Word of the day - Diastolic...by Lew

Alrighty then kids, as the title indicates, the word of the day, well might as well make it word of the time until The Quads are born is 'Diastolic'. WTF is that, right? In a previous blog I mentioned something about normal, warning, and abnormal results from the Dopplers Tonya is getting once a week. Well, I have since went to Dr school so I can talk more sense to ya'll. I got taken to school on the association of labor and water breaking so now I am going to take you all to school.

The Dopplers are completed to monitor diastolic blood flow in the arteries of the umbilical cords of The Quads. There are 2 arteries and 1 vein in a normal umbilical cord. We are extremely fortunate to have 4 normal umbilical cords. The vein supplies the baby with oxygen rich blood from the placenta and the arteries return oxygen depleted blood (high in CO2) to the placenta. The Dopplers are monitoring the flow/pulse of oxygen depleted blood in one of the arteries. Diastolic is the relaxation of the heart, or the lowest pressure of a heart beat. Systolic is the contraction of the heart, or the highest pressure of the heart beat. For example, normal blood pressure for an adult is 120/80, or 120 over 80 - systolic pressure being 120 and diastolic being 80 - got it? We want the pulse to look like a shark fin (very doctor-like technical term) when viewed on a chart. The shark fin is kind of shaped like a 60-30-90 triangle, if you can visualize that - starting from the base, go up 60 degrees and then go down 30 degrees - make sense? We have to see this and this is essential to a growing baby. If the downside fo the triangle meets and parallels the base, we are on serious warning, referred to as restricted flow. If the downside of the triangle goes below the base, there is a problem, referred to as Reverse Diastolic Flow. That problem is not returning oxygen depleted blood that is rich in CO2 to the placenta, which WILL result in death. There are numbers associated with diastolic flow as well. The numbers are representative of the length or ratio of blood flow at peak systolic flow and lowest diastolic flow, measured in centimeters or provided as a ratio. Anyway, the problem for us is the numbers are geared for a single baby that is at least 30 weeks. So, those numbers don't really tell us a lot, but they can be used to monitor stability/instability. Increasing numbers cause for concern - which makes sense - but the main thing is good diastolic flow and not reversed diastolic flow. One variable to consider is it is a wee bit crowded in there so getting accurate Dopplers is a bit more difficult. That seems to be a general statement presented to us at each of the Dopplers we've had so far.

So, we had an appointment on Monday....and all babies are displaying good diastolic flow! Insert huge ass sigh here. Baby A, C, and D were in the 3 range. Baby B had an average in the 5 range, with one reading in the high 3s. Numbers in the 6 to 7 range are cause for concern. Yes, it was again stated that it is difficult to get representative numbers considering the crowd in there. But, Baby B also happens to be the smaller of the babies, though only by a couple few ounces (again, that crowded thing), and the diastolic numbers for Baby B went up a bit from last week.

We have not had any concerns conveyed to us with regard to Baby B.

I seem to have a growing concern for Baby B. Not that Baby B has any problems, but that Baby B might need to come out sooner than 32 weeks, which obviously means they all come out. This is only a concern of mine at this point, but I do believe Dr. J forecasted this 2 weeks ago...

Please give a shout of encouragement out for Baby B - we need those babies in there for another month.

p.s. - take the doctor talk above for what it's worth - some dude looking up words on the internet...


Love,
Lew

27 Weeks 0 days by Lew

Okay, so this is where we stand as of July 2, 2008:

27 weeks 0 days and calm seas! Well, occassional, maybe sometimes more than occassional, contractions, but calm seas nonetheless.

Man, crazy to think we only have 5 weeks left to reach our goal!

La Strongela Cervixia Senorita (Polish for The Lady with Strong Cervix), continues to amaze all!

Dr. M thinks labor or water breaking (are those the same?) could come before 32 weeks, but if it/they don't, 32 weeks looks rather realistic! Heck, Dr. M told Tonya to keep pushing Dr. J to let her go to 34 weeks! Tonya had an appointment with Dr. M yesterday and she said it went great! She came back to the Lew Manor all excited and then went to prenatal yoga.

