Our Life Since we Got the Big QUAD News

Life has been a whirlwind ever since we got the big news!  I had a doctor appointment with my OB that next week after we found out.  I truly adore my OB.  She spent almost 2 hours and all of her lunch break and some of the time she was supposed to be at the hospital with us to squeeze us into the schedule ASAP.  Chris' mom Lori came up for the appointment, and my mom came as well to take notes- she has been keeping fantastic records that even my Doctors sometimes refer to!  At this appointment, we had to talk about a lot of the basics- what I can do, what I can't do, what to expect, preterm labor, risks to me, risks to the babies, hospitalization, NICU, and selective reduction.  Selective reduction is where you go to the doctor, and they selectively reduce the pregnancy from four down to two.  It is illegal in Ohio, so we would have to go New York or Pennsylvania to have the procedure done.  Chris and I talked about it after the appointment, and decided against it.  We are of the thinking, that what is supposed to happen will happen.  If my body can handle the quadruplet pregnancy it will, and if it can't it won't.  What is meant to be will be.  If we are supposed to have quads, then we will have quads, and if something else results, then that is what was meant to be.  We are trying to stay positive and think of all of the great blessings we have and this could bring us instead of focusing on the scary aspects of this journey.

At this appointment, we also thought we had lost one of the little ones, which is common so early on.  One or more of them can just stop growing.  Baby D was completely hiding!  Then all at once he popped up out of no where- what a day!

With quads, there just is not a lot of information or statistics out there, which is hard because the doctors just do not have the numbers to give you.  Because it is so rare (usually two in Ohio per year), most of the doctors are pretty unfamiliar with some of the things that are going on.  As a result, we have a lot of doctor appointments!  So far, they have been every other week, but are now going to start to be every week.  We have ultrasounds at every appointment as well which is nice so we can see how the little bambinos are growing.  I have had three appointments since then, including one with my high-risk doctor.  The ultrasounds always take a long time- it is not easy to find four tiny little babies growing, measure them, and also find and measure their heartbeat!

Here are some of the highlights from all of the appointments:

-As of my last appointment, all of the babies are growing perfectly!  They are all measuring very similarly and growing according to schedule.  They are all measuring within 1-2 days of each other, with some even measuring bigger than their due date.  All good news since they will come so early!

-One baby (Baby A) is on the bottom, and Baby B, Baby C, and Baby D are all lined up right in a row.  Baby A is always the biggest because it takes all the room!

-Each baby has its own sac which is VERY good news.  It also appears that each baby has its own placenta, although we are still trying to determine that definitively for Babies B and C.  They are really close together, so either their placentas are also pushed together (but still separate), or they share a placenta.  I am hoping to find out for sure at the next appointment.  It is better if they have their own placentas because then one baby cannot take all the nutrients from the other.

-They all actually look like humans now!  Little heads, butts, legs, arms- it is amazing how much you can see them grow from appointment to appointment.  You can also see there hearts fluttering which is just so reassuring.  I get a lot of anxiety before each appointment!

-I can expect hospitalized bed rest at some point during the pregnancy.  Usually sometime between weeks 16-22.  This will make for a long stay at the hospital for me- you all better scope out the visiting hours now!

-On average, quads come at week 28-29.  Obviously this is VERY early for babies to be born, and they will be very small and have a long stay in the NICU.  Our first goal is to get to week 24 (when they are viable outside the womb) which can be a difficult task in and of itself.

-Around week 18, I will look like a full term single pregnant woman, and my body will feel those pressures.  Those weeks from week 18-24 are dangerous because your body feels like it is big enough to go into labor, but the babies are not big enough to survive outside the womb yet.  This is what scares me the most.  Please pray for us to successfully reach week 24.

I have also had a couple of trips to the ER where I have found out some new quad pregnancy symptoms!  First, I have SEVERE morning sickness.  I will spare you the gory details, but let me just say one morning I visited the bathroom 14 times.  Not a joke.  That caused one trip to the ER just to get fluids in my system and give me anti-nausea medications via IV.  Another ER trip was spurred by some irregular heartbeats.  This trip resulted in the determination that I have heart palpitations (caused by the pregnancy).  Depending on how this symptom progresses, I might have to see a cardiologist to be put on beta blockers.  My heart is also working overtime (there is lots of extra blood pumping through for the babies), so it is beating a little faster than it should be- we are monitoring it.  It needs to stay under 109 beats per minute.  Last thing!  I have some cysts that are causing a little bit of pain, but they seem to have gotten a little better recently- good news!

So there it is in a nutshell- everything that has been happening with doctor appointments and ER visits since we found out!  I will leave you with some belly pictures starting once we found out we had four little ones growing in there- Enjoy!

7 weeks

8 weeks

9 weeks

10 weeks

11 weeks

Stay tuned for my next post about the important appointment I had yesterday (11 weeks 6 days) and the incredible ultrasound pictures I got from that appointment.  Thanks for reading!