Life in the NICU

As you know from the THEY'RE HERE!!!! post, the delivery went great.  After delivery however, my body went into shock.  I started to shake and could not stop. They had given me medicine (don't ask what it was!) to help regulate my body, but I swear I felt like I was going to die.  It took about 3 1/2 hours for me to settle down (in the mean time,  Charlie had been seeing to the babies and taking our family that had come to the hospital in and out of the NICU) and once I was stable, they wheeled me over to see the babies.  What an incredible experience!   

The next 3 1/2 weeks seemed to fly by.  I was released from the hospital on 11/26, 5 days after the arrival.  Since Charlie's base is only a few blocks from the hospital, he would go up before work, during lunch, and after work.  I took a few days to gather strength and recuperate, and before we knew it, every day was spent in the NICU.  We didn't do a great job at keeping track of their daily accomplishments, but they were sure making them!  The nurses and doctors were amazed at how well they did and at how quickly they were advancing.  

In order to come home, there were certain milestones they had to reach, and they were able to reach them all within 3 1/2 weeks.  First was to maintain their body temperature outside of the isolette.  Slowly the nurses would increase their feeds and lower the temperature inside.  Pretty soon all the "tops were popped" on the isolettes and everyone was in open cribs.  They also had to remember to breathe.  Often times preemies are born with what's called apnea of prematurity, which basically means their nervous and muscular systems aren't quite developed and so they forget to breathe, causing the blood oxygen level to fall which then slows the heart.  Whew!  That was a mouthful!  Anyway, this wasn't an issue with anyone, so that was already checked off the list.  The other milestone they had to reach was to eat all of their feeds by mouth while still gaining weight.  By December 6th, everyone was ready to start bottle/breast feeds.  At this point they had reached 35 weeks gestation and were developing the coordination of suck, swallow, breathe.  We were excited and started counting days until they could come home!  

Addison

Mason

That pretty much sums up the stay in the NICU.  We were/are sooo thankful for all of our favorite nurses that took such great care of our miracles and that we had such a smooth journey in the hospital.  Here are some of our favorite pics!

Mikayla

Andrew

And finally, on the way out on our last day, we wiped their names off the board...FOREVER!!!!

32 weeks and 5 days later...THEY'RE HERE!!!!

Delivery Day!

It's a go time!

THEY'RE HERE!!!!  So, here's how it all went down.  I was miserable (don't let the smile fool you!).  Let me repeat...I WAS MISERABLE.  To be clear, not only was I miserable, everyone around me was too.  I'll be honest, I was a bear.  (But, to my defense, I had FOUR babies in my belly and I was HUGE.  The day before delivery, I stepped on the scale and weighed 198 pounds.  ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHT POUNDS.  That totaled a 75 pound weight gain and let me tell you, it wasn't all in the belly, I really plumped up.)  For the past two weeks, I had been having contractions but since they weren't associated with any pain and I wasn't dilating, on we went.  Since the babies were thriving and the preeclampsia was under control, our doctor didn't set a delivery date and wanted me to keep going until we had a reason to deliver (a REAL reason, apparently misery didn't count!).  Really though, I think if I pushed, I could have convinced him to let me deliver; but, knowing that every day I kept them in was three days they weren't in the NICU was enough motivation to keep going.

On the afternoon of November 20th, in walks Dr. Silver and tells me he had a proposition.  He was leaving town for two weeks and said that if I could wait until he returned, I could pick a day, any day, and he would deliver.  Finally.  Light at the end of the tunnel.  12/12/12 was going to be the day.  It was 3 weeks away and by then I would be 35 weeks and 5 days along.  So that was our new goal.  I could do this!  However, later that evening, I wasn't so sure.  I lost it.  I called my mom bawling, telling her I couldn't do this.  I was breaking down physically AND mentally.  She listened, and as usual found some comforting words to settle me down.  Told me that we would take one day at a time and that she would go to the store in the morning and bring me some new clothes, (throughout the pregnancy, I out-grew Charlie's, both brother-in-laws, and my dad's clothing; I was so cheap, I wouldn't spend money on prego clothes because the plan was to NEVER be pregnant again!) a Jamba Juice and some lunch from wherever I wanted.  In the meantime, and although he won't admit it, I'm positive poor Charlie was just as miserable as I was.  One second I was bawling and snapping at him, the next I was motivated to keep these babies growing.

