The Captivity Chronicles

Hello from Hospital Jail!!!

Hospital Jail is really not that awful but I am starting to go a tiny bit stir crazy.   There are only some many episodes of A Baby Story, I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant (Yes I yell at the tv for the whole hour this stupid show is on,) What Not To Wear, Chopped, Friends and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives before a girl goes crazy.  I will tell you the highlights of my day are taking a shower and watching Jeopardy. I know how glamorous this life may sound, but please don't let me mislead you.  Oh yeah I eat dinner at 5:00 (Dear Hospital Cafeteria, I am 29 not 80.)

I want to say thank you to all my visitors so far.  Sorry if you caught me in the time before I dried my hair (it is a curly mess) or before I had a shower (as Chris says , "Babe have squirrels been romping through your head.) Let me explain my look for anyone that has not seen me in the morning.  My hair would make Texas women jealous.   It somehow grows in the middle of the night and stays that way.  My mom and dad stopped in Saturday to visit and brought me a basket of goodies and then my MIL brought me a basket full of stuff yesterday.   Needless to say I cancelled my snacks from the hospital.

Let's discuss hospital jail.  The staff is amazing. I cannot say enough good things about my nurses.   I have only had one that annoyed me but I think it was me being pregnant pissy not in my best mood.  She was very helpful but I wanted things a different way.  Imagine me wanting things a certain way.  Who would have guessed that. The nurses leave me alone except to chat, check vitals or bring me food.   I see them a few times a day otherwise it is like hanging out at home (I wish the fur child was here to hang out with me.)  I watch tv, read or play on the ipad the majority of my day since I try to stay in side lying to keep my BP down.   I have had great Blood Pressure the last few days mainly because the nurses will not take it if I am sitting up (it tends to become 176 / 99) so they wait until I have laid down for 15 minutes at the least (115/66). Big difference!!!! My protein levels still look great and we are avoiding pre-eclampsia for now.  My cervix is back to a 3.1 so awesome.   I feel at this time I need to clarify what I mean when I give numbers on my cervix.   That is the length of the cervix.   When labor is approaching your cervix shortens and then dilates.  So the rule for quads is anything under a 2.5 is immediate hospitalization to put you on bed rest and try and buy you some more time. My cervix went from a 2.2 last week to a 3.1 this week.  That is amazing news.   It means we are further away from having the kids.

Update on my 6 kids:

Let's start with my oldest! Chris is a trooper! He is doing great but I think he goes crazy in hospital jail (ADHD is in full swing,) but hates to be home by himself.  The nurses laugh because we play cards every night to entertain me (I think they want to join in.)  Chris has charmed the nurses out of the code to get coffee and ice.  He has even requested a mint for his pillow on occasion. Chris stays 2 nights here and 1 night at home.

Now for my 4 real children, Jaxon, Grey, Adley and Dexter are all doing well!  The nurses monitor them on ultrasound twice a day to make sure everyone moves and their heartbeats are within normal ranges. It goes one of two ways really long and uncomfortable (imagine two nurses trying to look at your spine through your stomach with an ultrasound wand) or super fast (this has happened three times in the last 11 days)! I have come to realize some of my children's personality traits, now they may surprise me at birth, but I have opinions about them already. Jaxon is Christopher made over.   One of the nurses was giggling the other day when trying to ultrasound Jax, apparently he was doing the worm in my stomach.  Jaxon also has some sick Ninja moves that makes his father proud. Grey is my child.   I feel like she is very calm, but only does things when she wants to and not because you have asked.   She frequently turns her back to the ultrasound techs or nurses when they are looking for her heartbeat.  Then there is Adley (what do people say about the third child?)  Adley Grace takes after her Gram and is always on the move and I feel controls leads the others.   In the past week she has gone from across the top of my stomach, to my ribs, to my diaphragm and ribs, to in between Jax and Grey and now today she is sitting on top of Grey in the center of my stomach.  Then there is Dex who is a wiggle worm.  There has always been some questions to whether Dex is really a boy due to his size.   Well let's just say my son decided to display all his glory for a good 5 minutes to a set of nurses.  Hopefully we will weigh the kids next Thursday!


Last but not least our Fur Child Aribella (Ari, Bella, Bella Grace, Gracie, Gracie Facie, Bells, Facie Pants (It's amazing she even knows her name))  is now living at Gram's and Grump's house.  It was sad for me to see her go, but  I know she is well taken care of and happy! Grumps can sound gruff but he loves how excited Ari is to see him.  That small white fluffy dog has charmed him, I have a feeling he will be pathetic with grandchildren.   My girly dog has a secret desire to be a country dog and play outside non-stop.   She is getting her wish!

I think that wraps it up for this blogging session.  It has only taken me three days to write and I am apologizing now for grammar and spelling mistakes as Jeopardy starts in a few minutes.

Prayer requests:
1. Please pray for the Wiley family.   This family has my heart and my prayers and now they need yours.   Please pray for God's will to be done.   Dustin goes in for a scan next week to determine the prognosis and what options if any are still available.  I pray to provide him, his wife, his inlaws and his children for strength and peace no matter the outcome of the scan.  Please take time to pray for them.

2. Please pray for my blood pressure to stay within normal ranges and my urine tests show no protein.  I would like to make it six more weeks. I am 28 weeks today and that is a huge milestone!

