The Quads are Here!!

Hello everyone...this is Trever..the proud father to these babies. I wanted to update the blog really quick to give everyone an idea of how our family is doing. Here is a recap of the events of yesterday, Dec 30, 2008.

Yesterday morning Jenna had an appt with Dr. Albert(her high risk doc) for another routine appointment. He did a sonogram and checked all the babies and they all looked perfect. During this time we were sure we would be able to go back home since everything looked so good. Then he did a vaginal ultrasound to check Jenna's cervical length. He was very quiet as he did this and we got worried. Even by my own eyes I could tell that things didn't look right. He then told us that Jenna's bag of waters was bulging through her cervix and was in her vaginal canal....in particular it was Dahlia's bag of water. The bag of water had found the point of least resistance and decided to stretch the cerclage causing her to dilate. As you can guess, we were shocked as this was not one of the possible problems that we had ever discussed.

So they then admitted Jenna until the babies were born. By the time we got to L&D, Jenna was having contractions that were coming every two minutes. Luckily, after about 3 shots of terbutaline, the contractions stopped. Jenna was in much pain and discomfort from the catheter that they placed....and that made things even more difficult as the meds made her heart race and body shake. They decided that they would give her pain meds to calm down and hopefully relax. Jenna became relaxed and we were once again optimistic about carrying the babies to 28 weeks. By about 7pm, Jenna's contractions were coming every 2 minutes and were pretty painful. They were definitely the kind of contractions that would cause her to dilate...and keep in mind that her cervix was already at 1cm. They were able to control those contractions with more terbutaline and Jenna was getting some rest. After Eva and my mom left for the evening, at around 8:30 I stepped out of the room to give Jenna some privacy as she was going to use the restroom. Soon after I left, Jenna felt what she thought was a small water ball right inside her vagina. About this time, the nurse walked back in the room and Jenna told her that she felt like the catheter had slid out of place. Much to her surprise and shock, the nurse said is was Dahlia's bag of water and the babies needed to be delivered right away.

There was much screaming and shouting in Jenna's room as nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, techs, and anesthesia were all scrambling to get to the OR. They were trying to calm Jenna down as she was hysterical and extremely scared. They wanted to move fast so the bag of waters wouldn't brake. Since it was such an emergency, they wouldn't let me go into the OR. I felt sick, scared, excited, and calm all at the same time......very euphoric!

So as the delivery took place I was in the hallway and nurses would occasionally stick their heads out to let me know how things were going. After about 30 mins, they began to cart the babies to the NICU. I was able to see Dahlia and Parker but they took Madelyn and Preston to the NICU via the backdoor and I was unable to see them right away. As of this time, all the babies had good vitals, good body color, and two of them even tried to breathe on their own---very huge for such a young age. After another 30 minutes or so, they brought Jenna out of the OR and into recovery. She was good, just scared still. I was able to stay with her for an hour before the babies were stable enough for me to go see them and take pictures. After another 4 hours Jenna was feeling well enough to go down to the NICU and see the babies too! We have pictures but no USB cable to upload them so I will try to get home tonight and get the cable so you all can see our gorgeous little blessings. We are so very much in love and cannot wait for Eva to meet you brothers and sisters. We love them all so much individually. It makes us love Eva even more knowing that these babies chose to come to not only us, but also to her. Thank you to all of our family and friends for your concern, thoughts, prayers, and calls.

Here are the specs for each of the babies:

Dahlia-1lb 11oz, 12 in
Preston-1lb 12oz, 13 in
Parker- 1lb 10oz, 12.5in
Madelyn- 1lb 9oz, 11in

As of the time of this post, they are all breathing room air with the assistance of ventilators. The boys are taking meds to help control their blood pressure but they say that is to be expected for a 25 week baby. The next 4-5 days are huge and will give us a better idea of the real expectations for each of them.

Thank you again for your prayers on our behalf.