Back on the wagon...

Yet again we apologize for being so long in posting. We are starting to see how four babies might spread one a little thin. We aren't even with them 24 hours a day yet. We have more videos to appease the masses. Hopefully, that makes up for the lack of consistency with our posts. Also, you all have to understand that we are in a deep depression. The news of the Tubres departure on Sunday hit us like a ton of bricks. We knew it was coming, and we're so happy for them, but we will definitely miss them like crazy. For those of you that don't know, Cullen and Abbey were discharged from the hospital yesterday to be reunited with their sister, Emma. The plan is for Jac, Torey and JT to take Cullen, Abbey and Emma home to Baton Rouge tomorrow while DeeDee stays with Tyger until he's discharged later this week. What an exciting time for them! Hopefully we'll be able to get together today and cook dinner at the apartment for one last hoorah.

As for the Graf Quad Squad, here goes:

Pius James, besides being the stinkiest baby alive, is also quite the oinker. He is now up to 5 pounds, 2.8 ounces. He continues to eat like crazy, but at times forgets to breath while eating or sucking on his pacifier. This morning, while I was feeding him, he dropped his oxygen quite a bit so we gave him a break from the nipple. He has been doing so well, and we might have pushed him a little too hard, too soon. His poor, little butt is still sore, red, and raw. It has got a little better with the change of diaper brand and being left open to air. His overly sensitive skin may be one of the traits that his daddy passed to him.

Pius getting his sore butt aired out (and not happy about it)

Pius getting ready to bottlefeed

Danna Lynn also continues to grow. She is up to 2 pounds, 4 ounces. She hasn't started nippling yet because they want to wait until she gets a little bit bigger. Her bottom, like her partner in crime Pius, is a little bit red too. Hers isn't quite as bad, but she still gets creamed and powdered with each change. She is breathing very well without needing much oxygen. Despite being the runt, she is really doing a banner job of keeping up with her brothers on attaining good doctor reports.

Forrest Michael, besides being the sleepiest baby alive, is also quite the oinker too. He is up to 5 pounds, 1 ounce. Pius and he are both taking 46 mL of breast milk (roughly 1 1/2 ounces) with each feeding. He is also learning to eat with the nipple, and doing a very good job. Sometimes he tends to forget the whole "suck, breath, swallow" thing and has spells of lowered oxygen saturation, but overall we would have to grade Pius and Forrest a B+ on the nipple feeding. The docs say they are well on their way to coming home.


Laine Ryan has also been kicking a** and taking names. He is up to 3 pounds, 5 ounces and is really long. We are thinking he might be built like Uncle Paul and be the tall, skinny kid with a great disposition. He is so much fun to be with because he always seems to be wide awake and alert. Momma thinks he is going to have daddy's light blue eyes, although it is still a little too early to tell. He is doing a great job with his breathing, and the doctors say he can start nippling his feeds once a shift if he shows interest (if he is awake, rooting, and trying to eat his hands).

Laine lookin' around at the world

Mom getting to hold Laine and Forrest together for the 1st time

As for mommy and daddy, we are doing well too. Moni's friend from nursing school, Melody, came to town to see her family and catch up with ours. As an NICU nurse back home, her insight and advice on the babies and their care was good to hear. We went to our old standby restaurant, Oregano's, for lunch after visiting the babes. Melody will be in town until Monday, so we plan to get together again on Sunday for more visiting and baby time.

Last night, Billy's cousin Mark took us out to downtown Tempe. Think Aggieville/OldTown without public smoking. We had a great time at Gordon Biersch and walking around the lighted streets (think Clark Griswald's house vomiting all over the city - in a pretty way). It was a beautiful town and the company, as always, was wonderful. Then he took us on a car tour of other parts of the city that we had not seen yet. It was good to get out and explore our surroundings. After all, our kids are Phoenicians and will want to know what their birth state was like when they get older. Despite popular belief, it does get pretty cold here in the Nix. Because Moni's feet were so swollen during the pregnancy, she didn't have any shoes but flip-flops to bring to Phoenix. No problem, right? Wrong! She was freezing her butt off in her sandals. Maybe it's time to go buy a pair of sneakers.



