Our first road trip (for some of us, at least)…

Over Memorial Day weekend, Julie, Katelyn, Olivia, Chloe, and I drove to Wimberley, Texas to visit our sister, Amber, and her daughters, Kendall and Lainey. It was quite an undertaking, but we all had a blast…in spite of a flat tire (more on that later)!

To make this work, I enlisted my parents’ help with Luke and Emma on Thursday and Friday so that Richard could work. I chose to take Olivia and Chloe with me because (1) they sleep in their car seats, and (2) they are more challenging. Mom and Dad – aka Nonna and Papaw - had a great time keeping the kids for a night!

Here are Nonna and Papaw with Emma and Luke in Papaw’s airplane.

And here they are on a ride in the mule!

On Friday evening, they returned Luke and Emma to Richard so they could have some quality time with Daddy before we returned home. Here is a picture Richard sent to me of Emma and Luke waiting to eat.

Meanwhile, Olivia, Chloe, Julie, Katelyn, and I headed out for Wimberley on Thursday. Much to our surprise, Olivia and Chloe were quiet during the entire road trip. That is really something since it took about five hours including a stop to feed! They patiently waited for us to find a stopping place to feed them, they handled going straight back into their carseats without much playtime beautifully, and they napped great!

On our way! Can you tell how excited Julie and I are?!?

We had to stop once to feed the kids, so we found a McDonald’s in La Grange, Texas. Katelyn walked around with Julie while I gave Olivia and Chloe their bottles.

When we arrived at Amber’s house, Kendall and Lainey were so excited to see that Olivia, Chloe,and I had tagged along with Julie and Katelyn! We had kept our plans a secret from them just in case I could not make it work. We briefly thought my appendicitis would mess up our plans. But with Julie’s help lifting and loading car seats (due to my lifting restrictions), I knew I could relax once we arrived at Amber’s place. I had three great helpers there between Amber, Kendall, and Lainey!

We quickly fed the kids and headed out to Lainey’s graduation from Pre-Kindergarten! Kendall happily entertained Olivia and Chloe while I got ready for Lainey’s graduation.

Here comes the graduate!

Lainey receiving her “diploma” – she was so excited!

Kendall was very proud of her little sister!

And so was her Mom! Amber kept a box – yes, a whole box - of Kleenex at her chair…she is going to be toast at Lainey’s high school graduation! :)

All of us were very proud of Lainey, who was commended for being a great Helper in her pre-K class!

In spite of me keeping them out way past their bedtimes, Olivia and Chloe were great spectators! Here are Chloe and me just before the graduation ceremony.

Amber’s mother-in-law, Marilyn, was more than happy to hold Olivia during the ceremony while I had my hands full!

The next morning,we fed the babies and headed out for Kendall’s last-day-of-2nd-grade party! Kendall was very excited to show off Katelyn, Olivia, and Chloe to her friends and classmates!

We were very proud of Kendall for all of her awards, which included Straight A’s, a Music Award, Most Understanding, and Most Dependable!

All of us enjoyed Kendall’s party!

That afternoon, we played and relaxed at Amber’s house. I was grateful for Amber and Kendall’s help feeding the babies and for Lainey’s help with changing their diapers and clothes!

On Saturday, we decided to leave after the first feed. On our way out of Amber’s driveway, she called to give us the bad news that is pictured below…

So we turned around and called AAA, thankful that Amber saw the flat tire when we were still at her place and thankful that Richard has faithfully renewed our AAA membership every year! A wrecker arrived within an hour, put on the spare, and loaded the bad tire into Amber’ car. After feeding the babies, we headed to Discount Tire in San Marcos. Within an hour, they had fixed my original tire, changed out the spare with the original tire, loaded the spare back under my car, and had us on our way! They even let me stay in the car with my sleeping babies with the A/C on while they changed the tire! 

I cannot say enough wonderful things about AAA and Discount Tire. We were quite a sight with two infants, one 19-month old, one 29-week pregnant woman, and me. But everyone was very understanding and empathetic of our situation, and they had us on our way quickly – and safely!

Finally, we started heading home. Olivia and Chloe slept while Katelyn ”narrated” Finding Nemo for us. DVD players in cars are brilliant! Thankfully, the rest of the road trip passed uneventfully, and we arrived home about four hours later.

We were glad to be home and be reunited with the other half of our family! Here are Olivia and Chloe laughing at each other…

Richard getting some sweet cuddle time with a very sleepy Olivia…

Luke and I grocery shopping the next day – he does not leave much room in the cart for groceries! 

It was a big weekend for me for several reasons - I got some great quality time with my sisters, I had a lot of fun with my nieces, and I got out-and-about with Olivia and Chloe! I hope our kids develop the kind of friendships that I have with my sisters!

In all, I was pleasantly – well, very! – surprised at how well Olivia and Chloe handled so many new people and environments, and some flexibility in their otherwise stable schedules!  It was also the first time I had been away from Luke and Emma since their last week in the hospital when we had Olivia and Chloe at home. I was encouraged that they handled being out of their normal routine well also!

At the end of the weekend, Richard and I agreed on one thing - two babies are easier than four!

My first Mother’s Day!

My first Mother’s Day marked the end of an incredible year in our lives. One year ago, on Mother’s Day, we were sitting in church as our pastor prayed for mothers and those who longed to be mothers. I fell in the latter category, so it was an emotional time. We had been praying for biological children or for clear direction to adopt. We had also been praying that we would accept whatever God had planned for us.

Being patient was not easy. Nor was holding our desire for children with an open hand, knowing and accepting that God could say no. But these were some of the many ways God would use the past year to show us that He is in control, that He loves us, and that His will is perfect.

