This Big Huge Thank You goes out to those people that have come to tolerate our family's presence at the Munson Manor. The people that work and volunteer at the Munson Manor are amazing people. In fact, our boys are really starting to take to life at The Manor. Brian is the Head Honcho at The Manor. He is wonderful as are all of the others that spend time here bringing comfort to others through their trying times.
These people are inspiring and being here has really made our family more thankful for every day.
Also, the people we have met here are all very nice and are enjoyable to talk to. Even the old ladies I made mention of in previous blogs. In fact, they were very entertaining.
Outty,
Lew
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Ultimate Date and the Ultimate Donation by Lew
August 7, 2008 - that's the day! Yeah, that's a Thursday, not a Tuesday (inside joke there for some of ya'll, just gave myself a good chuckle, thanks Stops).
Aiden and Caleb will be the greeters at the door of the hospital. Yeah, they'll be the ones with the cowboy guns and pirate swords. If you come with your face painted and a red nose that honks - you get in free! Popcorn will be available in the NICU.
My prediction from last week for July 22 was stomped on by Baby B! I love it!
Tonya met with Dr M yesterday - I had to stay with the napping boys back at da' mana'. Anyway, Dr M said we were a topic of conversation at a conference last week. Cool, I guess? When I say we, I mean Tonya. Why? Cause she's the freak of nature. Awesome! Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous blog - Dr J is done with us! Done as in Tonya is doing so good she doesn't need me anymore done!
For those that are sick of reading my picture-less dialog, Tonya is going bonkers not being able to post belly picks and blog and what not. The computer at The Manor doesn't support this blog thing too well. I think she is planning on heading over to the library, or as Aiden would say - libary, this weekend. In the mean time, if you could imagine eating a watermelon in one gulp, that is what she looks like. She's still cute though, and it is ALL belly...
So, funny story about the manor. Again, we are so thankful for this place, but this one is good. So I'm sitting on the couch reading porn (I wish, it was Good Housekeeping - notta queer, limited material) and these two very old ladies get off the elevator. The one proceeds to read every room number as they walk down the hall, throwing in a gosh dang or two along the way to their room that happened to be at the opposite end of the hall, where I was seated. Mind you this is about a 30ish yard walk. So they get near me and the one is bitching about how she can't believe they are on the second floor and their room is ALL the way at the other end of the hall and how she can't believe they don't have any other rooms, let alone a room on the first floor. Yeah, they were out of breath - I found out why later. So, we are eating dinner later in the evening. Tonya is at the one end of the kitchen chatting with a different old lady that asked when the baby was due. Tonya, being the quiet one she is, blurts out "the baby? there's 4 in there!" This as THE old lady happens to walk by and looks at the other lady and mumbles something like "yeah 4" and walks away. THE old lady is fit for a part in Grumpy Old Men - had that Gustafson personality and tone. So Tonya chats with the other old lady and comes back to the table and I ask if THE old lady something rude. She said no, I chatted with her and her posse the other night. The posse had all sorts of miscarriage and horror stories to enlighten Tonya with...nice. And that was that. So later I have the boys outside and THE old lady comes out with her cohort and they proceed to light up some smokes. (FYI - there is a smoking section on the porch of the manor - their pitch for putting butts in the right place is a picture of a squirrel smoking. Yeah, great for Aiden and Cale to pick up on that). Dudes, these broads are like 80! Bitching about how it hurts, coughing and what not - like they're hitting the reefer! So we get the kids away and I had to tell Tonya about the old ladies upstairs walking for miles to their room all out of breath and what not - yeah, cause they eat freakin' cigarette butts for desert! Anyway, it was at this point that Tonya tells me the story about THE old lady from the other day. She was in the kitchen that happened to be rather crowded - and of course being the quiet one, Tonya told people of our deal. And THE old lady blurts out like as loud as Tonya is - "Did you get that artificial insemination or something?
Priceless!
So what did I learn? I learned that artificial insemination is off the hook for quads man!
So I had a huge addition to this blog, probably would have rivaled for my longest composition to date, and I deleted it. You should be able to figure out why below.
Take this however you want, for what it's worth, look at it from multiple sides, between the lines, etc. I donated $20 to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research yesterday. It made me feel good. Now I know how you all feel.
We are going to be fine. Now that we know, at least as far as all involved can tell, we will be giving birth to healthy babies and Tonya is doing great. Sure, there could be some issues, but they will be loved to the max no matter what. Even if something goes completely wrong, we will be okay. We have help and we have each other. There are people in this world that won't be okay, that don't have someone to care for them, that have a medical issue that there is no solution to. Those people need help. I feel that I helped fight cancer yesterday. My little sister came up with a great idea for Christmas this past year. She said we should not get each other gifts. Rather, we should take the money that we would have spent on each other and donate it to a charity. We did. We didn't need the gifts. We made a difference. My little sis is cool.
What you all are doing for us is making a difference. We'll be okay no matter what. You could donate something elsewhere and include The Lewandowski Quadruplets with your families name. That would be the ultimate donation to us.
We are so thanful for every day of this pregnancy. It truly is a blessing.
Thank you all again. If you can't tell by now, I find myself being thankful for damn near everything lately. Tonya feels the same way and then some. We should be, and so should you.
Heck, I consider buying and consuming beer as a donation. The Attorney General or whoever says a beer a day is good for the heart. It helps my heart and the money I spend on it helps the beer Gods make more beer which helps provide more beer for all you to drink which helps your hearts. Together, the money we spend on beer is helping each others hearts, and the hearts of others as well. Go have a beer, it's good for your heart and you're helping others. I'm thinking about including my beer receipts for donation verification on my taxes for deductions. And don't buy into the crap that the Attorney General or whoever says about 3 or more beers being bad for you, just be sure to drink some water and have a slice of wheat bread while consuming.
Beer, it does the body good.
Your friend,
Lew
Aiden and Caleb will be the greeters at the door of the hospital. Yeah, they'll be the ones with the cowboy guns and pirate swords. If you come with your face painted and a red nose that honks - you get in free! Popcorn will be available in the NICU.
My prediction from last week for July 22 was stomped on by Baby B! I love it!
Tonya met with Dr M yesterday - I had to stay with the napping boys back at da' mana'. Anyway, Dr M said we were a topic of conversation at a conference last week. Cool, I guess? When I say we, I mean Tonya. Why? Cause she's the freak of nature. Awesome! Not sure if I mentioned it in a previous blog - Dr J is done with us! Done as in Tonya is doing so good she doesn't need me anymore done!
For those that are sick of reading my picture-less dialog, Tonya is going bonkers not being able to post belly picks and blog and what not. The computer at The Manor doesn't support this blog thing too well. I think she is planning on heading over to the library, or as Aiden would say - libary, this weekend. In the mean time, if you could imagine eating a watermelon in one gulp, that is what she looks like. She's still cute though, and it is ALL belly...
So, funny story about the manor. Again, we are so thankful for this place, but this one is good. So I'm sitting on the couch reading porn (I wish, it was Good Housekeeping - notta queer, limited material) and these two very old ladies get off the elevator. The one proceeds to read every room number as they walk down the hall, throwing in a gosh dang or two along the way to their room that happened to be at the opposite end of the hall, where I was seated. Mind you this is about a 30ish yard walk. So they get near me and the one is bitching about how she can't believe they are on the second floor and their room is ALL the way at the other end of the hall and how she can't believe they don't have any other rooms, let alone a room on the first floor. Yeah, they were out of breath - I found out why later. So, we are eating dinner later in the evening. Tonya is at the one end of the kitchen chatting with a different old lady that asked when the baby was due. Tonya, being the quiet one she is, blurts out "the baby? there's 4 in there!" This as THE old lady happens to walk by and looks at the other lady and mumbles something like "yeah 4" and walks away. THE old lady is fit for a part in Grumpy Old Men - had that Gustafson personality and tone. So Tonya chats with the other old lady and comes back to the table and I ask if THE old lady something rude. She said no, I chatted with her and her posse the other night. The posse had all sorts of miscarriage and horror stories to enlighten Tonya with...nice. And that was that. So later I have the boys outside and THE old lady comes out with her cohort and they proceed to light up some smokes. (FYI - there is a smoking section on the porch of the manor - their pitch for putting butts in the right place is a picture of a squirrel smoking. Yeah, great for Aiden and Cale to pick up on that). Dudes, these broads are like 80! Bitching about how it hurts, coughing and what not - like they're hitting the reefer! So we get the kids away and I had to tell Tonya about the old ladies upstairs walking for miles to their room all out of breath and what not - yeah, cause they eat freakin' cigarette butts for desert! Anyway, it was at this point that Tonya tells me the story about THE old lady from the other day. She was in the kitchen that happened to be rather crowded - and of course being the quiet one, Tonya told people of our deal. And THE old lady blurts out like as loud as Tonya is - "Did you get that artificial insemination or something?
Priceless!
So what did I learn? I learned that artificial insemination is off the hook for quads man!
So I had a huge addition to this blog, probably would have rivaled for my longest composition to date, and I deleted it. You should be able to figure out why below.
Take this however you want, for what it's worth, look at it from multiple sides, between the lines, etc. I donated $20 to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research yesterday. It made me feel good. Now I know how you all feel.
We are going to be fine. Now that we know, at least as far as all involved can tell, we will be giving birth to healthy babies and Tonya is doing great. Sure, there could be some issues, but they will be loved to the max no matter what. Even if something goes completely wrong, we will be okay. We have help and we have each other. There are people in this world that won't be okay, that don't have someone to care for them, that have a medical issue that there is no solution to. Those people need help. I feel that I helped fight cancer yesterday. My little sister came up with a great idea for Christmas this past year. She said we should not get each other gifts. Rather, we should take the money that we would have spent on each other and donate it to a charity. We did. We didn't need the gifts. We made a difference. My little sis is cool.
What you all are doing for us is making a difference. We'll be okay no matter what. You could donate something elsewhere and include The Lewandowski Quadruplets with your families name. That would be the ultimate donation to us.
We are so thanful for every day of this pregnancy. It truly is a blessing.
Thank you all again. If you can't tell by now, I find myself being thankful for damn near everything lately. Tonya feels the same way and then some. We should be, and so should you.
Heck, I consider buying and consuming beer as a donation. The Attorney General or whoever says a beer a day is good for the heart. It helps my heart and the money I spend on it helps the beer Gods make more beer which helps provide more beer for all you to drink which helps your hearts. Together, the money we spend on beer is helping each others hearts, and the hearts of others as well. Go have a beer, it's good for your heart and you're helping others. I'm thinking about including my beer receipts for donation verification on my taxes for deductions. And don't buy into the crap that the Attorney General or whoever says about 3 or more beers being bad for you, just be sure to drink some water and have a slice of wheat bread while consuming.
Beer, it does the body good.
Your friend,
Lew
All of You by Lew
This blog goes out to all of you and Tonya.
Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you for your encouraging comments.
As we indicated from the start, we were so overwhelmed with the orginigal news of The Quads. Overwhelmed to the point that we weren't sure if we could do this. We dug deep, real deep. We talked and talked. Ultimately, we knew we were chosen for this quest by God, and we knew the following:
God doesn't burden.
God doesn't make mistakes.
God knew we could handle this.
God knew we have an amazing network of family and friends.
Tonya is a very special person. I don't tell her that enough. We all know that she is different. She is influential. Some may not have realized it yet, some may have, but she has influenced many people that she has touched in her life.
God knew that - he made her.
God blessed Tonya, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend.
Going on 30 weeks pregnant with quadruplets. No complaints. Nothing but positives come out of her mouth. Amazing.
I'm writing this while listening to ESPN radio. Today they have been playing Jimmy Valvano's speech that has been titled "Don't give up, don't ever give up". It is a very moving speech that he gave at the ESPYs (ESPN sports awards). For those not in the know, Jimmy V was a legendary college basketball coach who finished his career at North Carolina State. Less than two months after he gave his speech, cancer took his life. The final portion of his speech is very moving.
Jimmy V went on to say that everyday you should think, laugh, and cry, and if you do all those in a day, that's a full day. Jimmy V ended his speech with the statement "Don't give up, don't every give up".
Something tells me there will be days in my families future that will include the following:
1) Tonya and I will "think" that maybe we should not have tried to get pregnant again...
2) Tonya and I will "laugh" at how crazy our life is...
3) Tonya and I will "cry" because our life is so crazy...
But we won't give up because we know that for each of the above times, there will be a hundred of these:
1) Tonya and I will not only "think", but we will know that this pregnancy was the best thing that could have happened to us.
2) Tonya and I will "laugh" because we love our family so much.
3) Tonya and I will "cry" becasue we love our family so much.
Thank you all for everything you have done and are doing for us. Thank you Tonya for being you.
Finally, a very kind person commented on the blog. This person was a nurse at the hospital where the twins were born. The person commented on Meadow's painted fingernails. This person made me cry today. Laughing and thinking are easy.
Love,
Lew
Thank you.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you for your encouraging comments.
As we indicated from the start, we were so overwhelmed with the orginigal news of The Quads. Overwhelmed to the point that we weren't sure if we could do this. We dug deep, real deep. We talked and talked. Ultimately, we knew we were chosen for this quest by God, and we knew the following:
God doesn't burden.
God doesn't make mistakes.
God knew we could handle this.
God knew we have an amazing network of family and friends.
Tonya is a very special person. I don't tell her that enough. We all know that she is different. She is influential. Some may not have realized it yet, some may have, but she has influenced many people that she has touched in her life.
God knew that - he made her.
God blessed Tonya, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend.
Going on 30 weeks pregnant with quadruplets. No complaints. Nothing but positives come out of her mouth. Amazing.
I'm writing this while listening to ESPN radio. Today they have been playing Jimmy Valvano's speech that has been titled "Don't give up, don't ever give up". It is a very moving speech that he gave at the ESPYs (ESPN sports awards). For those not in the know, Jimmy V was a legendary college basketball coach who finished his career at North Carolina State. Less than two months after he gave his speech, cancer took his life. The final portion of his speech is very moving.
Jimmy V went on to say that everyday you should think, laugh, and cry, and if you do all those in a day, that's a full day. Jimmy V ended his speech with the statement "Don't give up, don't every give up".
Something tells me there will be days in my families future that will include the following:
1) Tonya and I will "think" that maybe we should not have tried to get pregnant again...
2) Tonya and I will "laugh" at how crazy our life is...
3) Tonya and I will "cry" because our life is so crazy...
But we won't give up because we know that for each of the above times, there will be a hundred of these:
1) Tonya and I will not only "think", but we will know that this pregnancy was the best thing that could have happened to us.
2) Tonya and I will "laugh" because we love our family so much.
3) Tonya and I will "cry" becasue we love our family so much.
Thank you all for everything you have done and are doing for us. Thank you Tonya for being you.
Finally, a very kind person commented on the blog. This person was a nurse at the hospital where the twins were born. The person commented on Meadow's painted fingernails. This person made me cry today. Laughing and thinking are easy.
Love,
Lew
Monday, July 14, 2008
Eye of the Tiger by Lew
That's right, Baby B - Eye of the Tiger - Rising up to the challenge of all rivals!
The nurse got that transducer thingy all reading flows and what not and I swear I heard Baby B shout Bring it! You can't hold me back! Is that all you got!
All right, all right, if you can't tell, I'm just a wee bit ecstatic right now!
I think the other babies ganged up and told Baby B to get its shit together 'cause they ain't ready for this "world" thing yet. And, Baby B, in an effort to "take one for the team", bucked up and decided to "get diastolicky" for a wee bit longa!
The first few attempts at getting a representative Doppler resulted in my heart stopping and Tonya crying...then the nurse was able to string together some encouraging scans. Yeah, she had us about passed out with reality. Anyway, numbers were 4.1, 4.1, 4.3, and 5.0. Last weeks were 5.8, 3.8, 5.5. Main thing - goood diastolic flow.
For clarification, the numbers indicate the ratio of the highest flow velocity, measured in cm/s, to the lowest flow velocity.
Baby's A, C, and D all looked good as well! Heart rates were 130 (A), 133 (B), and 158 (C & D). It appeared as though C & D were fighting. Also, all their heads are kinda sorta together - I called them "The Fun Bunch". I think The Fun Bunch was the wide receiver corp from like the 1986 Washington Redskins - smurfs? Anyway...
Tonya's cervix measurements - 3.98 cm and 3.74 cm for average of 3.86 cm. Last weeks measurement was 3.85 cm.
Tonya did not yell Bring it! Is that all you got! Instead, she smiled. Me, I was like Brick Wall! Can't penetrate that fort! You da Man! No really though, we both smiled!
Damn glad that's over that's for sure...until next Monday...
Hopefully my synopsis of today's appointment closely resembles Dr. J's, at least the gist of it. We know too much about what to look for, but I think we were informed by someone that's sorta good at this stuff.
Thanks go out to Tonya's mom for coming up yesterday to tend to the wild banches while we were at our appointment. We were somewhat, well, maybe more than somewhat, worried about today's appointment and wanted to be able to give our undivided attention. Means a lot Sherry.
Thank you God.
The nurse got that transducer thingy all reading flows and what not and I swear I heard Baby B shout Bring it! You can't hold me back! Is that all you got!
All right, all right, if you can't tell, I'm just a wee bit ecstatic right now!
I think the other babies ganged up and told Baby B to get its shit together 'cause they ain't ready for this "world" thing yet. And, Baby B, in an effort to "take one for the team", bucked up and decided to "get diastolicky" for a wee bit longa!
The first few attempts at getting a representative Doppler resulted in my heart stopping and Tonya crying...then the nurse was able to string together some encouraging scans. Yeah, she had us about passed out with reality. Anyway, numbers were 4.1, 4.1, 4.3, and 5.0. Last weeks were 5.8, 3.8, 5.5. Main thing - goood diastolic flow.
For clarification, the numbers indicate the ratio of the highest flow velocity, measured in cm/s, to the lowest flow velocity.
Baby's A, C, and D all looked good as well! Heart rates were 130 (A), 133 (B), and 158 (C & D). It appeared as though C & D were fighting. Also, all their heads are kinda sorta together - I called them "The Fun Bunch". I think The Fun Bunch was the wide receiver corp from like the 1986 Washington Redskins - smurfs? Anyway...
Tonya's cervix measurements - 3.98 cm and 3.74 cm for average of 3.86 cm. Last weeks measurement was 3.85 cm.
Tonya did not yell Bring it! Is that all you got! Instead, she smiled. Me, I was like Brick Wall! Can't penetrate that fort! You da Man! No really though, we both smiled!
Damn glad that's over that's for sure...until next Monday...
Hopefully my synopsis of today's appointment closely resembles Dr. J's, at least the gist of it. We know too much about what to look for, but I think we were informed by someone that's sorta good at this stuff.
Thanks go out to Tonya's mom for coming up yesterday to tend to the wild banches while we were at our appointment. We were somewhat, well, maybe more than somewhat, worried about today's appointment and wanted to be able to give our undivided attention. Means a lot Sherry.
Thank you God.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Prediction by Lew
So I get back to the manor yesterday and Tonya and I walk over to our appointment with Dr. M. My sisters, brother-in law, and niece are up visiting so they watched over the boys while we were gone. On our walk to the appointment, I told Tonya of my blog from yesterday and indicated it may send some alarms off...I think this blog will send off more than merely an alarm...
So the first and pretty much only thing Dr. M talked to us about was Baby B and the increasing numbers from the Doppler.
I say Bingo - I'm smarter than I look Dr. M - I wrote all about that "stuff" in the blog. Dr. M proceeded to discuss what I conveyed in yesterdays blog, only he knows what he is talking about. Dr. M indicated that once you get to like a certain number, say 6 or 7, then the next step is like right to infinity, kind of like the y=x squared curve. Side note: Dr. M didn't quite get the y=x squared thing without a bit of help - he says to us, you two are engineers, what is the name of the curve that curves up slowly and then boom, goes straight up? At this point Tonya looks at me and sees a blank stare on my face, and she blurts out, yeah, y=x2 on a logarithmic scale. She then looks at me again with a face that says me one, you zero...maybe not smarter than I look.
So, yes, Baby B has us on more of an alert, not yet alarm, but our appointment next Monday will tell us a lot.
Now chant with me - Diastolic, Diastolic, Diastolic Flow for Baby B, for Baby B!
So to me, there are two scenarios that could develop on Monday. Scenario 1 would be preferred over Scenario 2, as discussed below:
Scenario 1 - Baby B would be in let's say a holding pattern. Holding pattern meaning the numbers are relatively consistent with this past Monday's numbers, with continued diastolic flow. Or even better, the numbers were a bit skewed to the high end due to the inability to get a representative Doppler due to the crowd in there, and either are similar or decreased from this past Monday, with continued good diastolic flow.
Scenario 2 - The Doppler for Baby B displays increased numbers. The trump card would be indications of continued diastolic flow, or the warning sign of a moment of no flow. It seems unlikely that reverse flow would occur on Monday, considering there was good diastolic flow this past Monday.
So my previous gestational period days were a bit off. Dr. M's crew had us at 28 weeks, 1 day yesterday. I think Dr. Js crew has us at 28 weeks, 3 days. Regardless, we beat the National Average Gestational Period for Quadruplets! A feat to say the least. The feat of all feats though, is Tonya - she looks great, she feels great, and she is doing great! For those of you that have not seen her, you would never know she is 28+ weeks prego with quads. She is awesome! And she is one hot looking prego chick!
My prediction - The Quads are born on July 22, 2008, basically 30 weeks. Our next Doppler is Monday, July 14 and we are currently scheduled for one Doppler per week. They will have us in for a second Doppler later that week. Then we will have another Doppler on Monday July 21. They will take The Quads the next day. Presently, we are scheduled for one Doppler per week.
I know Tonya will not want to read this and will not agree with it, but that would be her praying and remaining optimistic. I think my prediction is realistic. Monday's appointment will be difficult. We will be holding our breath from the moment we walk in.
When they take The Quads, they most likely will not take them out in order - A, B, C, D. They will grab whatever they can grab as fast as they can. I would estimate their weights right around 2 pounds. Being optimistic, an ounce or two over.
I think we will start freaking out more now. We (me), have concluded that Bellaire seems to be the place - no bites on the house. So we are going to start touching base with people in Bellaire to help with the mahem. As you all know, we need some help.
Gosh dang family of 8...Holy Wha!
Of all my silly statements, predictions, proclomations, etc. that I have made over the course of my life, I pray that what I predicted in this blog is completely, absolutely wrong.
Please pray with us for Baby B to keep the blood flowing!
Love,
Lew
So the first and pretty much only thing Dr. M talked to us about was Baby B and the increasing numbers from the Doppler.
I say Bingo - I'm smarter than I look Dr. M - I wrote all about that "stuff" in the blog. Dr. M proceeded to discuss what I conveyed in yesterdays blog, only he knows what he is talking about. Dr. M indicated that once you get to like a certain number, say 6 or 7, then the next step is like right to infinity, kind of like the y=x squared curve. Side note: Dr. M didn't quite get the y=x squared thing without a bit of help - he says to us, you two are engineers, what is the name of the curve that curves up slowly and then boom, goes straight up? At this point Tonya looks at me and sees a blank stare on my face, and she blurts out, yeah, y=x2 on a logarithmic scale. She then looks at me again with a face that says me one, you zero...maybe not smarter than I look.
So, yes, Baby B has us on more of an alert, not yet alarm, but our appointment next Monday will tell us a lot.
Now chant with me - Diastolic, Diastolic, Diastolic Flow for Baby B, for Baby B!
So to me, there are two scenarios that could develop on Monday. Scenario 1 would be preferred over Scenario 2, as discussed below:
Scenario 1 - Baby B would be in let's say a holding pattern. Holding pattern meaning the numbers are relatively consistent with this past Monday's numbers, with continued diastolic flow. Or even better, the numbers were a bit skewed to the high end due to the inability to get a representative Doppler due to the crowd in there, and either are similar or decreased from this past Monday, with continued good diastolic flow.
Scenario 2 - The Doppler for Baby B displays increased numbers. The trump card would be indications of continued diastolic flow, or the warning sign of a moment of no flow. It seems unlikely that reverse flow would occur on Monday, considering there was good diastolic flow this past Monday.
So my previous gestational period days were a bit off. Dr. M's crew had us at 28 weeks, 1 day yesterday. I think Dr. Js crew has us at 28 weeks, 3 days. Regardless, we beat the National Average Gestational Period for Quadruplets! A feat to say the least. The feat of all feats though, is Tonya - she looks great, she feels great, and she is doing great! For those of you that have not seen her, you would never know she is 28+ weeks prego with quads. She is awesome! And she is one hot looking prego chick!
My prediction - The Quads are born on July 22, 2008, basically 30 weeks. Our next Doppler is Monday, July 14 and we are currently scheduled for one Doppler per week. They will have us in for a second Doppler later that week. Then we will have another Doppler on Monday July 21. They will take The Quads the next day. Presently, we are scheduled for one Doppler per week.
I know Tonya will not want to read this and will not agree with it, but that would be her praying and remaining optimistic. I think my prediction is realistic. Monday's appointment will be difficult. We will be holding our breath from the moment we walk in.
When they take The Quads, they most likely will not take them out in order - A, B, C, D. They will grab whatever they can grab as fast as they can. I would estimate their weights right around 2 pounds. Being optimistic, an ounce or two over.
I think we will start freaking out more now. We (me), have concluded that Bellaire seems to be the place - no bites on the house. So we are going to start touching base with people in Bellaire to help with the mahem. As you all know, we need some help.
Gosh dang family of 8...Holy Wha!
Of all my silly statements, predictions, proclomations, etc. that I have made over the course of my life, I pray that what I predicted in this blog is completely, absolutely wrong.
Please pray with us for Baby B to keep the blood flowing!
Love,
Lew
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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
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
Thursday, July 3, 2008
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
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
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