{Quad Squad} One Month Photos!

I just had to share these as soon as possible. Some wonderful NICU nurses helped me take these photos at the hospital today since the quads just turned one month old!! I can't believe it's already been four weeks but I also can't believe that just four weeks ago I was pregnant with quadruplets! Now they are here and are all doing so well. The husband and I thank God for our little blessings every single day. Without further ado, here are the quad squad's one month photos! They appear in their birth order in all the pictures, left to right: Trystan, Kailey, Harrison and Logan. Their current weights are: Trystan 3lbs 13 oz, Kailey 3lbs 14 oz, Harrison 4lbs 9 oz and Logan 3 lbs 10 oz.

And because I know some of you are curious as to how the post-delivery body progress is going, I've got a picture below of me at 29 weeks with quads (five days before I delivered) on the left and four weeks post-quads on the right. I lost 32 pounds in the first two weeks and am steadily going down—in total, I'd gained around 50-55 pounds during the pregnancy. The main thing is the swelling in my stomach, every day it improves and gets a little smaller. I can't wait to wear things with a waist line again! I was also able to put on my wedding ring for the first time in months this morning so the swelling in my fingers and extremities has finally improved as well. It's all a work in progress!

Each day of that super intense pregnancy was completely and totally worth it for these four little miracle babies I get to hold in my arms every day! I'm working on a special video for the blog on our journey from start to finish and can't wait to share it with you!

Happy one month to our quad squad!

{Quad Squad} Hittin' the Bottle

These kids just keep progressing so fast I'm having to post another current update before I can even begin to backtrack and put together posts on the delivery, the first week in the NICU and our new hospital experience after I finally moved out of my room. But I suppose having continual good news to share is a blessing, so here goes!

Three out of our four quadlings are now in open cribs. When the babies first hit the NICU, they are kept in things called isolettes, which are temperature-controlled beds basically that are closed off to the outside world. It helps keep them warm and snug and almost gives them the privacy they need to adjust to life while such small, delicate little things. During any baby's stay in the NICU, they'll always have a temperature probe, respiratory, heart rate and SPO2 monitor attached to them. The first three are self explanatory, the SPO2 monitor uses a small red light taped to the bottom of their foot to measure the red blood cell count in their oxygen stream, which in turn relays how well they're breathing. This and the heart rate monitor become the most important numbers to watch with preemies, as they'll often experience "desats" when their oxygen level drops (could be that they're holding their breath because they're trying to poop, have dropped their chin or are simply very comfortable and sleepy) and bradys when their heart rate drops.

All three of our girls were given caffeine supplements for the past two weeks or so to help them have less of both of these common issues and Kailey has now been off her caffeine for nearly a week! She has a few desats now and then but has been doing very well. The other two, Logan and Trystan, will occasionally still have a brady but they are becoming fewer and further between so hopefully they can come off their caffeine in the near future. The goal for discharging babies is to reach the point where desats and bradys are no longer occurring, they are digesting all their food, they are feeding well on bottles around the clock, can maintain their temperatures and they've shown sufficient weight gain and growth.

So with the big moves to the cribs, three of our munchkins are doing very well out in the wide open and have been maintaing their temps like rock stars. Harrison, Kailey and Trystan are our crib babies and Logan probably won't be far behind. My little peanut is just a teeny thing so she needs a little more fat on her first! We were very excited, to say the least, to see these guys progress so rapidly yet again. They are only four weeks old today and have already come so far!

Currently, they are all working on bottle feeds. They start out with just one bottle per 24 hours (the rest of their feeds they still get through their feeding tube that's in their nose). It's purely exhausting for them starting out because they've never really used their chin and cheek muscles like this before and the swallowing action is completely new to them. It's common for it to take awhile for them to catch on, especially since they are so small and premature. Normally, bottle feedings are begun around 35 weeks gestational age but ours started a bit early at 34. They are all doing great! Trystan, Kailey and Logan have all managed to finish an entire bottle at least once and Trystan and Kailey now receive two bottle feedings per 24 hours. Harrison has consistently finished about 80% of his bottle feeding each time and I've no doubt he'll be chugging the rest down soon. Apparently he likes to eat with his eyes closed and you can try everything you can to "wake" him up but he simply can't be bothered. That boy is so laid back he cracks me up!