Well, the following day, we received the awesome news that changed our lives forever – we were expecting! Richard and I were thrilled! Over the next five weeks, we would learn that we had four beating hearts growing inside of me…and this incredible journey would continue!

In light of the past year, I had been looking forward to spending my first Mother’s Day at home with Richard, Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke. But those plans changed when I woke up on Saturday morning with abdominal pain. I did not think it was a big deal, but my dad encouraged me to go to an urgent care clinic. In his words, my insides had been through a lot over the past six months, so I should make sure nothing was wrong. Thankfully, I heeded his advice.

Within a few hours, the doctor had diagnosed me with acute appendicitis and an ambulance had transported me to the hospital for an immediate laparascopic appendectomy. After surgery, I learned that it had not burst (wonderful news that meant a much less serious surgery and much shorter hospital stay!). So, late afternoon on Mother’s Day, I finally returned home!

I am recovering well and am so thankful for the family and friends who stepped in to help Richard and take care of the kids while I was hospitalized, and who have been here all week so I could rest and recover. Richard and I have often said how thankful we are that my appendicitis was not more serious, that it was promptly diagnosed and treated, and that we are surrounded by such an incredible group of people to support us in a time like this.

So, on Wednesday, I finally had an opportunity to get a Mother’s Day picture with the kiddos! They are getting so big, I will not be able to pose like this with them much longer!

The miracles that God has performed and the ways He has provided over the past year continue to amaze us. It has brought us to a whole new level of dependence on Him. We have learned more about His character - His sovereignty to know that we could handle four babies at once; His protection over their health from conception and beyond; His protection over our health; His guidance in helping us keep our relationship strong and centered on Him; His provision of wonderful family, friends, and others who have surrounded us with encouragement, meals, helping hands, baby gear, and much more.

God, in His perfect wisdom, could have given us a much different year. We have grieved for families who lost their children in the NICU while we were there. We have grieved for families we have learned of through the Multiples World who have lost babies in utero and upon birth. We have learned just how little control we have over this life, which has brought us into a greater and greater dependence on Him as we raise these precious souls that God has entrusted to us. These experiences have made us better parents, better partners, and better believers. We hope that our story can encourage others who long for children and those who have children. We hope you had a very special Mother’s Day!

Emma

Olivia

Chloe

Luke

Celebrating Six Months, and A New Cousin!

Happy Six-Month Birthday!

On May 2nd, Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke turned six months old! They have become so interactive and responsive over the past month or so.

Sleep = Happy Babies (& Parents)!

One huge milestone for them (and for us) is that all babies are sleeping for 12.5 hours at night! Olivia has done this for a while, but we had continued to give Chloe, Emma, and Luke a “dream feed” at 9:45 p.m. As of this week, we dropped the dreamfeed. All of the kids have taken well to a full night of uninterrupted sleep. Chloe – who usually cries out 1-2 times per night because of her reflux – seems to have less reflux without this late bottle.

We are excited to finally reach this stage for many reasons, not the least of which is that we can go to bed at 8:00 p.m. if we wanted to!

Baths make babies sleepy. This has become the trick in my back pocket when the babies are more “active” than normal and need to rest. Here is Olivia getting ready for the feed after she had a bath…

And here she is after her feed! :)

One of our favorite times of the day is in the morning because the babies get so excited to see us! They give us huge smiles and kick their legs and move their arms. Below are typical expressions we get from Olivia and Chloe each morning.

Developmental Progress

For developmental purposes, the kids are considered 3.5 months old, their adjusted age. They are expected to develop according to their adjusted age for their first two years of life. At that point, they should catch up to other kids born in November 2011 (their actual age).

Over the past month, we have reached several developmental milestones lately. Emma, Olivia, and Chloe has become obsessed with their hands…and how they taste (below: Chloe, then Olivia)!

All of them grasp their hands and pull them to their mouths (praying hands). And Emma, Olivia, and Chloe have started to grasp toys and bring them to her mouth. Here is a progression of Emma’s new skill with her ladybug toy!

Here is Chloe’s attempt to taste her little piggy toy!

All of them ”talk” all of the time! It is funny to hear the inflections in their babbling as they try to communicate to themselves, us, toys, mirrors, etc. Olivia and Emma have found a lovely soprano “voice.” It. Is. Awesome.  

Here is a picture of Emma telling us something – we just do not know what yet!

Speaking of Emma, she appears to be ticklish!

They have also become more and more aware of each other. This started with accidentally touching each other, then getting really still as they tried to figure out what they just touched. This has developed into holding each other’s hands, holding on to each other’s clothes, and staring at each other. Of course, it also includes kicking each other and getting into each other’s space. I hope they get used to that. 

Below are pictures of Chloe and Olivia hanging out; Olivia and Emma holding hands while Emma eats; and Emma and Chloe staring at each other.

Luke sleeps more than the girls, so here is a picture of some Girl Time after he went down for his nap!

Here are some more random photos that are so cute, I had to share!

Olivia

Luke

Chloe

Emma

Six-Month Well-Baby Check-Ups

The babies are growing and developing very well! Unfortunately for them, birthdays mean shots at this point in their short lives. They were none-too-pleased about that fact…especiallly Luke. It took him several minutes to calm down enough to eat. Thankfully, my mom, Jan, and Pat were able to attend the appointment with me so all babies could get some one-on-one TLC after their shots! Poor Luke…he remained fussy all day and finally fell asleep in my arms around 3:30 p.m. and crashed pretty hard after he ate at 4:30 p.m.