What did the Men of the Manor do while Pocacervix was being a yogi? What else, went and watched Kung Fu Panda! Good movie, Aiden loved it, Cale could have cared less. I couldn't help but think how crazy it will be with 8 of us...Best part of the movie was walking back to our car and eating popcorn out of the bag and spilling it all over the parking lot and watching the seagulls swoop down like vultures to eat it then speeding around the parking lot in the Mazda M-6 rental trying to run over seagulls...can't wait to do that with some huge ass van with flames on the hood!

So, does everyone out there in the blogosphere think we can get to 32 weeks? How about bets on baby gender, weights, etc? If I really had the time to learn it, I would love to have a poll on this thing...

I will be heading home to B-town this weekend to teach the Old Man how to trailer a boat and captain a boat. Most of you are probably thinking that is like the blind leading the blind? I know, the Polish lad teaching Old Man Pol - scary to say the least.

But, I will be bringing the baby name list back to the manor and we will plan on selecting our final list of names probably next week...

We wish all of you a safe and enjoyable 4th of July weekend. Your thoughts and prayers continue to be an instrumental part of our lives.

If anyone out there has a secret potient to instantaneously enable The Quads to gain like half a pound - Do It!

Peace Out,
Lew

Not Yet.......by Lew

So, here's the dealio, ya'll are likely to see a substantial drop in the blogability of Tonya, herein after referred to as Queen Quad Carrier with Steel Cervix! We are staying at what was once part of a Lewnie bin. Though it is now considered a Hospitality House, there is a good chance our boys could make some folks here revert to the old days? Honestly, the Big Man has a path for us. I think this is the Big Man's way of having a good joke on us...as in we may be here one day as a result of our kids? But of all people, he knows how blessed he made us.

So yeah, not being at home and all, expect a lot of me updating everyone on everything and what not. If you have any beefs, let me know - like be more specific, talk more like Dr. Queen Quad Carrier with Steel Cervix, post some belly pics (of Tonya obviously....), etc., etc. I'll do my best to provide all the insight I can, just in like 20 less pages than what she does...

To be short and sweet - Quads no come this week. DOPPLER results were as expected - good to go! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

Queen Quad Carrier with Steel Cervix measuring on or around 3.57 cm. What does that mean - cervix ain't moved and ain't gonna move! Some may ask what does than mean? I don't know, but the lower the measurement gets, referred to as "dropping", I think, means like you might break your water or go into labor soon? Now, we just need to keep 'dem 'der Quads growing and pumping the juice the way it's supposed to pump!

We got a tour of the NICU - that's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for you rookies. Dr. St. Charles - yeah, he rocks! Dr. St. Charles is the Dr. that will say like give Baby A so much of this, give Baby B so much of that and so on and so forth. Right, not much weight on his shoulders....It was a great tour and we came away with such a sense of relief. Dr. St. Charles was so confident, reassuring, and complimentary of the facilities, staff, and everything else that Munson has to offer. They will be ready for us....but I'm gonna have to ask everyone out there to pray that we're not ready for them for another 5ish weeks!!!!

Also, if you could pray that Aiden and Caleb don't get us kicked out of the Munson Manor...that would be nice.

Be thankful for today,
Lew

Stolen Thunder...

Yes... I know that Jeremy has filled you all in on our doc app'ts this week with Dr. J. And so, the funny part (to me) is that you probably think I don't have much to say.

Obviously, you would be wrong - HA! WHEN do I not have much to say??

You know this much by now.

Yes, it's been one heck of a crazy week. A week full of appointments and a week full of things HAPPENING - which is a good thing since we now have the boat (thanks dad Lew!)and housing in TC checked off our "list"!!!

