Dancing Queen

So Jon downloaded a whole bunch of photos from the camera yesterday, and I figured out where he has been hiding them :) Yea me! Anyway, this post will be mostly photos to catch up for all the months of me saying, "maybe Jon will post____".

The first couple are of my little dancing queen, who knew this kid had in her. These are, remarkably, some of the better photos we got of her that night since she simply didn't stop moving most of the night!

From Twins 08

From Twins 08

From Twins 08

She danced with people we didn't even know, sat on chairs next to people we didn't really know, and even got them to come out and dance too... watch out United Nations!

The next photo is from one of my grossest, yet perhaps funniest posts: Painting with Poo

From Twins 08

While staring at this picture... think of the smell of your stinkiest business... then you will have a better idea of just how disgusting this was! Don't miss all the little black spots on the floor and beds, that's poo too!

From Twins 08

This is a photo Jon took in reference to this post Wave of Light.

From Twins 08

So while I did not take the photo posted with on my Blimp post, I did take this picture of the blimp I saw. I took this photo standing on my backyard patio. I might have gotten a little bit too excited about this, but unlike so many things, I had never seen a real blimp before. So I still think it was pretty special.

From Twins 08

This is a photo of our Willow tree we planted last year. I think it has quadrupled in size. It is actually the perfect tree for our needs. We have one area in our backyard that is totally open to our neighbor's backyard, when this tree is fully grown, it will fill in that space perfectly. Our backyard also has a large cavern at the bottom of a big hill that fills will water when it rains. Since Willows love water, this is a perfect place to grow one. For those of you who are not willow fans, well, we think they are really beautiful, and since our backyard is sort of a man made ravine, it works.

And now for the photos everyone has been asking for like all year long... pics of the twins...

From Twins 08

From Twins 08

Please don't ask me what happened to these "babies", I am still trying to work that out for myself!

From Twins 08

Remember that kid that we were not sure would walk?

From Twins 08

Who would have thought?

From Twins 08

So much for "severe mental and physical handicaps".

From Twins 08

I guess mixing bowl helmets will protect them from now on!

From Twins 08

From Twins 08

Hopefully everyone enjoyed this post, my apologies for my neglect... and now my little monkeys are too quiet to be doing something they are supposed to be.

Catching up

These are the last ultrasound pics of all four babies.

From Quad twins

From Quad twins

From Quad twins

From Quad twins

These are the two most recent pictures of the surviving twins.

From Quad twins

From Quad twins

Blimp

Obviously I did not take this photo, however, I just saw this blimp flying past my house... maybe Jon will post the photo that I did take (which is not nearly this good... obviously). I have never seen a blimp before, so this was pretty cool for me.

Did you hear an echo?

This morning when I walked into the kid's room to get them dressed for the day, I was greeted by my children each exclaiming "Hi Mom!". After which Alivya informed me that the colors of my shirt where blue and purple, green, pink and white... I have no clue why she started to tell me the color of my shirt every morning, but she does. It her game, I guess. Taylor then assisted me with getting the child proof lock off their dresser so that I could get them some clothing, and when I sat down on his bed and said "whose first?", they both ran as far from me as possible. This was a really typical morning. For some reason, they just don't like to get dressed. Livi, in fact, usually tells me that she is going nigh-night, instead of getting dressed.

So after coaxing each of them to the bed and laying them down, they finally give in. This morning I was then serenaded by Livi as she sang Two Little Monkeys, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Frere Jacques. Most of these she sang almost perfectly, Frere Jacques was totally adorable, but not quite there... I don't know when she learned these things, in fact during our language group sessions, they both tell me "no singing". So I was lead to believe that my children simply didn't like music... Au Contrare... Taylor hasn't really tried singing with me yet, but asks for the various songs frequently as of recent times. And this morning, Livi just started singing. It was absolutely one of her cutest moments. Everyday I am amazed at just how much she has learned, and how much more she learns daily. Her aptitude is incredible.

To this end I was doomed, I guess: the kids demanded to go "bye-bye" after breakfast this morning, and since I had some shopping to do, I thought "why not?" So I am trying to heard them both into the car, which is more difficult than it may seem... they both get very distracted by all the "fun" stuff in our garage. Anyway, I got Taylor to stand in the car, and reached for Alivya, in the meantime, Taylor moved around to the front of the seat, so Livi could not get to her seat. Under breath, I thought, I mumbled "damn it Taylor"... The next thing I heard was Livi screaming "Damn it Taylor!" "Oh boy", I said, and there it was again... "Oh boy" echoed Alivya... This continued all the way to the store... it wasn't just Alivya either. At one point Livi found it entertaining to kick my seat, and I said "All done kicking, Alivya!" "All done kick-ing Ivya" echoed Taylor. It was one of those moments that you know are coming, but do not necessarily realize are happening at the moment.

Pin Cusions and more

I am going back to work today, after having two weeks off for my surgery. It feels a little weird. I wonder just how much I have forgotten, and how much has changed... The funny part is that my schedule is such that I work tonight, then I have off again until next Friday... haha.

I feel pretty good. I had a regular OB appointment yesterday, he listened to the babies, measured my stomach, stuck a big needle in my arm, and scheduled four more appointments. Then sent me on my way. You wouldn't think by these appointments that I am just weeks away from the moment that changed everything about my last pregnancy. I know that I have the cerclage, meant to prevent what happened last time, but I expected to be more closely monitored. Our next ultrasound will be at 20 weeks (and a few days), Taylor's water broke at 20 weeks. The thought of getting to that point uneventfully is a lot to swallow. I mean its exciting, and terrifying at the same time.

Anyway, the heartbeats were 155 and 150 yesterday, and I measured exactly what he expected, although he didn't tell me the number (I am generally ok with that ;)

Last night we participated in Wave of Light . Please click the link to learn more about it. It was both comforting and heartbreaking. For an hour it was like having our babies here again, but extinguishing the flames was a little like loosing them all over again. I miss being the one expecting quads. I miss the idea of watching them all learn to crawl and walk and sing ABCs. Still, I know that their loss will make it possible for these babies to thrive, maybe even get to "full term". And for that, they live on.

Now that I have myself blubbering again, I think I will leave it here.

Needing Needles.....

I write really long posts... when I write... do the two cancel each other out?

We started 17P yesterday. I spent a few hours, while trying to fall asleep last night, thinking about how elaborately I would describe for you this experience, but this is how my posts end up being books. So I guess I will suffice it to say that it was as bad as the progesterone injects during my first pregnancy, but as good as Jon has ever been, armed with a 1.5 inch needle aimed at my butt.

As for my recovery from the anesthesia, well, my back is just starting to feel normal. I can get up from the couch with out a lot of pain, just a little discomfort. I had a bad headache again yesterday, but seems better today. Looking forward to my post op check on Wednesday, and listening to the babies again... Its been a long week, and I am looking forward to times when no more holes will be added to my body.

"My name Stitch"

Says the "abomination" from Disney-Pixar's hit movie Stitch. Sometime around a month or so ago, Livi became obsessed with Jon's stuffed Stitch animal, and demanded to watch the movie... over and over again, we watched aliens invade poor Lilo's house... now days Livi has moved on to another movie. Supercalofrada... well what is the point of attempting to spell it? Most of you already know that Mary Poppins has made her march into my TV. With a Spoon Full of Sugar and a Step in Time, we have watched this movie several times already this week alone. This movie is one I adored at Livi's age too, however, as an adult, with exception of a few good tunes, I find it sort of boring. (and looooong) Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be about Mary Poppins, it was supposed to be about Stitch...