On the upside, all babies are doing great and growing well! Here are their updated weights and lengths (and what percentage of babies are lighter and shorter than they are at 6 months old):

• Emma: 11 lbs., 6 oz. (0.31%); 23″ (.40%)
• Olivia: 13 lbs., 5.5 oz. (6.71%); 23.75″ (2.63%)
• Chloe: 15 lbs., 12 oz. (45.17%); 23.75″ (2.63%)
• Luke: 13 lbs., 3.5 oz. (0.42%); 24″ (0.42%)

As you can see, Chloe is like a normal 6-month old in weight, although a bit “squatty” as the doctor put it. He thinks she will start lengthening soon. In the meantime, she no longer needs the preemie formula, which has more calories per ounce than breastmilk and regular formula. The other three will remain on the preemie formula for at least three more months to help them put on more weight.

The doctor also reviewed their developmental progress. Emma is the most developmentally advanced and acts her actual age of 6 months. Chloe is the best at sitting up (with some assistance). Luke is not showing any signs that his Grade 1 brain bleed is causing any developmental delays at this point. This would manifest itself with stiffness in his limbs and movements. Olivia and Luke need to continue working on looking to the left (the heavily favor looking to the right). We will help them do this through exercises and stretches. Otherwise, the doctor is very pleased with how they are developing!

We can also start introducing solid foods! This process overwhelms me a bit. But it may be exactly what the kids need. Olivia continues having issues with taking the bottle. And Emma and Chloe have joined forces in a “bottle-prop boycott” – i.e. they wiggle a LOT toward the end of their bottles and need to be fed one-on-one to finish the last half of their bottles. We will start with rice cereal and slowly start introducing pureed foods. That is when the real fun begins since I plan to make their food…and do not like messes!

The Best Birthday Present: A New Cousin!

Tonight at 7:57 p.m. – after about 24 hours of labor – Richard’s sister, Jamie, and her husband, Rudolph, welcomed their first child into the world: Phoebe ______ Tillman (they are still deciding on a middle name). Phoebe was the fifth grandchild for Richard’s parents in just over six months! We are so excited for them as they join us on this incredible journey of parenting! Thank you for your prayers for Phoebe’s safe delivery. We look forward to meeting her soon!

Picking Strawberries!

We recently loaded everyone up to go to Froberg’s Farm to pick strawberries! Fresh strawberries are so yummy and bring back lots of memories of visiting my grandparents in Norman, OK. They grew strawberries in their garden, among other fruits and vegetables. We always picked their strawberry plants clean!

We were quite a group with my parents, my sister, Julie, her daughter, Katelyn, and Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke. Here, Mom and Dad (aka Nonna and Pappaw) wait with the Crew while Julie and Katelyn figure out where we need to go (from left: Luke, Emma, Olivia, Chloe).

Julie found the way…

So we headed out to the strawberry fields, ready to fill our buckets!

The strawberry fields were so pretty and full of lots and lots of strawberries! We parked all of the strollers and started getting to work. Here, Katelyn was more interested in the strawberry in her bucket than posing for a photo!

With Mom and Dad’s help, I got each of the kids out of their car seats to enjoy the breeze and take a few pictures!

Emma

Olivia

Chloe (I tried hard to get a smile, but she was not having it. So we settled for a photo with Mom, Julie, and Katelyn gathering strawberries in the background!)

Luke (after some grumpy-looking photos, I found a way to get him to giggle!)

It was the perfect outing with five children, all of who are unpredictable for various reasons. The kids enjoyed being outside. Katelyn loved picking strawberries, especially when she could step in a mud puddle in the process.

Getting out with the kids is becoming more and more doable. It takes a lot of energy and planning ahead, but it is nice to be somewhat mobile after months of being pretty homebound. I am hoping that these outings are helping the kids learn to be somewhere outside of our home and to adjust to different surroundings.

As we were checking out, my dad snapped some photos of Chloe, Olivia, Luke, and Emma. As you can see, they were all pretty content (awake or not)! Between their eyes and their smiles, they cannot help but get lots of attention!

I cannot wait until next year when Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke can ”help” us gather lots of fresh strawberries!

We finished our fun afternoon with a birthday celebration for my dad! It was a GREAT day!

Outings, Milestones, and More!

On May 2nd, Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke will turn six months old! It is hard to believe how far they have come over the past six months. It has been such a whirlwind: from the day I went into labor….to their delivery…to Level 3 in the NICU…to Level 2…to home…to now! Over the past month, we have continued to see cute, unique personalities and mannerisms develop in each of the children. 

Here, Luke and I get some quality time on the back porch when he woke early from his nap. His smile melts our hearts!

Olivia loves to smile at you even if you are not looking – it is as if she is willing you to look at her. Then, when you make eye contact, her whole face lights up! 

Here, Richard multi-tasks by holding Luke and feeding Emma before going to play golf one morning.

They continue to eat every 3 hours during the day and sleep for 9.5 hours (for Emma, Chloe, and Luke) and 12.5 hours (for Olivia) at night. They stay awake for 60-90 minutes four times per day to eat, then play. Since they all eat in less than 20 minutes, we get a lot of time to play and “talk!”

Here are the kids playing with Pat and Sharon. They help me with the babies every Tuesday afternoon and give me time to nap or run errands!

The munchkins generally nap for 60-90 minutes four times per day, which is awesome! One may not settle very well, but we rarely have more than one awake at a time. This gives us much more quiet time in the house than I ever would have expected, at least for now. A time is coming when they will nap less and move more. But I am enjoying this phase while it lasts. Their down time gives me time to do Bible study, exercise, work, pump, eat, wash bottles, prep formula, wash and fold laundry, nap, etc. The list seems endless, but I do my best to prioritize and work through it!

When one or two do not settle well during naptime, they do not wake each other up unless it is close to their usual wake time. These photos were taken at the same time – they were all within a 5-square-foot area, and it was supposed to be naptime (in order: Emma, Olivia, Luke, Chloe).

