Brooke is Home!!!

As of 8 pm on last Friday night, all our babies are home. It has been so great having them all home and healthy. They have been sleeping 3-4 hours at a stretch for the most part. Gabriella wakes up and cries sometimes and needs to be held but it doesn't take long to settle her down again. I have to keep this short because they will be waking up soon. We had a Dr. appt today and they have all gained weight. Gabriella weighs 7lbs. Ryan weighs 5lbs 15oz. Brooke weighs 6lbs 8oz.

Thanks to everyone for all the gifts, visits, food, or anything else you've done. Hopefully I will get formal thank you's sent out soon. At least before they graduate from high school.

Brooke may come home soon!!

We called this evening to check on Brooke and the nurse said she has shown improvement enough that they took out her feeding tube and she may come home Thursday or Friday. We are thrilled of course. We miss her terribly. I think Ryan and Gabriella miss her too. This photo is of her getting her hearing checked. I think she looks like a helicopter pilot. She also had her thumb in her binky. As soon as she comes home I will try and get a photo of big sister Ashlyn with all the babies.

Life around here is settling down pretty well. The babies have been good sleepers which makes it so much easier. They sleep about 3-4 hours at a time and then wake to eat and go back to sleep. They usually only cry when we change them or give baths. Ashlyn has even settled back down to her usually self. She has been so good and such a good helper. Lance and I were just saying it will be so fun when the babies start to interact with her and she has her own little audience. She will love that.

We plan to spend Thanksgiving at home unless Lance has to go pick up Brooke. I am too afraid to take them anywhere because I would feel very bad if anyone got sick. Hopefully by Christmas they will be ready to go visiting.

We took the 2 babies to see their doctor today and they have both gained weight. Ryan is 5 lbs and 4 oz. Gabriella is 6 lbs and 4 oz. Ryan is slowly catching up to his big sister, though he still looks like a string bean. We also asked what Brooke weighed today and she is 5 lbs and 8 oz. Which is only an oz. more than her birth weight but she looks so much like Ashlyn and she was a slow gainer also. I think once she comes home and spends time with her brother and sisters, she will pick up speed.

Well I better try and get some sleep. The next feeding will be starting in a couple of hours. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving and we will be thinking about all of you and how thankful we are to have you in our lives. We definitely have a lot to be thankful about this year.

Two out of three ain't bad.

Well we came home on Saturday with Gabriella and Ryan. Gabriella was discharged on Thursday and we kept her in Sioux Falls until Ryan was discharged on Saturday. Then we made the trip home. All babies slept all the way home, including Ashlyn. I even caught a cat nap, which was much needed. Brooke will have to stay until she can take all her feedings by bottle and none through her feeding tube. She is taking about half but has moments when she does better. We are hoping it won't be much longer since she is so far away and daddy has to work and mommy has her brother and sister. We miss her but it will be hard to visit. Grandma Vicky went down today to see her so at least she isn't alone today.

The two are doing great so far and adjusting to home life. They have been eating every 3-4 hours and sleeping most of the time in between. They seem to be good babies so far. Ashlyn is doing much better now that we are home and she is getting used to them staying here. The first night home she had a melt down and we had to call for reinforcments. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sarah came over to hold babies so mommy and daddy could spend some time with her.

Today started the first day of Mom and Grandma daycare. My mom has decided to quit her job to come and help out with the babies most days during the week. So far, so good. The babies haven't kept us running too much. We even managed to get a few things done around the house. Things will be a bit different when Brooke comes home. Especially when they all get a little older.

As much as everyone wants to come over and visit to see the babies, we are trying to limit the number of visitors due to it being cold and flu season. I have heard there are a lot of bugs out there and we are just asking that you use your best judgement before stopping by. If you or anyone you know has been sick or exposed to sickness, please try to hold out a little longer before coming to visit. I will try and post pictures here more often so you can see them. It takes a while to upload each photo so I can't usually post more than one at a time.

Well I need to go now and eat some lunch before the babies wake up to eat. Thanks to everyone who has called, visited, sent things, and prepared food for us. Everything has been much appreciated.

The babies are doing great.

By the way this is Cadi again and thanks to my sister for updating in my absence. I'm sure you all appreciate getting to see and hear about the babies sooner than now. This is the best photo I can post right now. It was taken quickly while the nurse was snapping the ones for the cradle roll. Gabriella was crying and we had to keep giving her her binky and then taking it away right before the camera flashed. Ryan looks mad but it passed. At one point he and Brooke were holding hands.