But I do want to back up a little bit because, as important as this week was for our family we also had some amazing friends here in Hawk's Eye throw us a baby shower upon our return from Traverse last weekend... I know we have mentioned how fantastic our little golf community is in the past - and this just adds to our long list of reasons why we love to live here: the people. Granted, most of these friends of ours who own homes in Hawk's Eye only show up during the summer months - but that's OK. We love them anyhow (and hope that someday we too will have this luxury - hee, hee)!! And they all managed to get a weekend together that they were ALL in town (and I literally mean nearly ALL of our "neighbors" - it was amazing!) and spent time planning out a shower for us.

Yes, we resisted... adamantly, as you have guessed by now. But in the end they wouldn't take NO for an answer,..that AND we found out it was going to be hosted at Mary & Ernie's house... umm... only waited to see the inside of their gorgeous palace for YEARS!! So - that didn't hurt the cause - ha! Just kidding...

Here's a pic of Mary (left) who opened up her fantastic home to us all and Anne (right) who was the organizer of the entire event... thanks to you both!!!

It was almost a bittersweet ending for Jeremy and I... spending time with all the friends we have loved running into on the golf course, walking, at the pool, at social events (wonder who was on THAT committee?? hmmmm...)... yet knowing that it may very well be the last time we would see many of them for a long time to come. The generosity of them all, just to BE at our shower, was very moving for us.

Thank you, Hawk's Eye. We will miss you all dearly.

And then, thus began our whirlwind week of making the trek to Traverse City for ultrasounds and doctor's appointments, as well as the all-out crazy serious search for some place to call home in TC - IMMEDIATELY. My mom was still up north until after our ultrasound on Monday and I knew (because she might have been gently (cough, cough) reminding me every 30 seconds - with my dad on the phone doing the same) that if I didn't go balls out to find somewhere to go by the end of the week, my parents were NOT going to take our "no" seriously and they would have done something insane like just rent us a house (thanks as well to the little local connection birdy in their ear helping their cause, Ms. Heidi Schramski).

The babies all looked GREAT at our ultrasound on Monday - the coolest news?? That little baby "A" is NO LONGER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL!!! Yeah baby!! You GO! Somehow, some way, that little baby (notice, no gender assignment - I DO NOT KNOW!!!) has managed to turn itself from transverse (essentially laying down across my lower belly) getting jumped on by all its siblings to UPRIGHT (breech, head up) over the past week!! Yes, as you will see in my next belly pic this does seem an IMPOSSIBLE feat at this cramped stage of the game - but that baby is a fighter!!! So, this was a huge victory for baby "A" - as well as mommy and daddy who have been so concerned about him/her being trampled on!

Speaking of belly pics, I still haven't posted last week!! I know - stop the freaking press, right? But before I do so, I have to share some pics that my sister-in-law Kristy (Jeremy's youngest sis) sent me... a couple are from Mother's Day weekend when Jessica (Jeremy's other sister who just became a mommy to baby Avery!!) and I were still prego together... ahhh... I've come a long way baby... and so has Jess - OBVIOUSLY.

I'm pretty sure at the time that my belly really wasn't THAT much smaller than Jessica's - and if I'm doing the math anywhere NEAR close (don't hold breath here - the most advanced math I do is counting to 20 these days) I was like 20 weeks and she was around 32 weeks. THIRTY TWO WEEKS AND LOOK AT HER!!! She was freaking adorable, eh? But cute memories to have... so sad that it's (most likely) my last pregnancy to share with anyone... including myself... I just LOVE being pregnant... I really do. I am taking in every blessed second of this quad pregnancy and constantly reminded that it will be so short... it's so sad for me because I just love this selfish, close bond we mother's get to form with our babies during this special time in life... again, as I've mentioned, we are the lucky ones, ladies... we are truly the lucky ones to experience this magnificent miracle within us.

Great - there I go again - and now I'm all teary eyed... what a sap.

And the hardest part of looking at those pictures is knowing that I still have not met our new little niece, Avery... it is heart breaking! She is growing and changing so fast - as they all do at that stage of life - and I can barely stomach the fact that we are missing it all... WE LOVE YOU AVERY!! Here are some more recent shots of her that mama Jessica sent!!! (I know, the size and quality aren't great but it's the best I could do copying from Snapfish...)!!

Belly pics.......belly pics.......belly pics.........

26 weeks:

Like I said, how on EARTH baby "A" was able to flip in there is still beyond me... and we are constantly amazed that babies "B", "C", and "D" still find their way from head up to head down from week to week - ISN'T IT A BIT TIGHT IN THERE KIDS!?!?! We must have some contortionists on our hands... just what we need in this family to complete our zoo =)

So the ultrasound was all very positive and quite the family affair with myself, Jeremy, our boys, and my mom all there! YAHOO!! Then afterwards my mom took the boys to the park while I stuck around to do all the paperwork to get us ready for delivery (on paper, mind you... on paper). It's interesting when you get to fill out FOUR of everything... takes a bit longer, just in case you wondered. It was so cute to see all four of their little teeny wrist bands though - already made out with baby "A", "B", "C", & "D"!! We have kept those wrist bands for all of our children's births and always been amazed a year or two down the road at how teeny, tiny they were at birth. Something tells me that we haven't seen anything yet, folks. but that Dr. J keeps telling us that the weight doesn't matter NEARLY as much as their gestational age and so we simply keep praying for HEALTHY.

And now, onto our follow up appointment with Dr. Jelsema on Wednesday.

Yes, as Jeremy mentioned, there was some shocking discussions, as well as it being a HIGHLY informative meeting with Dr. J. He is so good at painting a very clear picture of everything that is going on - and he literally draws pictures to illustrate - which is great. And, possibly one of the best parts of his demeanor, is his constant calm... he does not seem to over-react easily and is extrememly even-keel which is so critical during intense discussions like the one we had with him on Wednesday. (and he managed to do so through our children being confned in the closet-sized room with us and his nurse... right at lunch time... you get the picture)

And one of the great, great things about our appointment was Dr. Jelsema's repeated comments to us that we "have a lot of great things going on here. I want you to focus on all the positive things." Numero uno? OUR BABIES STILL LOOK VERY HEALTHY!! None of them is showing any signs of distress, nor any abnormalities, and they are all approximately the same size which is so telling at this stage of development. WE ARE SO BLESSED - thank you all for we know it your continued prayers which have helped our little ones make it to this stage. I can't even remember how many times Dr. Jelsema said to us "Remember those charts I gave you at our first appointment? Well, you have MADE IT to 26 weeks!! That in itself is phenominal!" That is right, my man. Our cups over-floweth.

Another big POSTIVE for our family is the fact that I am still NOT on bedrest - at almost 27 weeks pregnant with quads!! WHAT?!?!?! The fact that my cervix is STILL holding up (do I feel as if I have neglected that puppy in the past or what? I have a whole new respect for my iron cervix these days!) and I am extremely healthy is just unbelievable to everyone - us included.

The main concerns, again, at this far along is the health of each babies placenta and the blood flow between the babies and their placentas. They need to keep growing in there, and they need their placentas to do it... and Dr. Jelsema talked quite a bit about how the babies are small. But AGAIN, they are small for a "singleton" - apparently there is no official gauge for quads and so it's hard to decipher the information completely. BUT, yes, smaller babies could mean that they are starting to have problems receiving nutrients from their placentas. And thus, the monitoring of our babies umbilical cord blood flow that Jeremy discussed now begins bi-weekly.

But, for those of you who don't remember or didn't know, we have small babies. Is it genetics (as we've discussed) or just the way God intended? Either way I would like to share with you how our pregnancy with Caleb ended... at just prior to 38 weeks I went in for my routine ultrasound and upon measuring Caleb they discovered that he was still measuring small for his gestational age. They had been tracking it all along, and he had gradually begun to fall further and further down the growth chart. And at this appointment he had fallen below that critical benchmark of the 10th or 15th percentile on the "curve". Therefore, for safety's sake, I was told that we would be having him within the next 48 hours. They were concerned that his placenta might have been failing and therefore causing him to fall further and further down the growth curve. And we are grateful for their pro-active approach (as much as I might not have seemed like it at the time...) because we have since learned a LOT more about the repurcussions of NOT acting quickly if there is concern that the placenta is failing... the baby can not survive. And it can happen so FAST - so you must react FAST. In the end, our little Caleb was born at 38 weeks and exactly 6 pounds - and his placenta was found to be perfectly healthy. Again, we are most grateful that Dr. Madion chose the safe route since he had concerns about Caleb's placenta... no, I can NOT imagine the horror of the latter.

'We do not mean to come off as all-knowing or overly-confident in discussing Dr. Jelsema's comments about our babies being small and the possibility that it may be due to the placentas... we really don't. We are in a whole different ball game here, folks, on a whole different playing field which we know nothing about because it is about as complex and mind-boggling as they come. BUT, we also believe in the power of optimism and really do feel dep down in our hearts that these babies are measuring a little small because that is the way God's master plan lays out the size of our babies. And we trust in Him. Therefore, yes, we still believe 110% that we WILL make it to 32 weeks, and that our babies placentas will hold up every step of the way, and our babies will continue to grow and thrive inside of me until that very day the doctor's choose to take them out to join us.

But, we are also EXTREMELY grateful to have Dr. Jelsema, Dr. Madion and their medical teams on our side should an emergency present itself. We are ready and willing to move our family to the Munson Manor in 2 days to be steps from the hospital to ENSURE that we are as accessible as possible for our team of doctor's and nurse's who have supported us and seen us through this most incredible journey...

We will do our best to keep in touch as we move to our new "home away from home" in Traverse City... who know? Maybe they'll have high speed (ALLELUAH!!!) and we'll blog even MORE!! Lucky, lucky...

In closing I'd just like to give a big shout out THANK YOU to dad Lew for buying our Bayliner, he claims he wants to "keep it in the family" and we LOVE him for it!! There sure are a lot of memories floating around that boat... we'll be glad to smile each time we get to see her again and relive the glory days =)

God Bless, we love you all and pray that we are able to continue our quadruplet pregnancy journey with you for another 5 weeks!!!

The Final Piece to the Puzzle? by Lew

The Puzzle got thrown in the friggin' garbage!

It was taking too damn long!

Tonya is the Queen of Quad moms!

The Quads are fighting hard to grow!

Aiden and Caleb are as out of control as ever and we just love it!

Hank's buying The Babeliner - keeping it Polish baby!

I gotta great job in TC!

We're moving into a manor!

We got people pulling for us, sending us vats of diapers and what not!

Thanks to some trucker dude that looked like Charlie Manson that made minced meat out of The Vibe, I have a good excuse to go to the dealership and wheel and deal for a big ass van with flames on the hood!

We are ready for this rollercoaster ride to start!

Best part about this rollercoaster - no lines, no height restrictions, you can bring booze and beer on it, and all are welcome at any time!

Looking forward to sharing our new life with ya'll!

Thank you for everything, you are all really good people that have opened our eyes to a lot of things.

Peace out,
Lew

We're Moving? by Lew

Howdy everyone, been awhile since you've heard from me - glad to be back in bloggerspace!

Bedrest is not coming! Bedrest is not coming! Unbelieveable. That girl is amazing, truly amazing!

So yeah, we are moving to The Lewandowski Manor at Munson. Okay, so it's really the Munson Manor, but the latter is way cooler. Basically a hotel on the hospital property that is tailored for people and families in situations similar, in some ways, to ours. More than anything, we are fortunate for people like those that work at and donate time at a place like the Munson Manor and we apologize in advance for any chaos we may create!

The main thing is we will be right next to the hospital and that will bring peace of mind to the chick with the four chitlins in her belly, and me too!

On another note, if someone that wants a beautiful house on a beautiful golf course in Bellaire, Michigan would step forward with an offer, please do so now...

