Merry Christmas...but OUCH!

Merry Christmas everybody! The Graf squad had a very healthy day, but half of the quads had a somewhat painful one. Pius and Forrest got circumsized this afternoon. Moni and I decided that it would be a perfect Christmas present. Laine wasn't quite ready to handle the traumatic event yet...plenty big enough, but not oxygen ready quite yet.

As some of you may have heard, we are looking at bringing Forrest home within the next week and Pius a couple days later. Pius is bigger and eats more but Forrest needs the least assistance. If Danna was a couple pounds bigger, she would probably beat everybody home. She seems to be doing the best with everything except for the weight gain. Laine is doing well too, but when you combine his size with his feedings, he isn't quite ready yet.

As for mom and dad, we were able to enjoy some cocktails and good company with some new acquaintances that we have gotten to know since being down here. Moni's friends, Dave and Deb White introduced us to some of their family, who were gracious enough to call and invite us for their family's Christmas Eve dinner. Grandma Ruth was there, along with Deb's Aunt Mary and Uncle Dan, and her cousin and her husband Jill and Mike with their three kids. We had a great time visiting, and thank you for getting us started on our kids' DVD collection. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for dinner because Moni and I had already planned a date for Christmas Eve. Unfortunately again, the Broncos ruined our date with another embarassing effort against the Chargers...sometimes we wonder why we love them so much.

After our date, Moni came home and wiped out for a few hours. She really isn't being a wimp, she actually has mastitis (basically a painful boob infection). She got started on some antibiotics for it and seems to be feeling better. Hopefully this will be the last hiccup in her recovery.

We had a great Christmas day together. It will probably be the last one that we get to sleep in for and do what we want, so we really enjoyed it. We had planned on going to a movie but decided that we were having so much more fun being bums. Our last 24 hours has consisted of: midnight mass at St. Gregory's, visiting the kids shortly after, being woken up by family all morning calling us, visiting the kids again, going to the QT for lunch, going back to the hospital and helping Pius and Forrest through the trauma, and then coming home and getting ready for a baby or two (putting together the pack and play crib, doing laundry, which seems never ending, and cleaning the apartment).


Now for weights and lengths:

Pius- He is 18 3/4 inches long and weighs 6 pounds, 6 ounces.

"Whaaaaazuuuup!"

Forrest- He is 18 inches long and weighs 6 pounds, 4 ounces.

"Ho, freaking, Ho."

Danna- She is 15 inches long and weighs 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

"Dad, I'm a little freaked out right now!"

"Thanks, mom, for not making me wear a hat."

Laine- He is 17 1/4 inches long and weighs 4 pounds, 1 ounce. Laine was never awake to try on the Santa hats, so you guys get a bald Laine. Also, we realize that Laine is kind of getting the shaft with the pictures. We both personally promise to improve on it because, really, Laine is the one who is awake the most therefore deserving of the most pictures.

"My plan is working to perfection! I like to elude the camera like dad."

We had a great first Christmas and Moni and I are so excited to start bringing the babies home! We will be back to Kansas before you all know it. There's no place like home, Toto.

Moni had to search way back and fight Billy tooth and nail to publish this pic.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Billy, Moni, and the P.F.D.L. Fliers (that is the name of Billy's Guitar Hero band). Yes, he is a dork.

Two 6-packs, a 4-pack, and a 40 oz!

We had a busy weekend this week with visitors, nippling, and such. The kids were great the entire time, and did a great job of hosting. Aunt Rachel came down from Wichita to visit her new nephews and niece for the first time. We had a wonderful time relaxing and visiting with the little ones.

Two of the hot Haag sisters.

As for updates on the little ones, here goes:

Pius James: He has surpassed the six pound mark, and now weighs in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces. He is a typical Graf boy and loves to eat. As far as eating, he continues to progress with the nippling. He is taking at least 4/5 of his bottle on average, and he got to breast feed for the first time last night. He did a good job, and latched on for over 20 minutes. His oxygen still dips from time to time when he is eating, but overall those dips in oxygen are decreasing.

