Finn - Come on Home!

Well, we thought we'd have Finn home by now - he was due to be home on Wednesday then they pushed it to Thursday or Friday and now it could be another week or longer. He took his car seat test on Tuesday, which he failed the first time by having a sleeping Brady during the test. So he studied up that afternoon and passed it on Tuesday evening. Still, they called me on Wednesday and said they'd like to keep him a bit longer because he isn't taking his bottles in full and he is still having problems with his oxygen saturation while feeding. I guess the little guy wants to stick with his brother, Noah, for a while longer. One nurse told me that every time Noah starts crying Finn opens his eyes and looks over his way as if he knows it's his brother in need. She thinks Finn and Noah have a deal that they are going to stick together no matter what.

Finn's Car Seat Test




Noah needs our prayers. He is having some breakdown of the skin around his stoma which is making it difficult to keep his ostomy bag in tact. This makes for uncomfortable days for him as they have to replace the bag 4 - 6 times a day. Every time they do this they change the feeding tube which is causing ulcerations and bleeding of his fistula. The bag change is also painful for him since each time they have to rip the tape off of his irritated skin. We were hoping to be talking second surgery next week, but it looks like patience is the name of the game for us right now. The surgeon told Chris that we should expect the surgery to be at the end of October or later. Chris is off on Tuesday and we would like to meet with the surgeon in person to voice our concerns about his skin and the fact that he has to go through that pain so many times each day. We'd like to know if it's better to chance doing surgery early to relieve this or if they think it's still better to wait. My heart is broken right now as I desperately want my boys home and to have the family all together. Won't that be a joyous day!

Noah's Best Friend - The Paci


Cohen and Sophia are doing really great at home. I had them by myself for an afternoon last week while my parents went to the hospital to visit Finn and Noah. It was so much fun but I was having a bit of a panic thinking about being alone with 4!

Sophia and Cohen Swinging




Chris and I are adapting to parenthood. I have heard over and over from my girlfriends how hard children can be on your relationship. I am starting to see those effects. I think it's the lack of sleep and just plain lack of knowing what to do that makes it very easy to bicker about anything. Yesterday I accused Chris of not caring about his children because he hasn't read all 110 books that I have stacked around the house on how to raise a good family, child development, breast feeding, sleep patterns, etc. I mean - he should have had time for at least half of those in between working, coming home and feeding two babies, going to the hospital, right? After he asked me if I'd like him to take a sabbatical and spend the next two years reading, I quickly apologized and we both got a good laugh about it. I'm sure we'll have many laughs ahead. :)

Rejuvenated

Grandma and Grandpa Glass took the night shift last night and we got an excellent night's sleep! They said it went well but were staring at each other wondering what it's going to be like with two more in the mix!

We feed Cohen and Sophia every 3 hours, which is the same schedule they were on in the NICU. It is working well so far, though it seems one is ready to eat and the other just wants to sleep, so we wake one up so we can feed them both at the same time. We are finding that Cohen needs an extra feeding as he wakes up starving about an hour after his 4am feeding and still manages to throw down (not up, thankfully) a full bottle (90-100 cc now), so we are now going to try to add a feed at 8pm to see if that will help him sleep for 3 hours in the early morning.

Jazmyn, Cohen & Sophia

Below are some video and photos from yesterday. We are having a blast with Cohen and Sophia home and are anxiously awaiting Finn and Noah's arrival.

Cohen Crying

Busha, Cohen & Sophia

Noah Smiling


Finn's Upside Down Smile

Notes from the NICU

We made it back to the NICU today to see Noah & Finn. Even though it has only been a few days since we've been there, it is kind of strange to be back there, especially since we already have two at home. Hopefully, the video below works - this is my 1st time to try video. If it goes well I will start posting more videos.

Noah is looking much better today. He has good coloring and appears more alert. He has also gained some weight back and is now 5#, thanks in part to being back on lipids and the new Elicare formula to help him process fat and protein. The plan is for the surgical team to assess him in about a week and a half to determine if he is ready to be re-connected (intestines sewn back together). They usually do this surgery 6-8 weeks after the first one.

Finn is doing better as well. He does not de-sat (drop oxygen level) except after taking about 3/4 of his bottle, but the oxygen levels come back up sometimes on their own and sometimes with a little oxygen. He, too, is growing like crazy is next in line to come home. I imagine he feels lonely now without Cohen & Sophia by his side.