We haven't been able to get any good pics of Danna lately, but we're getting ready to head up to the hospital again to see the younguns. Hopefully she'll be awake and ready to pose for the camera. We'll post a new pic of her soon and give more updates!

Love you all like Jaclyn loves to put Ryno in a headlock!

Billy, Moni, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine

Look mom, no incubator!!!

Welcome back to our little world. We have some great news for all to report this evening. The Graf quads all continue to thrive at the NICU in Phoenix Children's Hospital at Good Samaritan. Monica and I were very pleasantly surprised to walk into what seemed like two brand new rooms this afternoon. We have all kinds of space to move around in with Pius and Forrest both being moved to open cribs. We saw Pius first, and he was all burritoed up in his crib. He was sleeping well and we got a great report from his nurse. We went over and saw big Forrest in his big crib. What a pair they are in their big boy beds! The doctor even said we may be able to start co-bedding shortly.

As for individual updates, here goes:

Pius James: He now weighs 2150 grams which is 4 pounds, 12 0unces. He still needs the nasal cannula for a little help, but is being weaned off as tolerated. He continues to eat well, and takes 40 mL of fortified breast milk every three hours. He will probably start trying to bottle feed tomorrow.

Pius showing off in his open crib.

Forrest Michael: He now weighs 2110 grams which is 4 pounds, 10 ounces. He was a little anemic yesterday and lost 30 grams, but it was all fluid from his swelling. So actually it was a good thing that he lost those grams. He still needs the cannula as well, but like Pius, is being weaned off as tolerated. He also continues to eat well and is taking 39 mL of fortified breast milk every three hours. He tried the bottle feeding yesterday and was great at it. He took half of the bottle, did wonderfully, and the rest he took through his feeding tube.

Forrest sleeping...as usual.

Forrest sleeping...in Miss Becky's arms.

Danna Lynn: She is doing a great job with her weight gain. She is up 20 grams from yesterday and weighs 925 grams, which is 2 pounds, 1 ounce. She is on room air, but still using the nasal cannula for the high flow. She keeps getting bigger and bigger. We are so proud of her fight.

Sweet Danna...Sweet Dreams.

Laine Ryan: He is up to 1360 grams which is 3 pounds even. He is on the cannula still, but like his brothers, is being weaned off. He still loses his temper from time to time, but really remains pretty calm throughout the day. He tried the non-nutritive breast feeding yesterday with mom and did very well until he fell asleep. We will probably start the bottle feeding and non-nutritive more often now that they have hit the 34 week mark.

Laine in big boy clothes and worn out after his bath.

You guys are all being too good to us, and it is hard to keep up with the thank yous, but we will try. Thanks to NICU Nurse Emily for the Broncos pacifiers. She noticed the quads needed some team spirit, and as she attended the Chiefs slaughter this past weekend, she picked them up for us. Also thank you to great-aunt Mary Odette for the "pee pee teepee Santa hats." They have been a hit with the nurses, and gave us a good chuckle. You put these hats over their tally-whackers when you are changing them so you don't get squirted. Too bad they have already outgrown them. No big deal. They are such studs.

The pee-pee teepees. Told you they weren't big enough.

Love,

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

P.S. Congrats to my car man, Curtis, and his wife Megan. The world needed more Lubbers.

P.S. #2 Great job the past couple days with all the comments. We've enjoyed them. You guys earned a video. Keep it up!

Forrest getting a bath.

Two New Superstars

Hi everybody. Big day for the Grafs tomorrow. The Broncos play the Chiefs in a must-win situation. After talking it over with the quads, we hope Coach Shanahan and his assistants have the team ready to go. As for what is happening around the Phoenix Children's NICU, here's the down and dirty...

