Happy 1 Week Birthday!

We'll try to get everyone up to date on the goings on over the last couple of days. Some of our visitors left just this morning. Ryno, Lainie and "Frank the Tank" Brad Goertz arrived on Thanksgiving day and drove out early today. It was good to see them again and introduce them all to their godchildren/niece/nephews, despite Ryno's multiple failed attempts to kill me (i.e. losing control of my wheelchair while going downhill onto a busy street- you'd think he'd let go of his cigarette or soft drink first, but, alas...)

Bucko, Vicki, mom, dad, Mike and Becky made us all an awesome Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, complete with all the trimmings. Billy, Ryan, Lainie and Goertz did a great job of cleaning up. I, on the other hand, did a good job of watching, eating, directing and keeping my feet up. I've had a HUGE amount of swelling since the delivery. Think +3 pitting edema or play-doh/cookie dough in my feet, ankles, calves, thighs, belly, hands, face and arms (pretty much EVERYWHERE). It's made it hard to get around and is pretty uncomfortable. Dr Elliott has me on Lasix to help get some of the fluid off, but it hasn't seemed to help yet. We plan on calling him today to see what else we can do.

My cankles from a couple days ago... Even worse now.


Now, to update you all on the munchkins. We'll just go in order from oldest to youngest.

PIUS JAMES
I got to hold our big bear for the first time on Saturday. His eyes were wide open and looking at me and I just about melted. He is so sweet and doing so well. They took him off of the CPAP Sunday morning to see how he did on room air. He slept so peacefully without all the headgear and he has done wonderfully so far. There's always a chance they may need to put him on oxygen or back on CPAP later if he starts to need some extra help. When we visited them last night, Pius was wide awake and active. My mom was saying that he looked so familiar and reminded her of someone but couldn't think of who it was. I had been thinking the same thing and then all of a sudden it came to me. He kind of looks like the baby pictures I've seen of my older cousin Forrest "Andy" Haag. She agreed immediately that that's exactly who it was. Pius didn't really like his nurse last night and his mama thinks he's a good judge of character, because I didn't like him either. Poor Pius was totally man-handled. I guess his nurse didn't feel that it was important to make a newborn feel safe and secure when holding or moving them. The nurse wasn't gentle at all and wasn't paying attention to all his monitor leads. Finally, when his temperature probe got caught on the scale and ripped the sticky lead off his skin and made Pius start screaming in pain, mama bear came out and took over the situation. It's surprising how vocal you become when you feel your babies are being hurt. That nurse will not put his hands anywhere near my kids again, if I have anything to say about it! Pius's weight on Sat and Sun remained at 3 lbs 9 oz. Still down a little from his birth weight, but he's eating and pooping well. Budda even got to change one of his poopy diapers last night! She was so nervous to handle something so small, but she got the job done and the world was right again.

Ryno meeting his godson, Pius, for the 1st time


Aunt Lainie with Pius


Pius James...CPAP-free!


Pius weighing in on the matter. Verdict: still doesn't like his nurse that night.


Mama Bear holding Pius and trying to calm him down after being manhandled


Pius after having diaper changed by grandma Budda


Another beautiful picture of our big little guy, Pius


FORREST MICHAEL
He's our other big brute. He also currently weighs in at 3 lbs 9 oz (back up to his birth weight). The little porker is now up to eating 27 mL of breastmilk every 3 hours! They took him off CPAP yesterday at the same time as Pius. He is also tolerating room air very well and LOVES being free of the mask. He's a little ornery, though. I was changing his diaper when he decided it'd be funny to pee again right in the middle of it. But the joke was on him, because he only got a little drop on me and the rest went on his tummy and new diaper. Billy got to hold Forrest skin-to-skin on Sat. He really seemed to enjoy burrowing himself and getting lost in the chest hair! He always looks so content and sprawls himself out all over his bed.

Brad Goertz AKA "Frank the Tank" meeting godson, Forrest, for the first time


Blondie Boy taking a nap


Check out my sweet bod....Man, I'm hot!