Thankfully, Mari's parents made into town and took care of Cohen and Sophia for us. Cohen and Sophia go to christen their swings - not like that, they haven't pee-ed on them yet. Cohen has officially grown out of his preemie clothes; trying to put those on him reminded me of that scene in Black Sheep with Chris Farley when he is on the airplane and gets the life vest stuck around his neck. It seems like he could eat constantly all day long.

Sophia seems to be going through a growth spurt right now. She has almost doubled the amount she eats. She is closing in on the 5.5 lb mark and will probably be there before Monday. It was so funny to her and Cohen in their swings because their eyes would go side to side with the swing. I tried to get video of it but you can't really tell what's going on.

9 months ago when we found out we were having quads, we were so stressed about the financial burden of raising 4 babies, especially as we went to one salary. We have been so blessed with God's grace and miracles; now we see that it is all so worth it and we don't even think about the medical expenses or any of that stuff. God has really taught us what is important.

Day 2 - We Made It!

I know you checked the blog 1st thing in the AM the other day, didn't see a post; checked again the next day, didn't see a post; checked this AM, didn't see a post, and began to wonder if we made it or not. Well, let's say we are alive right now to talk about it. No, it really hasn't been that bad. Cohen & Sophia sleep well and eat very well. The trick has been to wake them to eat before they wake us. Knowing that we have 2 more still to come home makes twins a piece of cake.

Cohen & Sophia had their 1st pediatrician appointment yesterday with Dr. Herman (what is it with this connection to the name Herman?). They did well and are looking healthy. He told us to limit the amount of exposure to people and crowds for the next 3 months because at this stage, the babies immune systems just aren't strong enough.

The blood work came back on Noah, and the little dude has a bladder infection - we all know how much those hurt! He has been on the appropriate antibiotics for a few days and is already feeling better. The nurse told us Noah did not have any bradys yesterday! The surgeons consulted a pediatric GI specialist, Dr. Roads, to check in on Noah to see what he thinks. Dr. Roads said that since Noah is not getting fed by mouth, he is not able to use the pancreatic enzymes used to break down fat and protein. So he started Noah on Elicare, a formula specially designed with these enzymes so that he can process the protein and fat in milk. He also met with the surgeons last night to discuss re-connecting his intestines, but also said that Noah had to complete 2 weeks of antibiotics prior to surgery. According to his nurses, Noah is tolerating these feedings very well and gained a little weight.

They are still assessing Finn's response to the reflux meds to see if they are working. They place him on oxygen during feeds to help with this, but as of now, they don't think he'll need to come home with oxygen.

We miss Finn and Noah right now and will hopefully be able to see them this weekend as Mari's parents fly in today - yea - help!! Busha has been at the hospital loving these 2 little guys everyday and we are so appreciative of her love.

The past few days have been awesome! Yesterday, we got the house scrubbed down from top to bottom while the babies were sleeping --- thanks Merry Maids courtesy of NW Houston Mothers of Multiples! We are also back to eating homemade meals --- thanks Jen for coordinating meals. The Community of Faith meals team will spring into action over the upcoming months for us. What a huge blessing!

Diaper Count = 42
Bottles Fed = 32
Smiles from happy parents = Countless

Welcome Home! - 1st edition

Cohen & Sophia in their double wide

My babies in their new ride

Well, despite all the naysayers, we are awesome parents! We made it through the "Care by Parent" overnight stay program without a hitch. We are also infant CPR saavy. "Care by Parent" was pretty cool and an eye opener. We know things are going to be tough, but we really got an idea of how hard it will be to feed 4 babies. Well, feeding them isn't the problem, it's more of finding time for us to sleep. Cohen had been eating 105cc of milk for the last few feedings but we decided that was too much because he kept having blow outs. So, last night, being the awesome padres we are, decided to scale back his feeding to 70cc. Cohen not happy and up every hour and half ready to go again, so we decided to feed Sophia at the same time. Now we know...live and learn...don't mess with the baby tummy! Speaking of tummies, on the way out of the hospital, all eyes were on the babies and not Mari's quad bod.

Welcome home!

Noah is back on antibiotics for an infection. They are doing cultures to see what kind of infection he has so they can treat him properly. They think this is the reason for him having so many bradys the past few days. Because of this, they stopped his feedings and put him back on TPN (total parenteral nutrition), which is basically super Gatorade, and will start the lipids again as well.


