Got Quads?

With four toddlers and four cats the vacuum is used in my house on a daily basis. At the end of the day there’s either tufts of cat hair from Elwood (our long hair) or plenty of crumbs leftover from snack time. When our last vacuum needed a new belt after just a year, Hubby and I knew it was time to upgrade. Through a payment plan we were able to get a Dyson. Whoo hoo!!!

During the last year that Dyson (the DC 14 if you must know) has been wonderful! It truly lives up to its hype, although I’m not a big fan of the attachments that come with it. They’re kind of useless. But the vacuum itself does a great job.

So imagine my concern when, just last week, the Dyson didn’t seem to be, well, sucking as well as it used to. We use the furniture attachment from our previous vacuum so I asked Hubby to take the attachment apart and clean it out. That wasn’t the remedy. I cut away as much of the hair stuck on the brushes as I could… still, nothing. Then Hubby took apart various removable pieces of the Dyson and we both looked in wonder at the objects hindering our vacuum’s suction.

Among the clumps of hair and dust we found an Aquadoodle pen and a cat toy. An Aquadoodle pen? Are you kidding me? Now I know I didn’t vacuum up that pen and Hubby swears he didn’t do it either. Regardless, I have a hard time believing that whoever vacuumed up that pen didn’t hear a lot of noise in the process. Even if you sucked it up with the hose I would imagine that you would suddenly notice the Dyson just isn’t working as well as it was minutes ago. An Aquadoodle pen? Seriously!

Now the Dyson is back in tip-top shape, and I guess that’s all I should be concerned about, right? Besides, I’m sure there are worse things that have been found in vacuums… I just don’t want them showing up in mine!

I should have known when I got sick over the weekend that it was a sign of things to come. Sure, I woke up yesterday feeling better, but tired… but by the end of the day I knew we were in trouble.

The bug attacked Sue-Sue right as she sat down to dinner. Yep, she hurled all over the table (and herself). It was all I could do to keep Roo, Cakes and Tortilla from getting sick simply from what they saw. Sue-Sue went directly to the bath and swore she was feeling better, but got sick again right at bed time. A few hours later I heard her getting sick again… but this time Cakes had the bug, too. Sue-Sue has been the hardest hit. I think I was up with her every half hour during the night. She’s had a little to drink but you can tell she’s down for the count. Cakes has some color back and has been requesting crackers, so I think that’s a good sign.

Roo and Tortilla ate breakfast and claim their stomachs feel fine. I think it’s just a matter of time, though. With four toddlers sharing the same room and the same toys, they’re bound to share the same illnesses.

Knowing how long the last bug stayed in our house (more than a week), I can’t say I’m feeling all that great today. The challenges of taking care of the sickies and keeping the healthy ones healthy and happy would take a toll on anyone. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that for some reason this bug skips Roo and Tortilla. Wish me luck!

First, a note for you Entrecard visitors. As many of you are aware, Today.com blogs will soon no longer be allowed to display the Entrecard widget due to changes in the Entrecard advertising policy. I am no longer accepting ads and will remove my widget once all my previously approved ads have run. Thank you for your faithful readership. I will continue to visit your sites, even though I will not be able to drop my card. I hope you will continue to visit me as well. Please leave me a comment letting me know if you would like to exchange links.

Now, on to Sunday Suppers…. I just tried this recipe last week and it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. 

You’ll need:

1 1/2 c. multi-grain rotini pasta

1 small bunch broccoli, cut into florets (about 3 c.)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 c. fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth

2 oz. Neufchatel cheese, cubed (1/4 of an 8 oz. pkg)

1 c. 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding broccoli for last three minutes; meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; add chicken; cook until no longer pink, stirring frequently; stir in broth; simmer 3 minutes or until chicken in thoroughly cooked; add Neufchatel cheese; cook and stir on low heat until melted; stir in 1/2 c. mozzarella; drain pasta and broccoli; add to chicken mixture; mix lightly; spoon into 8-inch square baking dish; cover; bake 20 minutes at 375 degrees; sprinkle with remaining cheeses; bake uncovered 5 minutes; let stand 5 minutes

The best part of this recipe? If you use the exact ingredients it has less than 500 calories per serving! I served it with bread and salad and we had plenty of leftovers.

I have never looked forward to a Saturday night more than tonight. The foursome is going to grandma and grandpa’s for a sleepover! Yes, for the first time since our daughters were born Hubby and I are having an entire night sans quads. WHOA!

What are we looking forward to the most? Here are some hints: it starts with the letter “s” and we just can’t get enough of it. That’s right: we’re going to sleep in!!! Sure, dinner and a movie will be nice, but it’s the sleeping past 7 a.m. that has really got me excited!

In all honesty, though, I think it’s going to be a little tough on Quadmama. This is the first time I will have been away from them overnight. I know, cut the cord, right? But surely every parent who has been away from their child/children for the night remembers the first time as a bit traumatizing. I’m going to enjoy myself, but I know I’ll worry: are they sleeping? are they having bad dreams? do they have their blankies?