We will start with the star of TODAY. Laine Ryan was tired of being teased by daddy about being the only one still wearing a helmet. He not only got rid of the CPAP today, he needs NO assistance with the breathing right now. That's right folks, complete room air. Our little boy is really growing up. As far as weight, he is up to 2 pounds, 14 ounces. As far as attitude, he seems to already exhibit symptoms of "little man" syndrome. He has the WORST temper of the four and really wants to show us how tough he is when someone makes him mad.

Isn't he cute without all that crap on his face?

Next we will go to the star of YESTERDAY. Danna Lynn don't need no CPAP neither! She surprised us yesterday when we showed up for the second visit of the day. She was off CPAP and just using the nasal cannula. Now the next task is to reshape her crazy alien head which we are told, over and over, is very normal for a baby her size. She has done very well since losing the CPAP, and she doesn't seem to miss the extra baggage. In fact, she hardly complains about anything anymore. Big night for Miss Danna, she finally hit the 2 lb. mark that she has been flirting with the last couple of days. 2 pounds even, what a fatty! Mama gave her a bath while Daddy changed her sheets. It was great getting to cuddle for a little while, even if she did poop in her bath water.

Momma holding Danna after her bath. She still hasn't quite grown out of her alien/monkey stage.

Forrest and Pius continue to be stars on a daily basis. They have not really given anybody any headaches, and continue to grow. And grow. And grow. They are huge preemies...is that an oxymoron? They continue to battle it out for the biggest Graf quad of the day. Today, Pius wins by 5 whopping grams. They both weigh 4 pounds, 8 ounces. They have done so well that they got to be dressed like real little boys. They did a great job, and just looked at Moni and me like we were nuts for being so excited about it all. Actually, they get to wear big boy clothes because they are being trained on room temperature to prepare them for their open cribs (which is another step closer to going home).

Moni giving Pius a bath

Pius LOVING his bathtime!

Pius...fat, clean and happy (and in big boy clothes - thanks, Deb and Dave!)

Mom, Dad and Forrest (in big boy clothes - thanks Jac and Torey!)

Forrest with a death-grip on his pacifier - good luck getting that thing away from him

Yes, we were in the car. No, Billy was not driving at the time. Only one pedestrian was injured in the making of this picture. Those darn self portraits!

Special thank you to Aunt Shirley Kaiser and family who sent the most rocking-est Broncos outfits EVER! (Little windsuits for the boys and a Broncos cheerleader dress and tights for Danna). Thank you, also, to: Gary and Terri Peterson for the meal with the fam when they were here; Gary and Monette for the angel outfits, sleepers and blankets from Marshmallow Kisses; Uncle Fritz and Aunt MaryAnn Graf and family for the monogrammed bibs and cards; Kris and Rex Keith and family (a quad family from Wichita) for the beautiful baby blankets; JoAnn Tubre for the personalized babies' first ornaments; BC friends Erin, Erin, Katie and Kristin for the giftcard; Ann and Alfred Perez and family for the giftcard; Uncle Phil and Aunt Cathy for the meals and guardian angels; Jaclyn and Torey Tubre for all the preemie clothes that their sweet chunky monkeys can't wear anymore.

Thank you to everyone who have also sent cards, well wishes and words of wisdom (Uncle Bill/Aunt Ida Jo, Uncle Dale/Aunt Charlotte, Taylor Scuilli, Aunt Ginny, Uncle Howard/Aunt Marilyn, Wilbur Middle School Friends, Syl's catering friends and many, many more)! I know we've missed about a million people, but we can't find the the list of people to write thank you's to at this moment. Just know that we really do appreciate all the love and support. We continue to be amazed at how four little miracles can bring out the very best in people. We promise to keep the updates and pics coming. Billy says that's conditional on you all leaving us comments to fuel us on! Later!

Expected UPS & downs...

We'll just delve right in to the latest news....