Not the "cute and fluffy" alien being from the movie, but the wire that now holds in its weave the future of this pregnancy. Monday morning Jon woke me before the crack of dawn and we drove off to the surgery center. After registering, Jon kissed me and went off to work. He only started working for his company in March, and while they have been super about all our appointments to date, we agreed that this little procedure really would not require his presence. Anyway, this started my ride on the conveyor belt known as "Day or outpatient surgery".

After exchanging my cloths for a thick paper gown, I was lead to a reclining chair where I was plugged into a vacuum that blew warm air into the "gown". One nurse put in my IV while another took my life history. At one point I considered reposing the questions back to her... "When was your last bowel movement?" Some how I didn't think she would have found the humor in it. The doctor, the anesthesiologist, and my ride home all checked in, then it was time. I waddled down the cold hall in my paper gown and hospital grade slippers with the rubber no slide grips on the bottom. One attractive outfit, I assure you.

The spinal block was the part that I was really looking forward to. A long time ago, before I had any babies, I vowed that I would never get an epidural. This had less to do with my "hippi" natural birth values than it had to do with my fear of needles and tubes being shoved into my spinal column. I didn't manage to avoid this with my first pregnancy, nor was it avoided already in this pregnancy. It took three tries in order to place the spinal block for my surgery. This was as horrible as I had remembered it. Within minutes my legs were heavy and prickly, and I was being hoisted back onto the table. I never actually saw the contraption that they put me in, but it felt like my feet where hanging from straps in the ceiling. This incredibly flattering view was left for anyone who entered the room as it faced the doors. I laid there feeling like that door opened and closed a thousand times, although I can't actually say that it even opened once for certain. By the time I finally made it to recovery, I was pretty anxious to be done with the whole thing. My legs muscles where eager to move and my back had had enough. I watched my heart rate increase steadily on the monitor as I became panicked that my body wanted to move, but couldn't. I heard the recovery nurse tell the other ladies at the desk that "she can only move her toe, she'll be here a while". This only made it worse. I kept wiggling that toe viciously, hoping to wake up the rest of my body. While I think the strategy worked some, it did not work much more quickly. By 9am I was moved to the other side of recovery. Here they finally let me roll to the side to relieve the pressure on my back, thank God! Sometime around 10:30 they decided that I should sit with my legs over the edge, and after that things moved very very quickly. A minute or so later I was standing, then walking to the bathroom. I think they were eager to move me on, as being able to "void" (pee) was equivalent to sitting on the toilet while urine dribbled out... If I hadn't heard it as it hit the water, I would have insisted that it never happened... still numb. None the less, the nurse helped me put on my clothes. She helped me sit on the recliner, and sent my ride to get the car. Five minutes later I was rolling down the hall with the rest of my things in tote.

Walking into the house around 11:30am, I was pretty weak, but steady. By 1:30 I had a pounding headache, and by 4 when Jon returned home from work, I was convinced something was wrong. I asked him to Google "spinal headache"... sure enough that is exactly what was going on. When I laid down, I felt only a dull pain, when I got up, my head pounded. The Tylenol I began taking when it first started didn't even dull the pain for a minute. Jon went out and got some soda with caffeine, a remedy recommended by the internet. This helped take the edge off, for a little bit. By 7pm, I was in tears. Jon helped me to bed were I slept better than I had expected to.

Sometime around 7am I got up to use the bathroom. I was hoping that the headache had resolved itself, and this was really my first trial. I was encouraged by the fact that I felt good all the way to the toilet. I sat down, and just then it hit. Like a really big hammer striking my head I got nauseous and dizzy, and just about fell over. I am not sure how I made it back to bed. The pain was unbearable. My mom arrived a short time later to take care of the kids, she gave me my phone, and I called Jon. After a number of calls and some time, Jon's dad arrived around 9:30 to take me back to the hospital. The cure to a "spinal" headache is known as a "blood patch". Essentially, a catheter is placed in the spinal column, just like an epidural, then blood is drawn from your arm and placed into the spinal canal through the catheter. The idea is that the spinal block from surgery on Monday must have left a tiny hole that allowed some CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) to leak out, causing a pressure imbalance, thus felt as a major headache. The blood, in theory, plugs the tiny hole(s) and clots, restoring the pressure balance in the spinal canal.

This is all well and good, but remember it took him three tries to get the catheter placed for the surgery, this blood patch was equally as difficult. After three tries, he called in another anesthesiologist to help out. I consider myself fairly tolerant of pain, in fact I had been able to breath through everything up to that point. Between the headache and all the needles in my back, I just broke down. I was sobbing, totally lost focus, and couldn't breath. The nurse and doctor kept telling me to arch my back, which is what I thought I was doing. It was absolutely awful. Once it was finally placed, and the blood was drawn and put back, things got better quickly.

I was home again by 12:30, I think. My back was so sore and I so exhausted, I am not really sure what time it was. Things gradually improved, although my back felt very bruised and sore, and continues to today. At least my head feels sharp, and I have felt no pain what so ever at the actual surgical site. Hopefully, the rest of this pregnancy can proceed through March with no more major interventions needed... Here is hoping.

Left... Right, Left Right, Left...

Did you all vote?

After we had the twins, we were of course thankful for the doctors, nurses, RTs, radiology techs and all the support staff who came to work every day to save tiny babies like ours. What was less obvious, were the tireless efforts of the staff and volunteers of many organizations working to fund the research that lead to the clinical practices that made it possible for our children to thrive. (Not to mention those researchers...) My work since then with the March of Dimes is my small way of giving back. All of our children benefited from the March of Dimes funded research that lead to the recommendation to increase folic acid intake and other prenatal recommendations. Taylor and Livi's success since their untimely birth can be credited to a number of MOD projects. Surfactant, a synthetic substance that mimics a natural fluid produced by older gestation babies to allow the lungs to remain expanded and therefore exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide... minimal oxygen supplementation, use of too much oxygen in early babies can cause retinal detachment... high frequency ventilation, ventilators that deliver hundreds of tiny quick breaths to help preemies blow off carbon dioxide a task preemies struggle with... NO, this is probably the most profound benefit that I attribute to MOD funded research; Taylor was unable to maintain appropriate oxygen saturation on 100% oxygen on the high frequency ventilator immediately after birth. Nitrous Oxide was mixed into his oxygen in a small quantity. With out this treatment, he would not have survived his first night. The neonatologist who made the decision to try this emerging treatment did so knowing that there were risks (nitrous oxide, a vaso dilator, could have made Taylor's brain bleed worse, causing more severe brain damage), but saved his life.

For two years, these were my main motivators for supporting the March of Dimes, now I have even more...

Next week I will begin weekly injections of a drug called 17 alphahydroxyprogesterone (P17) MOD funded research since my twins were born, suggests that weekly injections of this drug can prevent premature labor from occurring for up to 16 weeks. Monday I will have a cervical cerclage placed to prevent what some doctors believe may have contributed significantly to Taylor's premature membrane rupture, incompetent or insufficient cervix.

The awesome part of all this is that I know just how women and babies benefit from the work of the March of Dimes. The hard part, is that most of these things are newer concepts and doctors are challenged to decide for themselves what the research means. So we have seen three obstetricians for this pregnancy, and none of them have agreed on everything. For example, one said he would not use the P17 injections, this being because the research is not strong for effectiveness in multiple gestation pregnancies. One said they would check for fetal fibronectin weekly... another says that this test is costly and would not change their treatment plan... So all of this leaves us in the position of trying to decide who has the plan that we think is the most "correct". Which doctor has more experience and better interpretation of the research that MOD has helped make available?

I think that I have a pretty good grasp of medical concepts and good background in the our medical system, but choosing which doctor to go with for this pregnancy has been the most stressful one ever. So for those of you who have asked where we might have the babies... the answer is St Elizabeth OR Theda Clark... we just haven't figured this out yet.

In the meantime, my surgery is on Monday, wish me luck. I had an ultrasound on Wed. Both babies looked great. Hopefully Jon will post the images over the weekend.

Please support the March of Dimes, they really do help make miracles!

Squidoo

I must confess that I have no idea what Squidoo is, but as one of my fellow bloggers wrote, they are giving $2.00 per vote to the organization you vote for. It is really simple... just click on the link below, then scroll down and select a charity. When you've made your selection, click vote.

squidoo vote

You all know that we are partial to the March of Dimes, so please please take just a second to go there and send another vote to the March of Dimes!

Thanks!

Strength

We wanted to thank everyone who contacted us with words of strength and sympathy during this time. Few people know how absolutely awful it is to loose a child, let alone two. Those of you who do, you know that the grief and sorrow is impossible to put into words. We think we are very fortunate to have two "seemingly" healthy babies still growing. We think this is important to recognize this in the face of our grief.


In other news, yesterday at breakfast Livi sang the ABC's from A to Z, in the correct order... except she still thinks there is a letter called "double x" in place of w and x. She followed this up with a complete almost perfect version of the little song at the end... It was amazing. Its almost like she absorbs this stuff in her sleep. The best part about this whole thing was that Taylor, who usually yells at us for singing, demanded that we "sing ABCs".

In so many ways they are such little grown up kids. Still, I can't stop calling them by babies. That just might not ever change... I will have my babies and my younger babies...

Conflicted

Please see the graphic to the right...

Needless to say, it is unlikely that we will share the ultrasound images from this week.

More Ultrasounds

By Request

Painting with Poo-

This is a post that I started to write four days ago... I am not sure what interrupted me, probably a little boy and/or little girl, finding something more fun to paint with...


So last night [Monday Sept. 15] when Jon went out to get us a little frozen treat, I was resting on the couch watching PBS. Around twenty minutes after he left, the kids, who had been playing 'quietly' in their room, as they do every night, started to make a racket that I was unaware two and half year old children could make. So I decided it was time to take a little walk up there and see what was up. As I climbed the stairs, I realized that the sound was one I had heard once before...

My thoughts immediately began to dwell on the fact that we never repainted that room, and its eggshell finish and fine texture would present some major challenges. The sound was one we heard just a few weekends ago when the kids got into the crayons and decided to make their mark on the library wall. While I was worried about how to get the crayon off the wall, I actually opened the door to their room totally ready to simply remove their weapons of choice and lay the "nigh-night time smack down" routine.

However, the scene on the other side of the door, is still [four days later] indescribable. I slipped my hand over my gaping mouth to prevent 'middle school toys and up' words from slipping out. (yes that is yet another Toy Story reference.. love that movie) Anyway, my angel children were each standing on Livi's bed; buck naked from their waist down. The boy child's hands covered in, you guessed it, POOP, also carried a wooden block, also covered in POOP! The girl child was weapon-less, unless you count her hands, caked in POOP. My male child, or should I say at this point, JON'S male child, had, yes POOP, matted in his hair, covering his face like a mud mask, and up both of his arms. The masterpiece on my walls, created with such a clever medium, was the stinkiest piece of **** ever! I might add, it was solid and dry... remember that fine textured wall I wasn't sure if I could get crayon off of? Little chunks of said medium littered the whole room, beds, blankets, carpet... some of course, stepped on and smashed in, well.

I am thankful that only Livi and Taylor were there to witness the shock and disbelieve on my mug, and that they likely will not remember it. At the time, I would have given them to the lowest bidder, I might even have found a large card board box and a marker, "Free to the first Sucker". Four days later though, I can find some humor in the situation. After catching my breath, I muttered three words, "OH ... MY ... GOD!!!!" The fact that Livi instantly covered her mouth, as I had been doing, with her feces covered hand and gasped, "Oh my God"... is actually something I can laugh at now. And the conditioner incident a few days before... yeah, so minor now...

Remember how co-operative they were when they got in trouble for that? Well you should have seen them this night. I said "arms up" and they where up almost before the words came out. I said "BATHHHHHH" and they raced to the tub. They didn't ask for the toys that I had quickly removed from the tub or the markers they usually get to play with. This, they knew, was a special bath. They didn't even cry when I ran the water while they were in the tub... nor when I told them that they could not drink or dump the water over each other's heads... (yes Taylor has a thing about drinking bath and pool water. He is a very special child. We do not encourage this behavior, however we do tend to pick our battles, and well, this is rarely one we spend a great deal of time arguing over)Five wash cloths, six shampoos, two conditionings, and twenty five minutes later, I had two children no longer covered in crap, literally.

In the meantime, Jon came home to find the trail lit. I can't imagine what was going through his mind as he climbed the stairs, but if he was shocked, I couldn't tell. He never gets to be the one to discover these things... hmm... I have theories about why that is. Another post...

So he stripped the beds, gathered the many blankets (my kids are obsessive now about their blankets. Sleep cannot happen with less than three each)and took them all to the washer. We thought we would put the kids in the other room while we cleaned up the mess. This turned out to be a BIG mistake.

Within five minutes, they found and emptied half a tube of diaper rash cream, which had then become their new medium for decorating the other bedroom.

Now on our third pair of PJs for the evening, and our last fiber of patience, we put them on the bed with strict orders not to move a finger. This of course only humored them. They enjoyed watching us scrub the walls free of their hard work. Livi echoed our comments as Taylor slipped off the bed, trying to save his masterpiece.

Two hours after Jon returned from his little trip, my ice cream was totally melted on the table, and his was frozen solid in the freezer. We were both tired, exhausted, and stinky (I could use some other choice adjectives here, but I do try to use only preschool aged language for the 'toys' that might be reading...)

I like to think that these experiences are all on the 'learning curve' and that things will progress steadily to tidy, polite, young people, but these children have several counts against them. 1: repeat offenses 2: mocking and laughter in the face of discipline 3: the fact that when Daddy asks Livi "Where does your poopy go?" Livi now responds "On the wall!"


WE ARE ALL DOOMED, RUN!

Relief

We found a babysitter for tomorrow... Thanks TANYA!!! YOUR A LIFESAVER... not that we didn't already know that!

Desperate

We are desperately in need of a baby sitter on Friday from 2:30-9:30, if you are interested, email me or leave your email in the comments, and I will email you...

Sincerely,
Super desperate!

Angry Eyes

We are avid Pixar fans, and one of our favorite Pixar flicks it Toy Story. I wouldn't say that I have a favorite character, although one of my favorites to quote is Mr. Potato Head.

So this afternoon I was working on the computer in the living room while the kids played in the playroom. For those of you who don't know our home, our first floor is fairly open, the front foyer wraps around the stairs into the living/dinning room, which is overlooked by the kitchen which leads right into the "play" room (future library) which flows right back into the foyer. Its a big circle around the stairs. Anyway, I am sitting there in the living/dinning room, while kids are playing a dozen or so feet away, when I hear them start whining. This is always a sure sign that one of them was playing with something that the other wants/wanted/had... I call out to Livi, who was almost screaming in tears, "come to Mommy, come tell me what's wrong..."

