Quint Pregnancy - 26 wks

What a week this has been. I'm so proud I'm still pregnant. Both my doctors came in this morning and were so excited that I've made it so far. My specialist commented on how big of a deal it is that I have made it to 26 weeks. But hopefully this journey is going to continue for a few more weeks. Here's how things are going:

*My back is starting to hurt a lot more lately. I know its because the babies are growing and I'm stretching and I'm laying in bed all the time. Thankfully the heating pad does help.
*I had my glucose test Monday and failed it by one point!!! So tomorrow I have to do the three hour glucose test. I am hoping and praying I pass.
*I had my weekly sonogram today and all the babies look good. Their fluid levels are good. Baby E's heart rate was a little slow but it came back up when I turned to the other side. Of course that worried me, but my sonographer assured me that it was normal.
*I have stretch marks! Yikes!! At the beginning of this pregnancy I worried about stretch marks but now, I've realized there are worst things that can happen and the stretch marks mean the babies are growing and that's the most important thing to me.
*I'm finding that it's getting harder for me to say good-bye to my loved ones. I cried when Jessica left last week, and it was so hard to say good-bye to Brady and Steven this weekend. I'm so blessed that so many people are thinking and praying for me, and I'm especially thankful for all the visitors I've had these past 3 weeks. Visitors make me so happy and they help the days pass quicker.
*Hospital food is getting old! Thankfully my dietician is wonderful and is working with the kitchen staff to get me a variety of foods I'll eat. (Anyone who knows me well, knows what kind of task that is.)
*I love my occupational therapist and her assistant. They bring me fun things to do to keep me busy, showed me how to do some exercises in the bed to help with my strength, and yesterday they massaged my back, hands, and feet and taught me a new relaxation technique.

Overall, I'd say I'm doing very well at this point in my pregnancy. I know that God is in control and the only reason I've made it this far is because God can make anything happen. God is SO good!

26 weeks

I have to apologize for how big my picture was in my last post. I don't know why that happen. Hopefully this pic will look normal on the page.

Thank you again for everyone who's praying for us. Thank you for reading about our story and sharing our story. I hear from strangers every day who tell me they are praying for us and that's the most wonderful feeling in the world!

Quints Pregnancy- 25 weeks

So another week down. I'm still doing very well. I had my sonogram Monday and all the babies are still doing well; their fluid was good and heart beats were good. Last week I lost 1/2 a pound which worried me, but today I had gained 4lbs. I'm now 141 pounds. So, I'm officially as big as I was when I gave birth to Brady. I'm so glad the babies are growing. There were a few times in the past couple of days that my blood pressure was up higher than my usual, thankfully it came back down on its's own. I do not want my blood pressure to get out of control because that would mean the babies would have to come sooner than we want. I'm doing good when it comes to having contractions. Saturday night I had a 3 contractions within an hour and that scared us, but the contractions finally settled down and I'm doing well.

I'm so blessed to have my best friend Jessica come down and stay with me a few days. She got here Sunday and is leaving tomorrow. It's been so nice to have someone here to help me and she's really eased my nerves by being here. I worry that something is going to happen and no one is going to be here with me, so while she's been here, I haven't worried about that on bit. I'm going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow.

I'm also thankful that my mother-in-law, Teresa, and Susie brought Brady up to see me yesterday. It was so nice to see him. He really seems to be growing up so fast between our visits. My mom is suppose to bring him back this weekend.

So, I'm moving again. The mom with triplets delivered so I'm moving back to my old, bigger room.

23 Months with Brady

I can't believe that in just 1 month my baby boy will be 2 years old!!! It makes me sad how fast these two years have passed. Babies grow up too fast. Brady is in such a fun stage. His vocabulary is growing each week. I can really tell a big difference in his speech each weekend when he comes to visit. I miss him so much during the week. I know everyone is taking such good of him, but it's just not the same with me not being there. I'm really looking forward to the day when my whole family is at home under the same roof.

Here's what Brady's been up to lately:

=He loves to say, "Look Mom" or "Look Dad". Whenever he's doing something he wants you to watch him. He loves everyone's attention.

=He is very curious about who everyone is, while he's visiting me, a nurse will come in and he'll ask, "who's that mama?" or "who's that daddy?".

=His foot is getting bigger. He's wearing a size 8 in shoes now.

=When he comes in the house, or my room, the first thing he does is take off his shoes and socks. The kid loves to go barefooted. 

=We were working on counting with him and he can get to 4 and 5 now. But he still wants to count to 2 and start over... he's too funny.

=He says no, a lot. I really want to work with him to say no mam or no sir.

=He's still obsessed with Frosty the Snowman.

=He loves playing with his trucks and tractors.

It melts my heart when I hear him say, "I love you Mama". The other night I was talking to him via FaceTime and he put his cheek up to the phone like he was hugging me. I'm so thankful for FaceTime, but he's still a little too young to really stay interested in it for long. He always looks at himself and tries to push the End button. Yesterday, while he was here, my mom and Makenna were feeling the babies move around and he wanted in on the action. He rubbed and rubbed and anytime they took their hands off my belly, he'd tell them to put them back.

My family is good about taking pictures and videos during the week and sending them to me. I'm thankful for all the new technology we have now days.