It will be nice to reconnect a bit with Hubby without four little ones needing our constant attention… and by the time Sunday morning rolls around we should be refreshed and ready to take on the foursome once again.

Yesterday was one of those days where everyone should just stay home. You know the kind I’m talking about.  You turn on your local TV news and there’s a bundled up reporter on the side of the road telling you not to go out unless you have to, even though he or she is out. I went to my part-time retail job and the weather was so-so, nothing to panic about. I lived in northern Michigan and dealt with lake effect snow for four years, folks. It takes a lot to scare me. Anyway, the weather got progressively worse as the day wore on. I’m talking white-out conditions and super-icy roads. Yet people kept coming in to shop. Huh? Families, moms with kids. They weren’t there for food and essential supplies (we don’t sell those). I finally made small talk with one mom and jokingly said “what brought you out today?” “Oh, we’re just bored.” Bored? You took your kids out in this because your bored? It’s not the worst weather I’ve driven in, but it was bad. Some shoppers even popped in after being sent home from their jobs due to concern over the weather. It’s not safe enough to stay at work, but you can shop? By the time I got home all I wanted to do was snuggle under a blanket and watch TV. The last thing I would have wanted to do is bundle up four toddlers and go to the store because we were bored.The thing that bothers me the most about driving in the snow isn’t the snow itself, it’s the idiots out there who think they don’t need to slow down a bit. Why risk it?

When people find out I have quadruplets, one of the more popular questions (after “Was it natural?” and “Do you watch Jon and Kate Plus 8?”) is: “What did you say when you found out?” I wish I had a good answer.

About a week after we did IVF I found out I was pregnant. Maybe it was two weeks, but it was a blood test and it was fast. The phone call went something like this:

Nurse: Your blood test came back and you’re pregnant. Congratulations.

Me: What? That’s great. 

Nurse: (continued to talk about HCG levels, etc… vaguely remember her saying something about “high levels,” but didn’t pay attention because:)

Me: (in my head: Thank you, God! Thank you!!!!)

Then we scheduled a five-week follow-up for our first ultrasound. The day before the ultrasound I felt terrible. I was exhausted and the thought of food made me ill. Since I had sent Hubby on a “healthy shopping spree” that week, I thought my new diet was overloading my body. I was determined to eat everything recommended in What to Expect When You’re Expecting. We went to the ultrasound and the technician wouldn’t turn the monitor toward me. In fact, she left the room without saying a word. The Reproductive Endocrinologist came in, looked at the screen and asked me how many embryos we had transferred. Three, I responded meekly. I was sure there had been a mistake and I wasn’t actually pregnant. OK, he said, well, there are four heartbeats. Now this is the point in the story where everyone expects me to say I bawled with either happiness or fear or that Hubby fainted. Nope. I looked at Hubby and said something along the lines of “Four? Well, now I know why I’ve been so sick!” The tears came later, days later and were both tears of happiness and terror. Come to think of it, Hubby didn’t have much to say. Hmmm… maybe he was on the verge of fainting.

If  you want a good laugh, take time to watch your child at play. I mean really watch and listen. We recently set up a doll house for my daughters and it has been a hoot watching them.

First of all, they’re very good about making the dolls “walk.” It doesn’t matter whether it’s a MegaBlocks Dora or Barbie… if she’s in the house my girls make her “jump” to simulate walking.

But it’s the things they say that really get me. They end every sentence with “sweetheart.” I guess I must use that affection a lot. They made their dolls fall down so they could give them kisses and ask “are you OK sweetheart?” I watched them take turns designating which doll would be mommy. I had to really pay attention at this point because there were several choruses of “mommy, mommy!” But it was just the dolls that needed help, not the girls. On the heels of yesterday’s post regarding manners, I must be doing something right because they were constantly remind their dolls to say “please” and “thank you.”

Probably the most telling play activity is when they’re on their “phones.” We have fake phones coming out the wazoo… all were gifts for their second birthdays. Apparently when you turn two, a pretend cell phone is a must have. They flip those phones open and do a lot of “uh-huh’s,” “OK’s,” and “yep… bye-bye.” Maybe I need to work on my phone skills a bit.

Whether you have one or four, these times won’t last forever. Watching them be able to play without being self-conscious is truly a gift. I mean some day they’ll be dancing in front of a mirror, lip-synching into a hair brush and be mortified that they caught me watching. For now, I’ll enjoy being allowed to observe.

It always astounds me the number of people who are surprised my daughters have good manners. They say “please” and “thank you” (most days) and people look at me in awe. Since when did manners go out the door?

Hey, my girls aren’t perfect, but I expect them to say “please” and “thank you,” even if they have to be reminded. At lunch if they want more milk, they’ll typically say “I want more milk.” So I say “what do you say if you want something?” “I want more milk please.” When someone gives them a gift, even when I give them a gift, they say thank you and tend to follow that up with hugs.