Well, Laine kinda had a rough day yesterday. He was working pretty hard to breath and his oxygen saturation kept dropping into the 70's despite being on oxygen per nasal cannula. The doctor was concerned that he may have an infection, so they drew a blood culture and other labs and started an IV to give him prophylactic antibiotics. The blood culture today showed no growth in the first 24 hours, which is good. His labs also looked promising. They also decided to put him back on CPAP because he was breathing hard and retracting. He seems to be much more comfortable since being put back on the CPAP and is doing well.

Laine back on CPAP....boo! hiss!

Our cute little alien baby getting a bath

Laine saying, "No more pictures!"

Danna is still on CPAP as well. The nurses and respiratory therapist keep switching the mask with the prongs to keep her nose skin from breaking down. She really hates the prongs and she lets everyone know how she feels about it. They've also been using DuoDerm (that beige colored tape) on her nose and face to keep her skin intact. It seems that both Danna and Laine have fairly sensitive skin and they are sure to keep a close eye on things. She continues to do well and has started to gain a little weight. Not much else to report on her.

Daddy changing Danna's poopy diaper (and Billy thought girls didn't do that!)

Mom holding Danna up

Mom and dad giving Danna a bath - lots of hands for such a little body!



Danna showing the camera what Uncle Ryno taught her.....West side 'til I die!

Pius was put on a little oxygen today per nasal cannula because he kept dropping his sats when his head was in certain positions. He continues to amaze us with his pooping abilities and daddy is just so proud! He keeps truckin' along and gaining weight like a champ.

Moni, "Grandma Ruth" and a waking baby Pius



Pius under dad's hand (and he's one of the big ones!)


Pius drooling

Pius.....farting???

Forrest has taken the "steady Eddy" title. He always seems to be sleeping, which is probably why he keeps gaining weight so well. He's still on a little oxygen per nasal cannula and still doing well.

Forrest's extreme close-up (remember, the camera adds 10 lbs - or 2)

Forrest grinning about something after his bath

As for me (Monica) I'm doing very well. My legs are very close to normal sized now (I'm sorry I can't report the same for my belly) and besides a little soreness, I feel great. I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Strong (AKA Edward Norton) this morning. He told me to keep taking the antibiotic and the diuretic until they're gone. He was impressed with my incision site and encouraged pool time to help with the rest of the swelling and carpal tunnel. He wanted to see me again in a week, so we scheduled another appt for next Tuesday. So, really, I'M FINE!!! Thanks for all the concern!


Billy boy has been tobacco-free for 5 days now and I'm so proud of him. He has managed to keep his mood swings under control and has a raw mouth from eating and spitting out all those sunflower seeds! He is also really getting to know the roads here and I am so impressed with his navigating abilities now that I've busted out of the hospital.



The babies had a special visitor today. Billy and I brought "Grandma Ruth" (my friend, Deb White's, grandmother) to the NICU to meet the babies. We had a good time getting to know her and we hope she is able to come back to see the babies again to see their progress.



Next, we need to give a shout out to Ryno. Happy birthday, little brother! Did you know you are now closer to being 50 than to being a newborn tiny baby? You and Frank the Tank better not have too much fun celebrating your new-found maturity this coming Saturday! Wish we were there to celebrate with you guys! Don't be expecting any cards in the mail - consider this your card from the Bill and Monica Graf family.



Congratulations, Erin (EMO), David and Quinn!!! Billy's curiosity finally got the better of him and he checked the pictures on Comehome.net. How far along are you? Billy says, "If there isn't more than 1 baby in you, BIG DEAL!" Just kiddin'! We're so happy for you guys.



Billy just called the NICU to get the latest weights tonight. They are as follows:

Pius - essentially the same weight as yesterday, except he dropped a measly 5 grams. He is 4 lbs 2 oz.


Forrest - he's up 20 grams and is now weighing in at 4 lbs 3 oz.


Danna - she's up to 870 grams now which translates to 1 lb 15 oz. Almost 2 lbs! Woo-hoo!


Laine - his stressful day didn't damper his weight gaining. He is up to 2 lb 13 oz.


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

Now, they really ARE little angels!