I just wanted to post a little and update you on their progress. It is pretty late, at 1:27 am, but apparently giving birth didn't help my sleeping issues. Guess that will help out when we enter the teenage years. I was released from the hospital today at about 2:00 in the afternoon. I am feeling a little better but still have a long way to go. I lost a lot of blood after the delivery, which the Dr. said is very typical of multiple births due to the uterus being so stretched and then having to return to it's original size. It was scary for a couple of hours and I was just praying I wouldn't have to go back to surgery. But things got better after the first day and now I just have to get my hemoglobin back up where is should be. Normal range for a female is 12-16 and mine was down to 7. I almost had to have a blood transfusion but instead they put me on some huge iron pills. It is coming back up slowly now. The only effects I am feeling now are extreme fatigue. Simple things like showering and getting dressed, wipe me out enough that I feel like I can't get my breath. So I decided to boycott showering for a while. Just kidding, I will just consider it exercise and I am well on my way to getting back into my bikini by bathing suit season. That was another joke. I promise I won't post a photo of my post birth belly. Just don't be surprised when you still see me wearing maternity clothes and sweat pants next summer. Right now I still look about 6 months pregnant. Plus I have that washed out china doll look that everyone wants now days. Lets just say my eyes and hair have never looked so dark next to my pasty white skin. Everyone at the hospital kept saying, "you look so much better than yesterday". I just can't imagine how awful I must have looked because I think I look like crap. An added bonus of the blood loss was all the fluids they pumped into me. If anyone saw how huge my legs and feet were before giving birth, you should see them now. I have been referring to them as my "pillow feet", and "elephant feet". I can barely wear socks, and shoes are out of the question. Unless I can find some in the clown shoe department. So anyway after being discharged we made the difficult decision to come home for one night so I could try and get some rest and recover a little bit. See how well I am at resting? Lance is going back to work tomorrow until Wednesday (he just wants to show off pictures of the babies) and my mom and I are going back to Sioux Falls tomorrow after we get some things organized. It was very hard leaving the babies but they are in good hands and so far don't even know we are gone. We called to check on them this evening and they were just as we left them.

So on to the good stuff:

Gabriella is still the best eater and the most vocal. We refer to her as the cry baby, which I'm sure will win her a ticket to therapy some day. Her favorite things in life right now seem to be eating and her binky. She also likes to snuggle. She was 5 lbs 9 oz. yesterday and the staff is already warning us that she may go home sooner than the others. She has been doing so well with her feedings that she hasn't had to have any tube feedings since yesterday, which was only once. Yah Gabriella!! None of the staff will even attempt to try and tell us when any of them will come home. I actually would rather they not try and predict a date because I know, working in health care, that it never turns out the way they guess it will.

Ryan is still under the bili lights. His numbers are coming back down and he seems to be feeling better. At first he seemed to really like the lights and would stretch out like he was tanning on the beach. It was even more authentic with his purple foam sunglasses on. He has been a lot more active now and seems to be fighting to get out and get some clothes on. He has been taking less from the bottle and more from the feeding tube lately. They always try the bottle first and then whatever he doesn't eat he gets through his tube. We have also been experimenting with breastfeeding and he seems to do well with that except that he falls asleep more lately. All three babies have at least had breast milk through the bottle, breast, or tube in addition to the formula. Gabriella shows the most interest while Brooke shows the least. They are still pretty little though and hopefully things will pick up soon. Ryan's weight was 4 lbs 6 oz. (I think) today. We still think he looks like daddy and will maybe have blond hair and blue eyes. He seems to have lighter hair all over and his eyes definitely are shaped most like Lance.

Brooke is also lagging in her feeding skills but seems to be improving. She did take half of her feeding through the bottle today at one point. She weighed 5 lbs 2 oz today. She is so funny to watch because she is the most quiet of the three and when she's awake she studies everything. She will sit and stare at everyone and everything for the longest time. I said yesterday she is probably amazed at what the world looks like because she spent the better part of the last few months with her face buried in my hip. I am also very relieved to tell you all that after her little ordeal the other morning she is just fine and doesn't seem to have any lasting results. Everyone has been watching her closer and they cut back on her feedings to try and get her to stop spitting up. I also want to tell everyone that it was the nurse who saved the day, not me. I was only jiggling her and calling her name, trying to find out what was wrong with her. Lance ran and got the nurse and she whacked her on the back which caused her to cough up the formula and start breathing again. Thank God that she is ok and hopefully we won't see something like that happen again. I can't even think about what might have happened if Lance and I hadn't stopped in one last time to tell her goodbye. Obviously it was meant to happen that way and God spared us the agony of losing our little girl. Lets change the subject shall we.

Ashlyn has been such a good girl this past week. She has been staying with Grandma Vicky and visited us at the hospital for a few days. She hasn't even gotten to see her new brother and sisters yet because she isn't allowed in the NICU but she has seen lots of pictures and is starting to learn their names. It will be interesting to see her reaction when she sees the real thing. At the hospital she knew right where my room was and learned real fast that the bassinets being wheeled by from the nursery had babies (these were the full term babies from the OB floor, not ours) in them. Sioux Valley does a great job having lots of play areas for kids and I think she thought we were on vacation.

