Family, Friends and Milestones

What a great weekend we've had! The babies were making milestones and enjoying all of their loving company. Here are some new pictures from the CCN.

Jane loves to fall asleep in Gray's arms. We may have a daddy's girl on our hands.
Broox getting sleepy after finishing his bottle. Notice that the feeding tube is gone! Broox is being fed solely with bottles now. A huge step for our little preemies.

I love this picture of Broox and Lizzy. Broox is going to be moved to a crib tonight! He is getting closer and closer to coming home with us.

Jane trying out her first bottle today. She did an excellent job!

Mary and me with Virginia.

When we walked in the other day, Rainer had worked himself to the end of his isolette. Both of our boys think this is a fun game.

Here is mama with Rainer and one of our favorite nurses, Stephanie. She gives our babies such great care!

Jim (my cousin) with Jane, and Rachel with Broox. They came over for the afternoon from Tuscaloosa to meet the Garretts.

This picture shows four generations.

Rainer looking cute in his sailboat hat.

It is great to have three extra sets of hands so that each baby gets attention and love at the same time.

Rainer showing off his sucking skills.

Jane interacting with Grandmama.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub 4 Babies in the Tub

I love this picture of Jane and Virginia. It looks like they are "pinky swearing."

Sleepy Babies


Our Little Girls

Broox, Jane, Virginia, Rainer

The Boys

Broox and Rainer

Virginia

Jane

Broox

Yesterday, Gray and I got to give the babies their first baths. Everyone seemed okay with it after the initial shock wore off. After each had been bathed, dried, lotioned and primped they were so content. I think they are going to take after their mother and love bath time. The nurse told us that often babies' vital signs even improve after a bath.

It took us an entire hour to get all four babies clean and we were hustling to make it through before feeding time! We did have to reattach all of the monitors and extra time was used for trying to get the adhesive off of their bodies from all of the tape. We took pictures of the babies together again while they were still under the warmer.

Reunited

One of our fantastic nurses at UAB took these pictures of the babies all together for the first time since birth. She said that they had to work quickly to get everything unhooked, get them all in a warmer together, take a few shots, and then get them back to their isolettes. I am so happy to have these! The nurses have been wonderful about helping us with anything we need and letting us be parents to the babies even though they are still in the hospital. We have been able to make a care team for the babies this week. This means that we have selected some nurses that we have really hit it off with and they will be with our babies on the days they work. It means a lot to have the same people with your babies so that they are always up to date on the babies' progress, any set backs, and even their personalities and quirks. We couldn't be happier with the care our children are getting there.

The doctor stopped by while we were there today and gave the babies a glowing report. He said that they are hitting a major growth period right now. It's hard to believe how much they are growing from one day to the next. Their weights today are:

Broox-4 lbs. 3 oz.

Jane - 2lbs. 7 oz.

Virgina - 2 lbs. 14 oz.

Rainer - 3 lbs. 5 oz.

The babies are in their birth order in these pictures. From left to right: Broox, Jane, Virginia and Rainer. They are wearing the little shirts that they use in the nursery to keep them from getting chilly. I can't wait to dress them up as soon as they make it to their cribs. Hopefully, that won't be too much longer. The boys are getting better and better at taking a bottle. Gray fed them today. Broox took the entire thing and seems to have gotten the hang of it all of a sudden. Rainer did pretty well, but still needs to work on swallowing once he sucks. You should see their faces when we feed them. They look very serious. It is so much work for them to suck, swallow and breath all at the same time. They are doing so well though. The nurses have told us that they really don't start making them take bottles until 34 weeks, so they are actually ahead of the game. Jane and Virginia still have to grow more before they can give it a try.

The babies will be three weeks old tomorrow and I'm looking forward to another great week of watching them grow.

Two Weeks Old Tomorrow!

Rainer

Virginia

Jane

Broox

Tomorrow our babies will be two weeks old. I'm continually amazed at how much they grow from day to day.

They currently weigh in at:

Broox - 3 lbs. 8 oz.

Jane - 2 lbs. 6 oz.

Virginia - 2lbs. 11 oz.

Rainer - 2 lbs. 15 oz.

This afternoon their grandparents and great grandmother (Granny) came to visit them. They were wide eyed and taking everything in. I love all of the facial expressions that they are making now. The nurse told us that they are doing exceptionally well. Broox has begun taking a bottle a day. During his feeding on the bottle this morning he was able to drink the whole thing and keep it all down. Jane's feedings have been increased significantly and she is off of her IV fluids. The doctor's detected a heart murmur in Virginia. They told us that this was not uncommon with preemies and expect it to close up on its on, but they are watching it and have reduced her fluids to help. It isn't affecting Virginia at all and she is such a happy baby. Rainer is just busy gaining back the weight he lost after birth. His breathing is great and he's a very active little boy. All of the children had great reports from their brain scans, which is a very big deal.

Right now I am going to the hospital to be with the babies twice a day. I usually get to the hospital by mid morning and stay for several hours. After that, I eat a late lunch and get a rest in before Gray gets home and we go back. I am so happy to say that I will return to driving myself around tomorrow!! I think the last time I did that was in November, right before I got too big to reach the pedals. It will be the first time I've really been by myself in 6 or 7 weeks and the freedom feels so good.

A Busy First Week

What a wonderful first week with the babies! I cannot believe how quickly the time is passing. I have never been happier in my entire life. The love that I feel for Broox, Rainer, Jane and Virginia is absolutely overwhelming. I am ecstatic to finally be a mother.
Here is a picture of me a week ago today. Little did I know that I would be giving birth the following evening.

On Saturday, some of my best girlfriends came to visit. (L to R) Carrie, Elizabeth, and Katie all got to see the babies. Here we are standing in the nursery at my house after talking about the night the babies were born. It was so good to see my friends after being stuck in the bed for so many weeks.

This is my brother Marshall and me. Uncle Marshall was able to meet all of his nieces and nephews at the hospital.

Gray and me in front of our house with the blue and pink bows that mama got for us. The mail man yelled at Gray from across the street, "Does that mean four??!!!"

Gray giving Broox his feeding. He is still eating the most and today they told us that he will be taken off his fluids in the next day or so. He is getting very close to four pounds!

Broox and me doing "Kangaroo Care." The nurse places the baby under my shirt so that our skin can touch. The babies love this, but probably not as much as their mama.

Here is Virginia doing skin on skin. At one point we put Jane and Virginia in there together. We didn't get a great picture of it, but the girls enjoyed being so close. They were looking at each other and touching each other's arms and faces.

Today I got to change diapers, rub in lotion and clean the babies faces. I had the best time doing the mama duties.

Today was a great day in the CCN. All of the babies are back together after Rainer had to be moved back to the RNICU a few days ago and back to the CCN last night. He had a wonderful day! He is completely off of his oxygen and his levels are all normal. He is eating more and more each day and slowly gaining weight. He is still under the lamps just like Broox and Jane. Hopefully, they will all be free of that soon. We are proud of Rainer catching up to his siblings and graduating to the CCN. Hopefully we will be able to keep everyone together this time.

Tomorrow my brother Robert is coming to Birmingham to meet his new family members and to drive me to and from the hospital. We have lots of errands to run as we get the last things we need for the babies. Tomorrow they will be a week old and every day they get closer to coming home. I can't wait!!