{Quad Squad} Gender Reveal!!!

It's the moment we've all been waiting for... what are the babies' genders!?!?

At last the husband and I got our answer this week—I was about 17.5 weeks along—and it was definitely not what we were expecting. 

So what are these (totally cute and adorable) quadparents having!?

Our first anatomy scan, which is a very in-depth ultrasound measuring and examining everything from the babies' eye sockets to their fingers and toes, gave us the final answer at last. We were so sure it was going to be two boys and two girls! My husband asked the technician to go back and be sure the boy was a boy, since it was the only one in the bunch! Turned out he was and turns out he's gonna be one spoiled little dude for having to put up with three sisters. It's definitely taken me some adjusting because I seriously thought we didn't have more than two girls in there. And I've always wanted boys when I finally decided to have babies. But I never expected the quadruplets either, so I'm learning to adapt!

We were both very excited and extremely anxious for the results of the anatomy scan. It looked for physical markers indicating potential issues like Down Syndrome and cleft lips, and also looked at the chambers of the hearts, the kidneys, stomachs, eye sockets, umbilical chords and so on. Through this ultrasound, they are able to measure their arms and legs, circumference, heads and all to determine the babies size and weight and that they are growing and developing on schedule. All four of our babies passed the scan with flying colors, no potential issues at this time and weighed in right about 1/2 pound each. This is great news!!! Their size, weights and developments are just where they should be. 

During all this, however, they also discovered that two of the girls may be identical twins. It's getting so crammed in there that it's hard to tell where the membranes and placentas start and end. Baby B (girl) and Baby C (boy) are clearly in their own placentas, meaning they are not identical to any of the other babies. Babies A and D (both girls) are a bit closer together and look suspiciously as though they may indeed be sharing a placenta. 

Twins are a risky pregnancy in general, though most people may not realize this. If they share the same umbilical chord, there are issues like blood passing from one twin into the other, growth restrictions because one takes up more nutrients, chords getting wrapped or tangled around one or both and more. So adding twins to a quadruplet pregnancy definitely isn't a walk in the park! It made me a little nervous, to be honest, especially since up to this point we thought each baby was in its own placenta. But the potential twins do have their own amniotic sacs (which holds the baby's fluid that it grows in, basically) and their own umbilical chords. Moving forward, the technicians will be focusing on the blood flow for each potential twin and their growth and development to be sure one isn't getting ahead of the other. One way or another, when these little kiddos are born we'll know for sure if there's twins in there or not!

The scan itself was an ordeal, I was on the table getting an ultrasound for nearly three and a half hours. They gave me two breaks, which I certainly needed, but it was still a long afternoon. We would have been done sooner, but the resident doctor wanted to come in and check the quads and that's when they began looking at the twin situation more in depth. My stomach was really sore afterward and into the entire next day (from getting poked and prodded with the ultrasound wand on my stomach) and I'm sure the babies had to feel it, too. 

Both the husband and I learned to speak up during our doctor appointments, especially when you're not dealing with your primary care doctor. Everyone from the technician to the resident doctor thought we'd done IVF, and three times we had to go over our medical history and correct them that we did an IUI. (You can read about our journey to quads here.) I also was glad I spoke up before the technician checked my cervix, as I had a cerclage (stitches) done over a month ago. She had no idea. Needless to say, we were both a bit frustrated as to why folks hadn't seemed to scan over my medical history and the facts about the pregnancy before just barging in and asking questions that didn't apply. So if you're ever dealing with this situation in any capacity, speak up!!!

Overall, though, everything turned out great and my cervix is closed and measuring long. I'm still learning about what all that truly means, but I know it indicates my body is definitely not preparing for delivery at this time. We need it to stay that way for awhile!

Here's some profile shots of the quadruplets:

Baby A, girl

 Baby B, girl

 Baby C, boy

Baby D, girl

Knowing these genders definitely makes it all the more real—as if my rapidly growing stomach wasn't enough evidence!! We are beginning to toss around some name ideas and we joke about which of the girls is kicking me in the ribs or poking me in the bladder, resulting in a bathroom break about every 30 minutes. There just ain't much room left in there! I seriously have no idea how I'll keep growing for two to three more months, I'm quickly coming up on the size of a full-term singleton pregnancy. But at least I'm dealing with less nausea these days. Eating is still hard because I either just don't feel like it or there's no room and I have to stop soon after I start. If I do eat a regular sized meal, I literally can't move for like two hours afterward because my stomach feels like it's going to pop!