I hate reflux. That is what woke Chloe up here. She will be totally asleep (usually snoring) and will get to this level within about 5 seconds. She will grow out of this by her first birthday, hopefully. She often puts herself back to sleep within a few minutes. If she does not, we help her. :)

With four infants, the chances of at least one of them having an ”off day” or even an “off feed” are up there. So we are thankful for the “reset button.” Every eat/wake/sleep cycle is a chance for them to “reset,” hence why we call it the “reset button.” This is good to remember when it has been a particularly rough morning, afternoon – or day, for that matter. For example, Olivia was particularly fussy one day – she gets like this occasionally before feeds (more on that next).  But by the next day, she was back to her smiling self!

Olivia is Eating Better

Speaking of Olivia, her feedings have drastically improved! She started showing an aversion to eating about 6 weeks ago. She would not eat well for anyone but Richard and me. We remained very patient until she took the bottle – which took up to 30 minutes and all of one person’s attention. This kept her from losing weight, but it made feeds infinitely more stressful since three other babies wanted to eat too.

It was also very hard to watch her struggle through feeds, knowing that she must be hungry and not knowing how to fix it (see her picture above to get a glimpse of this process). As I mentioned in earlier posts, this appeared to be a mental block to the initial swallow. So we knew this would eventually go away. Thankfully, she is now taking a normal (Avent) bottle instead of a special nipple she received in the hospital. She takes the bottle almost immediately most of the time. And she is finishing most of her bottles and taking more volume! So it appears we are on the road to getting her past this feeding issue!

Luke Graduated to His Own Crib

As you can see from the picture earlier in this post, Luke is sleeping on his back! He does not have reflux – or does not have pain associated with it – so sleeping him at an incline is not necessary. He also kept wiggling down in his car seat. So we tried him on his back, and he loves it! He moves a lot during his naps and at night. He usually spins around and has his feet where we put his head. One night, he even managed to flip to his tummy!

Sitting Up…or, At Least, Trying

We continue to work on their “sitting” skills. They are getting better, but still need help stabilizing their bodies when upright. The sooner they can sit up, the sooner we can stop worrying so much about flat spots on their heads! It will also help them transition to solid foods….that will be quite an adventure! Here, Emma enjoys her time in an excer-saucer!

Independent Play Time

Over the past month, we have started independent play time during their wake times. This is to encourage them to be creative and learn how to entertain themselves alone. As one of four, they will not get many opportunities to be alone, so we want to be deliberate about this for them. We will continue this for years as they grow up and can do more during this time. For now, it just means they sit alone in a bouncer or activity gym that I placed inside of a playpen or pack ‘n play and “play.” An ancillary benefit of independent playtime is that it will – hopefully – get them used to being in a playpen or pack ‘n play before they get mobile.

Out and About!

We have started to get out more, which I have really enjoyed! The kids do not seem to care, but it is good for me to learn how to get out with them and for them to get used to getting out of our house!

Here is a picture of us loaded up and ready to go! You can see Olivia’s foot in the front left seat. Chloe takes the back, passenger seat because she is the loudest. Emma takes the other back seat because she is the lightest. You can see how Richard figured out how to load both double snap ‘n go strollers in the back. We stack them, then we fasten them to each other for safety. When we start getting out with the Runabout, it will load up on a hitch on the back of the car, thus freeing up our trunk space!

My mom and I took the babies shopping at Pearland’s Town Square. It was a perfect-weather day, and since the stores are all outside, it was easy to distract Chloe when she started to “talk.”   I completely forgot to take photos. I will have to get better at that…

Then, I took the babies for my first jog in the Runabout! We ran to the Club to see Richard during the President’s Cup – a match play golf tournament. We were able to catch him on Hole 11 and say hello to him and his group. I was not sure if we would get there in time, so I ran as fast as I could. The babies have not moved that fast outside of a car in their entire lives…and, let’s be honest, neither have I!

Here we are on the way home! Olivia seems unamused, but she looked darn cute!

After we saw Richard, I jogged for a while and ended up walking in hopes that the babies would nap…and I could take a rest! And much to my surprise, they did!

I really enjoyed the run/jog/walk, especially with the beautiful weather Houston has had lately! It was fun to see him on the golf course. Richard is really excited to teach them how to play golf. I told him that he should probably wait until they can walk…

Sometime in the next two weeks, the babies will get a new cousin! Richard’s sister is due with their first baby on May 7th. Please pray for Jamie as she prepares for labor, and for a healthy delivery for the baby. Also, pray that Rudolph and Jamie will continue to depend on the Lord for His wisdom, leading, and provision as they welcome their little one into the world!

Bluebonnets, babies, and…it’s a girl!

It’s a girl! Cousin, that is…

My sister, Julie, had her 20-week ultrasound this week. The doctor confirmed that the baby is healthy, the pregnancy is normal, and…she is having a little girl! Her name is Ellyana. She will make it seven granddaughters and one grandson for my parents! Luke has at least one more chance to have a boy cousin this May when his Uncle Rudolph and Aunt Jamie have their baby!

One of the coolest parts of Julie moving back to Texas is that I could find out the gender in person! She created the cutest card and riddle for the Big Reveal! See her blog to read about it and see pictures and a video (www.panesofglass.org).

To be at the Big Reveal, I loaded up the whole crew and went to Julie’s house. While Katelyn has always been enthralled with the babies, they have not seemed to notice her…until now! Here is a cute picture of Katelyn and Chloe laughing at each other:

Katelyn really enjoyed playing “catch-the-foot” with Olivia. Olivia kicked. Katelyn tried to catch her feet. Both laughed. Repeat. They had all of us laughing during that fun game!

Bluebonnets and Babies

During a recent field trip to my parent’s house, we took the opportunity to take photos of the kids among the bluebonnets - a Texas tradition! Julie and her daughter, Katelyn, joined us for the day as well. Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke were a bit unsure of the whole process. It is not easy juggling four babies…outside…in the sun…with only four adults…and one 17-month old. But we managed to snap a few pics!

Luke

Chloe

Emma

Olivia

Finally, we managed to take a group photo!

The babies slept very, very well after this little photo shoot!  If you cannot tell, Emma fell asleep during the photo shoot.

Katelyn LOVED being outside. There is nothing like a picture of the undulated joy of a child!

Here is a great picture of Julie and Katelyn!

As we celebrate our first Easter as a family, John 3:16 takes on a whole new meaning:

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God.

John 3:16-18 (HCSB)

We hope that you have a blessed and thoughtful Easter as we celebrate our risen Lord, Jesus Christ!

Five Months Old: Sleep and Smiles!

Today marks Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke’s 5-month birthday (2.5 months adjusted)! Our friend, Cristine (a pediatric nutritionist), weighs the kids every Sunday and makes sure that they are gaining weight appropriately. As of April 1st, all had continued to grow well! Here are their current weights and lengths:

• Emma – 10 lbs., 2 oz.; 21.5 inches
• Olivia – 12 lbs.; 22 inches
• Chloe – 13 lbs., 4 oz.; 22.5 inches
• Luke – 11 lbs., 4 oz.; 22.5 inces

We have loved seeing more and more of their personalities over the past month. Maybe it is because they are getting a full night’s rest?!?

Sleeping through the night!

As of March 10th (2 months adjusted, 4.5 months actual), the babies started sleeping through the night! We have been working toward this for a while and have closely followed the tips outlined in On Becoming Babywise.

First, we have maintained a strict 3-hour feeding schedule during the day. Yes, this means that we wake up sleeping babies. This makes sure that they get enough food during the day so that they can sleep at night. It also means that the days are more peaceful for everyone since they do not have to wake up and cry to let me know they are hungry. This part was easy because we just maintained the NICU’s feeding schedule.

Second, we quickly got the babies to learn the difference between day and night. Our nanny suggested that we swaddle at night only. The babies still took great naps without swaddling. Here is Chloe in her normal sleeping position…

But as soon as we swaddled them for their bedtime bottles at 7:00 p.m., it was like we turned on the “sleep switch.” They would immediately start to relax and get sleepy as they finished their bedtime bottles. Then we always kept the nighttime feeds quiet and sleepy – i.e. dark room, quiet voices. So the kids would barely open their eyes until the morning feed at 7:30 a.m. As soon as they started sleeping all night, we transitioned them out of swaddling. Now they sleep well without it!

Third, we gave the babies formula at night. The hospital had them on four formula feeds by day and four breastmilk feeds by night. We switched it so that they received formula all night and breastmilk all day. Formula apparently takes longer to digest than breastmilk, which helps keep their tummies full at night!

Fourth, we started “clustering” their evening feeds – i.e. feeding them every 2-2.5 hours leading up to nighttime – so we could extend their nighttime feeds to 4 hours. This took us to a schedule of 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m., 3:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m.

Then, the most crucial part, we added one tablespoon of rice cereal to their bedtime bottles at 7:00 p.m. The pediatrician suggested we add rice cereal to help thicken their formula/milk to reduce the spit-up. We hesitated to do this before the pedi approved it just in case their digestive systems were not ready for it yet. Needless to say, we were thrilled to get the green light! The first night we added rice cereal at 7:00 p.m., fed again at 12:30 a.m., and waited to see how long they would go. They slept 7 hours! We maintained the same wake-up time at 7:30 a.m. and backed up their last bottle by 30 minutes every night until they were consistently awake at 7:30 a.m. This made their last feed at 9:30-10:00 p.m., which is a “dream feed” – i.e. no diaper change, no noise, no waking the babies if possible.

Now, ALL of the babies have settled very well into a new routine of sleeping 9.5-10 hours at night! At 7:30 a.m., we usually find 1 or 2 of them awake (Chloe and Olivia most of the time) and sucking on their fists or looking around. Of course, we occasionally have 1 or 2 who are fussing by that time (er, Chloe and Olivia again . But it has not been chaotic yet (okay, at least once, but one time in 4 weeks is not bad!).

On a few occasions, Chloe or Emma have woken up because of reflux or spit-up. But they have been able to go back to sleep with a little cuddle time with me.  I have adjusted their minimum feeding volumes down a bit, which seems to have helped with the reflux/spit-up.

Amazingly enough, they do not wake each other up in the middle of the night. I have no idea how this happens, particularly with a Daddy who wakes up with the drop of a pin. But for now, they sleep soundly through any ruckus from their siblings.

We were told that some of the babies may take up to six months or more to make it all night. So we were – and continue to be – very excited that they have all taken to this new routine well! That means that Richard will not be able to sneak a picture like this of Boomer and me at 8:00 p.m. on a Sunday night (the nanny did not come on Saturday nights). I am not sure what Boomer’s excuse is…

That said, we no longer need our night nanny, but we will all look forward to seeing her for occasional baby-sitting in the future. So if you know of someone in the Houston area who is looking for a professional nanny – day or night, let me know, and I will happily get you her contact information!

Home Sweet Home!

About one month ago, my twin sister, Julie, brother-in-law, Ryan, and their 16-month old daughter, Katelyn, moved back to the Houston area from Bellingham, Washington! This was a huge source of joy for me over the past month for many reasons, including (1) Washington is really, really, really far away, (2) I missed her, (3) she is pregnant with her 2nd baby who is due in August (Mom and Dad’s 8th grandchild in as many years!), etc. So we were very excited to spend some time with them over the past month! She will find out if she is having a girl or boy on Wednesday, April 4th, so we will find out if Luke will have another boy around soon!