Soaking up all the sympathy possible, she comes up to me sobbing, red faced with tears streaming down. I bent down to pick her up when I touched something gooey all over her shirt. A closer look, and I see that she is covered, head to toe in a white, gooey, viscus substance.

My "angry eyes" slipped right out of their little pocket and replaced my sympathetic, mommy loves you eyes... I picked her up and carried her back into the play room where I find Taylor more densely coated with stuff and holding the SMOKING GUN! Half a bottle of hair conditioner, that I purchased yesterday since I was out, was now smeared over my children, their toys, their art table, and the carpet.

This is when I completely lost it, and my "angry voice" came out too. I told them to "get out". Alivya went screaming into the living room, while Taylor stood there, too stunned to move, I think. I grabbed all the towels I cold find the kitchen, said many choice words, that I am sure they won't be repeating since they were in such shock. I pointed to the stairs and shouted, "UP STAIRS, TO BED NOW". Usually they sort of look at us, pout and shout right back, "NO". Not today, they both marched right to the stairs. I pulled off their clothes, wiped them down with a bath towel and repeated my very direct order. I have never seen them scramble up those stairs so fast. Crying and sobbing they definitely knew how upset I was. They marched right into their room, climbed up on the bed, and even laid down to be changed and redressed. This type of cooperation is unheard of around here.

Thankfully, this all occurred right at their usual nap time. So it wasn't a shock that they were being sent to bed. And to say that mommy needed a time out is an understatement. Mommy needs a major vacation... Six towels later, half a bottle of conditioner was no longer on my children, their toys, table or the floor. And thankfully, I hadn't washed the last load of laundry just yet either. It seems that I am out a half a bottle of conditioner, some serious patience, and one major parenting meltdown...

Days like today remind me why babies and toddlers (for that matter) are so cute...

Censorship

I created this blog over three years ago so that friends and family who live all over the country could be in touch with what is going on in our lives. Generally speaking, Julie and I are fairly open people, however since announcing our quadruplet pregnancy, we have incurred some unwanted attention here. We have been, and remain excited to share with people the stories of our tiny miracles, all six of them. We will, however, be taking advantage of comment moderation hence forth. Please take this as a friendly reminder that you are all our guests, and the topics on this blog are and will continue to be very sensitive to us. We welcome your suggestions, support, and thoughts, however we would appreciate it if you would keep this in mind before posting something that might be offensive to us, our children, or our family.

11 Weeks

Compared to our last pregnancy, even with quads, this pregnancy is just flying by... and flawlessly. I have had no nausea, no bleeding, no cramping, no needles or nasty progesterone suppositories. It has been a breeze. As we approach the second trimester... I know that things are bound to get at least a little bit hairy.

I spoke with our high risk OB from Chicago yesterday. After reviewing our ultrasound from the 2nd (I guess you're going to have to harass my dear hubby if you want to see those pics...) anyway, after reviewing the ultrasound, he would like to do an amniocentesis. First trimester amnios are referred to sometimes as "early" amnios, and are associated with some significant risks of miscarriage due to the fact that it is the first trimester. It is his opinion that the reassurances we would gain from the test are worth the risks. Roughly a week later, we will have another ultrasound to confirm that things are as they left them, and they will place a cervical cerclage. A cerclage is a stitch placed around the cervix to keep it from opening prematurely (and thus allowing the bag of water to protrude out, eventually causing premature rupture of the sac... sound familiar?) The cerclage will be placed under spinal anesthesia (similar to an epidural, except that there is no catheter to deliver more medication) and is actually what I was given for my twin's C-section. The placement carries the usual risks associated with spinal anesthesia, infection of the site, and of course miscarriage (related to both accidentally catching a sac and causing preterm contractions leading to labor). The earlier the cerclage is placed, the less risk to the membranes, and to a certain extent, labor.

While both procedures present risks to our tiny quads, it seems to us that these risks are smaller than the likelihood of rupturing early, hospitalized bed rest, and preterm delivery. The worst case scenario is that we loose the whole pregnancy. While this is devastating, the alternative of four tiny babies born before viability or slightly thereafter is at least equally frightening to us. Taylor and Alivya have taught us value of taking every day for what it is, and not looking too far into the future. While it is comforting to know that we are doing something, it is terrifying to weigh all the risks. The warnings about spontaneous miscarriage or miscarriage caused by these procedures have been well taken, but the reality of a positive outcome being 1 to 4 live healthy babies born as close to full term as possible is our primary focus as we make decisions that we think are in the best interest of all of us.

So as we venture on a new and different journey, one of hope and promise, please send your good thoughts that the next month or so goes as uneventfully as possible.

10 Weeks

We had an ultrasound on Tuesday, we also met with a high risk OB at the hospital on the Northwestern campus near Chicago. All the babies appear to be growing appropriately. They all had good heartbeats and were squirming around like crazy. The one they called baby "C" was not very cooperative. He/she would not sit still long enough for them to snap a good picture.

As for the OB, he had some interesting things to tell us. After reading my records and listening to how we described what happened with Taylor and Alivya, he strongly believes that Taylor's rupture was caused by incompetent cervix. None of the 4 different OB doctors I have seen since then has offered us any explanation, let alone one that is actually treatable. He was very positive and had no reason to believe that a more positive outcome can't be achieved this time. Armed with his thoughts we have some decisions to make about who we will see and how to go about everything, but overall I think it was a really informative day.

Hopefully Jon will scan the pics and have them up this weekend sometime.

Growing

Things are still going well. I am not posting simply because I don't know what to post. There is literally nothing going on with the pregnancy, that I can share anyway. I do love to stop by here and look at the widget, just to see what has changed. Its pretty incredible.

Hopefully Jon will put up some old videos of the kids that he finally downloaded from the camera... maybe...

No news

Not much going on in quad land. Next ultrasound is scheduled for September 2. Until then? Eat, Sleep, and Grow.

Death of a computer...

"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining."
- Jef Raskin

So I woke up this morning at my usual 4:30 am to head off to work. Did the bathroom thing, remembered to reset the alarm for my wife, and headed down stairs. Went to my computer to get the iPod and update it to find the computer that I had left on is now off. Press the power button. Fans start spinning but immediately die.

Repeat.

Same.

Shit.

The joys of building your own system. Seems about once a year something goes ary. Last year it was the CPU, year before it was the motherboard, before that, the graphics card. I am getting sick of having to do all this trouble shooting and maintenance, but doing it myself is so much cheaper than buying a dell or other pre-built system, at least with the specs I want. This is what I currently have, it's gonna get geeky.

AMD Opteron 165 @ 1.8 ghz (purchased last year for cheap, pretty much best card I could put in the motherboard)
1 GB RAM (don't know the speed, but got it back in 2003)
Radeon X800 Pro AGP Graphics Card (received from understanding brother after my old graphics card died in 2005)
Gigabyte mother board (purchased in 2005)
160 GB hard drive (salvaged from my wifes old eMachine that gave up the ghost in 2004)
Sound Blaster Live xGamer sound card (2000, part up high school graduation upgrade present)
DVD-R/W drive (Christmas present from 2005 I think)
Floppy Drive (don't even know why I keep this around, purchased when windows 95 came on 3.5 in diskettes)
550W Power Supply (came with case, 2005)
Black case (purchased in 2005 to fix overheating issues)

So, now what. I think I will purchase a new power supply, they are cheap, and hope that works. If not I think I am just going to have with out a PC for now.