Also, our deepest thanks to our friends that did soooo much to help us try to get closer to TC. In the end, the Lewandowsk Manor at Munson is what's best for us.

So, Dr. J thinks 2 weeks...2 weeks as in Tonya will give birth to The Quads in 2 weeks!

HOLY SHAT!

But, he said "prove me wrong." And we will, believe me, we will. We have too many people pulling for us, and we have prayed too hard, and we have tried and tried and tried to do what we think we should do not to make it to 32 weeks. We will make it to 32 weeks and those quads will be just fine.

Before I get into it, I just want it to be known that we love Dr. J. The reasons are many, and we still love him despite his thoughts below...but he is doing his job. And he would have been doing a bad job if he would not have informed us like he did.

Dr. J based his conclusion on the fact that our babies are weighing just under 1.5 pounds at around 26 weeks - Baby A is 1 lb 5 oz and the rest are 1 lb 7 oz - which plots around 24 weeks on the growth chart. Also, Dr. J is kind of good at what he does, well like really good. When following The Quads weights on the growth chart, they are starting to fall off the curve a bit, as in around the 10th percentile. This is expected for quads, from information we have reviewed, to start around 20ish weeks. Our quads didn't really start falling back until like 22ish weeks. The thing is, the growth charts are for single babies. They don't have any growth charts for quads. Regardless, Dr. J feels The Quads are on the smaller side. We don't really agree - Tonya has smaller babies and she was a small baby (5 and a bit of change). Regardless, the point is when one or more of the babies starts to fall off the curve, that is generally indicative of stress on the baby(ies) that are falling off the curve - stress meaning the potential or liklihood of a failing placenta. This stress can be followed via DOPPLER (yeah modern medicine) of the umbilical cord to each baby. The DOPPLER will monitor the pulse in the umbilical cord and will provide data that the Dr's and us (yeah, Dr. J drew schematics so we know what to look for when the ultrasound techs tell us they can't tell us anything) can look at and determine what gives. So, there is a normal pulse, a "warning" pulse (forgot the technical term Dr. J used), and an abnormal pulse, referred to as reverse flow. If the warning pulse arises, Tonya gets DOPPLERS twice per week. If reverse flow is evident, they come out. Why do they come out? Because if the baby or babies that show reverse flow don't come out, they die within 7 days. If reverse flow is realized, Tonya will get a shot of 'roids that day and The Quads will be take within a day or two. And that's that - there are no other options to us.

So, on Monday, the DOPPLERS for each baby were normal. Dr. J anticipates reverse flow in one or more of The Quads within 2 weeks. We say no way. Absolutely now way. We have Meadow in our corner, and she's one tough little angel...\

I feel that Dr. J informed us as he did not only to because he had too, but because he knows we are the type of people that accept challenges and thrive on the challenge at hand and enjoy proving others wrong...

So, know that I have stolen most of Tonya's blogoriousness for this week, I shall finish with the following:

The first time I heard Tonya say that Dr. Madion calls Dr. Jelsema Dr. J, I had some serious flashbacks. I was 3, maybe 4 years old, and my Dad painted, in stencil, "Dr. J" in the middle of the backboard of my basketball hoop. Dr. J as in Julius Erving my friends, one of my childhood heros. Right, bringing the thunder on a hoop that was like 3 feet off the ground and nailed to our wood fence! Bring it! Now, some 30ish years later, my family and I have been challenged by Dr. J. We will win this game, we will win 32 to 28...

God Bless and get busy living, you only get one shot at life -
Lew

One last thing, I had The Vibe parked in front of the AT&T place in Traverse City today and while I was inside waiting I was able to watch an 18 wheeler run the back half of The Vibe over...neat.

The Plan meets The Puzzle

Sorry it's been so long since I've written, but you'll find out why as you read on.