Here's a video of the little guy getting his first bottle feed from dad:

I know the spotlight has been on Harrison quite a bit with all he went through but now he's on an even keel with his sisters. Although it's a not-too-distant memory just yet, we can still quickly recall just how sick he was not long ago.

Our quads have also begun mastering the funniest faces and are pros at the scrunchy face. Here is Trystan (on the left) and Harrison giving it their best shot.

Well, it's time to get to the hospital and feed and love on my babies! Since they are four weeks today we are taking some adorable one month pictures and I can't wait to show y'all. It'll be the first one of all four together!

{Quad Squad} Three Weeks Old!

These days, I often find myself looking around our pod in the NICU at our four healthy little babies and I just can't believe I had quadruplets three weeks ago! They actually turned 33 weeks gestational age this Saturday and were born just over three weeks ago on May 31. Suddenly, the delivery seems like a dream and I gaze on each of our cute kiddos' faces and am so grateful God has blessed us with these miracles! Last week, they all reached their birth weights (babies can lose a bit of weight after birth and ours didn't take long to gain it back) and I tried to imagine them all back in my stomach. I have NO idea how they fit in the first place! I also didn't quite realize just how big I'd truly gotten. I only saw myself in a mirror now and then and I had gotten used to having such a big stomach that even in the final weeks, when it grew exponentially, I wasn't able to "see" the difference. It's amazing I didn't tip over on my face every time I stood up! Here is a photo about five days before I delivered...

Well, I've got lots of fun blog posts planned for the coming weeks. There's so much to share, especially the birth story!! I've been working on notes from that for awhile now. It's incredible how quickly the time flies at the moment. The husband and I spend all our extra time at the NICU with the babies, of course. I tend to be up there quite a bit during the day and he comes up after work. And the weekends are dedicated to visiting the NICU then trying to carve out a little time for us to go to dinner, catch a movie or do a few things around the house like set up cradle swings and pack-and-plays, wash baby clothes and organize bottles.

Last night, for instance, we stayed at the Ronald McDonald House down the hall from the NICU. They provide rooms during the day for parents to be able to take naps (perfect for when I'm up there 7-10 hours during a day) and then clean the rooms and reassign them for overnight stays. You put your name on the list and then the charge nurse makes up the final list based first on parents whose babies might be in delicate condition or who are preparing to take them home and then after that it's based on individual situations and needs. Having quads certainly earns us a stay now and then! It was great to be able to stay up late with the babies and we were even able to be right there when they moved Harrison from his isolette into an open crib!! Then we were able to run down and check on them for a second around 1am—Harrison was still doing great and all the girls were sleeping cozily—and then be there first thing in the morning. It enables us to get our visits in early and then head home and still have part of our afternoon left.

We stopped by our local Mexican restaurant for a late lunch and a margarita. Okay, so I had a margarita and a beer... and it may have been one drink too many! I got a little excited and ended up not feeling so hot when we got home. So one drink limit it is, lol. Probably best anyway since I'm currently breast pumping to be sure the babies get milk while they're in the NICU and are so little and young. I have to work pretty hard at it and it pains me to have to pump and dump after a drink (even though sometimes it's worth it!). Pumping has been exhausting and, while I have no intentions of being able to feed four babies and I have no problem with them getting formula, it's just important to me to do what I can for these early, early days.