I also have a home health care nurse coming to my house once a week to give me a progesterone injection near my hip bone. It's done with a long needle and is inserted straight into the muscle. I can feel the oily-like medicine going into the muscle, where it stays and slowly releases over the following seven days until time for the next shot. Immediately after the injection, it feels like a knot in my muscle and by the end of the day I don't notice it anymore. It's pretty amazing what these meds can do these days! Progesterone helps support the uterus and keep it strong, and I certainly need all the help I can get.

Okay, I believe my novel is now complete for the day. I've got some more posts I'm working on, including recaps of our three quad parties/showers and my 17 and 18 week pictures + a bare belly photo!! Oh yeah, you know you wanna see...

{Prego Pics} Growing Pains!

Just a quick look back on the last four months and how the quads have grown already!

And to think I've got roughly three more months to go. XXL sweat pants, here I come! :)

{Quad Squad} 16 weeks + Maternity Photos!

Well, folks, we've arrived at Week 16. Actually it's nearly 17 weeks now, so I'm a little behind posting but I've been keeping up my weekly prego pics to give you all a front row seat to the ever-growing behemoth that has become my stomach. Certain clothes seem to minimize the bump bulge, while others definitely enhance it!

We haven't had an ultrasound for nearly two weeks but are due up for one in a couple days and I'm, as always, anxious to see how our quadruplets are doing. New developments at this stage of the game include a bit less nausea (though not enough to abandon my meds), lots and lots of trouble sleeping and a growing tightness in my stomach. My belly button is threatening to pop out soon and my husband keeps asking if it hurts! I assure him my belly button is not the body part that hurts. I also can no longer see my feet when standing up straight. Though I'm still getting regular pedicures for everyone else who is privileged enough to have them in their sights. All vanity is not (yet) lost.

It might be time for a bare belly shot before long—especially while I'm still without stretch marks, which I know will set in sometime toward the last few weeks. It's amazing how much your body can handle. The quads underwent a growth spurt during the past week. How do I know this? Because my stomach began expanding at an alarming rate, my appetite increased and the tightness was at an all-time high as my body struggled to adjust. There's also been the introduction of other bodily woes, like head-to-toe aches and pains and constant exhaustion. Sometimes. I'm. Just. So. Tired. But then I remember I have four little people in there and my efforts to stave off a nap or an extra long "recline" in the recliner seem futile. 

Seeing myself in photos has taken quite the adjusting to. It's hard, sometimes, to believe I'm truly pregnant at all—much less with quadruplets. Certain days it feels like it's a weird dream or something. Other days, it's most definitely not a dream and I just want to punch the world in its face for how miserable I am and the constant advice strangers seem to want to give me. Unless you had quadruplets, lady-I'll-never-meet-again, back off! Like my husband said a few weeks ago, "God help the person who pisses you off on a bad day." Amen.

The emotional, tear-inducing breakdowns have now reached three in total. One occurring the day we found out about the quads and, naturally, I bawled wondering what the hell we were gonna do. The other two occurring from mere exhaustion and minor depression from being sick for so long. I am a huge advocate of embracing the way you feel, even when it's negative, and at least acknowledging those feelings, processing them and then picking yourself up and moving on. Thank God I've got a fantastic, helluva husband by my side who recognizes this and has been a great source of strength and support on those occasions that it all feels like just too much.

While we're on the subject of emotion, being scared seems to be an ongoing part of my journey as well. For any other moms of multiples out there, whether you've had them already or are currently pregnant with your multi-babies, I feel I should openly admit the sheer terror that fleetingly enters my thoughts on occasion. My personality doesn't dwell on it for the most part, but sometimes I feel the need to contemplate what's ahead and sort of steel myself for the upcoming events that I know will be ever so difficult. Fear for myself, my health, the babies, the awful possibilities... it's all very real and something I live with on a daily basis. Sometimes I wonder how I'll be able to physically handle what's to come, and other times I am simply amazed at how God enables my body to work all this out. And then once I realize the big picture will occur the way He has planned, I regain that calm and peace God has blessed me with through all this and return to my day-by-day journey, tackling 24 hours at a time.