Here's a little pic of us out at the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse with the boys... yeah... that's right... I think we are ADORABLE TOO!!! =)


And, just to clear the air, I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SO EVER AS TO THE SEX OF OUR BABIES!!! Jeremy decided that he wanted to find out and I still have zero need/want/desire to know - so he is SWORN TO SECRECY!!! (Trust me, grammie already got out the checkbook wondering how much moola' it would take to get it out of him - ha!) I am not thrilled that he knows, but if it meant that much to him of course I support him finding out ONLY under the condition that he doesn't breathe a WORD of it to anyone!!

So let's get back to this Plan vs. Puzzle stuff that Jeremy laid the foundation for waaaay back when. We set out with the pieces to our Puzzle scattered all over, but with a Plan on how we were going to attempt to put them together. We knew at the time it was a pretty big long shot that the two would ever match up 100%... but no matter what we ALWAYS had, and still have, faith that it will work out and our family will be fine.

Over the course of the last 10-12 weeks we have had MANY concerned family members and friends ask us repeatedly "But what are you going to do if THIS doesn't happen?" And our response has pretty much always sounded something like this: "We honestly don't see where it does us or our family any good to worry incessantly about things in the future that are out of our control. We will take one day at a time and worry about those things if/when they happen. We want to focus all our energy on making healthy babies right now, and anything down the road will be what it will be and we will cross those bridges when we come to them."

So now, after having stated this to those around us for so long... we are now in the process of eating our own words...


Because, well, the time is NOW.


The time is HERE to ACT on some of those very things that everyone wondered about how we would handle them if Puzzle and Plan didn't exactly coincide within the time frame we hoped for.

We need to get a Revised Plan in place and we need move as expeditiously as possible upon that Plan to ensure the safety of our family and our babies on the way.... So, what are those pieces that didn't exactly match up as of yet? Well, there are a couple of smaller things that still aren't detrimental to the Puzzle at this point, things such as: selling the boat, finding a big a*s van (the cheaper the better?) and selling the Sorento, as well as a couple other more personal things. The biggie? Most of you know by now that the BIG DOG is the house issue - selling our home in Hawk's Eye and relocating to a new home in Traverse City. Looking back we had always kinda' referenced our standard "joke" that we can't exactly be moving when we are 26 weeks pregnant with quads!!


Ha, ha?


Not NEARLY so funny anymore, folks... I'll tell you that much. We are now 26-1/2 weeks (yes, that half COUNTS - trust me!) and, yeah, the house is definitely NOT sold. We KNOW it's not a great market and that this is a HUGE, HUGE thing to hope for in the midst of everything else we have going on... but the truth is that it's just not feasible for us to live here in Bellaire anymore. We are over an hour away from the hospital in Traverse City and I am home alone with our two young HIGH ENERGY boys. I know we have been EXTREMELY blessed that I have been able to keep up with them (more or less) since I've been home full time and that I am NOT on bedrest (miracle #146!!). But, now that we are in the "critical zone" for our quads, we know how much higher our risks are everyday that something catastrophic could happen... and we do not want to think about how we would begin to live with ourselves knowing that if we would've moved our family closer to the hospital in the event of something happening we would've had the chance to make things OK again... I know I don't need to elaborate on this, so I won't, for my benefit more than anyone else's.


So, two weekends ago Jeremy and I decided that we would give ourselves until NO LATER than week 27-28 to get our family over to Traverse City. One way or another, we just have to be there. My docs wanted me there a LONG time ago to ensure a closer proximity to the hospital (many quad families actually relocate HOURS across their state or even across the COUNTRY to be closer to the hospital their doctor's recommend (or of choice) much earlier in their pregnancies... we have really been pushing it). And since we still have a mortgage to pay in Hawk's Eye... you all get the picture.

Over the past couple weeks we have had many options cross our paths; Jen Wickstrom, Heidi Schramski, and my parents are my "moving pushers" - and they are darned good at what they do (bless those around them)!! Jen had several ideas she was working on for us... a fifth wheel/camper, a cottage near Fife Lake (THANK YOU Joanna!), apartments, etc... but unfortunately none of them have really panned out at this point. It's NOT an easy thing we are trying to accomplish and we have ZERO expectations about our amazing friends finding US housing in Traverse!! And if we could wave a magic wand and make it all work out - trust me - we would. Obviously for the sake of our family, but also so that we could STOP BEING SUCH A STINKING BURDEN TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!



