GULP!

Ready or not, the babies are meeting milestones and will soon be home. When I arrived at the NICU today I came around the corner to see Emma sitting on the nurses lap drinking a bottle. It was her second one of the day and she finished them both. She even let me know how delicious it was by letting out a gigantic burp. That means she will be moving into an open crib and then coming home. The nurse said about two weeks. I was so excited! Then I realized I would still have 3 babies in the NICU and one baby at home. Thats when fear set in...I may have even hit panic mode. I'm sure it will all be fine, I just need to let things sink in for a day or two.

Maddox is being a stinker. He just isn't ready to remember to breathe constantly. He is getting better with it, and it is normal for his premature age. I'm beginning to think he just likes to make the nurses come over and pay attention to him. He does have three other brothers to compete with!!

Parker and Jack are pretty quiet. Parker is nosey as ever and loves to play with the nurses. Jack likes to eat and cuddle. All three boys are going to try bottles over the weekend. I hope they catch on as quickly as Emma did.

Drew is good. Recovering from double ear infection, which kept us all up a few nights in a row. We are all very tired. A full week of sleep may do the trick!! We are planning on spending the new year hanging at home as a family and thinking about the babies as they celebrate in the NICU.

We hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!
Love and hugs!!

Merry fun continues!

After meeting his brothers and sister for the first time, Drew decided the fun should continue. Drew and cousing Jadelyn sang Christmas songs with the karaoke machine. Now, I must admit if it were me singing, Brian would have left me on the side of the road. Drew was just too cute for him I guess. They sang and danced for quite some time.

Spending time with the family is always fun. Brothers Shayne and David wore fabulous tacky designer sweaters. Everyone played heads or tails and wrapped gifts as a team using only one hand. Very entertaining!!

What a great holiday it's been. Hope it's been just as much fun on your end!

Hugs!!

Merry Christmas...our first family photo!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

This holiday season has been wonderful so far. The babies are doing wonderful and we've all been healthy (knock on wood!). We were informed that the NICU would be open to siblings for the holidays...YAY! So we loaded Drew into the truck and made our way to the hospital. He was quite confused. He saw all the babies in their beds as we introduced them. We then got all four babies out and he sat with us on the couch. We said good bye and gave kisses. It was a wonderful visit. We were excited to show him his brothers and sister. It was a very short visit, but once again I was thrilled he finally got to meet the babies.

We hope Santa is good to everyone...which means, I better get to bed before he skips our house!!

Hugs and Kisses!!!

Filling the tank!

The quads doctors and nurses referred to blood tranfusions as "filling the tank" today. It took everything I had not to laugh. As funny as it sounds, it's very scary. A lot of things are beginning to work on their own normally in the babies bodies. They are miracle babies and proving to be strong and smart. They are all still stuggling a little bit with apnea (remembering to breathe) from time to time. Their bodies are not quite producing enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to important places. When their blood count is low, they tend to have more apnea; having blood transfusions help raise the blood count level and more oxygen gets where it needs to go.

Our quad squad will be a month old this week...wow how time flies! They will have their first vision test, their first set of shots, and a birthday. Drew will also have a birthday this week. Two years old! I feel like I brought him home yesterday. It's been an amazing journey as a parent, and I feel blessed to have a wonderful family.

We are ready for Santa (or Ho Ho as Drew calls him). HEHEHE. I just giggle everytime I hear him talk about Santa. Drew is going to get some neat things and Daddy can't wait. I think Daddy is more excited than Drew is. I guess it's understandable...Daddy put Drew's train table together three weeks ago! I'm very surprised Drew hasn't bothered it. It's been sitting under a bed sheet in our dinning room. I didn't get a chance to ask Santa for anything...although I think I'd like a new washer and dryer(badly needed!!) Three hours to dry clothes is getting a bit ridiculous, a gigantic house for the babies), and the trash man to come more than once this week. My house exploded in things I'm throwing out!!

I'll keep you all posted on the vision test for babies, I'm sure they'll do great.