A few weeks ago Hubby and I refinanced our mortgage. The notary/closer came to our house and Sue-Sue kept saying “are you a ma’am?” The woman, being from the South, was delighted to hear “ma’am” being used. She said she used to encourage her daughters to say “sir” and “ma’am” but, because she no longer lives in the South, her children were often teased. What? Why would we ridicule someone for being polite? (Side note: I figured out later that Sue-Sue was actually asking the woman if she was a man!!!! We were originally scheduled to have a male closer and I told the girls a man would be coming over after lunch.)

Oh, my daughters aren’t perfect. They still think “toots” and burps are hilarious. I blame Hubby for that. With no boys in the bunch, he likes to teach our daughters some of his bad habits. But they always say “excuse me,” so that has to count for something.

I think when there is a lot of attention placed on a higher order multiple (HOM) birth, people tend to forget that these births aren’t common. When you watch Jon and Kate Plus 8, read about Nadya Suleman and her octuplets or watch your local news and see a segment on a triplet (or more) family, it can make you think these births happen all the time. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), HOM births in the U.S. are decreasing.

The latest statistics, which were recently made public, are from 2006. According to these numbers, which have been broken down by Mothers of SuperTwins there were:

• 137,085 twin births
• 6,118 triplet births
• 355 quadruplet births
• 67 quintuplet (or more) births

What does this all mean? Well, it means, in my opinion, most fertility clinics are being more responsible than we may have given them credit for in light of the recent octuplet birth. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine published guidelines in the 1990’s aimed at reducing the number of HOM births by limiting the number of embryos transferred during assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures. The studies indicate this is working.

Why make an effort to reduce HOM pregnancies/births? The goal of any type of ART is to have one baby. Yes, four is a blessing. Four healthy girls born at 28 weeks and 2 days is a miracle. Not everyone in the same situation has as successful a pregnancy. A woman with a HOM pregnancy is at serious risk of complications such as pre-term labor, hypertension related complications (pregnancy-induced hypertension, toxemia, preeclampsia), and even carpal tunnel syndrome. The babies themselves face various risks, depending on their gestational age. Common problems for babies born at 28 weeks and earlier include sucking and swallowing issues, which may lead to a feeding tube, jaundice, lung development and blood transfusions. The NICU is a scary place when you have one, let alone multiple infants, requiring round the clock treatment.

Am I hypocrite? Here I am with four beautiful children, yet I wouldn’t wish a HOM pregnancy on anyone. It was the roughest, most stressful 28 weeks and 2 days of my life. The outcome has been wonderful, but not every family has this outcome.

The point I want to make from this post is this: I would hate to see more restrictions placed on ART simply because one doctor got too big for his britches and wanted to make history. The majority of reproductive endocrinologists out there approach ART with thought, care and responsibility. The majority of people who go through fertility treatments do so because they’ve thought long and hard about how to start a family and feel this is the best option for them. I know I’ve rambled a bit here and there and tomorrow I’ll get back to some of the wackier times with quadruplets, but for today I just wanted to break down HOM births a little to show you it’s not a common as the media sometime make it seem. Some of the high profile HOM births (you know which one I’m talking about) make it seem like we go in to a clinic, order up how many babies we want and boom here we come with x amount of babies. In reality, we’re a little more responsible than that. Now I’ll get off my soapbox.

Wondering where I’ve been? For some of you, it just appears that I skipped a day of posting. But for others, you fellow Entrecarders out there, well, I’m sure I’ve annoyed you by not returning the favor and dropping on your sites the last two days. I apologize and ask you to not hold it against me. I appreciate your faithful readership and I enjoy reading your posts, too. Life, however, has been busy.

Hubby has his last two furlough days this week, which means I’m working two more days than I normally do. Yeah, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but a tad overwhelming none the less. Today is basically my only day off, so I used last night after work to just sit on the couch and hang out with my family, rather than work on building traffic to my blog. 

We all need those kinds of moments don’t we? I feel a little more relaxed as I get ready to head into a busy week. The girls could use some extra days with Hubby since he’s been working a lot of overtime lately. Last week he put the girls to bed Sunday night and literally did not see them again until he got home from work Wednesday. It’s hard to explain to a bunch of three-year-olds why daddy isn’t there to give hugs and kisses at bedtime. But the overtime is nice. In the long run they’ll remember their nightly shoulder rides and not the few nights daddy wasn’t around to give them. (How else would you bribe four three-year-olds to go to bed? In our house if you go upstairs and sit on your bed, then daddy gives you a quick shoulder ride through the hallway. What will we do when they’re too heavy for daddy’s shoulders?)

Sunday Suppers will return next week. I just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who are faithful readers and let you know I’m not slacking. I just needed a day to regroup. Enjoy your weekend!