Julie and I got a real treat last week when Richard’s mom and sister were in town to see the babies. They stayed at the house to play with the babies after a feed – no arm twisting needed on that one – so I could meet Julie at a new local salon to get my first manicure and pedicure since last August! It was so awesome! Bedrest, a growing belly, daily trips to TCH, caring for quads…none of this gave much time or ability to get a mani/pedi. So I was so thankful for the opportunity to treat myself and get some quality time with Julie! We will need to make this a more regular occurrence.

Spring Break = Chaos (in a really great way!)

Over Spring Break, my older sister, Amber, and her daughters, Kendall (8) and Lainey (4) came to visit! This meant that we had two grandparents, 3 daughters, 7 kids age 8, and one kid in utero. It was a glimpse of the wonderful chaos that is to come!

Kendall and Lainey had not held the babies yet, nor had we told them that Julie, Ryan, and – most importantly in their world – Katelyn had moved back to Texas! As you can imagine, they were over the moon to have Katelyn around and to get to hold babies! They were wonderful helpers by holding babies upright after their feeds, playing with them on the floor, and holding bottles when needed!

Kendall with Emma, then Luke.

Kendall and Lainey and lots of babies!

Lainey and Olivia having fun!

Mom and Chloe

Amber and Emma

Katelyn also wanted to get in on the fun. She “rocked” Luke and otherwise went back and forth between pointing at babies and cats and telling us about it (Katelyn: “baby! meow! baby! meow!” and so on…

Getting Out More!

Spring Break also marked a milestone for me…I had my first “fun” outing with one of the babies! I took Luke with me to Tookies – a great local place in Seabrook that just re-opened after Hurricane Ike damage. I met my family there to celebrate my older sister’s birthday! I chose Luke because he finished eating first. I left the girls with two wonderful ladies who help me with the kids every Tuesday and left to enjoy our first lunch together! Luke did great and enjoyed taking in all of the new surroundings. I completely forgot to take a picture to commemorate the occasion in spite of the plethora of reasons to snap a picture, not the least of which was Amber’s birthday! Oh well…

Richard has taken Chloe with him on errands before – this was usually when Chloe would not settle, so he took her to distract her from what ever was bothering her. But I had yet to venture out with a baby unless it was a pediatrician appointment or to my parent’s house for the day. We will start doing this on a regular basis – to get us and the babies used to being outside of the house! Here is a picture of Olivia’s first trip to the grocery store last weekend! She made lots of friends with her sweet smiles. It was weird to only have one baby with me and for people to have no idea that she is one of four!

More visits!

Richard’s mom, Janis, and sister, Jamie, also came into town for a visit and for Jamie’s first baby shower. She is pregnant with her and Rudolph’s first baby, who is due on May 7th. So Richard’s parents will have 5 grandchildren born in 6 months! We cannot wait to meet Baby Tillman! They are waiting until the birth to find out the gender, so Luke will have another chance to have another boy to play with!

Needless to say, Jamie and Janis loved every moment they had with the babies! Here are Janis and Luke, and Jamie with Emma.

Smiles All Around!

Over the past month, the kids have begun smiling a lot, which is so rewarding! They still look at us like we are crazy, but I am pretty sure that will continue into their teenage years and beyond. So we might as well get used to it! For example, here is Emma smiling…

And now, her “freaked-out” look…

Chloe’s turn…

Seriously, though, we are LOVING the smiles! Sometimes the kids get camera shy, but we hope that you get as much joy out of these sweet faces as we do!

Here are Olivia and Luke:

Luke…

Olivia…

Chloe…

Emma…

We have been using Bumbo seats with the babies to help them develop head control, round out the flat spots on their heads, and learn to sit up. Luke especially loves it – he always looks so proud of himself! Here is one of our favorite pictures that Richard has proclaimed the best picture ever taken in the history of the world:

And here are the others getting some Bumbo time! As you can see from Emma’s expression, Bumbos are hard work for babies!

Here is Chloe…

Luke has enjoyed having an unofficial big brother with Denise’s son, Nathan. They have enjoyed some “guy time” when he comes over with Denise to help us feed the babies!

Quad Stroller Time!

Last week, I had my first walk with our quad stroller! Many of the ladies I know through Assistance League of the Bay Area went in together to gift this stroller to us. It is awesome! It is really light, rides on a hitch on the back of our Expedition, and will allow me to be mobile when I do not have help! We all had a great time!

When not in use, Mr. Squeaky has decided that strollers are not just for babies!

Propping Bottles

We continue to be blessed with many ladies who volunteer to help us with feeding the babies. When we are alone, we use bottle props. This lets us feed the babies and keep our hands free at the same time to manage the process! Olivia is not fond of the prop right now, but the Luke, Emma, and Chloe handle it well!

Four Unique Personalities

It is so fun to watch each of their personalities develop…and they could not be more different! Chloe is our most expressive one. Whether she is happy or sad, we know it. She gives us some great smiles when all is well. And we get some loud cries when all is NOT well. Thankfully, she seems to be in much less pain, so the crying spells have become much less frequent. She has also started to consistently find her fist or thumb, which has helped her soothe herself very well.

Olivia continues to be our social butterfly. We have said this since her early days in the NICU when she would open her eyes whenever we lifted her isolette cover. She loves meeting new people and will often be much more interested in smiling than eating! She is also the best snuggler of the bunch!

Emma is our laidback, quiet one. If she is hungry or uncomfortable, she lets us know. But she is otherwise very calm and quiet. She just started “talking” to us!