But back to the BIG news—the babies!! They are doing so incredibly great. Many of you are probably wondering about Harrison and we simply cannot believe how fast he's made a comeback. Two weeks ago, my husband and I were crying our eyes out by his bedside as he dealt with some major lung issues, a brain bleed and a PDA in his heart (a partially closed valve) as well as pulmonary hypertension. You can read all about it in my last post. They are all common issues that preemies often face but poor Harrison kept getting hit with one after the other. At last they got him stabilized and then he really began impressing the socks off everyone. Sunday was his worst day when it all started and by that Thursday, he was off his ventilator!! They put him on a high flow nasal canula, the little tubes that stick in your nose, to help keep his oxygen flowing but it wasn't actually providing him oxygen or working his lungs. He was doing all that very well! Then a few days later, he kept pulling the canula out and sticking it in his mouth so the docs decided to let him try out breathing completely on his own. On top of that, two days ago he got his PICC line removed (a long term IV basically) so now he has no more needles or IV's! Just a feeding tube and his monitors like his sisters! Then last night, they made the big transition from his isolette into an open crib. We were very proud parents to say the least!! He has done so well in it, too, maintaing his body temp with the help of an extra blanket here and there. He'll likely start learning to nipple feed soon, followed by bottles.

All the quads have had their feeding tubes moved from their mouths to their noses to enable them to better practice sucking on their pacifiers, which will in turn prepare them to learn how to nipple and use the bottle. They are all mostly getting my breast milk fortified with extra calories, and it's supplemented with high calorie formula specifically for preemies/low birth weight infants as needed. It's hard to keep up with four hungry babies! Harrison has passed up his sisters already and is currently eating the most and still weighs the most. Here are their current weights:

Harrison, 4lbs1oz

Kailey, 3lbs9oz

Trystan, 3lbs6oz

Logan, 3lbs4oz

We are quite pleased that all the girls topped three pounds within three weeks of birth and they are steadily progressing toward four pounds. Harrison fits perfectly into his preemie outfits and will have to graduate to newborn sizes before long, while the girls have to room to grow in their preemie getup. But they're all so cute and are now wearing clothes every day, I love it! The girls still have some more weight to gain before they can be considered for open cribs but I've no doubt they'll be there soon.

LOGAN

KAILEY

TRYSTAN

HARRISON (Before getting his PICC line out)

It's been a really great week and a good weekend. My mom and my sister drove in town to see all the quads and yesterday they were ALL FOUR held at the same time! It was great, myself, the husband, my mom and my sister each had a baby in our arms. Plenty to go around! It was the same today once they met us at the NICU and I just loved seeing all our babies out of their beds and getting loved on together. We are so blessed!

I appreciate each of your prayers and your continued support of our growing "instant" family. I couldn't imagine my life without a single one of these kids. I am so proud of my body for growing these four amazing babies and I'm thankful for a fantastic supportive husband, for our wonderful families and for the privilege God entrusted us with of raising quadruplets. More posts to come, so stay tuned! :)

{Quad Squad} Living on a Prayer

At last I'm back on the blog to update everyone on the quad's progress in the NICU—and to share a Father's Day shout out to my wonderful husband! It's been a whirlwind two weeks and last Sunday was an awful day we'll never forget. We came close to losing Harrison and the doctors weren't sure why he wasn't responding to their efforts to improve his breathing and calm him down. He had to be reintubated twice (put back on the ventilator, which involves a sizeable tube down his throat into his lungs), had two blood transfusions, was on blood pressure medication, morphine, sedation meds, received hand pumped oxygen at one point and more. At last they added nitric oxide, which was fed through the ventilator, and he began responding. Whether it was the latter or simply the overall combination of their efforts, we're still not sure. But by the end of Sunday he had made a tiny improvement and we felt hope.

As the days progressed last week, so did Harrison. He fought back against each and every challenge, continuing to amaze us, the nurses and the doctors with his strength and determination. Even when he was heavily sedated, he could still flutter his eyelids open momentarily and look at you or squeeze my finger when I held his hand. In turn, it squeezed my heart so violently and I never wished more that I could take a sickness away from someone and bear it myself. I hated seeing Harrison struggling so much, his tiny little body was dealing with an immense amount.

