Pray for Lauren to Get Off Her Ventilator!!

Either Monday or Tuesday Dr's are going to take Lauren off of her ventilator. We are just praying she does well without it!! This will be the third time they'll attempt to see how she does without it (one planned attempt, one Lauren pulled out herself). Lauren's weight is now 3lbs 3oz so were praying she has the strength to sustain life without the support of a ventilator.

How the others are doing:

Gavin = 5 lbs Reese = 4 lbs Maggie = 4 lbs

All three are working on their bottles and coming along really well!

Happy Easter!! Sorry it has taken so long to update. We've had a very busy Easter week. Jon's family (aunts, uncles, and grandfather) came in to celebrate Aunt Erma's 100 year birthday on Thursday. Friday they were all able to come and see the babies for the first time. It was great having them in town for the weekend! It was really neat to see Grandpa's expression as he saw all the Quads.

The Quads have been making great strides in just one week. It's amazing to see how much they change on a daily basis. They are continuing to gain weight each day, about 1 oz. a day! Here are their current weights:

Lauren - 2lbs 9.5oz

Gavin - 4lbs 5 oz

Maggie - 3lbs 11.9 oz

Reese - 3lbs 9 oz

Lauren has been doing so well. Since she has outgrown her first vent tube they have increased the size of the tube which has seemed to have made a huge difference for the better. They have her on the lowest vent settings, which means she doing most of the work on her own. Dr. Stratton would like to see her gain a little more weight before they try to take her off the vent again. She has been such a fighter over the last week and is determined to get off her vent! We just love watching her grow every day!

(Daddy changing Lauren's Diaper - She's so cute!)

Gavin now has a little company in his bed! Maggie and Reese have crashed the party:) This is great news considering Maggie and Reese are now in a crib. They have done great in room air with very few problems. Gavin, pretty reserved, seems to be taken things in stride.

All the grandparents have had an opportunity to hold their grandbabies. Once Lauren is in a crib, they will have the opportunity to hold all the babies. They look so cute together! We just need Lauren to jump in the middle to make this slumber party complete!

(from the left: Maggie, Gavin, Reese)

(Mom, Maggie, Gavin, & Reese)

4 Generations! Dad, Jon, Gavin, and Grandpa Mike

We continue to be blessed with a great NICU staff here at Carle! They are unbelievably patient with us and are so detailed with every question they answer! We can't imaging being anywhere else!

Easter Sunday with Our Great NICU Staff ! - Linda, Tiff, Valerie, Jess, and Brittany

Gavin Graduates To A Crib

We are so excited that Gavin is in a crib. He is such a big boy:) Jon and I can now pick him up and love on him anytime we want. It just makes it so real. The only thing left for Gav is to eat on his own, then he is ready to come home!! Eating can take weeks to learn, he will start trying the bottle at 33 weeks. Now that he is in a crib he can wear big boy clothes!!

Here is Jon and I holding Gavin!

Maggie and Reese are doing well! They are being held for the first time like big girls by their daddy:)

Sweet Lauren is still doing great on her ventilator. She continues to stay on the lowest settings. We just pray for her lungs to develop, that she continues to get bigger and stronger.

Tonight Jon and I were visiting the quads and I went to say goodnight to Maggie and Reese and in their bed was a gift to mommy. I was so surprised! The babies decided to get me a ring with their birthstones in it (which is amethyst). I just love it!!! It has four amethysts representing each of our little blessings. I bet it was Lauren's idea:)

Sorry it has taken us so long to update, but we've had a pretty good week for the Quads.

Last Monday they attempted to take Lauren (2lbs 2oz) off her last ventilator. She was quick to tell us and the doctors that she's not quite ready. She lasted about 10 minutes until they put the ventilator back on. It was at least worth the shot! She is still on the lowest settings for the ventilator, which is a good thing. Our doctor would like to see her put on another 8 oz (1/2 lbs) before they try taking the ventilator off. The weight should translate into more strength.

Maggie (3lbs 1oz) and Reese (3 lbs even) are back together again. They started co-bedding again on Wednesday. They are so cute together. Reese appears to be the affectionate one, always putting her hand or leg on Maggie. As we left tonight Reese was trying to suck Maggie's hand.

Gavin (3lbs 11oz) has been his same old self. He's enjoying his own bed, stretching out and opening his eyes a lot more as of late. Today they officially took him off the oxygen pressure. He's doing everything on his own and doing great. It's nice to see them slowly take away the tubes.

We are seeing our prayers answered daily and even hourly!!! This road is a long one, yet God's grace has made this journey all worth while. Jon and I would not trade this for the world!!!!

First Times....

Everything has been going so well this past week. Since we've last blogged Lauren has been taken off the jett ventilator. She is still on one ventilator, which she receives 26 breaths per minute. This is already decreased from 50,which she just had two days ago. On top of this, she officially reached the 2lbs mark! To add to this great news Tiff was able to hold Lauren for two hours yesterday. She responded so well to being with Mommy. Heartbeat was great, she slept the whole time, and they lowered her oxygen levels during this two hour time frame.

Gavin, Maggie, and Reese are all doing great as well. Gavin is 3lbs 6oz, Maggie and Reese are 2lbs 10oz each. Maggie's stomach was a little more expanded than they liked a couple of days ago so they put her in a different bed than Reese. They thought she might of had an infection in her intestine, but turned out it was just gas:) They may put them back together soon.

On Wednesday, Aunt Heather, my sister, surprised Tiff and I by flying into town from Dallas TX. It was so good to catch up with her! Even better to see her visit the babies!

Thanks to the help of Becky Huizer and Snyder Reality Tiff and I are hanging out at Eastland Suites in Urbana this weekend. We are very thankful to be staying right down the road from the quads and nice accommodations.

Lauren's first cuddle with Mommy!

Aunt Heather's first peek at Maggie and Reese

Tiff getting the morning quad updates from Nurse Deb

Reese's little behind

Grandpa Samuels first touch - with Maggie

Roomies!

Well everything is status quo here in Champaign.

Gavin - 3lbs 2 oz. Doing really well!

Maggie - 2lbs 8 oz. Doing really well!

Lauren - Stable from last blog. They think her PDA may have a slight opening still. We are waiting to hear what the doctor thinks tomorrow. Numbers aren't as high as last time and could require medication if anything at all. She is up in weight. Yeah! 1lbs 12 oz.

Reese - has some bouts with apnea, but otherwise doing well. 2 lbs 8 oz.

Reese and Maggie are just so much alike.......

...that they've become roomies! ...and from time to time roomies must share!

I'm a little biased, but it's got to be the cutest thing you've ever seen!

We continue to ask for your prayers for all the quads, especially Lauren! We have met a wonderful couple here in Champaign, Dave and Helen Leverton. Their son Austin is going through very similar phases as Lauren. Please pray for them as well. I know there are a lot of prayer warriors our there and we appreciate you very much!

Here are a couple of the prayer quilts from 2nd Presbyterian Church. We love them and what they represent!