Home Sweet Home

Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the well-wishes, prayers and compliments! I was able to go home from the hospital today and am SO happy. Billy is working at Quiktrip tonight and Becky left for Wichita after she got off work this morning, so Billy's cousin, Mark, came and picked me up from the hospital. Not only that, but he also got me food from Boston Market! He has been such a lifesaver for us and we thank Aunt Laverna for raising such an awesome person!
The RN from Matria Home Health met with me in the hospital today to go over home uterine monitoring and the Terbutaline pump. I now have a small subcutaneous catheter in my upper thigh that is giving me scheduled doses of medication to control contractions (it works alot like an insulin pump). So far, everything is going well with it, but it does make me really jittery and kicks my heart rate up to about 115-120 bpm. The Matria RN also got me hooked up with the uterine monitor. I'll put this on at least 2 times a day (morning and evening) and any time I feel I might be having contractions. I lay with it on me for 1 hour and then transmit the data to Matria, who then interprets it and gives me a call back. Talk about peace of mind!
I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll wrap this up and get a little sleep. Just know that Billy and I really do appreciate all the love, support and prayers. We miss everyone back home and can't wait for our visitors. Karen, keep trying to think of games that don't involve beer - I know you may hurt yourself racking your brain. Good night!
Moni

Another update from the hospital

Hello everyone. It is Tuesday, October2. Last night was her second night in the hospital. Our internet capabilities in our apartment have been on a sabbatical so this update will contain a little more than normal.

Her first night in the hospital was pretty sleepless. The mag sulfate was causing a pretty bad headache, and she had to pee about every hour. They gave her something to help her sleep around 5:30, and so she got to sleep around an hour or so. Around 7:45 in the morning, Dr. Elliott came in to talk about the Turbutaline pump and what the gameplan was going to be for the rest of the day. They did a sono around 10:00 to check her cervical length and the babies heartrates. Everything looked great, so they continued to try and slow the contractions.

I showed up around 11 a.m. and she was feeling a little better. She ate a little and slept while I was there. I am not staying there at the hospital with her so that I can work and she can sleep. I tend to ask a lot of questions and she tries to stay awake so that I don't get bored. I have told her just to sleep and not to worry about me, but as most of you know, I seem to give people cause to worry.

I left for work around 2:15. A dietician came in and they discussed foods, and other supplements that Good Sam has to offer. The dietician also brought her an "assortment of nuts and snacks." After the dietician left (I am sorry I didn't ask Moni what her name was) Monica was in a lot of pain. They did a bedside sono because of the pain to check the babies and the womb. The babies and everything looked fine, but they couldn't find the cause of the pain. They think it could be pain from the abdominal muscles tearing. After all of this she was able to sit in the shower and that felt great.

Last night they did hydrotherapy. This is where she sits in a very deep bathtub of warm water. She said that was awesome. She almost fell asleep during it. They gave her some medicine to help her sleep, and she said that she had the best night of sleep she has had since we moved down here. She was woken up around 1, so she decided to call her old stomping grounds. She said it was great to talk to all the girls, and Dr. Lentz of the Wesley West ER.

Today they are going to try the Terbutaline pump and to get her off of the mag. Hopefully I will be able to bring her home tomorrow. She said that all the nurses and doctors have been incredibly helpful and caring. Becky has been able to visit before and after her shifts, and has even changed where she is parking so that it is easier for her to visit. Everything is going well (other than the pain).

We are still excited for our visitors, but we have been demoted to house rest when she gets home. The worst part of being home with the three of us, is that we don't know any card games for three people other than Crazy 8's. I am going to Wal-Mart to buy some board games so that we have something to do for entertainment. We love you all and can't wait to see you all. Thanks again to everyone for the thougths and prayers.

Billy and Monica

P.S. This is orders from headquarters (Monica). You are all supposed to keep commenting on the website. The kids like hearing from you.

It IS there...the hospital we mean

Hello everyone. First off, let me say that the quads are already grounded. I am serious. They caused me to miss my first Broncos' game in well over 7 years. Turns out, it was a good thing that I missed it. Yes, the Broncos and the Tide are on losing streaks and I am unhappy with that. Anyways, now I will explain why I missed.

Monica thought she was having contractions. She noticed her belly tightening and loosening every 4-5 minutes. (This was about 15 minutes before kickoff, we were getting ready to leave. She still wanted to go to the game, but I told her to quit being ridiculous.) So...we went to the hospital and checked, and once again she had proved her brilliance to me. She was, in fact, having contractions. They hooked her to a fetal monitor to measure the contractions, and she was given a shot of Terbutaline in the muscle to calm the contractions. They gave her two doses, but the contractions didn't quite go away.