As with any beneficial treatment, there are still risks and being on the ventilator did cause some damage to his lungs. He formed blebs, which are air bubbles or pockets, inside the lungs. It's impossible for the doctors to get to these unless the blebs burst, at which point they can then drain them. His was also still dealing with a pneuomthorax (air pocket) outside his lungs on the right side. This is the second pneumo he's had, the previous one was on his left side. To treat this, they insert a tiny tube in the side of chest that slowly drains the air. By late last week, his x-ray's showed the blebs might be decreasing in size and that the pneumo was also reducing. We were thrilled when they took the chest tube out and even more excited when they took him off the ventilator on Thursday and moved him on to a high flow nasal canula!!! This is similar to the little oxygen tubes that stick up your nose a bit. It provides a high flow of oxygen into his lungs but allows him to do the breathing work on his own. He breathes a little hard now and then but he's done very well. And they are not providing him any additional oxygen, his body is processing and inhaling enough on its own. He just needs the air flow to keep things moving. Hopefully in a couple weeks, his lungs will be even stronger and able to accommodate his breathing without any assistance.

With all this improvement, Harrison was able to start feeds again yesterday. If the babies aren't getting milk or formula, they rely on what's called a TPN, an IV that delivers nutrients to the baby so that they aren't going without. He was also receiving lipids, or fat, as well. But now he's on mommy's milk, which he receives through his feeding tube, and I think he's thrilled to be eating. The doctors have even mentioned trying him out on the bottle soon—he loves his pacifier and chomps on it all day long!

In addition to his breathing and keeping an eye on the progression of his lungs, Harrison is working on morphine withdrawals right now, which we hope will pass in a few more days. After two weeks on the medication and varying amounts of doses, his body now has to readjust to living without it. Again, this is part of the "normal" process and that whole "risk versus benefit" balance that NICU babies often face. He gets tremors in his legs and arms from the withdrawals, so they've been giving him either a teeny dose of the sedative he was on or, like last night, a minuscule dose of the morphine to help him along and keep him comfortable as his body re-calibrates. I hate seeing him shake, I know it's exhausting for him. Fortunately, after the single morphine dose they gave him last night he was able to sleep soundly and get some rest. He's been doing really well and I finally got to hold him the other day after waiting 15 days!!! It was the sweetest moment getting to cradle my little boy in my arms at last.

To go from no kids to four kids and then to deal with the thought of losing one within two weeks of having them is something I'll never forget. I'd never felt the kind of sorrow I did last Sunday. My husband and I sat and spoke to the doctor, cried together, stayed by Harrison's bedside hour after hour, met with more doctors and took solace once again in each other as we prayed for our baby boy. Then something amazing happened. I decided to post a status update on Facebook for the family since we were too emotional to make phone calls or answer text messages. Within minutes, that single status update had ignited a powerful prayer chain that spread like wildfire. My family was sharing the status updates that I was posting regularly now to keep everyone informed. In turn, their friends were sharing the news and so were friends of their friends and friends of their friends. Entire offices, churches and more were asked to pray for Harrison's health. My mom updated my blog for me as well, and I began receiving comments and emails that many of you wonderful readers were praying for my son as were friends of yours and friends of those friends. The chain just kept spreading, it was amazing the lengths it was reaching so quickly. Just hours from my first update hundreds of thousands of people were praying for little Harrison. And that's probably about the time we saw a glimmer of hope. Both my husband and I get teary-eyed when we think about all the guardian angels that must have been standing over our baby boy, and all the countless prayer warriors that fervently sought our God's grace and healing power over him. For any of you reading this, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining together in prayer and lifting Harrison up. We know he's going to be an incredibly strong and amazing boy!

*dabbing my eyes with Kleenex*

Whew, lots of emotion already! Meanwhile, the girls are simply doing amazing. They continue to make strides every day, increasing their feed amounts, gaining weight, working on their pacifiers and watching everything going on with adorably wide eyes. Kailey has taken the lead on her feed amounts and is up to 28cc I believe, and has also topped three pounds weighing in at 3lb 1oz. Right behind her is Trystan at 2lb 14oz and Logan is about 2lb 10oz. For being a person that wished for three boys and a girl and instead was blessed with three girls and a boy, I sure do love those little gals. They are fireballs!

TRYSTAN

LOGAN

KAILEY

They've also gained a reputation for being pooping machines. Such tiny little things and so much crap! It's a good sign, though, so mom and dad will take it! One recent, ahem, event resulted in Trystan projectile pooping on me twice while trying to change her diaper which then resulted in a bath. It was my first one to give! She was adorable (once I got the nasty stuff cleaned up!) and just watched me with those big ol' eyes the whole time. Seeing her naked she looked like a little peanut, so cute! She only got fussy toward the end when she was getting a little cold then we wrapped her up in warm blankets and she loved it. By the time the nurse got her situated back in bed, she was completely content and back to watching the world through those beautiful eyes. 

And last but not least, I want to take a quick moment to tell my husband (and, well, all of you!) just how incredible and amazing he is. During my 57 days spent in the hospital he never faltered. He came up to see me every single day, bringing food, entertainment, comforts from home and more. He has kept such a strong spirit, supporting me through the pregnancy and is the reason I was able to keep my sanity and my eye on the goal.

Now that our babies are here, he's transitioned into the role of a father so wonderfully. He loves his little quad squad. Seeing those girls grab onto his finger so tightly or watching him comfort his son during his moment of need have been such heart throbbing moments for me. I feel privileged to have him as my husband and as the father to my children. He hasn't complained once about continuing to take care of me as I recover and he still drives up to the hospital every day to see his kids. I can't wait until they start coming home and we can enjoy our new "instant family" together!

Happy (first) Father's Day to my husband, I love you!

Update From Amber......

I am Amber's mom and she asked me to pop over and post the latest update on the Quad Squad.

Harrison is resting well today and is much calmer. He's back to holding mommy's hand, something he wanted no part of the last two days since he felt so bad. His vent settings are very low, which is fantastic, and they hope to take out his chest tube tomorrow then slowly progress from there. I love my strong little boy!

I love how Harrison holds onto Amber's hand. These babies know their mother!!

You will be happy to know that Amber and Mike have not lost their sense of humor even though they are under intense stress and tired to the bone.

Here are Amber's comments from last night:

We are beginning to slowly feel a little more confident about Harrison, though still extremely cautious as they prepare to wean back on some of the things added to his care in the past few days. I am so nervous about him relapsing. His oxygen level on the vent is 21%, equivalent to breathing room air. They've come down on his vent settings, are lowering his morphine, slowly cutting back on the nit...ric oxide, discontinued his antibiotics and are considering removing his chest tube soon. His lungs are still very weak so that is a big hurdle we've yet to clear. Girls are doing wonderful, Kailey has surpassed her sisters in the eating department and is now inhaling 26cc per feeding. That's a lot for a little 2lb11ouncer! She also managed to take a crap yesterday that nearly cleared the room. They had to fan the smell out of her isolette. Needless to say, Mike was appalled at his little girl. Ah, parenthood. Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

While Amber is spending most of her time with her precious babies in the NICU, she did want to let everyone know how they are doing.

We all thank you for the continued prayer support! It has made all the difference!

{Quad Squad} Breathing again...

I am so glad my mom was able to share a post for me yesterday, things got really intense. When we got to the NICU about 11am we were worried Harrison may not even make it. At last his little body began to respond once they started feeding some nitric oxide through the ventilator. This helped open up the blood vessels around his lungs, which had basically clenched up. His lungs are so underdeveloped that they are comparable to those of a 24 weeker, the doc said, despite being born at 29w5d. He's also developed sir pockets inside his lungs, but today they appear to be smaller. And the pneumothorax on his right side (air pocket outside the lung) is slowly decreasing via the chest tube they placed several days ago.

While these are considered "normal" issues for a preemie, he's dealing with a more extreme case of delicate lungs in addition to several other complications. The docs are keeping an eye on the PDA in his heart, a valve that hasn't properly closed. We can hope he grows out of this. And last week, a head ultrasound revealed he had a grade two brain bleed (on a scale where 4 is the highest) on the left side of his brain. Today they check on it and I'm so nervous. High levels of oxygen, trauma and stress can cause these to worsen...all things he's experienced in the past week. My husband and I have been by his bedside since yesterday and are at least glad that he's more stable now. One thing at a time...

Meanwhile, two of the girls had their head ultrasounds and came back negative for brain bleeds. Thank God! The third little gal has hers checked out today. All three are nearing or have passed their birth weights, so now their feeds will be increased based on their weight as they worry about nothing but growing!

The NICU life is certainly a roller coaster. We were prepared for some issues, but definitely not so many and all on one baby. My heart aches for Harrison, I wish I could just scoop him up and take all this away. But he's so strong, even the nurses are amazed. When they had to paralyze for awhile yesterday he was still winking his eyes and scrunching his face. Gosh, I love that little boy...

*UPDATE: Harrison's ECHO showed the PDA in his heart is small and not a primary concern right now. And his brain bleed appears to be resolving, plus all three of the girls are in the CLEAR!!! THANK GOD!

To close, here's a photo of Kailey who wiggled out of her bed and was asleep on her head! It was a good laugh amidst all the stress.

A Message From Amber.......

 I am Amber's mom and she asked me to post an update for her on the Quad Squad.

I am going to quote her updates from Facebook strating with the first one this morning:

 Just got a call from the doctor, Harrison isn't doing very well. Last night they put him through a lot...his umbilical IV was too close to his liver so they had to take that out and poke him several times to get a PICC line in. Then they had to reintubate him as the ventilator tube was too high. Around 2am he pulled it out. So now he is back on the oscillator and basically being sedated/paralyzed because he is fighting it. I am so worried about him, I am beside myself. Headed to the NICU now...

Basically he wasn't responding to their efforts, but they finally got him somewhat stable on the ventilator. There are lots of variables and several things going on.....bleeding in the lungs, air outside the lungs, brain bleed and heart murmur, possible infection. Everything is related to the lungs so it is a balancing act. Any one of the issues above could be treated individually but all at once is difficult.


Then later this afternoon we had this more encouraging report:

Harrison has finally shown a little improvement after having to hand pump oxygen then switching up ventilators. For some reason he just hadn't responded to anything. But now he has some bleeding in his lungs, which they are assuming is from his heart PDA, a valve that hasn't properly closed due to prematurity. He is no longer having to be paralyzed but is still being kept on morphine. The room is ...quiet and they are trying to keep things calm so he will stabilize. Still has chest tube for the pneumothorax in his right side and he's now accumulated pockets of air in his lungs. He still has a heart murmur and we are hoping none of this has caused his brain bleed to worsen. He's also getting a blood transfusion to make up for all that he's lost from getting it drawn for tests. Tomorrow we find out more about the PDA and they will follow up on the brain bleed with another ultrasound. Thank you SO much for the prayers, we are trusting Him to lead us all through this.

Then at 3:00 this afternoon......

They have him on a blood transfusion,nitric oxide, the ventilator, morphine, versed, fluids, TPN, and antibiotics. He is responding well right now and continues to be a fighter. It's a great improvement from this morning.

Needless to say this has been the hardest day ever.

The babies are now 10 days old and the girls continue to thrive. They have only feeding tubes and monitors......NO IVs!!! Totally amazing!! They are doing excellent on their feedings and taking up to 17 cc's per feeding.

The babies are all together in the same pod now which is excellent for the parents as well as the babies.

 Amber and Mike barely leave the pod. They have a room at the Ronald McDonald House which is right down the hall for tonight. It is a comfort to them to be able to stay close to all the babies but especially Harrison at this time.