Merry Christmas!!

It's been a busy week. We celebrated Drew's second birthday a week early with Nama and Papa. We made Elmo cupcakes...Drew loved them. We had Christmas with my parents, went to a swim birthday party, played with toys, and went to Texas Roadhouse(nummy as Drew says).

For me, it's not only been busy, but exhausting. Between spending time with the family, driving to the hospital to see the quads, house chores, and sleep...I feel like my world is spinning like crazy. This past week I did get to meet a wonderful friend. Jen-you are truly amazing and such an inspiration. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to come to the hospital. Brian and I were excited to receive the NICU kit. For those who don't know, Jen has been making NICU Survival Kits for families who have children in the NICU. The kit includes blankets, snacks, books of all sorts(story book, charting book for babies diapers/bottles and more), and lotion. It's really a wonderful resource tool and wonderful to have Jen as a friend.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week with Christmas approaching.
Hugs and Kisses
Sara

Check out Jen's blog to find out more about the NICU Survival kits
murraycrew.blogspot.com

Santa's little helpers!

It's been a big week for the quads. They all got to meet each other for the first time since they were born. Mommy and Daddy were thrilled to be able to hold all four at the same time. They all really seemed to like cuddling together. All four of them were also introduced to JAMMIES! Preemie clothes are still quite large on them, but they are super cute in them. Since then, Mommy has been holding two babies at once. They love to look at each other and cuddle. It's amazing to see their progress, and how fast they are meeting little milestones already.

Drew has been having a blast with Nama and Papa this week. They are here visiting and playing hard!! He's been able to take a break from school and sleep in. It's one of his favorite things to do. Just like Daddy!! Nama and Aunt Stacy are going to make ELMO cupcakes for Drew's birthday. We are going to celebrate a little bit early this year. One of his presents arrived via UPS today...we can't wait to play with it(pictures to come later).

Daddy has been busy with work. Working hard with Christmas next week. We miss him! Drew told Brian last night "I wove you Daddy". It was so adorable and sweet. Mommy is feeling pretty good. A few more tests to go through this week with the kidney and the bladder. Hoping to have good news from those tests.

Hugs to all!
Brian, Sara, Drew, Maddox, Parker, Emma, and Jack.

Santa's watching....

What was on everyone's Christmas list this year??

Drew didn't say a word to Santa, but Santa knew he wanted a train set. Drew liked Santa a lot, so much he got candy canes from him. Maddox asked to get rid of his CPAP, Parker asked to have a real bottle. Emma asked to get rid of her picc line, and Jack asked to be first in line for a change. We hope Santa can deliver, that's a long list for such a tiny house! Mommy and Daddy asked for everyone to be healthy and for the babies to come home soon!!

Drew has been relatively healthy this year, and the babies are making such great progress for how tiny they are. Everyone is off their IV's and nasal canulas. They are still on feeding tubes, but working hard on that sucking reflex. After all, bottles are probably more fun than a tube!

We hope to have their Christmas pictures soon...the nurses at the hospital like to have fun.

Love to all...and we hope to get our Christmas cards out soon!
Brian, Sara, Drew, Maddox, Parker, Emma and Jack.

Holiday cheer

Ho Ho Ho!

Drew had his first Christmas program this week. He did a wonderful job. He sang "Up on the House Top" and "Little Drummer Boy". He must have known if he did good he would get cookies afterwards. We hope to see Santa this coming week. It's turning out to be a busy one already. Drew is patiently waiting for Papa's arrival on Sunday. They have a swim date on Sunday.

The quads are doing great. Maddox, Emma, and Jack are on full feedings, with their IV's coming out today. They are off the nasal canulas and doing well breathing on their own. Parker will be on full feedings and off his canula and IV this weekend. He's just a day or two behind the others. Good news with their brain bleeds. None of them have gotten worse and are starting to be absorbed by other red blood cells. The doctor said as of now there is no tissue damage in the brain and is optimistic there will be little to none. He said the excess blood should be completely absorbed in the next two or three weeks. All the babies are doing exceptionally well for being preemies.

