To My Four Boys Turning 6 {Your Birth Story Part 3}

On December 29th, we reached the incredible milestone of 28 weeks. Aside from complications due to the risk of a cord accident with Brooks or Clark (the mono-amniotic twins), your probability of survival rose significantly. We were elated, yet with the celebration came the packing of bags to move into the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy. 

It was extremely difficult to leave our home behind not knowing what to expect or how long this pregnancy could continue. However, it was quite a relief for Daddy to have me under the roof of the hospital and in the hands of great medical care, especially while he worked just minutes down the road from my new home at St. Vincent Women’s.

quadruplet pregnancy week 28 hospitalization

Daddy printed off a huge calendar to help us count down each milestone, your BPP stats, and to keep track of visitors who stopped by to encourage us. This picture was taken the night we checked into the hospital. 

contraction monitoring report high-risk pregnancy multiples

Daddy and I tried to make the best of our last few weeks as just the two of us.  I read some books to pass the time, took naps occasionally, took my painful but always anticipated daily shower, listened to you all kicking the sensors during monitoring sessions, and visited with some of my favorite nurses/techs/residents/cleaning staff while daddy was at work.  When he came “home” we would eat together and sometimes play a game or watch a movie until my nightly monitoring. 

Did you know your Daddy slept on a deflated air mattress on the hard cold hospital floor every night? He didn’t leave my side even for one night.

quadruplet pregnancy week 30

Every week we continued to celebrate that I was STILL pregnant and growing, and that we had another week with all four of you. To take our minds off the seriousness of the situation, we were able to cheer on the Colts as they progressed in the playoffs.  The residents even had fun marking my belly with horseshoes for each position of where you were laying inside me.

writing cards of encouragement for pregnant mothers 

The days got longer and more painful with every move.  {No more smiling pictures. I’ll show you the ugly ones later.} Your poor daddy was so worried for us all, and it hurt him to see me suffer. It took a group effort just to roll me over on my other side without tearing my round ligament.

I couldn’t imagine getting through this without the encouragement we had from friends and family, and knowing that God was sovereign over all of our lives.  There wasn’t a hiccup, a contraction, or a movement beyond His control. People were praying for you all across the country.

pregnancy prayer journal

On Sunday, January 28th, we were celebrating the 31st week of pregnancy – further than I imagined my 5’2 frame ever making it. Dr. Sumner’s granted me 2 hours out of the hospital to celebrate, and gain back a little of my sanity that I had been missing from living inside the walls of my hospital room for over 3 weeks. {I was much brighter back then, before I gave you my best brain cells.}

Would you believe I inhaled 8 blueberry pancakes that day at The Original Pancake House?  {Never mind that I had to sit diagonally to fit in the booth.} And after seeing we had a few minutes to spare, I asked your daddy if he would get me a smoothie from Smoothie King to wash it down.

   quadruplet pregnancy week 31

Little did I know that I was packing away those calories for you and your upcoming grand exit…

{Continue to Part 4}…