'The Husband's'  (I love how she refers to Mike in that manner!) brother brought them fresh clothing and some food this evening so they do not have to make a running trip home and back. Thank goodness for family who live in town!

Harrison has an in house team of doctors and his own individual nurse keeping watch. They are doing an amazing job. Of course, Harrison is an amazing baby boy and is a fighter just like his parents!

Amber and Mike are staying strong for their babies and appreciative of the outpouring of support and prayers for their quad squad!

I will close with a picture of them as they took comfort in holding two of their girls.

Thank you for every single prayer for them! The World of Blog and Facebook has been THE best prayer chain EVER!

*Updated at 9:00 pm Sunday night......

We continue to be so thankful for all your prayers. Harrison is finally beginning to stabilize and all his vitals returning to more acceptable ranges. We are staying in a room at the Ronald McDonald house down the hall so hoping he continues to improve. Still walking a fine line with more tests and results tomorrow on other issues he's battling. He normally holds my hand but is getting upset at noise and any sort of stimulation right now, so we just stand at his bedside talking to him and praying.

Also Logan - who is the smallest! - is taking in the most at her feedings! She is now up to 22 cc's!!! As concerned as we all are about Harrison - it is such a blessing the girls are doing so well.

{Quad Squad} My Birthday with the Babies!

Amazingly enough, my quadruplets are one week old now. And even more amazing was the fact that I just turned 27 years old and celebrated one of my best and most memorable birthdays by sleeping in my bed for the first night home from the hospital after 57 days and then getting to spend an entire afternoon with my four babies. Four! They are all so perfect and beautiful and I just can't get enough of them!

First, my mom helped me get ready then she took me to lunch at Olive Garden. It was my first time to eat a restaurant or even a real table, for that matter, since Easter weekend! Then we headed to the NICU, where a wonderful surprise was waiting. All the nurses told me happy birthday then directed my attention to the best card ever, made by Casey, my social worker at the hospital. She's really awesome and has been there for me all along my hospital stay—and continues to be as she guides my husband and I through the NICU experience and makes my day with such thoughtful gestures!

Talk about a forever keepsake. That card rocks! And to make things even better, I got to hold two of my girls together today. Trystan and Kailey each took up an arm and the hour I had them passed by so quickly. They would pry their eyes open and stare at me for awhile and I'd stare back at them, telling them all about how adorable they are and how great they're doing. Then they both konked out and slept while I just sat mesmerized by one, then I'd turn my head and admire the other. These kids are truly perfect in every way!

Holding Trystan and Kailey together for the first time.

Kailey all snuggled into her super cute hat that the husband's aunt hand-crocheted.

Logan Lee, chilling back under the lights with her shades on.

Our strong boy, Harrison, holding my hand.

It has already been a roller coaster ride and I've been more emotional since getting discharged from the hospital yesterday than I have this entire pregnancy. I truly thought I wouldn't miss any of it but I do miss having the babies in my stomach and I miss having all my wonderful nurses around to take care of me. There was a bit of fear and trepidation about going home after being on bed rest and hospitalized for so long. But I know I need to take the first step toward recovery and that's getting home, getting rested and getting some sense of a normal life back, however fleeting it may be.

Leaving the hospital and headed home!

After getting home from the NICU this evening, I was getting ready for my bed when my husband came walking in with a small German chocolate cake lit with 27 candles! He sang to me and let me make a wish as I blew out the candles. I am truly so appreciative of this man in my life, he has constantly amazed me as to how well he's stepped up to the plate for this blessing of a challenge in our lives. I have no doubt that we'll make it work and have a lot of frustrations and hilarious moments once we get these babies home!

We've already had good days and bad days in the NICU, and I'll get into all the quads current states and updates soon. I'm also working on a post about the birth story—it was an intense experience and a lot of action! Plus, I've got a gazillion photos to share and will try to start posting more regularly... or at least as well as one can when one has four brand new babies in the NICU, a big ol' c-section recovery and a fairly active schedule going to and from the hospital. It's only the beginning. :)