Well I think it's time to go back to bed. I will regret this tomorrow, I'm sure. Thanks again to all of you that have sent gifts and visited, or even thought about us and prayed for us. I am constantly reminded how great God is when I see the faces of all 4 of my children. I will try and keep you updated but it will get harder especially when they all come home. We keep saying reality is setting in when we think about not being able to say to the nurses "well we are going to bed now, see you in the morning". I've tried to bribe a few to come home with us but the pay isn't nearly as good. Everyone at the hospital says how well the babies are doing and they are impressed that we were able to carry them so long. I officially take back every complaint I had about this pregnancy. Every minute was worth it when I see how healthy they are.

The Pictures Are In.

This is a picture of Ryan. He was the smallest of the three. He is the one Cadi said looks like Lance. He has already gained weight. He was up to 5 pounds last I heard.








This one is Brooke. The middle weight. I just found out this morning that she gave everyone a big scare. Last night during her feeding, from her feeding tube, Cadi laid her down and went to check on Ryan. They are in seperate rooms. When she returned Brooke was not breathing. Cadi shook her and wacked her back and she then coughed up some formula. Thankfully she was breathing again. So this just shows us how little and fragile they are. Please keep them in your prayers.


So this one is Gabriella. She is the biggest and yesterday she ate all of her milk from a bottle. Cadi called her the cupcake baby. She is the one who gained all the weight from the sweets Cadi ate. Someone told me it was said that she sort of had the same look as my son Nicholas did when he was little. I can see this in this picture. It is something in the eyes. I have a hard time telling them apart. They are all cute.

Babies, Babies, Babies.

I am writing this on behalf of my sister. For thoes who haven't already heard Lance and Cadi are now the proud parents of three more children.
To end the suspence they had 2 girls and a boy. I am sorry to say I don't have any pictures yet but will get them on as soon as I can.
Baby A was a Girl. They named her Gabriella Mae and she weighed 6 pounds. Cadi said her name means Her strength comes from God. She was the one on the bottom holding them all in.
Baby B was a Boy. His name is Ryan Lance and he weighed 4 pounds 11 oz.
And last but not least was Baby C A Girl. Her name is Brooke Elisa and she weighed 5 pounds 7 oz.
All are reported to be doing well. About the only thing they are concerened about is they aren't eating quite as well as they would like them to be. So they put feeding tubes in. They are eating some on their own though so this is a good sign.
Cadi is also doing well. She was hoping to do this herself, but still wasn't feeling quite up to it yet. She asked me to help her out since she knew everyone was waiting to her from her. They are very greatful for all your support and prayers.
Cadi also said she would welcome any visitors. Since she can't get around well yet the days get a little long. Well I guess that about sums it up. I will try to add more tomarrow.

If stretch marks make you sick, don't look at this.

I've had a couple of requests that I take a photo of my actual belly. At first I said I couldn't because I didn't want to disgust anyone. Then I decided if I could make it look somewhat tasteful by changing the color to black and white, I would like to have the photo for the sake of my memory. Also to show the kids someday when they are teenagers and complaining that I never do anything for them. So here I am in all my glory at 34 weeks and 3 days. As you can see, the babies have pretty much taken over my body. I don't even think this picture shows exactly how big my belly is. Lance kept saying, while he was trying to get the right angle, "your belly is so big, I mean, it's really huge". I said, thank you. Actually I'm proud of my belly, stretch marks and all. It was a lot of hard work to get to this point and I feel like I've earned the right to expose myself on the internet. So if you are offended or it made you sick, my apologies.

Everything else has been going pretty good, lately. I've been feeding my nesting instinct just a little here and there, but also resting some. It's so hard to just sit or lay around anymore. I am tired of people waiting on me. When you are used to taking care of other people it's really hard to sit back and let someone else take care of you. Even after I had Ashlyn by C-section and was a patient in the hospital, I was pretty much taking care of myself. The nurses would come in and everything would be done already.

Ashlyn has been very cute lately, as she usually is. We have been telling her the babies are coming out next week so she can see them. Now she lifts up my shirt and not only kisses and hugs them but keeps saying "out", "out". Then she puts my shirt down and says "night night, bye". She even waves to them. I can't wait to see her reaction when she actually does see them. She will definitely have a big adjustment to make but hopefully she learns to like them after a while. We got her a "baby" of her own that we will giver her when the babies come home. It has a little infant carrier just like the real babies have and a bottle. We are hoping when she is trying to "help" with the babies we can distract her by asking where her baby is. If anyone else has any suggestions for the transition I would like to hear them. I do plan to take a few hours a week where she and I can just have mommy and me time. I don't want her to feel like she is being replaced.

As for Lance, he is trying to squeeze in some last minute hunting over the next few days. He is also getting really excited about seeing the babies. Once they are out though we will actually have to come up with some names. So far they they have been everything from Hewie, Dewie, and Lewie to Curly, Larry, and Moe.

Well my legs are starting to feel numb and my feet are swelling even more so I will stop here. It is so great to hear from all of you. Whether its through email, the comment section, or word of mouth. I am so surprised that there are so many people reading my rambling thoughts. This blog has definitely kept me sane through the months. I will try my best to keep it up after the babies come home. Take care everyone and enjoy the upcoming weekend.