Mommy and Daddy are doing good. Trying to get things together and cleaned up around the house so we aren't going crazy when the babies come home. Wait....it's still going to be crazy!! We have managed to get sleep, eat, play with Drew and visit the babies. Daddy had to go back to work today, he was sad he didn't get to spend the day with the babies, but was happy to come home to Drew.

Just incase you missed it, we were on the news about a week ago. We know some of you have asked about the link. Here it is, we hope it works!!

http://http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/plainfield-couple-shows-off-new-quads

Hugs and Kisses from the Scotts!!

Beautiful faces in so many places.

Today was one of the most exciting days yet. We woke up to SNOW! Yes, it can be a pain to drive around in, but when Drew saw it this morning he was so excited. We made sure we had enough time to play in it before school. He didn't even fight to leave the mittens on his hands. When we got in the car, he was sure to let us know it was cold snow!

When we arrived at the hospital this morning we found four beautiful faces staring back at us. No CPAP machine or ventilator. It was very exciting to see the babies breathing with almost no help from anything, and to see their faces, hair, and eyes. Eating is getting easier for all of them and personalities are really starting to show up. Maddox is turning out to be the rotten one(as Daddy puts it). Parker is the trouble maker. He's always making noise and not afraid to tell you about it. Emma is the laid back princess. Jack is very cuddly and loves to stretch out.

We want to say Thank You to the person who left a gift for Drew in the NICU. There was no card with it. We appreciate the thoughtfulness and Drew loved it.

Love
Brian, Sara, and Drew.
Maddox, Parker, Emma, and Jack too!!

Playtime!

We arrived at the hospital today to babies who were ready to play. Maddox, Jack, and Emma are all off their CPAP machines and on a canula (a tube of oxygen that runs under their noses). Parker is still on CPAP, but expected to be off of it by Monday. Maddox and Jack were wide awake and very photogenic. Jack and Mommy cuddled and talked for a whole hour. It was wonderful to see him so interactive after the news of the brain bleed news on Thursday.

Maddox was also quite interactive which was great considering we've missed his awake time the last few days we've been there. Emma and Parker were napping well today. Parker got upset at diaper time, but who likes a wet diaper?? Overall the babies are doing wonderful. Rumor has it that with the hemocrit levels of the boys the brain bleeds have stopped and hopefully started to heal. We won't have definite answers on that until Thrusday.

Big brother Drew is doing great. He loves having Mommy home. He likes to look at pictures of the babies. We can't wait for him to actually see them for the first time. It really is hard when he can't visit the hospital due to the H1N1 restrictions. We are getting ready to visit Santa soon. We are hoping for a good visit and no tears.

Mommy and Daddy are doing well. Mommy got some antibiotics for her kidney infection and Daddy has been able to get some rest. We've managed to keep the house clean and do a round of grocery shopping!! What a relief...we can function with lots of kiddos!!

Have a great weekend.
Love
Brian, Sara, and Drew

Hard words to hear for shinning stars.

With good news there always comes bad. The good news is that the quads were featured in the news last night. Channel 8(WISH TV) came to the hospital to see the babies. All four babies were such shinning stars. They are all still breathing at room air with the CPAP there just incase. They seem to like eating and cuddling. It's so wonderful to spend time cuddling with them. We can't wait to sit at home and cuddle with them.

The bad news is all four babies had head ultrasounds this morning. Emma's scan came back normal. Maddox and Parker came back with level 2 bleeds. The doctor's are not concerned about either of them. They are both expected to make a complete recovery with no damage. Jack showed a level 2 bleed last week. Today it showed a level 4 bleed, which is severe. It doesn't mean he will be disabled completely, but has a higher risk for delays and disabilities. He could still come out completely normal. They will scan all three boys again next week to see how they are doing and to see if they can tell if there has been any tissue damage to Jack's brain.

Please pray for the kiddos and a safe recovery for the boys.
Love to all!!
Brian, Sara, and Drew