My Daughter Gave Birth to Quadruplets!

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalms 112:1-2







Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving

Isabella


I am spending the day quarantined with five kids-- Callie, the quads, and Tom. It is the first time that Eric has been away from us on Thanksgiving. He is in Hawaii playing basketball, so I don't think he misses us too much. I have a turkey in the oven, two babies in my lap, Callie playing at my feet, and Tom feeding the other two babies. We have so much to be thankful for this year. God bless you and have a happy Thanksgiving!




Room with a View



Pearl Harbor




Thanks for your prayers.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Filming/Bigger Corner

(If it seems like I am writing this in my sleep, it is because I am. )

We filmed Part 2 of the documentary this week. It was so much easier than the first one since the quads are safely here. This time seemed like a celebration. The first one was more serious since we didn't know what the outcome would be. The producer said that he and the film crew were very somber when they left the first interview with Sarah's doctor, since none of the doctor's statistics were promising. I couldn't even watch the doctor part of the documentary at first. Thank goodness for fast forward.

Part 2 is supposed to air a couple of weeks before Christmas. Please pray that God will use the documentary to change lives and give people hope. In addition, please pray for my son Eric. He is leaving tonight with his team to play basketball in Hawaii. It is the first time he has been away on Thanksgiving, and we will miss him. Please pray that they will have a safe trip.


The quads had their check up and one half of their first set of shots. We had trouble carrying four pumpkin seats into the doctor's office, so we put the girls in one stroller and the boys in another. Samantha objected to her traveling arrangements.



Landon was content to do whatever we had on his agenda, as usual. Jackson stored up energy for his regular loud protest at the doctor's office.


Landon is 9 pounds.

Jackson is 7 pounds.


Isabella is 9 pounds.



Samantha is 7 pounds.

The doctor is pleased with the progress the babies are making. He said that the older three are amazing for quads of their gestational ages. Samantha's progress is more what he would expect for a quad born at 33 weeks. We are encouraged.


The days continue to run together in a blur of feeding, laundry, bottle-making, and diaper changing. Feeding takes place every three hours. Jackson is first. Landon is last. The girls are in between. We change diapers before a feeding and afterward, if necessary. The quads are still "leaking" when the eat because they don't get a good suction on the nipples, so they each soak a burp cloth every time they eat. When we add in the clothes and blankets, we end up with a lot of laundry! We already wore out my poor old washer, so Tom surprised us with a new one.


Bottle washing and formula making takes forever. Each baby takes a different amount, so we use different bottles to help keep things straight. They get a bottle of breast milk and vitamins each day. Sarah is trying to give them antibodies as long as she can. There are so many dirty bottles! We keep them in buckets to make them easier to store and wash.


Samantha's tank has sterilized water attached to it. We have to be careful. If it tips over, which can easily happen since it it top heavy, water runs up into her nose through the cannula. Mass panic immediately follows. Every day, we have to refill the oxygen tanks. There are two machines. One takes room air and converts it to pure oxygen. The other one pressurizes it and put it into the tanks. Both tanks have to run for about 7 hours to fill up one tank. There are three that we have to keep full. The machines really heat up the room.

In the meantime, it is rare for everyone to be happy; a baby is usually fussing about something. Isabella does not like to hear Jackson wailing. It makes her angry. She wants to be touching someone at all times. Sarah can fool her with a pillow, which is helpful. Jackson is less easily fooled. He just wants to be held. Once he gets upset, it is difficult, if not impossible to calm him down. Samantha is frustrated about the oxygen in her nose. It is cold, dry and uncomfortable. She calms down when she is held. She is still nervous about being touched. Since she is my primary responsibility, she gets a lot of attention. When I had to run to the store yesterday, Sarah took charge of her. Samantha cried most of the time because did not like being sent to "daycare" at all. She thinks she is a singleton. :) I guess you could call it "Quad Denial."

Callie is trying her best to get used to all of her siblings. She helps wash bottles. She also takes care of her twin girl baby dolls. At night, when Jackson's crying hurts her ears, she comes up to our room. The babies take so much time and attention. It has been hard on Callie. She has been acting out lately, so she has been spending some time in the corner. Today, I was looking at that corner and looking at the quads, when it occurred to me that before long we are going to need a bigger one. I am so glad that we will need a bigger corner. God has blessed us beyond words.


Thanks for praying.

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name;
rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
Search for the Lord and for his strength;
continually seek him.
Remember the wonders he has performed,
his miracles, and the rulings he has given,
you children of his servant Abraham,
you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the Lord our God.
His justice is seen throughout the land.
He always stands by his covenant—
the commitment he made to a thousand generations.


Sunday, November 7, 2010

Princess Callie/Prayer Request

Callie was a princess for Halloween. She didn't like the scary costumes, but she LOVED the candy. She told me that the moon comes out so that the cows will go to bed. :)

Eric carved a pumpkin with extremely large teeth.

Pirate Devon's Bible Study group had a costume party.









Callie loves the Merry-Go-Round. She doesn't understand waiting in line, though. It's a good thing Papaw lets her ride as much as she wants.




Jackson is enjoying a rare, laid-back moment.




Miss Sammy Jo is sleeping and getting stronger.

Tom can hold two babies and carry on a conversation, complete with hand motions.



Tom and Isabella sleeping while the oxygen tank refills for Samantha.



We have given up all hope of sleep. Sarah and I are starting to get loopy. While Sarah was changing Landon's diaper in the middle of the night, she panicked because his boy parts were missing! She focused her eyes and looked closer. She had grabbed Isabella instead of Landon...



We are filming Part 2 of the pro-life documentary this week. Please pray that we can make a difference in the lives of people who have lost hope.

Thanks for praying!


Who can be compared with the Lord our God,
who is enthroned on high?
He stoops to look down
on heaven and on earth.
He lifts the poor from the dust
and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes,
even the princes of his own people!
He gives the childless woman a family,
making her a happy mother.

Praise the Lord!
Psalm 113:5-9