Looking into the future I am not sure what to do. I like to play games, which is what I do mostly on the PC, use it for movie and music storage to stream to the TV and MacBook, and dock the iPod to it for Podcasts. I like the idea of getting a desktop Mac, but the iMacs have built in screens which I do not like and the minimum price for a pro is $2500, and while it can run xp it is deffinalty not the best bang for buck as far as gaming. Maybe a Dell? That means going to Vista, which I am not sure about. Could build another one myself, but that means more headaches most likely.

Update: Tried a new power supply, no change. RIP

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.

- Oscar Wilde

I find refuge in this quote as this morning I woke to find my computer refusing to boot and the garage door opener acting up. Likely my car shall fall apart as I drive home.

Thougths on Quads

There were only supposed to be three damn it, my mini van only holds seven!

Kidding aside, I am very excited about the new children, but also terrified. It must sound cliche by now. I am glad to know that we are finished. I'm cutting her off. Also, I wanted to have all of my children by the age of 30, I'm 26 if you did not know.

Taking a cue from Bill Cosby, we have six kids because we do not want seven.

I am terrified because it is already crazy around here with twins. I can hear the two of them upstairs right now having a great time. They tear around the house and get into everything. Taylor can now just barely turn on light switches by himself. Alivya regularly says no to doing things, and is a terror to put to bed. I am supposed to do this with 4 more?!

So, hanging in there. One day at a time like my wife says. We will have more ultrasounds soon.

Remebering What I Want

There are hundreds of books that I want to read, movies I want to watch, TV shows I want to see, games I want to play. I know I am never going to get to all of them, even if my life were infinite. The pile grows larger at a rate greater than I can take things off of it. This is slightly stress inducing, but also comforting. I know I will always have something to look forward to.

Problem is I can forget what I want to do. There is just so much of it. With all the other distractions in life, job, kids, wife, household maintenance, hungry cats, discovering quads are on the way, it is easy for me to forget.

So I keep a list. Actually it is a Google spreadsheet. Spreadsheet because I like the way it organizes things, Google because I can get to it from any computer with online access. It is divided into different types of mediums. Books, Book Series, Video Games, Movies, and TV Series. Anytime I hear of something I would like to read, watch, or play I add it to the list.

I am not sure what to do when I am finished with something. Recently I have taken to using a strike-through format to show that I have finished. Before I would simply clear the cell, but I felt like I hand never made progress that way. On the other hand if I never delete anything the file is going to become to large to handle some day.

Does anybody else have this problem of remembering things like this? How do you address it?

Quads

So we are officially 7 weeks 3 days pregnant with quads. As with any pregnancy, there is a high chance of miscarriage of all or some of the babies during the first trimester. We have been warned that this risk is greater with higher order multiples like ours. Keeping this in mind, we are taking every day one day at a time. We'll worry about things after we have made it through the first trimester.

What's new?

See the graphic to the right....

Told You So!

Looking back at all of what Taylor has been through and where he is now makes me extremely proud. He has overcome obstacles in his 2 1/2 years of life many of us have never had to face in an entire life time. From breathing to growing to eating to walking to talking. Every step that most parents seem to take for granted are great accomplishments for him. For the most part I give him all the credit as well. His therapists and us have worked with him a lot, but in the end it has been his determination to do so. In a way I feel like we just keep throwing things at him to do, and if we keep at it he will get it.

Food is the most recent demonstration of this. 6 months ago he was entirely dependent on tube feedings. At first it was extremely hard, especially the move from purees to solids. Looking back I don't even remember when he made the transition. It started with crackers, that I remember. Now he eats more than his sister, and the only downside is that he does not like fruits or veggies in the least. I can't really say that is odd, but you would like your kids to be healthy. He still gets a tube feeding every night, but it is steadily shrinking.

Our goal is to have him in the 25th weight percentile by the end of the year while slowly dropping his feeding to nothing. Once the feedings are done its 6 months till they will take out the tube permanently. In a way this will mark the end. While he may still have delays in learning and other such things, he will no longer be dependent on any kind of medical device. These years of pumps and compressors, tubes and syringes, will be over.

What I am most happy about, even over all of his accomplishments, is how much of a joy-full child he is. Alivya a cute and smart beyond her years, and can melt you in an instant with the right look, but Taylor is the embodiment of joy and energy. When he sees something he likes or someone he loves he just can't contain himself.

To think of all the doctors that said this may never happen. That he would not survive to viability. That he would not survive the first few days. That he would always be on oxygen. That he would never eat.

You showed them Taylor. You showed them that with determination, confidence, and love that one can survive all the odds and become more than anyone ever imagined.

Good news/Bad news

Most people who know me well, know that I have a little trouble seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty. I am pretty good at seeing the gloom and doom, but not so good at finding a sunny side. However, this month has been lousy enough, that I am actually happy to say that the a/c only cost $100 to repair, not replace. Jon's glasses were already a year old, so we would have had to replace them soon anyway, and he compromised to buy some more inexpensive lenses and frames thus only $200. Yesterday I was able to solder the other earpiece to Liv's glasses, so they will live to see a few more days, and the fridge... well, it was $200 to REPAIR... much cheaper than replacing it now. So the sunny side is that it all of it could have cost so much more, and I should be grateful for that.

Now maybe the car thing on Tuesday will be ok too.

Refridgerator Blues

So over the past month we have been hit with one crisis after another... and as most of you know, I am not super about crisis. In fact without Jon I would go crazy, so the fact that this month's long list has been handled pretty well thus far is nothing short of amazing. Well, it all ended last night. After the car battery, Taylor breaking Jon's glasses, someone breaking Livi's glasses, AND the air conditioner (which a few little unwelcomed mice built a nest in the electrical compartment and had lunch on the wires...) last night I took a glass of milk that tasted like warm yogurt... YUCK! In fact, the milk had been warm all day, but I stupidly brushed it off as the house being warm (the A/C was fixed yesterday afternoon) well... no, The WHOLE refrigerator was warm. Just Great! My panic button is on super alert... blaring with loud wrenching noises and causing me to be nauseous. How much of this can one person/family take???

Where is your button?

As a response to this question, most kids lift their shirts and point to their belly buttons, not Taylor. Taylor hikes his little shirt up to his chin, where he cleverly secures it so that it can't fall down, and points to the plastic cap that lays over his skin creating a tube to his stomach. Taylor can open and close his "mic-key button", put a syringe in it, and remove and, on occasion, attach his feeding extension tubing. None of this was encouraged per say, but mostly just learned from multiple daily feedings for the last two years and one month. I joke sometimes that Occupational therapy didn't get him over the fine motor delays, but tube feedings did.

Since January Taylor's oral consumption of food has made remarkable progress. I don't really know if it was all the "tricks" we tried, or if it was weekly therapy, or the types of food, or anything that we actually did. I tend to believe that it was shear will and determination to be just like Alivya and eat what Alivya (generally speaking) eats, the way Alivya eats.

Sometime around the beginning of the year, he started consuming baby jar food very regularly. We moved quickly from very smooth consistencies to soft solid bits, to textures. It was amazing. We had decided around the end of February that it was time to introduce table foods, and it was recommended to try grinding them in a fancy (not really) little contraption. We had just started doing this with canned veggies and fruits, noodles and meats when we came down with this nasty stomach virus. You're welcome to visit our archives to read more about it... it was titled, "buckets of vomit" and "vomit ville". Needless to say, there are few meals during that period that any of us continue to part take in now. So the grinding was very short lived. After his stomach finally began to heal, he wanted nothing to do with the nasty ground stuff. So we just cut all the canned stuff up to bite sized pieces. This was the beginning of Taylor's jet speed projection into eating like a "big boy".