Forrest getting nestled into Billy's chest


DANNA LYNN
Our little princess must have been taking notes from Forrest, because she also tried to pee on me during a diaper change. I tried to explain to her that she didn't have the same parts and would end up only getting herself wet. Then I told her I'd teach her all about "squatting" when she was a little older. She has so much to learn from her mom and aunties! I talked to the neonatalogist yesterday about her progress. He said that Danna's body has been programmed to using nutrients very efficiently due to the lack of supply while in utero. It will take awhile for her body to stabilize everything, including blood sugar which has been fluctuating quite a bit. They don't want her to grow as big as the boys right away. He said that she should be about caught up with them by age 3 yrs. As of last night, she was still weighing in at 1 lb 10 oz - the same as she was at birth. She and Pius share the same room and nurse, and her big brother is always looking out for her. He always tests the nurses out first and then gives them the okay to see Danna. Mom didn't want little Danna to be handled the same way as Pius was last night, so she stood over the bed and provided most of the nursing care for her. She has been getting nasal suctioning to suck the snot out and she also had some big, green eye boogers that were pretty well fusing her left eye lids together. I hope this isn't an infection. I suppose we'll just keep watching it and hopefully swab it and send it to lab for evaluation. Otherwise, Danna is still just chuggin' right along. They will continue her CPAP for awhile, even though she seems to do pretty well during the times they remove it to weigh and assess her. We don't want her to waste calories and energy trying to breath all on her own right now. She just needs to keep on growing.

Danna Lynn wearing daddy's wedding ring


Danna...just hangin' out. She has headgear hair and red eyes from mama trying to clean the eye boogs - she was mad at me for that!


Danna without all her CPAP headgear..if only she had some meat on her bones!


LAINE RYAN
Laine continues to do well. His weight last night was 2 lbs 8 oz - that's 4 oz over his birth weight! Good job, little man! He continues to take 6 mL of breastmilk every 3 hours. I got to hold him for the second time, skin-to-skin, and he's my little cuddle buddy. He shares a room with Forrest and has received excellent nursing care, day and night. I think the nurses have the hots for my boys (I know uncle Ryno and Goertz have the hots for their nurses!). He's the kid with sensitive skin. All the tape and straps have caused some redness and irritation, but he's tolerating it well. He did have a couple episodes of bradycardia (low heart rate) during the nurse's assessment when he was off CPAP to have his weight checked, diaper changed and bedding changed. His heart rate dipped down to the 60's and 70's for a few seconds and then returned back to normal (160's to 180's) shortly. His oxygen level never dropped, though, which is a good sign. He may have just been a little over stimulated at the time.

Grandma Vicki meeting Laine


Grandpa Stubby and Uncle Ryno meeting Laine Ryan


Laine holding Mama's hand...He's so tiny!


Laine minus the CPAP headgear....He needs to grow some cheeks (and not just on his face!) Also, his poor nose is raw from the CPAP prongs.


In other news, the brain sonograms and 2nd round of PKU blood tests will be done today. We'll update everyone on the results when they become available.

We continue to enjoy and cherish the time we have with the Tubre family. We were visiting Emma and Tyger's room to talk to Jac and Torey and found out that Emma only LOOKS like a little lady! That girl can rip a big one and clear a room! I think she may just be trying to impress Laine from across the hall. After all, she is his future wife and I'm so proud of my future daughter-in-law! Out of the Tubre/Graf quads, Tyger and Danna both weighed the same at birth along with Emma and Laine. They're destined for each other! Cullen and Forrest will probably be jail buddies, which leaves Pius and Abbey to be the voices of reason. It'll be fun to see how their personalities develop. I wonder if we're even close to guessing what they will be like. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

It was a sad, sad weekend for all of our teams. Good job to the Bishop Carroll Golden Eagles for making it to the state championship game! What an accomplishment for the coaches, players and the school. Alabama and the Broncos continue to struggle, but we remain loyal - no bandwagons here. I think we should start cheering for the opposing team just to jinx them. Maybe then our team could get a win.

Enjoy the pictures! We expect a record amount of comments!

G.G. Bucko holding one of the babies' preemie diapers. They look too small for most baby dolls! Amazing.


Love,
Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine