Dear Winter,

Dear Winter,

We've had enough of your shenanigans.  The only thing nice you've given us is a few precious pictures of cuddly sick ones.  We anxiously await your departure.

Yours UN-truly,

The Crew

 

Pictures from a Low-Key 2nd Birthday

 

First of all to update you on Clark-man.  He's doing really really well.  Improving everyday.  It's amazing how resilient kids are. Henry, Isaac, and Brooks are all on the mend as well.  All that's left on the sick list is Brad and Jen, and we are both hoping tomorrow will be our "turn the corner" day.

Yesterday was pretty much a just get through it, survival day, but we tried to make the best of it.  The boys liked being sung "Happy Birthday" to individually several times during the day. And they did eat some birthday cake, thanks to our friend Cindy who dropped this masterpiece by:

:

During their nap, Brad ventured out to buy the boys something to open for their birthday.  He came home with new toothbrushes, $1 flashlights, a Little Tykes basketball hoop, and 4 Nerf balls (since the basketball hoop only included one - and you know that wouldn't fly in our house!)  They were more than satisfied with their last minute presents.

This is the only time mama is happy about us "ripping one". - Clark

"Check out my hang time!" - Isaac

"Who cares about hang time when you can have air time!" - Brooks

I wrote their birthday greeting in the snow.  It might have been more elaborate if it weren't for the crusty snow and my hands going numb.

But you know what they say about presents at this age....the box is sometimes as good as the present itself!

"Maybe someday I'll be as big as this box." - Henry

"Finally some privacy!"  - Brooks

"This makes for a really comfy bed, Henry."  - Isaac

Smile if you think you're a goober.

Never too sick to eat cake!

Bigger celebration to come....

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!

(Update) The Incredible Hulk

Update: We've received word that the shots will be delivered to our door between 4-5pm this afternoon. We aren't holding our breath, but it looks like this might just happen! Brad, you deserve a trip to Hawaii for this one! Wish I could send us! =) He has spent HOURS fighting for these shots - shows how much he loves his boys! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement - this really is a BIG DEAL! -Jen

Hey blog world, this is Brad.

Jen took this picture of me earlier tonight while I was on the phone with insurance trying to get RSV shots....yes, I was angry!

My company, Woolpert, changed insurance at the turn of the year. This started the whole approval process for Synagis all over again. Praise God, we have secured approval for Synagis shots, but are really having trouble actually getting them here. Synagis for this month alone will cost over $10,000 and comes from a specialty pharmacy which must be mail-ordered.

I will not go into all of the details, but any of you who have dealt with large insurance companies know that it takes an act of God Himself to get things to work out in a timely manner!

Our nurse told us today that they are seeing a lot of RSV cases right now, so this is a very bad time for our boys to be late getting these vital shots. (Click here to learn about RSV)

Seriously, could you stop and pray that we would be able to get these shots tomorrow (Tuesday) so as not to make them any later? The specialty pharmacy my insurance uses happens to be in Indianapolis, so we are pushing for a same-day delivery to our doctor tomorrow.

Please pray!

Brad (aka quatro papa)

Is it the Stripes or Do I Really Look This Big?

(Pictured from Left to Right: Clark, Henry, Isaac, and Brooks)

Has anyone seen our four little babies? Maybe it's just the stripes making them look bigger. Perhaps if they had on vertical stripes they wouldn't look so much like little boys.

A Few Updates on the Little Munchkins....

Henry - 4 Teeth, Loves to Shout "DaDa!" at Everything, Stands for about 4-5 Seconds before Realizing that He's Standing Alone and Panics

Isaac - 2 Teeth, Suddenly is Motivated to Get Mobile, Loves To Clap when We Say "Yay", Occasionally Teases Me with a "MaMa", but Mostly Loves Yelling "BOB" (we just don't know who Bob is)

Clark - 5 Teeth (Wow), Loves to Attack Whoever is Sitting on the Floor, Plays "So Big" with Mama and Daddy (He's yet to show off for anyone else, so we end up looking like liars)

Brooks - 4 Teeth, aka Speedy because He Sprint Crawls, Super Observant (which keeps me on my toes)

For you math majors that brings our "Official Tooth Count" to 15! Now, that's a mouth full!

1 Month Down, 5 to Go for no Rotten Stinky Virus (RSV)! We get the next round of shots on Thursday.

I think does it for the scoop on the Murray Crew......Keep on sending those great Christmas Traditions (see previous post). I'm getting a great list together that I look forward to sharing.....

A Personalized Message from Peyton Manning: Rub Some Dirt On It....or maybe not

Well, just in case we do come down with the "Rotten Stinky Virus" or any other one for that matter Peyton Manning has given us a personalized message of encouragement. Click on the link to see his pep talk.

Click Here to See Peyton's Message

Perhaps "rubbing dirt on it" has caused The RSV? Interesting concept....Thanks, Peyton.

In all seriousness, I wanted to give an RSV shot update, since so many of you have been praying. Your prayers are so appreciated! It really has been a run for our money - literally. I could go on for pages and pages...but here's the Cliff Notes version:

Brad has spent HOURS (no exaggeration) duking it out with insurance, pharmacies, customer service reps, advocacy groups, etc. I know that he has been able to endure this because of his love for his boys and his desire for them to be protected. Due to his perseverance, our boys should be getting their Synagis shots this evening. (Our nurse, Kim, is coming to our house to give the boys their shots so we don't have have to expose our boys to more germs in the office - Talk about going above and beyond!) That's all pending, of course, upon the shots arriving at our doctor's office. We really are to the point that we'll believe it when we see it. We wouldn't be surprised if FedEx goes on strike and refuses to make deliveries. That's just how crazy the last week has been! Regretfully, this may not be the end of the battle as we learned that Brad's work (that has agreed to approve us) will be completely changing to a new insurance company at the beginning of the year, thus we may have to repeat the entire process. Phewwww...We are ready for a vacation!

However, in the midst all of this ciaos, we have to praise God. None of this has been a surprise to Him! Looking back we see His provision when we thought it was impossible to get approved and yet another lesson in trusting Him. He has heard and answered our prayers!

Here are some verses that have been an encouragement to me this week:

Philippians 4: 4-7 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Matthew 6:25, 34 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?.... "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Comic Relief....

RSV has given us enough grief this week and we haven't even contracted it (see our previous post)! With all the calling to insurance companies, doctor's offices, emailing other parents of preemies, etc. we were ready for some comic relief. Thanks, Brooks, for "diving in" to help us out!

I am a mean father, I know, but when I looked up to see what Brooks was crying about, I almost fell over laughing. I had to run and get the camera before I helped him out!

P.S. Coming up this week we will be unveiling our new project mentioned previously. In fact, Jen hopes to deliver a package this weekend related to it! What could it be? Stay tuned......

RSV = Rotten Stinky Virus

Well, I've shed some tears today after being DENIED our Synagis shots for RSV. For those of you unfamiliar with RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) let me do my best to explain.....
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Update: Great news!! After being denied by our secondary insurance, which we were assured was the best route to take for approval, I was informed this morning that our primary health network does not make the final decision on these matters, and it appears we may get these shots covered afterall!! It will still cost us over $2,000 for the year, but this is much better than $38,000. Please keep praying, we are not declaring victory yet, but it appears we may get these covered. Thank you for praying and for all the helpful suggestions, we love you all!!

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Like the flu or common cold, RSV is a seasonal virus. It starts NOW and continues into about April. It's common and easily spread infecting nearly all children by the age of 2.

Most kids (born at full-term) develop moderate - severe cold like symptoms, but due to preemies fragile, less developed lungs and lower immune system they are at increased risk for developing severe RSV infection leading to severe lung infection (ie: pneumonia), life-threatening breathing problems, hospitalization, etc.

Let's take a look at the risk factors.....

• Premature birth (35 wks or less) - CHECK


• Heart disease - NOPE


• Lung Issues - Clark had respiratory distress and Isaac was ventalated as well


• Being Around Other Children - It's nearly impossible to find help without kids, but we are trying


• Family History of Asthma - Don't think so...


• Exposure to tobacco smoke - NOPE


• Low Birth weight (less than 5.5 lbs) - CHECK, CHECK, CHECK, CHECK


• Multiple Births - Ah, YEAH

So obviously we meet plenty of risk factors, yet we are being denied because we don't smoke, don't take our kids to daycare, and our kids are "too healthy". I'm thrilled that they are healthy, but we'd like to think that having the Synagis shot has had something to do with that!

Synagis is the only approved medicine to protect from the severity of RSV, which is the #1 cause of hospitalization in babies under one year. However, if we paid for the shots on our own it would cost us $6400 dollars per month for a grand total of over $38,000. Yes, 38 GRAND! This just isn't possible for our income. We are still working the system to see if we can get approved, but it's not looking too promising at this time. If anyone reading has any advise, or info. we gain from similar experiences or connections, please let us know through a comment or email.

What does this mean for us if we don't get approved? More isolation - which has been a blow today, just to be honest. After months of bedrest, hospitalization, then the NICU, then staying home to protect the little guys, and staying away from church, family gatherings, holidays, etc. it's hard to think about being cooped up for the next 6-7 months. I'm more than ready to have a more "normal" life. However, I know that God is sovereign in ALL things and I can bank on that.

Would you join us in praying for a few things?

1. Ultimately, that we would be approved for the Synagis shots
   
2. For wisdom in deciding how much isolation is sufficient
   
3. Contentment in all circumstances and outcomes
   
4. That God would continue to protect our boys and that we would trust Him over and over again with their lives. They are yours, Lord

Sorry that this was not my typical light-hearted post. Just keepin' it real.....I am overwhelmingly grateful for 4 healthy boys and all that God has provided thus far. Blogging helps remind me of this much is true!

Illustations and data taken from www.synagis.com