The Quints- 3 months

It's hard to believe our quints are almost 4 months old. I'm so behind on blogging about them, it's been a very busy month. All of our babies are growing so well. They are becoming more alert and interactive every day. This month started off on the wrong foot for our sweet Rayleigh. She got very sick and had to be put on the ventilator. She was the only baby to not be ventilated when they were born. She ended up having a minor heart surgery. Mia, Tessa, and Gracie all got g-tubes this past week, so in the span of 6 days, 4 of our babies have had surgery. It has been a stressful and worrisome week. Brant is the only baby that is home with us. Tessa was released from Baylor but after a week of  not eating well, she had to be readmitted into the hospital because of dehydration and constipation.

I've had so many people ask me why the girls need g-tubes. All our girls aspirate when they drink formula (aspirate means some of the milk goes into their lungs instead of their belly). To keep them from aspirating, rice cereal is added to their formula to make it thicker. The thicker consistency helps the milk go down to their tummy, however, it tires them out and they have difficulty completing all their feedings by bottle. The g-tube will help them complete their feedings when they're unable to drink the whole bottle. We'll put the remaining formula through the g-tube to insure they get all the nutrition needed to grow big and healthy. Once they don't need the g-tube to complete their feedings it will be taken out.

Rayleigh had surgery last Friday to close the PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) in her heart. Her PDA was causing her lots of issues. She was transferred to Children's Medical Center for the procedure. Turned out that her PDA was larger than expected and they used a plug to close the ductus. She is doing so much better since the surgery and is off oxygen for the first time in her life.

If everything goes as expected, (and to be honest~ nothing ever goes as expected with us), Mia, Tessa, & Gracie should all come home this week. Rayleigh will probably be the last baby to come home. She was set back a few weeks when she got sick. I am so ready for all the babies to be home. I'm so ready for the next chapter of our lives to begin.