Heading to church with daddy.

In deep thought at the doctor's office. We were concerned about his cough but the doctor said he was okay.

He fell asleep yesterday while visiting me, of course he was playing the iPhone.

He loves his Uncle Bo.

Surprise Move

So tonight while I was eating dinner (or should I say, picking at my dinner), my nurse can in my room and told me she had some bad news. My heart sank, I had given blood earlier in the day, just standard hospital procedure stuff like checking your blood type, etc. so I immediately thought something came back showing I had something wrong with me. She went on to say a mom with triplets needed my big room more than I did and they needed to move me. I can't lie, I'm disappointed to leave that big room, but I'm so thankful that nothing's wrong with me or the quints.

As for the mom with triples who's getting that room, my nurse told me one of her babies isn't doing well, so I ask you all to please pray for this mom and her 3 babies. I hope and pray that the medical staff here is able to help them.

Quint update- 24 wks

I had my weekly sonogram this morning and all the babies still look good! Their fluid levels were good, heart rates were good, and everyone's anatomy looked good! It's such a relief to see all of them moving around and doing well. Every time I see a little heart beating I get so excited and feel a sense of relief...then I get nervous again until we find the next baby's heart beat. My doc took measurements and here's "approximately" how much each baby weighs.
Baby A: 1 lb 8 oz
Baby B: 1 lb 12 oz
Baby C: 1 lb 7 oz
Baby D: 1 lb 8 oz *our little boy
Baby E: 1 lb 8 oz
Baby E gave me a scare; she's so far up in my ribs that it took a little while to get a good look at her. Out of all of them, E gives me the most discomfort. I'm sure she's thinking the same thing about me. :)

I really want to thank everyone who is praying for us. I read everyone's comments on my last post and I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read about our journey, thank you for the sweet comments, but most of all thank you for your prayers. Steven and I have been overwhelmed with the amount of love and support we've received throughout this pregnancy.

Quints Pregnancy- 23 & 24 wks

I'm 6 months pregnant with the quints!!! Woohoo!!! I'm so proud of myself. These past 6 months have, at times, seemed to take forever to go by, but we've made it through and I pray that it's God's plan that we'll continue to go farther along in this pregnancy.

Last Friday, January 31st, I was put in the hospital for the remainder of my pregnancy. We knew this would eventually happen, so thankfully, we came packed and prepared to stay in Dallas. During my last week at home (I was 22 wks) I started having several contractions. My doctors told me if I had 4 contractions within an hour to come to the hospital. I never had that many within an hour but I was having several a day and it really concerned me. At my appointment last Friday I told my doc about the contractions and she decided it was time to be monitored on a daily basis. Once they admitted me, they started giving me medicine to stop my contractions. So far, the medicine has worked. I still have a few contractions here and there, but nothing on a regular basis. The staff here at Baylor is absolutely wonderful. All the nurses have been so sweet and kind and go out of their way to make me comfortable. They are taking such good care of me and for that I'll always be grateful.

I have been so blessed to have several friends and even strangers stop by to visit me this past week. Many of my friends from home text or call on a regular basis. I am so blessed and humbled by everyone's love and support.

I don't know what I'd do without my family. They help take care of Brady for me, which helps Steven out. I miss Steven & Brady so bad it hurts. That's the worse part about being in the hospital. Yes, it's boring, and I'd much rather be home but I know this is where I need to be, however, being 3 hours away from Brady and only seeing him on the weekends is breaking my heart. I'm so thankful Steven brought him up this weekend to see me. They came up on Friday and left today (Sun).

Here's a little recap of the past 2 weeks:
*I now weigh 138lbs.
*I had a sono Tue and all the babies still look good. Their fluid looks good and heart rates look good.
*They babies have become very active over this past week. It's so crazy to feel movement in five different parts of my stomach.
*My acid reflux has been awful! The nurses give me medicine on a regular basis to help me cope, and it helps a little. The fact of the matter is that it's going to be rough until the babies arrive. I'm running out of room!
*I am actually sleeping quiet well to be in the hospital. They gave me a egg crate mattress for my bed and it really helps. I get woke up at midnight and 6am to take my contraction medicine but overall, I really can't complain about sleep.
*My contraction medicine is actually a blood pressure medicine that relaxes my uterus, which in turn, lowers my blood pressure. In order to take the medicine my bp has to be at least 90/50 and I'm always right on the verge of being too low. Sometimes they have to retake my bp a couple of times until it comes up to the cutoff.
*I'm becoming so weak from not using my muscles. I'm sure low blood pressure contributes to that as well. I've talked to my nurses and they are going to send a physical therapist to help me with my strength. I've been on bed rest since Dec. 20 so my muscles haven't been used much in a month and half.
*We are still working on names for 2 of the babies. I don't know what we'll do if they come sooner than we'd like. I have a book of 60,000 baby names so I'm going to look through that again this week and see if something jumps out at me.

24 wks
The wreath behind me was a gift from a sweet lady I go to church with, it's so beautiful and really brightens my room.

Brady loved to get in my bed when I'd get up. He also liked to push the buttons that lifted the head and legs. He did very well to be so young and be cooped up in a hospital all weekend. I can't wait for him to come visit again!