A particular recent 24 hours involved a photo shoot of the husband and I to commemorate this special time in our lives—and the only time I ever plan to be pregnant! Plus, my doc is adamant about staying off my feet as much as possible so I wanted to get some photos done before it was too late. And I got too big. Because, really, who wants to look at photos of a whale in a dress?

But the important part is that I love these photos and have them printed and framed in an annoying quantity all over our house. They truly make me smile. :)

As always, thanks for reading along. 

Coming up next: quad party pics!

{Etsy} New jewelry items!

If you love a little bling, a pinch of turquoise and a dash of fun, then you'll want to check out my newly updated Etsy shop, Texas Take, for some brand new jewelry additions!

All my items are self-designed—meaning no one else is ever gonna show up to the party wearing the same necklace—and handmade. That means I string, cut, maneuver, ply, force, shape and crimp each item individually with my own hands, y'all. And it'd sure make a quad mamma's heart happy if you'd go check out my shop and maybe even purchase a piece or two. (Did I just play the quadruplet card? Oh, oops...sorta.)

And just because I think you're all so great, I'm gonna throw in free shipping on any orders you make between now and March 15. Just enter code TXTKSH at checkout to apply. Happy shopping!

The One Night Getaway

Sometimes you just have to get away. Even if it's not very far. I haven't been out of the house much due to feeling so badly most of the time and with not much energy to spare, my few outings are pretty limited. The husband has been very busy with work and then doing home improvements when he's around, trying hard to prepare for the arrival of our quads. Don't know what I'd do without him!

But we really just needed a break, a change of scenery and some one-on-one time together. So I was completely surprised and totally touched when he booked a hotel about 20 minutes away so we could enjoy a little in-town R&R. We watched movies on cable, lounged around in sweatpants, went to the hotel happy hour (mine wasn't quite so happy sans alcohol, of course!) and enjoyed a pasta dinner at Carabba's. I felt good all day yesterday and it was great. This morning we got up in time to catch the tail end of breakfast and I actually ate two plates full. An hour later, I wasn't doing so hot and ended up having to resort back to my Zofran for the nausea.

We did get some maternity photos done today, though, and they turned out simply amazing. (Except you'd never guess I totally threw up on the side of the road on the way to the shoot. It's a glamorous life, people, glamorous.) I knew I'd regret it if we didn't get some taken, since this will very likely be our one and only pregnancy! A good photographer friend of mine came to the rescue with our limited scheduling—my doc wouldn't approve of me traipsing around a photo shoot after February—and snapped some really cool portraits of the husband and me. I can't wait to show them to you all next week.

We will be busy preparing for our quad parties and showers the next two weekends, and are very excited to see our friends and family. Unfortunately, we are going two whole weeks without a doctor's appointment or an ultrasound, but after that we'll finally have an anatomy scan of the babies, which will reveal their genders and start giving us an idea of their developmental/health status. As I type this, I'm pretty sure I can feel one of them sweet little thangs in my ribs. Sleeping at night has become very uncomfortable—I can only lay on my side, which results in feeling like I'm squishing at least two other people and my stomach starts hurting so I have to move again. This cycle progresses into the wee hours while my husband manages to pass out, snore and acquire all kinds of magnificent REM cycles. Other than feeling the occasional movement "inside," I haven't felt anything more even though the husband is anxious to finally feel one of the babies move. I'm enjoying less movement while it lasts because I can only imagine what eight pairs of dancing feet will be like!

I am so thankful for my mom, all our parents, friends, neighbors and, most of all, my husband for being so awesome—even in these early stages. We still have (hopefully) three months of this pregnancy left and we've already received so much support. From people bringing food, helping move furniture, handing off clothes and supplies to my husband fetching water, popcicles, medicine, filling prescriptions, picking up smoothies, taking care of the pets and whisking me away to a hotel for the night. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.