Hi everyone. Quick updates for all of you guys, and more pictures. Yesterday was a big day for our little bundles of joy. They all got their "emergency" baptisms done. Nothing is wrong with any of them other than the fact that they were born about 2 1/2 months early, and we just wanted to have it done.


I went to mass at St. Gregory's at 8 a.m. and spoke with the priest afterwards. He sent the deacon (who had helped him say mass) over to the hospital. Deacon Carmen came over and we had it done there at Good Sam in the babies' rooms. Uncle Phil, Aunt Cathy and Becky stood in as proxy godparents. It was very nice, and Monica and I felt a ton better after it was done. All four of them slept through the entire thing, and did a great job. It was not the entire baptism (minus the oils and a mass), but it was a very nice service. We will do the complete thing when we return home.

Uncle Phil, Aunt Cathy, Moni, Deacon Carmen, and me (Becky took the picture).

Laine gettin' holy.

Forrest gettin' holy.

All four of them continue to grow in the NICU...some more quickly than others. Danna is having a hard time with her weight gain, but they say that's pretty common for babies that had IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction). Here are their latest weights and lengths (they re-weigh them every night and check lengths every Sunday evening):

Baby "A" Pius - 3 lbs 15 oz (1790 grams) and 44 cm long (17.3 inches)

Baby "B" Forrest - 4 lbs even (1820 grams) and 43 cm long (16.9 inches)

Baby "C" Danna - 1 lbs 11 oz (760 grams) and 34 cm long (13.4 inches)

Baby "D" Laine - 2 lbs 10 oz (1195 grams) and 39 cm long (15.4 inches)

Yesterday, we got to dress Laine and Pius in big boy clothes! They looked so cute and like real little babies! We couldn't put anything on Forrest because he still had an IV in (which was removed today - the 2nd blood culture came back negative for any growth). Danna is still naked as a J-bird because she has all that CPAP gear on, even though her IV got removed today as well. Also, we don't have anything small enough for her. Her time will come....

PLEASE keep the comments coming - some people are getting a little lax about writing and we still check the site about 20 times a day! We miss all the news from home and hearing about what's going on in everyone's' lives.

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

P.S. Doesn't Pius look like a toddler in the picture from the post below? I (Moni) took that picture just after I got finished giving him a bath. He stretched out and put his hands up by his head all by himself and I thought it qualified as a Kodak moment! He really doesn't look that old in person.

Billy's attempt at posting Danna's crying video

This is our perfect little girl. Hopefully it works this time.

Billy

Can't think of a good title

First off, thank you Janeen, for informing everyone of the need for prayers for little Abbey Tubre. It was a scary ordeal for Jaclyn and Torey and I know they appreciate all the support from the good folks of Wichita. The latest on their baby girl is that they diagnosed her with a strep infection in her blood. They started antibiotics and are hopeful that they were able to catch it early. I guess she went ahead a took matters into her own hands and extubated herself, so they left the breathing tube out and just had her on CPAP for the time being. Then she managed to remove the CPAP gear, so they just have her on a little bit of oxygen. She's doing much better today. They were able to take their biggest boy home, so there was some good news from the day! Keep the prayers a-comin'...

As for the Graf quad squad, all is going well and I keep holding my breath. I know how quickly things can change for the better or the worse, but we just try to always keep a positive attitude - no use worrying about something we can't control. God's in the driver's seat and we are just trying to enjoy the ride (as rollercoaster-esque as it may be). Now for some individual updates... I think we'll start with Danna and go from smallest to biggest baby, just to shake things up a bit!

Danna is still doing very well, especially for her size. She currently is weighing in at 1 lb 11 oz (775 grams which is 40 more than last night), and uses every bit of those 27 ounces to let us know when she is ticked off. Yesterday she halfway pulled out her feeding tube, so the nurse had to replace it with a new one. I caught a little video of her after I changed her diaper and before the new tube was placed. She wasn't a happy camper! Also, the neonatalogist said that if all goes well this weekend, they may consider taking her off CPAP sometime next week. They have also begun feeding her breast milk with the added supplement for extra calories, just like her bigger brothers. She's up to 12 mL every 3 hours. The doctors, nurses and her mom and dad are all very proud and happy with her progress. Keep it up little girl!