Pius dreaming of his next meal.

Forrest Michael: He has joined Pius in the plus 6 pound club. Forrest now tips the scales at 6 pounds, 1 ounce. He is probably doing the best overall with the bottle feeding. He even let me feed him his entire bottle...almost. He also tried breast feeding a couple days ago, but was too sleepy to give it a whole-hearted effort. He is on mom's sh*t list though because he decided to pee all over her in front of daddy and Aunt RayRay (see picture). We thought it was hilarious. He is doing so well with the bottle feeding that they even took out his feeding tube this morning. Way to go fat boy!

Moni disgusted with Forrest's behavior.

Aunt RayRay getting to hold her godson for the first time!

Forrest getting washed...after peeing on Mommy.

Forrest sporting a new 'do.

Danna Lynn: She is our little "40 oz." She weighs 2 pounds, 9 ounces which is actually 41 oz, but close enough. She continues to amaze us at what she is capable of performing. She's got great skills. Gah! She got to try breast feeding also last night, and she latched on and stayed on for over thirty minutes. She really showed her two big brothers up. She also is doing a great job on bottle feeding despite having such a tiny mouth. She usually takes her entire feeding, or at least gets close. Another spot where she is kicking her brothers' butts is in the breathing department. She is currently tied with Forrest for receiving the least assistance with oxygen.

Danna Lynn plotting how she will impress us next.

Laine Ryan: He is our "4-pack." He weighed in at 4 pounds even. As far as bottle feeding, he has a "sh*t or get off the pot" mentality, and he is usually off the pot. He either hammers down on the bottle, or doesn't really want to deal with it. He is doing a nice job on breathing, and he will probably try to breast feed in the next couple of days. He still wakes up every morning to see daddy when he comes in to visit before work. We can't figure out how he is growing, because all of the professionals have told us, "Sleeping is growing," but he always seems to be awake and ready to play. When we show up the next time he always seems to have doubled in size. He might be the sneaky one.

Aunt RayRay changing Laine.

Thank you to Aunt Janet Downing for the kids' stockings, and to Aunt Dee and Rogene for the ornaments. They are hanging on our wall, and represent our Christmas decorations this year. Also, thank you to Dana Goertz for the knitted...by size I might add...Santa hats, and Eveline Atkins for the pink and blue knitted stocking hats. We hope to get pictures with the kids in them soon. Thank you all for the continuing thoughts and prayers.

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

P.S. Now that the Tubres are big time celebrities in Baton Rouge we don't expect to be hearing from them anymore. If you want to see them on TV go to their website and figure it out yourself. http://www.tubrequads.blogspot.com/ Just kidding Tubres. It was great to hear from you this morning, Jac.

Just a quick update

Just wanted to send a quick weights update before we leave for the hospital to visit the kids.

Danna Lynn - 2 lbs, 9 oz
Laine Ryan - 3 lbs, 11 oz
Forrest Michael - 5 lbs, 10.7 oz
Pius James - 5 lbs, 14 oz

They are all doing great and so are mom and dad. My baby sister, Rachel, got into town on the 19th and will be here until the 23rd. She got to meet her godson, Forrest. Oddly enough, it seems he has been the only one awake every time we go visit (I guess his roommate, Laine, was up a few times, too). He must know who he needs to impress already!

The babies had their eye exams for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) on Wednesday. Because oxygen is so damaging to preemies' eyes, they sometimes struggle with vision later in life. But good news... the 3 boys don't need to be checked again until the age of 2. Danna's eyes were good too, but they are going to recheck in two weeks because of her size and her eyes were not fully vascularized yet.

Thanks for all the great comments! They keep us going.

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

Further proof of their angel-ship

Guess who is who! (In case you can't tell from their melons, it's youngest to oldest from left to right)

Hi all of you non-commenters. The kids told us that we shouldn't worry about posting since you all were so weak on commenting, but we are teaching the children to turn the other cheek. Actually, we were finally able to get pictures of them all together yesterday, and they were too adorable not to post. They are doing so well and Moni and I are so proud.