Dr. Elliott had her admitted so that she could receive IV magnesium sulfate. All of the medical personnel said that the medication may make her feel more uncomfortable, but it didn't. The only symptom that she felt was that she felt extremely hot. I concurred. She does look hot, but she didn't need the medication to make her look that way. She tested negative for fibrenectin, which is GREAT news. While she is there, they are going to do additional blood work, just to stay on top of everything.

They checked the babies heartrates, and they all looked good. It looked like they were having quite the party in there with all the dancing they were doing. (Another reason why they are grounded...they need to learn when we are upset with how our teams did). I asked about all the babies, and he said they are all looking good. I asked about our little Danna, and he said, "I would say that we are a little concerned about her weight, we are NOT nervous at all yet." That made Moni and me feel a ton better.

That is our newest update. It is hot off the presses. There is no need to worry right now. Moni and babies are all doing well. The contractions this early are completely normal in a multiple pregnancy. We will probably be going back and forth to the hospital throughout the rest of the pregnancy, so we will keep you all updated as soon as we are done there. We love you all, and can't wait to see everyone who is coming to visit.

Billy and Moni

Pictures from 1st visit to Good Sam

Easier Posting Now Available

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that I changed the settings on our blog to make it so that you don't have to sign in to post. There is an 'anonymous' option you can choose if you're having problems leaving comments (which many people have relayed to us). Please remember that if you use this option, don't forget to sign your name at the bottom of the comment so we know who left it - no mystery writers!!! Hope that helps. Oh, I also added a counter so we have a vague idea of how many people have checked out our website. Just know that if it says 10,000 hits, Billy and I are probably responsible for about 8,000 of them because of how often we check it! I really did just sit on my butt all day today. It's amazing how much you can figure out on your own in a day, even when you feel totally computer illiterate. Until next time.....

Frustration!

Hello all. Monica and Billy are currently kicking themselves a little bit. We are just a couple of dumb kids who don't know anything. We kind of just assumed that Dr. Elliott's office and our insurance would work together to take care of our little situation. However, turns out that WE need to be the go-betweens. We were supposed to have been receiving home-uterine monitoring since our first visit with Dr. Elliott two weeks ago. We must have misunderstood that we would be contacted to start this testing. Now we are currently arguing with insurance companies, medical records directors, and each other. Hopefully it will all work out here within a week. We are more than a little frustrated with the situation. Turns out, mom was right. The squeaky wheel does get the oil.
Anyways, last night Monica was experiencing some abdominal discomfort. Billy was tempted to take her in, or call Dr. Elliott personally, but Monica was a trooper. She told him, "No way are we going to miss the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy because I am having a little pain. We will just ground the little sh*ts when they are born." Billy was all for grounding them. We are already working together well in the discipline department.
We found another set of quads here in Phoenix on a website like ours. They were born last week at (from what we can tell) about 27 1/2 weeks. The babies are all doing okay, and the mom was discharged from the hospital on Sunday. That couple is from Louisiana. We are sure they could use some prayers right now too. Their website is: www.tubrequads.blogspot.com.
That's about all we have right now. The kids and mom will probably be doing better this week if BC, Bama, and the Broncos pull their heads out. Keep the prayers and comments coming.

Billy and Monica

23 week update

First off, yes the Broncos, Tide, and Golden Eagles all lost this week. Danna is pissed and refusing to eat. We just left Dr. Elliott's office and everything is going well with Moni, Pius, Forrest, and Laine. Danna, however, is seriously upset about our teams' malfunctions. She is only 15 ounces and falling behind in size. Dr. Elliott was concerned, but it is only something to keep an eye on for right now. The other babies weighed between 1 pound 2 oz. and 1 pound 6 oz.

Moni's gallstone has seemed to disappear, but her belly weight is now causing some lower back pain. Also, her walking is painfully SLOW compared to Billy and Becky's speed steps.

Mark got us some tickets to the D-Backs for Saturday night's game against the Dodgers. Moni, Becky, and Billy had a good time drinking 8 dollar beers and watching the game. The only downpoint to the game was that afterwards, somebody yelled out the outcome of the Bama game to Billy and he had it TIVO'd at home with 5:00 left in the game. He was devastated.

We got skype set up on the computer, so if any of you have a webcam you can talk to us AND see us. How exciting is that?!

Looking forward to seeing some friends and family in October. Moni's friend Karen and Billy's cousins Stephanie and Kelly are coming to see us. Then Roger and Marsha will be here at the end of October followed by Mike, Vicki, Bucko, Lainie, and hopefully Ryno for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see all of them!

Billy and Moni

P.S. Moni and Billy have decided that since neither of us can seem to post anything appropriate (i.e. titles, obscene pictures, etc.) we will now post together in the third person. Keep the comments coming...we really are dorks about checking the website for new stuff. Also, concerning the sono pics: The top one is Pius's face, the middle one is Forrest's face, and the bottom one is Laine's facial profile. That better be the only profile of his face we ever see. The boys were crowding Danna so we couldn't get a good picture of her. Damn boys.