They started Finn on medication for acid reflux, although the pH study said it could be reflux or it could not be reflux - glad we paid for that test! We'll do a little trial to see if that keeps him from dropping his oxygen saturation. The unexpected news about Finn is that he is tentatively scheduled to come home next week - wow!


We are so excited to have the babies home and love the monitors. They have not gone off nearly as much as we thought they would and do allow us to sleep a little better. We have our first pediatrician appointment tomorrow - wish us luck!

Sorry Jaz, daddy has a new little girl

Though we are celebrating such a momentous occasion, we are also deeply saddened by the passing of our good friend's mom. She passed away Monday from a short battle with stomach cancer, the same thing my dad had. Our hearts and prayers are with them during this time.

Mama, I'm Coming Home

Update....This morning we found out that Cohen and Sophia posted bail and are coming home!!! They will be coming home with monitors, which is not a big deal, especially after all the helpful comments. We will both take infant CPR tomorrow and do "Care by Parent" for 24 hours. We will stay in a room on the same floor as the NICU and take care of the babies as if we were home. This is the test to see if we cut it as padres. If we pass our test, we get to keep the babies and bring them home Wednesday!
Cohen & Sophia strapped in

Cohen and Sophia took their car seat test (60 minutes without crazy vital signs) today and passed with flying colors on the 1st try! In fact, Cohen passed with the color brown as he had his 1st blow out in his car seat - it is now officially broken in.

A little perspective on how small they still are

Mari is off to the Fire station tomorrow morning to have the car seat bases installed properly. I placed the seat protectors on the seats, put the bases in the car, and stroller in the back. We put together one swing and 2 bouncy seats this evening as well. And believe it or not, not a single fight the whole time! Things are defintiely getting real! I think I felt butterflies today for the 1st time.

We hope to post soon if our eyes can stay open long enough.

Up and Runnin'

Sorry for the delay. Our DSL keeps going in and out on us.

Still no babies home yet. I think they are taking what I said literally - you can't come home until you can sleep through the night.

Cohen may come home later this week, but with a heart rate monitor since he has a brady while sleeping sometimes. We are a little mixed up about this. On one hand, maybe he'll grow out of it if he stays in there another week or two so we don't have to worry about the monitors and training whoever takes care of him on what to do while we go to the hospital. At the same time, it would sure be nice to have at least one of the little guys home. If anyone has any input on the monitor situation please let us know. Cohen is now 6 lbs!

Finn, Cohen, Sophia & Proud Papa

Noah was wide awake for the first time in a really long time this weekend. He still gets milk through a feeding tube directly into his small intestine and takes a small bottle twice a day. He has lost a little weight since being on milk only. The hard part has been trying to get the feeding tube and ostomy bag to stay in place. There have been times when all the milk has leaked out of his bag for several hours. I think we have finally got that straightened out after some creative taping. After a little weight loss, Noah enters the pod at 4 lbs 9oz.

Wide-Eyed Noah

Finn is still de-satting where his oxygen levels drop to 50%, especially when feeding. We are waiting for the results of a pH probe study to determine if he has acid reflux, which can cause his oxygen to drop. If this is the case, he will begin meds to help to out. He is still gaining weight and we wouldn't mind if all the babies could come home with the feeding tube and pump. Just think...wake up in the middle of the night, hit the power button, go back to sleep. Works for me!

Finn - Passed Out With the Pacifier

Sweet Sophia - what can I say!? She is doing very well, despite the occasional brady. She is always the most awake, checkin everything out. She is quite the eater, out-eating her 3 brothers. She will likely come home in the next 2 weeks and probably with a monitor as well. She is almost 5 lbs now!

Sophia Finally In the Crib With Her Brothers

I have somehow found myself in the JC Penney dressing room on two occasions in the past week trying on different girdles to see if I can miraculously suck in this skin that still makes me look like I'm 6 months pregnant. This is not an easy task. After a lot of huffing and puffing to cram myself into a piece of fabric that looks like it was meant for a small child, I finally got the first one on. Instead of looking pregnant, it appeared that I was having an asthma attack as my face was turning blue from not being able to breathe. In the second attempt, I decided to try one of those corsets with all of the hooks, thinking that would be a much better solution. This one was an improvement from the first trial until I tried sitting down and realized I couldn't bend at all. After seriously considering purchasing this and planning to simply stand up for the next month or so, I left once again empty handed and laughing to myself as a nice lady congratulated me on my upcoming arrival.