By early May, Taylor had mastered the art of table food eating. With the exception of most fruits and nearly all veggies, he eats almost anything. Some of the veggie stuff I think is normal two year stubborn will, but the fruits seem to be more of a texture thing since he ate them all like water when he was in his baby food stage. We have tried lots of tricks, but hiding them in yogurt, pudding, ice cream, and jello have not been effective at all. He does not even like whipped topping, and has tired of applesauce consistency stuff. Over all, we are super pleased with his progress, and although we still offer plenty of veggies and fruits, we don't get too hung up on it. His tube feeding dependency in January was 1200cc per day, today he receives only 300cc daily. A quarter of what he needed just seven months ago!

Taylor's biggest challenge since April has been drinking. He didn't show any interest in taking fluids orally. We have worked really hard on this, and with some timing tweaks and maybe some sweet incentives, he takes about three ounces daily now. Last week he finally caught on to the concept of sucking from a sippy. Although he can (and does during meals) drink from an open cup, sippy allows him to focus on drinking rather than playing. Open cups allow for tons of fun dumping, dunking, and dribbling, not to mention stirring and shaking. We also found that he needs open cups served in very small quantities. I have taken to filling a cup for myself, so when he takes his swallow and asks for more, I don't have to keep running to the fridge.

The dietitian weighs and measures Taylor every other week. Her last two visits have shown a weight gain of one pound six and a half ounces. Our goal is to see that T gets to the 25th percentile by his third birthday, at this rate, he would blow that goal out of the water. Therefore, we have agreed to begin weaning his tube supplements down by two ounces at each visit, as long as he keeps on track to be in the 25th percentile by December. This means that we could see Taylor's dependence upon the tube cease to exist by the end of the year. His GI said they will leave the tube in for six months after its last use, then it comes out for good.

I can't believe the end might be in sight. I am so excited for Taylor, and looking forward to teaching about his real button!

Pee Pee

Last Monday I began intensive potty training with Alivya. She is doing great at sitting on the potty, which was our first challenge. Last Tuesday, she put a couple little drops in the potty for Daddy. I was so proud of her and we praised her well. After she went to bed, I whined about how I was working so hard on it, and he got the pee pee. How funny it would have been to be a bee on the wall for that little discussion. So today right before nap, I was reading Calliou gets a potty to Livi while she sat on the potty. Suddenly it seemed like she understood. When we finish reading, I always say, should we see if you put any pee pee in the potty? And Livi gets up, and we look, and its always empty. NOT TODAY!!!! There was a tiny little dribble sitting there at the bottom of the potty. She looked at it so curiously, so I said "that's your pee pee"!!! We clapped and cheered and jumped up and down. I have never been so proud of a tiny drop of urine in my life! I gave her TWO m&ms and told her how proud and happy it made me. We dumped her pee pee down "mommy's potty", flushed it away, and said, "bye bye pee pee." Then I was ordered to "wash hands", which I thought was adorable. I think this is a second step in the direction of diaper freedom! Yeah Alivya!!!!!

MIA

I would never be one to say that our life is "boring" so why haven't we been writing? Well, that would be because our life has been so busy that we simply haven't had time. When we are not running around getting things done, we are in the pool or give the kids some sun time. We've been reading, working, doing studio stuff, and just trying to keep everything up. Monday was our first day officially on our own. Taylor was discharged from the services of our home health agency on Friday. Its been good, getting up at 7:30am means that I am wore out by 9:30pm when Jon wants to be getting to bed. Not that I slept til noon every day, but even 8:30 - 9 was a nice sleep in.

I finished working on a portfolio of our photography work so far, and we organized our equipment bags. After loosing a battery and the charger, we decided to keep logs of all our equipment. Before each shoot we would check the equipment out like at the library, and before leaving the shoot, we will check it back in. We also met with an artist in the area who specializes in videography. We are considering contracting with her to make her services available to our customers.

We found two programs at the library that were appropriate for T&A, so we have been going there twice a week also. Last weekend we went to Bay Beach with mom and Evan. Bay Beach is a small local amusement park in Green Bay (for those of you not from this area). Taylor was afraid of nearly everything, but we did get him on the helicopters and the train with Jon. Mom also took him on the Merry-go-round. Alivya rode on everything, she couldn't get enough. "More ride" she would say after each one. I will post pix once Jon uploads them. We had a windy picnic then played on the playground for a while. That ended after Livi fell from a ladder. She was shook up, but physically unhurt. Later that night we dropped them off at my Mom's house. She volunteered to keep them overnight. A rare opportunity for us. We listened to a book that we started a few weeks earlier, then went to bed early. Jon was beat.

My Hubby, forever...

Isn't he the sweetest husband EVER????

I think so!

Thanks for the night out, my babies, my education (sorry about this one ;), loving me, the last five years, the four before that, and the next ??? years! You are the best!

To My Wife on Our 5th Wedding Anniversary

I was going to say more, but as I wrote it down it simply did not suffice. I guess all I can say is that I love you more than they day we were married, 5 years ago today. Happy anniversary. I look forward to the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30... (you get the point) years.

I love you...

Pictures!

So that's what they are supposed to look like when they come out.

Welcome

Zachary Donald Stanis
Born at 2:31pm (pacific time)
7pounds

Mommy and baby are doing well!

I'm an Auntie again!!!!!
Sort of funny that Taylor was born at 2:29, Livi at 2:30 and Zachary at 2:31pm... hehehe
Can't wait for pictures!!!!

Q to be Revealed

So last night we got the news that Baby Q Donald Stanis will make is big entrance into our crazy world tomorrow! We are super excited and depressed, since I want to be there holding the little bundle! sniff sniff... no one really feels sorry for me, but I will keep trying... Anyone want to fund a plane ride for me??? Its only about 700 round trip... :(

Well here is a BIG GOOD LUCK to the newest Mommy and Daddy!!!

Drip drip drip

So the pink plumbing is still gone, however, the faucets are leaking again! I took the kiddos to the Ped this afternoon. They each had fevers and runny noses. Livi has a cough, and has been coughing like mad. Taylor was a whiny whiny boy all morning.

So the verdict is... virus! Doctor would like us to continue nebulizers to keep it out of the lungs, and give Tylenol and Ib profrin for fever. I pretty much expected this, so I am not too disappointed. Between their recent pneumonia and their preemie status, I just felt better having them checked out right away.

Right now we are all sitting here quietly watching Clifford the Big Red Dog... even Taylor... now we know he is ill!

No more Pink plumbing

Yesterday we finished Taylor's course of antibiotics, and Alivya's course ended on Monday. So far... no runny, leaky, nasty, snot noses, nor any nasty hacky coughs. So I think it is safe to decree, at least at this moment, that we are actually disease free!

The pool is filled and chemically treated...just waiting for some nice warm weather to welcome us into its induction! I simply can't wait. Jon and I were looking at stuff several weeks ago in the pool isle at Wally world, and I discovered this "light show" kit. They call it a "floating disco ball". It looked really neat. Well, its been calling me, I have no clue why... so Monday when I came home from work, it was sitting there on my kitchen table with a bow on it! Somebody DOES love me! :) Thank you honey!

If the weather actually ever gets nice and stays warm, it is going to be so much fun!