Danna being pissed off (see video above)

Laine is also gaining weight like he should. He's up to 2 lbs 9 oz (1160 grams). He's such a sweet little boy and always seems to know when someone is looking in his incubator at him. He'll usually manage to barely open at least one eye to acknowledge his viewer's presence. Mama's voice gets a full head turn, though. It's amazing how they really do recognize their parents' voices. His feeds are at 18 mL every 3 hours and they'll increase it in the morning if he continues to tolerate them well.

Our little man, Laine

Now for the kicker....Pius has lost the heavyweight title. He is weighing in at 3 lbs 13 oz (1760 grams). I got to spend quite a bit of time with my long armed, long fingered baby boy yesterday. He got to try out his big boy pants and give the breastfeeding thing a go. It's not really breast "feeding", but it starts getting them used to the idea of it. They call it non-nutritive breastfeeding and it entails me pumping right before allowing him to start sucking. I don't think he really grasped the concept, though. He would open his mouth and all, but then didn't know what to do after that. Not bad for his first time, though. Also, it must be the way I smell or something, because right after we started, he took the stinkiest poop ever! We had to stop everything and change his pants and start again. Then, not 3 minutes later, he took another big, stinky dump! I find it hard not to take offense. He's my little (or big) squirt, that's for sure. He is at full feeds at 36 mL every 3 hours (1 1/5 ounces).

Pius, just kickin' it

Our wide load, Forrest, is also at 3 lbs 13 oz, but he is 10 grams heavier than Pius at 1770 grams. He was being a little ornery boy yesterday. While he was sleeping, he kept dropping his oxygen saturation level down in the 70's pretty consistently, so they ended up putting him on a little bit of oxygen (0.2LPM by nasal cannula) and he did just fine. They'll probably be able to remove it sometime later, but they also drew blood for labs and blood culture to check for infection just to be on the safe side. Preliminary results came back positive for infection, so they had to draw another blood culture and start an IV to give him IV antibiotics. Yesterday he and mom got to snuggle for awhile. I helped with all his cares and then held him for a long time. Those of you who know me know that I love to do self portraits with the camera. Well, my skill came in handy that day, as no one was around to take our picture (besides the other babies, and I really didn't think they'd take a good picture anyways). So Forrest and I took a few self portraits that evening and they turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself! Forrest also had a go with the non-nutritive breastfeeding today. He had about the same success as Pius. He is also on full feeds at 34 mL every 3 hours.

Forrest with his long fingers

Mama and Forrest doing our self-portrait

Mama and Forrest (oops, I cut my head off in the pic but look at all that hair!)

Forrest sucking his thumb

As for general news, all the head sonos came back a-okay. They won't even recheck Pius or Forrest again, and will only do Laine and Danna just prior to discharge.

Uncle Phil and Aunt Cathy Brady arrived into town on Wednesday while I was still in the hospital. They came to Phoenix to be with Becky while she recovers from her procedure. Becky said it was okay for me to update everyone on her situation, so I'll paraphrase. A couple weeks ago she had an area of skin on her upper thigh evaluated by a dermatologist. They determined that it was melanoma and she had to schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon to see about having it removed. Her surgery took place on Thursday and they felt good about being able to get all the cancerous cells removed. They didn't have to close the site with a skin graft, which is very good, but the incision is pulled very taut so she isn't allowed to sit. Yes, that's what I said. She can either stand or lay down, which makes going to the bathroom somewhat challenging! She's doing very well and I'm enjoying the chance to baby and bully her now (give her a taste of her own medicine!). Come to find out, she's just as stubborn as her cousin, Monica, when it comes to accepting help from others. I'm sure she would appreciate prayers for her continued healing and rapid full recovery.

Until next time..... Love, Moni, Billy, Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine