have some major resemblances. It's gonna be a challenge!

Thanks to all who have called and emailed - I'm sorry I can't get back to every single one of you at this point, but please do not be offended. It's just a bit crazy these days. Also, if you are wondering about getting a thank you note from me, please be patient and merciful. I'm still working on ones from my December 23rd shower. I'm not quite sure how I'll ever catch up, but please know that we are so incredibly thankful for EVERYTHING! It's been amazing and overwhelming. Once again, God is faithful!

Quick Update and a Group Picture (sorta)....

Hey all,

Jen and the boys continue to do very well. Now we just wait for the boys to begin to maintain their own body temperatures, and learn to eat without a feeding tube. Please be praying for that. Also, pray that this crazy snow storm doesn't keep up from seeing our precious boys for too long!

New Pic:

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Clark's Superman Recovery Story

Everyone,

Just a quick update, and a piece of new information that I forgot to mention three days ago.....Jen is home!!

We just had some of our best friends call to see if it would be a good time to come by and see Jen at the hospital. These friends are faithful blog readers, so this confused me. But, now I realize that I never told you all this bit of info! Jen and I spent our third night at home last night, and it is just wonderful. We are certainly torn between here at the hospital, but it is so nice to sleep in our own bed in the peace and quite of home. (I know, the peace and quiet part is almost over.)

Please pray for Henry this morning. Henry is having 2-3 heart rate dips per hour right now. This is not a critical problem, and is very common with preemie's, but is a problem that he will have to overcome none the less. Please pray that little Henry's brain would remember to tell his heart to beat all the time, not just some of the time!

I want to clarify Clark's story a little bit for you today too. On the night that Clark was at his worst, his doctors thought that there was a realistic chance that he would not make it through the night. They had maxed out all of the medication to improve his condition, and all of their efforts were failing. Jen needed to go 24 hours without an infection before she would be allowed into the NICU to see the boys. But, at midnight, the NP who was in charge of Clark's care came to our room to speak with us. She told us that she had been given permission to break the rule so that Jen could go up to see Clark. She was fearful that if Jen did not go get to see him that night, she may never get to see him alive. Clark finally turned to corner about 30 minutes after his mom got to see him for the first time. They still don't know what made him so sick, and they are even more confused about how he has made such a rapid recovery, but we know that God answered our prayers for healing.

I only share this with you so that you all know just how miraculous Clark's recovery was. His nurses and doctors were very grim about his condition, but God had other plans for his life.

We love you all,

Brad, Jen, and the Blue Crew

(Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

Miracles and the Media...

Family and Friends,

Just a quick update, then we are off to the NICU/ Press room. Channel 8 and the Indy Star are coming out tonight to do a story on the miraculous work that God has done in this pregnancy. Would you pray with us that God would be glorified through this story? We will update you when we find out when these stories will show up in the media. We do already know that our story will show up Wednesday in the West Side edition of the Indy Star. Channel 8 is still unsure about when they will air our story.

Also, Henry and Brooks continue to thrive, while Clark and Isaac have made miraculous improvements! We now have four boys who are breathing with absolutely no assistance!! Also, Isaac’s PDA heart valve has closed without surgery, and according to initial tests, so has Clark’s!

God is to be given the glory for the amazing recovery our boys have made from these difficult circumstances. The NICU deserves some credit as well, they are getting wonderful care. Praise God for providing such wonderful people to care for our precious little boys!

More later…..

Brad, Jen, and the Blue Crew

(Post Copied from www.triplet-update.blogspot.com)

4 Days Old!

What an amazing day!!!!! This is JEN (aka quatro mama)writing!!! I was so excited to update you all for the first time in months. (It helps that I can actually fit a computer on my lap now. My ridiculously HUGE belly kept me from that for months!)

First to update you on CLARK....He has had his best day ever. So great, in fact that they couldn't keep up with his progress. He was switched back to the "regular" vent today, weened off all blood pressure medicine, and his ventilator settings are turned to low (meaning mostly room air). He is also off the paralytic medicine and off the billirubin lights. (Although I must admit it was pretty cute to have all 4 of them lit up in blue for the Colts game!) Please continue to pray - there is still some danger ahead we are afraid for this little guy, because of his heart valve and the fact that they have not diagnosed what has caused his trouble. Perhaps this will be another unexplainable work that God will show Himself through, as the doctors and nurses cannot explain what has caused him to improve so much today.

Now to ISAAC.....He was taken off the vent this morning and put on C-PAP. Brad was able to help keep him calm during the transition process, therefore they didn't have to sedate him. Brad was able to place his hands under his head and on top of his precious body and rock him gently in his hands for about a 1/2 hour. He calmed down in his hands. What a sweet memory! Isaac is also off the billirubin lights. The only stinky news is that Isaac also has the unclosed heart valve and started his medicine tonight. Will you pray that Clark and Issac both respond to this treatment and will not have to have heart surgery?

HENRY...I like to call him King Henry, because although he's the little guy he's the show off. Today was my first day due to my fever being down for 24 hours to be able to touch our kids, and Henry fell first in line. I can't describe how precious his little head was to touch.


BROOKS....Best part of the day. I was able to hold my own sweet Brooks tonight. He even showed Mommy and Daddy his pretty eyes
for quite sometime. Then as he got snuggled in those eyes got too heavy to keep open and he fell right to sleep in mama's arms. Daddy got his snuggle time next. I cannot describe the sweetness of those 20 minutes.

An update on me.....I will most likely be released tomorrow, if my blood pressure is not too high and as long as I'm not getting too faintish because of my low blood count levels. (Sometime I'll have to fill you in on an interesting story this morning of trying to sit in the laundry basket in the bathroom because I was passing out - what an adventure this all has been!) I cannot believe that I have been here in the hospital for over 4 1/2 weeks! Please pray for me during this transition home and as Brad and I are away from our boys. We know that we cannot be with them here constantly - so please pray that we are able to leave them in the great care they are in and for me to start this recovery process from such an extreme pregnancy. My body has quite a bit of adjusting to do after going through the war. (I've already lost over 35lbs in 4 days, though, so perhaps I sho