Please feel free to share the blog with anyone!

The Bed Rest Diaries!!!!

Okay so I am finally awake enough to blog!  They give you some good drugs in the hospital if you want them!  Ha Ha

Let's start from the beginning so hopefully all this will make sense:

Jan 2nd: First official day of bed rest! Wahoo!  I was allowed to stay home but due to my blood pressure being high I was told I could no longer work.  Oh well at least I made it to 24 weeks and 5 days before being commissioned to a couch.  Cervix was still holding at a 4.2.  Yay for it being a rock star.

Jan 3rd: New cough meds!  Cough has been going on for 7 weeks at this point.  Wahoo!  However Dr. Labarre's awesome staff gave me a box full of diapers, wipes and assorted other things! 

Jan 4th  -  6th: I am now 25 weeks!!!! Captivity at home!   However Konni and Gabe as well as Aunt Kathy, Kim and Lauren all came to visit!

Jan 7th:  Measurement day at the Perinatologist. Jax was measuring at 24 weeks 4 days weighing 1 pound 9 oz, Grey 25 weeks 2 days and weighing 1 pound 12 oz, Adley 25 weeks 5 days and weighing 1 pound 14 oz.   Unfortunately we do not get measurements on Dex.  However the last time we did he weighed 1 oz less than Jaxon.  So if that is still the case at 25 weeks and 3 days I was carrying close to 7 pounds of baby! BP was down a little so I was allowed to stay home for at least another week. Cervix was measuring between a 4.2 - 3.3.

Jan 8th: Happy Birthday Mama! Wish I could have celebrated it with you!  Can't wait till I am there and we can have PJ breakfast with the kids on your birthday!!!!

Jan 9th: Happy 23rd Birthday JT!  Love you more than you will ever know! Remember all the stuff I did for you as a kid and a teenager, just think you and Cammie get to do it for my kiddos.  Ha Ha they are going to love Uncle Jared!

Jan 10th: Dr. Labarre is wondering what kind of charm I have to still be out of the hospital! I am measuring 42 weeks for a singleton pregnancy.  I have had zero contractions.  I baffle all of my doctors.  I keep telling them I am stubborn and I have prayed to make it to 34 weeks. 

Jan 11th - 13th: 26 weeks!!!!! Home bound with Christopher and Ari.  Ari has decided to lay beside me in the recliner and put her head where Adley likes to lay. The thing about Adley is that it is her way or no way and if you push on her she kicks you (the ultrasound techs despise love her).  Well Ari lays down Adley kicks and then Ari growls.  Welcome to my world!!!!

Jan 14th:  The Bad News Bears Perinatologists laid down the law and I have to be admitted. BP was still high and rock star cervix failed me.  My rock star cervix is now equated to a one hit wonder, still impressive but not returning with a string of hits.  It was down to a 2.3.  So I was told to go pack a bag and eat a good lunch then check into WK South permanently.  I arrived at Labor and Delivery to a very welcoming staff.  They tried to hook me up to monitors to trace each babies heart beat.  In theory it should work, in reality it took over two hours to get 2 minutes where all 4 heartbeats were tracing.  Epic Fail!!! I was told I would be moved to a new room when one of the long term moms were ready to deliver.  It could be a day, a week or a month.  I can not say enough how awesome the nursing staff is here at WK South.  They arranged for me to take a tour of the NICU and convinced my doctors of better ways to monitor all the babies.   Dr. Labarre prescribed lots of meds to help make me comfortable and rest. 

Jan 15th: Day 2 of hospital jail! I have nothing! I was given Adarex? It's like dramamine or benadryl every 6 hours.  I slept. Ate. Slept. Ate. Slept. Saw Chris. Wait did I say I slept!

Jan 16th: Changed meds and I was still groggy but could function a little better.  Day 3 brought deliveries all over the hospital.  My poor nurses were running ragged.  However one of the long term moms delivered so I found out I was moving rooms to my permanent room!  Okay let's face it, it is still a hospital room. However, I have a large bathroom, a dvd player, a remote for my lights and can type in the number for the tv channels.  It really is the little things in life that makes a pregnant girl happy.  I also had nutter butters on my 8 pm snack cart. Amazing!  The nice thing about being pregnant with quads.  They feed you well! I get to order off of a special menu and get three snacks a day!!! Sorry having a fat kid moment!

Jan 17th: First day on the anteparteum wing! My nurse is awesome and only comes in a few times a day.  I love that it is not like being in the regular hospital where the nurses are in all the time.  They make it as close to home as possible. I am also more alert today. Hence the blog. 


Sorry for the long post but I needed to fill everyone in and put any worries to bed.   I am fine and so are the kids.  The doctors just like having me close by and monitored daily at this point.  Very exciting news all of our kids now have beds. Big weight lifted off of our shoulders.   I also got in all of the babies bedding.  This was an amazing gift that my mom and dad gave to us!!!! So of course I have  to post pics:

The girls bedding is identical!  It actually looks better in person.  I can not wait to see it when mom finishes the nursery! 

Okay well my computer is running low on battery, I am about to fall asleep and I have a snack waiting for me!

Thanks for the prayers they are felt.  Please continue to pray to keep our little ones in here for 7 more weeks at least!


Erin