Our first family photo (Billy holding Pius and Danna, Moni holding Forrest and Laine)

Our precious angel babies

Pius "Big Poppa" James: He is up to 5 pounds, 8 ounces. He continues to gain weight, and right now his major hurdle is the whole "suck, breathe, swallow" thing. He still is trying to figure out the breathe and swallow part. He is doing a great job getting the food in his mouth, but, like we said, sometimes forgets to breathe or swallow. His little butt is getting better. We are still using water wipes and various butt-creams, but he seems to be getting less angry when we wipe him now. In fact, nothing really bothers him.

Our sweet and chubby cherub, Pius

Forrest "Frosty" Michael: He is up to 5 pounds, 7 ounces. Like his big brother he continues to gain weight well, but still struggles with the whole "nippling" thing (yes, Andy, we used a form of the word "nipple". Deal with it). He has started to become a little bit fussy in his old age. He starts to whine for no particular reason, just to get a little attention. Momma is going to have to smack him around a little bit so he learns that we will get to him when it is his turn. I am just kidding about the whole smacking him around thing.

Mom holding her angel Forrest after a feeding

Frosty....actually awake, for once

Danna Lynn: She is up to a whopping 2 pounds, 5 ounces. She hasn't started nippling yet (there's that word again), but we are thinking that it is right around the corner. Her big news is that she got moved OFF of high-flow oxygen, and is really kind of kicking her brothers' butts on her breathing. She is such a little fighter. She fights us, her nurses, and her condition, and she is really good at it. We are all learning quickly that Danna gets what Danna wants. She already thinks she is the queen of the castle. Momma is going to have to go straight from smacking Forrest around to smacking her. Once again, I am just kidding (but notice how I leave the disciplining to Moni).

Our sleeping beauty angel, Danna Lynn

A random Danna video

Laine Ryan: He is up to 3 pounds, 8 ounces. He, like his brothers, is starting the bottle feeding. He does it once a shift, and has had mixed reviews from his nurses. Right now he is batting about .500. Pretty good average...in baseball. Really, he has done well twice and has been uninterested twice. He still has the best temperament, and kind of has Moni and me wrapped around his fingers. We even still think it's cute when he loses his temper because it takes a long time to get him worked up to that point.

Our laid-back angel, Laine, taking everything in stride

The babes had such a big day today! We had a very special visitor come to see us. Dear ol' Santa came early to make sure the quads were going to be able to make his "nice" list. They were at the top of the list. Their daddy also made it to the top of a list. Unfortunately, it was the one labelled "naughty". It was quite a production to get all the babies on Santa's lap, but everyone fit (with the help of about 16 extra hands). Laine tried to pick Danna's nose, Forrest was a crybaby and Pius just slept through the whole thing! It was such an awesome experience and the pictures are priceless!

Santa, Danna, Laine, Forrest and Pius

We're happy (and sad) to report that we sent Tyger Tubre and his grandma DeeDee off at the airport this morning. They made it safely home to Baton Rouge and were reunited with the other Tubre quads, Abbey, Cullen and Emma, as well as their family and friends who have so anxiously awaited their arrival home. Way to "geaux" babies (and mom and dad)! We're already missing you guys. Keep us posted on their progress in all your spare time (yeah, right!).

Tyger Tubre waving bye-bye to everyone in the NICU

Moni and I continue to be amazed at the support that we are receiving from so many people. We have really run out of ways to say "Thank you," but honestly, thank you! We wouldn't be able to stay as positive as we have without your love, generosity, and prayers.

Hopefully the pictures will bring about some more conversation so the kids don't ground Mom and me from posting (because posting with videos and pictures is about a two hour process and they get angry when we're away for too long).

Love,

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

P.S. Angel outfits courtesy of friends Gary Lindow and Monette Lachman - thanks! They were a hit with the nurses, too.

Angels Pius, Forrest, Danna and Laine

We forgot something.

My mom, Marsha, was REALLY busy at work the other day and did this for us. Check it out....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1333247292

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1333689121

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.