Luke is also very easygoing and will often kick happily on a blanket while the girls eat, burp, fuss, etc. He sleeps most consistently. And he is the most responsive in “talking” to us and smiling! He even “giggles” now! I will try to catch this on video…it is hilarious!

Over the past month, Richard and I have been very fortunate to get out and do things! For example, Richard’s mom babysat until the nanny arrived for her last night with us while Richard and I did a “Nine and Dine.” Before we got pregnant, we would walk 9 holes of golf and go to dinner on Friday nights – thus the name “Nine and Dine.” I have not swung a club since April 2011, but I was anxious to get back to this tradition in due time. We had a great time! I even scored a bogey (1 over par for non-golfers, which is awesome for me with a 40+ handicap!) on the first hole! At least I started off strong, but we enjoyed our time together.

Last Sunday, we played 18 holes in a couples golf event. Thankfully, it was a scramble. I am made for scrambles – I can drive and putt, but not much else.   We had a great time spending the afternoon together and are very grateful for the friends and family who watched and fed the kids for us while we were gone!

Upcoming Events

On April 3rd, Early Childhood Intervention will evaluate Olivia again. She is still not taking the bottle very well. It appears that she has a fear of swallowing because once she takes the bottle, she finishes it quickly. This has improved, but we think that she could strengthen her sucking skill. So we are interested to see if ECI sees any issues that they can address. We will also see if they will evaluate Luke’s sucking skill. We are hoping to get some ideas on exercises we can do with them to strengthen their suck.

Our next pediatrician appointment is not until May 4th for their 6-month well-baby check-up. We hope that there are no reasons to see him sooner! As always, thank you for your words of encouragement and prayers! We appreciate it so much!

Four Months Old (actual) and 8 weeks old (adjusted)!

Happy Four-Month / Eight-Week Birthday!

It has been a busy few weeks in the Dvorak household. The biggest milestone was celebrating the kids’ four-month (actual) and eight-week (adjusted) birthdays! (Below: Emma, Olivia, Luke, and Chloe)

Clockwise from top left: Chloe, Luke, Emma, and Olivia.

Developmental Milestones Continue!

Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke have started staying awake for longer periods of time. They stay up for 60-90 minutes to eat (in 20 minutes or less) and play. So we started using a huge playpen that our friend, Kim Williams, gave to us! The kids really like it, and – for now – all fit into it at one time!

The kids have become more and more alert, smiling occasionally and watching us! They do not smile on cue – this should start happening in the next four weeks – but they do smile! We can tell if they are about to smile because their eyes get happy. That gives us some warning to get our camera ready! Here are some cute pictures of these moments:

Oliva cracking herself up…while Luke concentrates very hard.

Olivia…cracking herself up again!

Luke was one happy baby one morning while Richard talked to him!

Emma gave us a cute smile…right before she spit up. Oh well…

Richard and Luke getting some “man” time…

They have also started to consistently find their fists – and their thumbs at times! – so they can self-soothe! Chloe, who has always taken a pacifer, has decided that she prefers her fist and thumb. Here she is going after it one day…

And they continue try to help us hold their bottles. Luke tends to hold on for dear life. You may see how white his finger tips are due to his death-grip on the bottle! In the background, you can see Chloe with her bottle prop. This is another new thing we have been able to start as the kids have gotten better at sucking on their own! This frees up hands during feeds, which is wonderful!

Olivia has taken a few steps back in her sucking skill. She seems to be unable to coordinate her tongue at first, so it takes her a few minutes (or more) to take the bottle. Once she has it, she does pretty well. The doctor is not concerned because she eventually takes it and is gaining weight well. So our neighbor, Denise, is going to see if her colleague who specializes in feeding issues can evaluate her to determine what we can do to help her overcome this issue. In the meantime, here she is trying to hold her bottle!

Getting Sick is NOT Supposed to Happen…

One unwelcome surprise came last week when I came down with an upper respiratory infection. This scared us because of the number or warnings we have received from doctors over the past four months about how serious it would be if the kids got a respiratory infection – i.e. hospitalization, serious risk to their short and long-term health, risk of death, etc. We have taken many precautions – only exposed the children to vaccinated and healthy adults, mounted hand sanitizer units on walls throughout the house, taken the kids out in public as little as possible, etc. So it never occurred to me that I may get sick – in spite of these precautions!

To deal, some of the wonderful women who help us on a regular basis and family have stepped in to assist with some extra feedings so I could minimize my exposure to the children. To the extent I was around the children, I wore a mask. Then, when Richard came down with a mild version of what I got, he started wearing a mask, too. We thought this might freak out the kids, but they seemed unphased. Here are Chloe and Richard having some quality time!

Thankfully, the Lord has protected the kids from this illness so far! We know that we can only do so much and must trust God for their ultimate protection. This week gave us the perfect opportunity to trust Him!

Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

In honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, here are the kids in adorable bibs that one of our clients made for them:

Four-Month Well-Baby Check-Ups…and Vaccines

On March 9th, Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke had their four-month well-baby check-ups! This visit came with their four-month vaccines and their last Synegis (RSV) vaccine. This time, Pat Sims, Jean McKinley, my mom, and I attended the appointment. I was very thankful that each baby could get held and immediately fed once the vaccines were over!

All of the babies received good reports! Here are their updated weights, which are following a healthy growth curve:

• Emma – 8 lbs., 8 oz. (3rd percentile based on adjusted age)
• Olivia – 10 lbs., 5 oz. (40th percentile based on adjusted age)
• Chloe – 10 lbs., 9 oz. (50th percentile based on adjusted age)
• Luke – 9 lbs., 4 oz. (5th percentile based on adjusted age)

Their head circumferences fall within the 50th-97th percentiles based on their adjusted ages. Dr. Talbot is not concerned and believes that they will grow into their head sizes. He is very pleased with their growth and overall development and awareness.