Since the kids got sick a few weeks ago, they have been playing with my stethoscopes. Right now actually, Taylor has the pediatric one in his ears and is telling me that he is listening to his own heart! So cute! They listen to each other, Mommy, Daddy, and just about anything in their reach. Its so precious! They even lift their shirts.. I think they might become little doctors...although they are going to have to stop wearing them around their waists! T's waist is listening to the floor's heart right now!

I love this pretend stage. They are so creative and interpretive. Its funny to me to watch how things that I do or say influence them and how they interpret it.

Babies

For the past three years now, our lives have been consumed by the expectation, complication and arrival of our twins. This coming month will mark a huge turn in events for our small family, we will welcome another baby, who I affectionately refer to as "Baby Q Donald Stanis" poor thing ;) While his arrival is super exciting for us (as many of you might remember us begging for cousins!!!) it is also kind of sad for us. I have been noticing for a several months now that we no longer have babies, but the arrival of little Q means that my "babies" are most definitely not THE babies anymore!

Now, they are super cute sassy little terrible two year old know it all toddlers! I can't say that I wish they would stay small for ever, but every now and then I miss when they were tiny little babies that needed me more. I mean, this afternoon Livi took a tissue from the box and wiped her nose! So grown up! Most of this stage has been pretty fun, but there really have been so many more frustrating tantrums. Two year olds really do deserve their reputation.

So today we officially say good bye to having "babies" and hello to having "toddlers" and a baby cousin (well soon...) And if baby Q's parents could let us know when they get their package... that would be cool!

Hot, hot, hot!

Most of you already know what the weather is like in Wisconsin, but for those of you that don't, it is d**n cold one day, and blistering hot the next! For example, today's forecast says it will be 79 for a high, tomorrow... 50! WTF? Last year I begged and begged for this
large pool I saw at Wally world. When I finally convinced Jon that we had to have it... they didn't have any more. So we ended up paying more for the same pool at Menards... We put it up near the end of July (if not August) and took it down sometime in September... It claims to be a easy quick set up... what it doesn't say is that the land you set it on has to be perfectly level! So last year we used our poor wooden picnic table to help support it. The flattest part of our back yard had about a four to six inch slope... To make a long story short, the pool filled and leaned and filled, and bulged and nearly went tumbling down the hill. The table was the only thing holding it up! When we took it down, the poor table was broken and rotted from being wet and having so much pressure put against it.

So this year, we were determined to make it "easy and quick"! We spent two days in early spring leveling out a large circle in the back yard. We used the level, and sand, and the big pounder thing that we had purchased when we re-laid the patio at the old house... it was d**n level!

So on Memorial day, we pulled out the pool and got ready to fill it... and to our dismay, there were three large holes in the tube at the top... so, no big deal, Jon got out the patches. Takes 12 hours to seal, so we left it alone. A few days later it was finally warm enough to get back to it, and if we didn't find two more holes... more patches. The next day we pull out the hose, start filling, and you guessed it, a hole in the bottom... more patches... left it sit again. Started filling, and about one foot later, yep, little trickle coming from under the pool. So we stop filling, locate the hole, and patch some more. The next day we start filling, and everything, finally, seems to be good. After filling the pool all day long, we finally had about 2.5 feet of water. Unfortunately though, we also noticed that our perfectly level plot was pooling again down slope... Nothing we were doing seemed to help. Tired and frustrated, we went to bed. The next morning I looked out the window, and wouldn't you know it... ALL the water was gone!

This was the last straw. So while out buying groceries, we also bought this...




Its almost full now, and so much easier to deal with.

Couch Potato???

This post is for anyone who thinks us Stanis' are couch potatoes!

When we last talked,Taylor had somehow lost his tube, ended up in the ER and thankfully got another (smaller) one in. So that was around May 8th... what have we been up to? Not couching it, oh no... we have been BUSY!

Mother's Day Breakfast

Taylor had three visits with our surgeon friend, who was able to put his regular sized tube back in after only two visits and in less than a week! HURRAY, he rocks so much! Go Dr Brennan!

On the 15th we had our usual visit from the nurse that is in charge of Taylor's home care. She and I don't always see eye to eye, and this time she came with an agenda. She decided that she would cut our hours by 2 hours a day. While I agree that Taylor is getting well enough that we don't need as much care, one of the purposes of his care was to provide him with care while I work. This can be pretty complicated to explain, but as a child with a G-tube and other complications, he does not generally qualify for regular means of child care. Consequently, Katie Becket (a program that funds Taylor's Medicaid Eligibility etc) is in place to help find care for kids like Taylor. This day was very frustrating.

After Taylor's last tube change appointment, I decided to call the Ped's office becaue Livi's cold was not only not better, it was getting worse. Both the kids started getting runny noses around the same time T's tube came out. While Taylor's sort of resolved, Livi's developed into a bad cough.



Turns out she had an infection in both ears! Bring on the pink stuff!!! If you aren't familiar with this yet, and you are a parent... this is your future!

Anyway, so we went on with life and antibiotics...


If you look closely at this one, you will see the poor drippy noses that we've been wiping!







So on Saturday the 17th, we loaded up the car and set out to hit the rummage sales HARD! I love these sales... you can find so many good deals, and it gets us out of the house. And no one cares if the kids cry, laugh, or make a mess! We found a neighborhood where there were over 30 homes having sales. It was AWESOME! We walked and walked and then...



we ate. We were exhausted, but had a super fun time.



So the noses started to clear up, and on Thursday the 22nd, we were scheduled to have Taylor's Botox redone. Jon took the day off to come with me, unfortunately... for the doctor... Taylor's PT thought that he didn't really need the Botox. So we cancelled the appointment!!! YEAH! Doesn't Taylor just rock? Instead, we ended up traveling down to Waukesha to visit our NICU nurse Sue.



We had a really good time! Especially the kids. We stayed up late, and we ate, and we played, and well.. just so much catching up!





Then we slept, well the kids did anyway. Daddy drove, and Mommy struggled to stay awake. Daddy took Friday off, so we were all super spoiled having Daddy home Thursday through Tuesday! On Friday Jon and I fixed up the old bike trailer that our neighbor gave us when we moved in and bought the kids bike helmets... pix to come...

we went for a ride and the kids really thought it was fun... after they got going. Putting on helmets and getting in wasn't really fun.
Meanwhile, the girly nose kept running...

So after work on Saturday, Jon tells me that he gave Livi Albuterol because she started wheezing... no good... Sunday morning I pull out the old stethoscope, and sure enough this child's right lung was squeaky like a mouse! I called her dr and...



yup, nebs! Poor kiddo.

So on Monday, Memorial Day, we went over to James and Kristi's for a small cookout after playing outside all morning... and discovering a couple holes in our pool :( It was so fun to hang out and the kids had an awesome time! Thanks for having us over!!!
I can't say how nice it is to have other adults around once in a while leaving us free to relax a bit!

Tuesday morning we got up bright and early for SURGERY! Taylor was scheduled to have his adenoids removed, and his tubes replaced.



He really liked the Versed! After the procedure we met him in Recovery. Everything went well in the surgery, and he PASSED his hearing exam!



He was super sleepy, and really angry! Who wouldn't be though?

After an hour or so, he was still sleepy, AND only sating around 89 :(
Soooooo...


After four hours, he was still not sating very well... so a chest x-ray was done, and pnuemonia was diagnosed... we were admitted to the PACU for observation. By the time we arrived to the room, he was sating 96! The child was HUNGRY!!! So after a few hours of observation, we went home on... see pic above... the pink stuff... well his is actually white, but you get the idea. AND prednisone! sigh...

AND we were all exhuasted!