And then my parents. (Here's a pic of my omm and I canoeing with the boys last week on the bay - fun!) They have not stopped asking what our "back up plan" is since... well.. I can't even remember when they started asking that question of us in the event that our house didn't sell. I blew them off with our standard response as well (see above) - at least I'm consistent, eh? So now they approach us with this new plan of theirs: to RENT US A HOUSE in Traverse City. And, like most parents, they were TELLING us and not so much ASKING US because I am still their daughter and they have this God-given right in life. I have now discovered that it is well earned through the years and I do the exact same thing too. Anyhow, (cough) PRIDE (cough) = response = "NO WAY. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS." I mean, really... give me a break. We will be fine and we certainly haven't exhausted all of our options at this point... camping, apartments, etc. Our "cup is half full" optimistic mentality just kind of put our blinders on and so we are just NOW getting to this point of seeing what exactly IS out there. But this is too much - it essentially a second mortgage for anyone - um - NO. THANK YOU, but NO.


And so in walks (or calls) my girlfriend Heidi Schramski. She calls up the day after Jeremy and I talk and get all set in our minds that we are totally game for camping or something to just GET us to T.C.. Here are her words "Hi, Tonya? I have a plan for you guys. And before you tell me no you have to hear me out." Which, of course I didn't... but you'll see why in a minute. She had called to offer us the cottage that her and her sister's manage for her dad... ON west bay... for FREE... for a week. Oh, and we "are staying at" her house in the meantime.


WHAT?


Did I mention that Heidi, her hubby Jim, have a daughter Hannah, a son Ben, and a BRAND NEW baby, Clark, born 6 weeks ago? Right. They aren't busy or anything so SURELY they should be worrying about us in the first place!! I'll tell you... she's amazing. But persistent (again, cough, cough). So, in the end I totally gave in and we ended up crashing the Schramski pad for a night and then heading to their cottage for the rest of the week last week. IT WAS AMAZING. And it felt really good to be IN Traverse City close to our doctor's appointments and have Jeremy right around the corner if something were to happen.


(Here's Heidi and I (guess who's who... riiiiight) with the boys in the canoe at the cottage last week - and then the boys with Heidi's oldest boy ben (2) eating popsicles behind the cottage)



And it was good for us to see that it WILL be a very good life for us in Traverse, we have lamented quite a bit about how hard it is going to be for us to leave Hawk's Eye in Bellaire, and it WILL be... but now we can see that we have a great circle of friends and their are some great kid-friendly neighborhoods that we will have the opportunity to raise our family in Traverse City. We were also able to spend a bit of time with Jeremy's aunt and uncle (Buddy and Suzy - we love you!!!) while we were over - they live on West Bay too and are two of the most kind-hearted, sincere people we know. And, FAMILY nearby?? YEAH!!!



Grammie (my mom) came up the end of the week to be with us as well which was great help for me... I am getting more tired now, as much as I'm not on bedrest and am SO grateful for it!!! My poor husband has seen that I morph into a zombie at night about 75% of the time now after being on the move all day with Aiden & Caleb. It's crazy and I can't stand that exhausted feeling, but I'm counting my blessings!!! And we were also able to see our friends Tonia & Scott Nemecek up on a ROMANTIC getaway for the weekend in Traverse City. They insisted that we meet up for dinner one night even though I tried to TELL them that they should just lock themselves away in a love cavern for the weekend and not have any contact with the outside world!! But who listens to little (OK, big.) mama T? Right. Join the crowd of nobody.


We still ask that you please continue to pray that our babies remain healthy and growing strong inside me until that 32 week mark. And if you have a spare prayer that our house sells SOON, we appreciate that as well =) We thank you all so much for being here for us.