We will now start working on dropping the middle-of-the-night feeding. Their growth has been so good that they should start taking more volume by day. We can also start adding small amounts of rice cereal to their bottles, so we are hoping that this will help them make it through the night!

Emma, Olivia, and Chloe continue to struggle with reflux, but the Prevacid is helping ease any pain associated with it. We also keep them upright for 30-45 minutes after each daytime feed and continue to sleep them at an incline in their car seats. All of this makes them more, which means happier babies!

Playtime!

Finally, here are some more cute pictures from the past few weeks. Chloe (left) and Olivia (right) holding on to each other!

Olivia (bottom) and Chloe (top) playing after a feed.

Luke – he has been quite serious since his vaccinations…in spite of his soccer legs and running-shoe socks!

Thankfully, he found his smile later on when Denise was helping me with a feeding!

Here, Luke is fascinated by what Richard is saying to him.

Here is our little sweetheart, Emma!

Here is Chloe with a very typical expression.

Over the next few weeks, we will see how well they can sleep at night. We will also venture out a bit more – which is something I am very excited about after spending the past two months fairly homebound but for much-anticipated date nights with Richard, grocery store runs, and pediatrician appointments!

As always, thank you for your prayers and encouragement! We are truly blessed and love seeing Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke become more and more aware of us and others! And we love sharing these moments with each of you!

Wake time, reflux, and help with development

Wake Time Fun!

When my mother-in-law, her sister, and family friend, Guyla Laird, were helping me with the babies one Saturday, we decided to try to get a group shot! We should have videotaped the process of us trying to get all babies to open their eyes and not cry. It was quite an effort, but well worth it!

Below are some of the fruits of our labor. As you can see, they all prefer to look to the right – my dad calls this “echelon right!” This is a military / flight formation term where everyone lines up to the right of the lead (here, that is Emma). I told him to teach them “echelon left” so their heads will round out (they all have a degree of flatness on the right sides of their heads). But for the purposes of getting all babies happy for a picture, “echelon right” it was!

And here are some individual shots of Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke!

Growing Well

I also took a few updated pictures of Chloe, Luke, and Emma with the teddy bears my friend, Debbie, got them. You can really see how much they have grown when compared to the pictures we took of them with their bears in the NICU! Here is Chloe…

Here is Luke…

Here is Emma…

The kids are getting more and more alert, which is so fun during their wake times! Their personalities are really starting to come through, and we occasionally get a few smiles, too! We look forward to when they smile in response to some predictable stimuli, but any kind of smile brightens our days.

Dealing with Reflux

Chloe and Emma continue to struggle with pain with their acid reflux. Both are on an antacid, which seems to help Chloe with the pain. It has not seemed to help Emma, though, so we will be asking the pediatrician for Prevacid this week.

Emma’s weight gain has picked back up over the past two weeks, which is a blessing! She weighed 7 lbs., 1 oz. last week, which meant she gained about one ounce per day – twice the rate between her last two appointments! We really hope she can gain weight effectively on the same formula/milk combination as the others so that we do not have to prepare different formula for her or add another feed to her days.

Our next pediatrician appointment is not until March 9th, so we have been increasing their feeds as they seem to be hungry. We are fortunate to have a neighbor, Cristine, who is a pediatric nutritionist and who comes over to weigh the kids weekly. This lets us accurately increase their feeds and is such a blessing!

Another neighbor, Denise, is a pediatric physical therapist and has been helping us weekly as well! Practically, this is a huge blessing because she can help us identify any developmental delays and show us exercises to do with the kids. Personally, she is a lot of fun to be around, and her seven-year old son, Nathan, is already looking forward to teaching them how to play ball and making sure Luke is treated well by his sisters!

Generosity abounds!

As you can imagine, adjusting to four preemie infants is hard. But we are fortunate recipients of the abundant generosity from wonderful people and companies!

First, about 12 ladies from Sagemont Church and other friends help me feed the babies every week. Then others come as they are able, which means that I am rarely feeding all four babies alone!  All of these people had their flu and TDaP (whooping cough) vaccines just so they could help out during cold and flu season. And many more want to help once we are out of cold and flu season and/or when the babies get older (and more active) – which will be a huge blessing!

Here is a picture of one of these wonderful ladies – Pat Sims - with Chloe. Pat did a great job soothing Chloe when she was having a tough time.

Second, we continue to receive meals three times per week from friends and people at Sagemont. We had many people tell us to accept meals during this time, and it has truly been a blessing! A warm meal after a long day is almost impossible to prepare in the midst of our crazy schedules. So we really appreciate the yummy food people are bringing to us!

We have also been the fortunate recipients of the generosity of several companies due to Emma, Olivia, Chloe, and Luke’s homecoming.

Abbott Laboratories sent us a “product sample” of Neosure - the special formula our preemie babies eat. This “sample” was 10 cases of formula (96 quarts)! Since we go through just over one quart per day, we are so thankful that they were so generous to us! Here is the stash, waiting to be used…

Chick-fil-A recently opened a store in Pearland, Texas at FM-518 and Dixie Farm Road. As part of their community involvement, they deliver a meal to new parents. On Saturday, we were the recipients of a wonderful meal of nuggets, salad, and fruit! They wanted to snap a picture for their newsletter, so we took a family photo with the Cow!

Since we were dressed and ready, we took the opportunity to take another family photo.

And here are some close-ups of our little miracles (Luke, Emma, Olivia, and Chloe)! Chloe was in the midst of a fit, so we did our best.

This journey can be overwhelming at times, but we are so blessed to have each of these little ones and to be surrounded by such loving and supportive family and friends! Thank you for helping us through this time!