This morning I took Livi back to the Dr to check on things... guess what... you are going to be shocked... she has ...

PNEUMONIA too!

Shocking! I bet the Dr wishes the nurse had listened to me better last Sunday! So double strength Zithromax... here we come!

Take a moment to give us some health! We need it!

The kids are doing well, considering!

Taylor and Alivya playing in the back yard.

TWiP and Twitter

First, another link to This Week in Photography. They are giving away a Drobo (a back up device that would be extremely useful), plus they are a great photography podcast that is getting better as they go along.

http://www.twipphoto.com

Second, if you would like a peak inside the madness that is my mind you can follow me on Twitter, which is a sort of blog/IM service. You can either subscribe to my feed in an RSS feed or join Twitter yourself and jump into the conversation. I am also planing on adding it the sidebar. Warning, Twitter can be a real black hole if you let it be.

http://twitter.com/jonstanis

G Tube

Every now and then I am asked to talk about what residual complications we have from the kids prematurity. Generally speaking, I would say that we have very few, however there are some. This is why the mission of the March of Dimes continues to be so important to us. No child should suffer the short or long term complications of premature birth.

There are two different types of complications that our kids continue to battle; there are the direct complications and the more indirect complications. Alivya, for example, has few direct complications. In fact, the only one I can think of is that she continues to lag behind on the growth chart. It is something that her doctor mentions each time we see her, but she has not recommended anything special to do about it. So I assume that her growth pattern isn't very alarming.

I would say that Alivya's continuing complications are more of the indirect nature. In my opinion, Livi lacks the social skills that normal two year olds have. I believe very much that this is at least partially, a complication resulting from the immuno precautions we took in their first two years. It seems to me that even though babies don't really knowingly participate in social situations during their first two years, they gain a ton of social experiences from watching the interactions that others have with them and the people around them. So I think what we are seeing now in group situations is a fear that may not have been so prominent if she had experienced more group activities when they were younger. I doubt this is a permanent deficiency, but it is something that we are working on with her. There is shy, and there is fear. I really believe that Alivya gets scared of larger groups of kids and/or adults.



Now Taylor, on the other hand, is doing rather well with the group situation. I think this is partially because he got more of his father's passive personality. Anyway, he continues to have more direct complications of his premature birth. Above is a photo Jon and I took of some of Taylor's old feeding tubes. The long one is called a G/J Tube. The long part is guided through the stomach and down into the small intestine using a radiology technique called floroscopy. Radioactive dye and xray helps the radiologist determine if the tube is placed properly. Taylor used this type of tube between October 2006 and August 2007. During this period he experienced frequent projectile vomiting, sometimes four and five times per day. The advantage of the G/J tube is that the food bypasses the stomach altogether. This ensured that Taylor would not be able to vomit, and contributed to his successful growth during that first year.

The other tube pictured is a more simple form called a G-tube. This tube is much shorter since it only needs to go through the skin and into the stomach. The large bulb at the bottom of this tube is an inflatable balloon, which keeps the tube in place. Both types of tube work like this.

On Thursday morning we woke to find that Taylor's G-tube (the smaller one) had somehow been removed, and the channel from Taylor's skin to into his stomach, was already halfway closed. Although I was really worried that we might have to take him into surgery to reopen the channel, we ended up only having to go to the ER. There a surgeon was able to place a temporary tube that is half the size of his usual tube. Consequently, he will have to make at least two appointments to try to enlarge the channel by placing larger and larger tubing in the channel. We have no idea really how the tube became dislodged, but since the balloon at the bottom was completely intact, I have to believe that it was either caught on something or someone... but it must have happened after 7pm when Jon fed him, and 10pm when we moved him back to his own bed just before we went to bed. If we had noticed it right away, we could have replaced it ourselves without difficulty.

So Thursday was a busy busy day. Taylor and I also had an appointment with his Ear Nose, and Throat doctor. It turns out that one of his tubes is dislodged and crusted shut. Since this will be his second set of tubes, and his research has indicated that children who require multiple sets of tubes tend to benefit from having their adenoids removed. So sometime in the next week or two he will be having his ear tubes replaced and a partial adenoidectomy. Since he will be asleep, they are also going to be doing a conductive hearing test to make sure that all his failed hearing tests have in fact been related to the fluid not a conductive issue.

So these are a couple of the examples of the continuing complications that we are dealing with.

A conversation with Taylor

Nothing like a cute movie to bring the crowds...

Loved

So its a good thing that I don't judge how well loved we are based on our reader comments;) Maybe everyone else is busy putting together mother's day surprises and just can't take time to post a comment... or maybe you have all switched to readers, like us, where commenting is really super inconvenient... what ever keeps you away, once in a while drop a line so we feel a purpose for writing.

Anyway, we have been really busy working on the photos from the March for Babies walk. They look super, I am really excited to finally get them in the mail, hopefully this week yet.

I have also been working on mother's day surprises... since some of our mothers actually read our blog... I think so anyway... I won't say anymore about that. And lastly, we ordered some more prints to add to our Studio portfolio. Overall, I am really pleased with them, but there were a few (7) that ended up being a "learning experience". Thankfully they were all shots that we were sort of experimenting with in the first place, so nothing important was messed up. I would like to take a moment to thank a number of our friends and family who have allowed us to "play" with their images. Breaking into this business is tough work, but every photo shoot is an opportunity to gain ground... so big THANK YOU... you all know who you are!

Without further adu... since I know you all read to hear about the kiddies...
Alivya has had a couple of really adorable conversations with herself and various inanimate objects (remotes, crayons, blocks, etc) Most of these consist of some short sentences. Tanya said this morning she was having one of these and said something to the effect of "oh, you're all done? Good then". Too cute! Potty training still evades me. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but there is something about it that just freaks me out! Any pointers, fellow moms? Twin mommy's? HELP!

We've finally had a couple really nice days, so the kids got to enjoy the sunshine and their outdoor toys. Taylor discovered that going under the screen of our new gazebo is so much easier than zipping and unzipping... there are advantages to being small. Last night we had dinner outside. I am not sure it was Livi's cup of tea, but Taylor had a ball.

Livi has undeniably learned the word "NO", and expresses her new verbiage with enthusiasm often! It kills me when I use it on her now, she looks up at us like, "only I can use that term!" It's pretty classic. Likewise, Taylor is starting to pick up on it too. He doesn't use it as often, but in key moments he can pull it out as good as she can! Taylor is also working on his repetition stage... I often say things like, "don't play with that Taylor!" and hear back "don't pay with dat Tayr!" Yesterday he came up to me and I looked at him and said, "Whats up bud?" and he got right in my face and said "whats up bud?" You really learn to listen to yourself more when you have two year olds!

Jon and I have been trudging, begrudgingly through hours of whinny, screaming pouts and tantrums. So much so, that I am surprised that we've still got our feet firmly planted... so last week Jon says to me "they are acting SOOOO ..... two!" In some ways we just have to laugh, because everyone always talks about this, but as a parent, it hits you like a meteor just fell out of the sky. One day you have these perfect tiny angel beings that bring joy and laughter to your life. The next day you have two year olds! Screaming, crying, whining about EVERYTHING! Taylor: dacker (cracker) Dad: you have a cracker! Taylor: Daaaaackerrrrrrrr!! Daaaaaackerrrrrrr! [while pulling on your finger with intent]

See even when you give them what they say they want, they are not happy. So in conclusion, parents of two year olds are SCREWED, just hunker down and pray that three comes soon... not that it necessarily gets sunnier on that side...

:)