November 21, 2012.  Morning comes and Charlie decides to go home to do some laundry and take Lucy on a run.  I get up, hobble to the shower, and by noon I'm back in bed, feeling refreshed.  Something was different though.  The contractions had gone from a few times an hour to a few times every 5 minutes.  Still no pain though, or anything else they told me to watch for.  When the contractions first started a few weeks back, they took me over to labor and delivery.  AGONY TIMES FOUR!!!!  I had to lay there for what seemed like forever with five monitors strapped to my tummy (one for each baby and one for contractions).  In the end, it was all for nothing (I was dilated to a three but wasn't progressing) but given the circumstances, just had to be sure.  So, when these contractions increased, the last thing I wanted to do was tell my nurse because then they'd make me go back over to L/D.  Well just then my new good friend Michelle sopped by (her quads are now 10!).  She walked in and her jaw dropped.  "You look like you're going to burst!"  I told her about the change and just as we were discussing the next step, in walks Dr. Clark (the OB on call for the day and let me just say, LOVED HER!).  I cave in and describe to her what was going on.  She proceeds to check how far I've dilated (ouch!!!) and the first thing out of her mouth when she was done was, "where's dad???"  She continued to explain that I was still somewhere around three to four centimeters but the difference now was that she felt a head!  So, over to labor and delivery I went (my mom had just arrived and Charlie was high-tailing it back to the hospital).  On the monitors went, and sure enough the contractions had dramatically increased (THANKFULLY still no pain though).  Two hours later I had moved up another centimeter and it was confirmed.  Today was the day we were going to meet our four precious angels!!!!

By then it was around 3pm and they advised it would take some time to get the 'teams' ready.  Here's how it works.  In the delivery room, there is a small window that goes into the NICU (lol when delivery time came, Charlie looked through the window and there were 40+ eyeballs, all looking in, waiting).  When a premature baby is born, they have a team of doctors ready to take all of the necessary steps to give that baby the best possible welcome into the world.  In our case, they needed four of these teams.  We later learned that since my admission to the hospital, 'the arrival of the quads' was an event they were all waiting for and couldn't believe we had made it to almost 33 weeks.  Anyway, by about 6pm I was prepped and in the delivery room.  The anesthesiologist gave me the spinal block and in comes Charlie.  My mom and sister had told me that the block would make it so I couldn't feel anything from the waist down.  The best way I can describe how I felt was like when your arm or leg falls asleep.  That tingling feeling went all the way to my toes and I didn't dare try to move them because if I tried and failed, I'm pretty sure I'd have an anxiety attack. Everything was happening so quickly and all I was focused on was that I still felt tingly and I wasn't supposed to feel anything.  "Wait!" I said.  "Don't cut me open yet, I'm not numb!"  Charlie looked at me, then looked at my doctor.  "Okay," she said.  "Do you feel that?"  "No."  "Okay, you're numb."  Whew I thought, (HAHAHA I later learned that when this convo happened, I was already sliced open!) let's have these babies!  I had been forewarned that I shouldn't be alarmed when a baby was born and I didn't hear them cry.  Preemies often need to be resuscitated because their lungs aren't fully developed.  Not our babies; everyone arrived screaming!!!! 

Out comes baby number one.  It's a boy!  Andrew Kelley (Andrew is my grandpa's name and Kelley is my mom's maiden name...gotta keep the tradition going!) was 3 lb 13 oz.

Then comes baby number two.  It's a boy!  Mason Bryan (Mason was the boy name Charlie picked and Bryan is after his dad) was 3 lb 10 oz.  

One minute later, it's a girl!  Addison Charlie (Addison is a name I had picked and I surprised Charlie at the last minute and told him I was giving her his name) was 3 lb 9 oz.

Then comes baby number four, it's a girl!  Mikayla Maria (Mikayla was Charlie's girl name and Maria after his mom) was 3 lb 5 oz. 

And so, the delivery went perfectly .  While sewing me up, Dr. Clark made the comment that my body must have been made for these quads because it was the smoothest multiple birth she had ever delivered!  As we expected, everyone was born healthy with no issues.  The girls were on oxygen for a few days but quickly followed their brothers and were breathing room air within week one. The NICU has several different 'rooms' their babies are in, room one being for the tiniest little people, on up. They quickly moved from that to the room they would eventually be sent home in. 

We are so blessed and feel so fortunate that they were all born so healthy.  Thank you for everyone's thoughts, comments and mostly for your prayers.  God is so good and we know that without Him this little miracles would not have been possible!

in and out and back in the hospital...TILL BABIES ARRIVE!!!!

The odds were there and sure enough, I have developed it.  What is preeclampsia?  I think WebMD can explain it better than I can, "preeclampsia is a condition that pregnant women develop. It is marked by high blood pressure and a high level of protein in the urine...If undiagnosed, preeclampsia can lead to eclampsia, a serious condition that can put you and your baby at risk, and in rare cases, cause death. Women with preeclampsia who have seizures are considered to have eclampsia."  Nobody really knows the cause of it but with multiples, the odds are just increased and the only way to 'cure' it is to deliver the babies. 

So, back on October 16th, we were at our regular appointment and the nurse practitioner came in and said the protein in my urine had dramatically increased since last week and they wanted to admit me for testing.  While monitoring the preeclampsia, it was also discovered that my hematocrit (number of red blood cells) was only at 23%.  An average woman (let alone someone NOT prego with quads) should be in the 35-40% range!  So two units of blood later, the transfusion only took it to 24 1/2% when it should have brought it at least to 26 or 27.  Now the hemotologist got called in.  Lots of blood and lots of tests later, they ruled my iron was just so low it was preventing my body from making these red blood cells and that our babies were eating up everything I had!  The next day they gave me an iron infusion, which is simply an iv bag full of karo-syrup like liquid pumped right into my veins.  This was hopefully going to get my body going so I could start making my own again.

By now we were at Friday I was officially diagnosed with mild-preeclampsia.  Dr. Silver felt as long as I took my blood pressure a few times a day and again stayed off my feet, I could go home.

That next Tuesday morning I was scheduled for another iron infusion and check up and both went great.  My hematocrit was at 27% so we were headed in the right direction.  Friday's appointment came along and decided to shake things up on us.  First we went in and got measurements for the babies (see 'babies are growing' entry!) then went to clinic.  Dr. Silver walked in and said that mild-preeclampsia wasn't behaving very mildly.  Protein levels are up, blood pressure is up and the fact we are now at 29 weeks, babies could come any day.  Charlie and I look at eachother...BREATH, HE'S NOT SAYING THEY'RE COMING RIGHT NOW (but if they did, it really would be okay.  We've passed some major developmental milestones plus I forgot to mention I gotten the steroid shots that stimulate lung and brain development during our last visit).  He asked how I felt about being admitted until the babies do arrive and honestly I didn't feel too horrible about it.  I feel fine but I've never done this before.  What if babies decided to come while Charlie is at work and my sister is at the store?  Better safe than sorry!  So, we committed to being admitted. 

Charlie really has been a champ!  I definitely have my on and off days and I know it's not easy for him to be cooped up here but to say the least, I have been humbled and reminded reminded of the reasons I married this man!

Plus he keeps me entertained playing with hospital equipment

 


AND he brings me flowers




 

Looks like the beginning of the end (which is really the TRUE BEGINNING) is fast approaching!!!

babies are growing...that means I am too!

As the weeks have flown by, babies have been growing like crazy!  October 2nd we took measurements and our baby boys were 1 lb 14 and 13 oz and our girls were 1 lb 11oz which is right where they should be for as far along as I was (25 1/2 weeks).  October 26th has been our latest growth scan and boy have they grown!  Boys at 2 pounds 11 and 13 ounces and girls both at 2 pounds 6 ounces...yes!!!!  At this rate we'll be at 3 pounds in no time!


Every week we go in, pictures are getting harder and harder to take but here are some of our favorites!

HOW CUTE IS THIS ONE!  IT LOOKS LIKE HE IS SALUTING!!!! ("He better not be with his left hand!" says Charlie)

She loves her hands by her head!

Attempt at one of those 3d pics. She has her dad's nose for sure!!!!

I think her eyes are open!!





















At the very beginning of my pregnancy, my mom told me about how she loved gaining weight while she was pregnant because when else in life can you eat what you want (to a point of course!) and gain weight and get away with it!  As uncomfortable as I was with the idea, it grew on me...LITERALLY...and she's right, I stopped caring and it got kinda fun!  

 August

 

September

October 1

AND...GET READY FOR IT...

 OCTOBER 26TH...29 WEEKS!!!!

we're back in Utah!

Here we go!  For the past two years, Charlie and I have been living in San Diego as he's been a Drill Instructor for the Marine Corps.  After we found out about the TEAM, we started flirting with the idea of trying to get his orders sent back to Salt Lake where both of our families live.  Charlie started asking around and found out it was a definite possibility!  Next my older sister and brother-in-law GRACIOUSLY offered for us to live with them, so the quest to move home began.  It took LOTS AND LOTS of papers, interviews and strings being pulled, by Charlie and lots and lots of late night basement construction for my brother-in-law, but August 27th the movers arrived and by the 29th my mom and I were driving home.  It took a few weeks for Charlie to wrap things up but by the end of September he was home and we were settled.

Before leaving San Diego, it was important to us to have our doctors lined up and we wanted to be treated at the University of Utah.  It was right next to Primary Children's, and growing up in Salt Lake, I knew it was the best hospital around (not to mention the personal experience my family had there not too long ago with my sister!).  When I shared the moving news with Dr. Cousins, his response without hesitation was, "well I'm not sure where in Utah you'll be, but if you can get to the University of Utah, Dr. Robert Silver is one of the only other doctors I'd trust seeing you."  As with everything else so far in this pregnancy, it was meant to be.  Dr. Silver was within our insurance network and was accepting new patients.  I had an appointment set up with him before we even left town.

September 11th arrived and we went in to meet our new doctor.  The appointment went great!  He had looked at my ultrasounds and records ahead of time and was very optimistic.  He feels like we'll be able to take Team Sandness to 32-34 weeks.  That's exciting!  We hadn't discussed delivery with Dr. Cousins yet!  I like that h is philosophy was to let things happen and not fix it if it's not broken.  So far I haven't had any problems or symptoms of an upcoming problem, so we agreed that I would come in weekly and as long as babies kept growing and I kept off my feet, we could stay out of the hospital.  YES!!!

HOLY COW, IT'S BEEN FOREVER!!!!

Okay, it's about time I update this; SOOO much has happened! Where to start....the SEXES!!! So way back, I think at the July 5th appointment, we were told that it looked like 1 girl and 1 boy and the other two were unknown.  Not any more!!!!  July 26th we found out we are having 2 BOYS AND 2 GIRLS!!!! (every time I write more than one exclamation point I feel like I need four!) How perfect is that! Now, here are the pics and unless you are a sonographer, you might have a hard time seeing their special little parts :)

 

This has definitely been the funnest appointment yet! Other than seeing the BOYS AND GIRLS, I love it when Charlie tries to make out what we are looking at! "Is that a wiener, it's huge!?!?" "HA HA sorry, no, it's the umbilical cord." "I think I see a wiener!" "Nope, we're still on baby's head." (sonographer) "I think this one's a boy, but I'm having a hard time seeing." "Is it because his wiener is so small?" To say the least, he was rooting for his boys! We are both THRILLED and so excited to start picking names and clothes and all the STUFF that comes with these little angels!

Lastly, I thought I might as well post the first baby bump pic of me.  I'm finally looking prego!!!!

Even though this post is dated July 26th, It's really Sept 12 and I have so much more to share....more to come! :)

SEXES

At last week's appt. Dr Cousins said we'd be able to see the sexes this week!  It's the second in depth ultrasound (they've scheduled 30 minutes for each munchkin!) and we are soooo excited!  I'm rooting for 3 girls 1 boy, Charlie 3 boys 1 girl but two of each would be nice too.  Countdown to 10:45 tomorrow morning is on!!!

12 Week Ultrasound Nuchal Translucency (NT) Scan

The 12 Week Ultrasound Nuchal Translucency (NT) Scan would be able to tell if the babies would be born with genetic disorders, such as Downs Syndrome.  Happy to report that Team Sandness is still healthy and are looking great!  This has been my favorite appointment yet and the pictures show why!

 

Although it is really early, too early to officially declare, the ultrasound tech thinks that A is a BOY and that B is a GIRL!!!!  C and D were moving too much for her to see but YAY!  Looks like we have one of each so far!  BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!  At the rate they are growing, this may be one of the last times we can see all four in one ultrasound shot!

Team Sandness, take 2

our new primary doctor

Last week's appointment was so the hospital could gather our information.  Now we were here to consult with Dr. Cousins.  He would be the one to perform the actual procedure (if we were going to reduce) and was going to answer any other questions we had...and decide if he would take me on as a patient!

When he walked into the room, we felt the same comfort we felt with Dr. Adamczak last week.  His greeting was warm, kind, and caring.  After looking at the babies himself, we went to his office and started to talk.  Before getting into the 'meat' of the conversation, he asked us which way we were leaning.  After telling him we really didn't want to reduce, his response was a smile, and he said, "okay great, let's get on with the discussion then."  We reviewed the research he has done and published, but the way he covered the risks, helped us understand that while they are risks, and the statistics say what they do, they are only that...statistics.  Every person is different, every pregnancy is unique, and each case is individual.  He agreed that Sharp Mary Birch and his team of doctors had several years combined experience, and would be able to provide us and our babies the best possible care.

WONDERFUL!!!  Not only did we feel good about our decision, we now felt like we had a doctor, a team of them really, who supported us.  We're in good shape now!!!

insurance

After having appointments at both hospitals, we decided that Balboa was not for us.  Being in the military, insurance and referrals dictate where you can be seen.  After several phone calls, I learned that I WOULD be able to be seen at Sharp!  MUSIC TO OUR EARS!!  As long as my new doctor approved taking over my care, I was covered!  An answer to our prayers is putting it lightly.  Keeping our fingers crossed, we prepared to meet Dr. Cousins (the consulting doctor).

encouraging news...a decision is made

June 14th arrived and we still don't know what to do.  All of the 'what ifs' are killing us.  Will I be able to carry them long enough to develop as fully as possible?  If we "reduce" will it give the other two a better chance of survival?  What about money.  Can we afford four babies?  These are just some of the things that were racing through our minds.  We didn't know what to expect at this appointment, but based on the last one, we thickened up our skins and prepared for the worst (PLUS this time we had my mom with us...protective, Irish temper and all :)).

We arrived at Sharp Mary Birch so our consultation doctor could take pictures of the babies and get an idea of what we were dealing with.  The complete Team Sandness are all still viable and doing well!  When the doctor walked in, I was at ease immediately.  Her presence alone was comforting to be around.  After explaining that we somewhat knew what we were in for, we still didn't know what to do.  "Well, here are some POSITIVE things to consider."  She then went on to show and explain to us that if we did decide to carry all four, we were in the best possible situation.  Each baby has it's own amniotic sac when often times it is shared.  We learned that if they were to share, you would have a 'giver' and a 'taker.'  At birth, the 'taker' would be born stronger than the 'giver' because all the nutrients, etc. will have been divided.  In our case, each baby has has a fighting chance (that might explain why I am hungry ALL THE TIME!).

Another risk that every pregnant woman deals with but it is increased in multiples is preeclampsia.  Preeclampsia is high blood pressure and if untreated can lead to serious problems, even death; BUT the only treatment for it is delivery.  Dr. Adams explained that while it is something to consider, I was at low risk.  Preeclampsia didn't run in my family, I am at a good age, I'm not obese, and don't have a history of high blood pressure, migraine headaches, diabetes, kidney disease, or rheumatoid arthritis.

After we discussed a few other things, she said that, in her opinion, our biggest focus would need to be to keep the babies in as long as possible and resources were available to aid in the process.

We left the hospital, both feeling really good!  Over the next few days we put our material fears aside and really prayed, thought about, and discussed the lives we were going to bring into this world.  Will I be able to carry them long enough to develop as fully as possible?  Well, we know they'll be born early, but babies are born early all the time!  I won't carry them full term, but with some help, we CAN do everything possible to keep 'em in!  If we "reduce" will it give the other two a better chance of survival?  That's a no-brainer.  Sure it will...right? not necessarily.  What about the chance of the procedure ending the entire pregnancy?  If all we're going on here is 'what if,' well what if?  What about money.  Can we afford four babies?  LOL, oh money.  Does anyone ever have enough?  I would venture to say no.  So we'll have to make some cutbacks.  I can always learn how to sew!  Neither one of us came from 'rich' backgrounds and we ended up okay.  We both have wonderful childhood memories...most coming from feeling the love of being a family.  Both of our parents made it work, why can't we?  

Sure it will be hard but anything worth having is worth working for right?  What do you know, maybe we can do this.  No, not maybe, we CAN do this!  It's time to make a decision.  We have been fervently trying and praying that we'll be able to have a family and Heavenly Father has now blessed us with the opportunity.  No looking back now.  Risks and all, we are moving forward...with ALL FOUR OF OUR BABIES!!!

the appointment we hope to forget

We had our first appointment with the fetal assessment "specialist" doctor at the main hospital today and don't think we'll be going back.  The first half of the encounter went really well!  She took measurements and heartbeats and Team Sandness is growing like crazy!

The second half however...while we appreciate and realize that we need to know all the risks we are about to embark on, we especially didn't appreciate being told, among other things, that while I and the babies could die, Charlie and I might end up divorced ("because you know that the divorce rate in this country is already 50%, and with the stresses having quadruplets will bring, your chances go up from there" to be exact), we will have a loss of income because obviously I won't be able to work (ya think!?), and that given Charlie's job as a Marine, I will be a single parent while he deploys.  What about the positive things?  Surely there were some!  Did I mention that as I started to cry, she handed me a used paper-towel to wipe my eyes and her office door was open while the other nurses were out there laughing and having a nice chat? 

By the time the appointment was over, we were done.  Had to get out of there.  The next few weeks were pretty rough.  Although everything we learned at that awful appointment was dreadful to think about, we did have to think about and consider what she said.  Should we "reduce" the pregnancy to two babies?  Something we were and are very uncomfortable even thinking about, let alone actually considering.  Because the military insurance doesn't perform or pay for "reductions," we were given a referral to consult with another doctor at a civilian hospital.  That appointment was scheduled for June 14th and in the meantime, we had a lot of thinking, researching, and PRAYING to do. 

and we have a count!!!!

The past two weeks have been the longest EVER!  After the message from Dr. W the 22nd of May was the soonest I could get in for an ultrasound.  We were excited more than anything but terrified at the same time.  He was really anxious to “see how many were in there.”  HE was anxious, how do you think WE felt!  10am rolls around and we’re sitting in the waiting room talking.  “I think two” Charlie says.  “I don’t know what to think!” I say.  We get in the room.  “Okay” the Dr. says, “are you ready?”  Thinking back, I laugh...I don't think we could have done anything to prepare for the following news!

I don’t even know how to say what I’m about to say so here goes…he (the doctor) starts on the right side.

“There’s one” as he points to the monitor..."

“and two”

 

“and three”

 “and baby number four.”

"Are you SURE that's it!?" is my response!  "We're going to need a bigger car," says Charlie.  "We're going to need a bigger house...we're going to need a bigger everything!!!"

Team Sandness, take 1