Kali is far and away my pick for “most likely to get her own way”. She possesses the lethal persuasion combination of a 10/10 rated puss-in-boots face and a 10/10 rated ability to throw an international-crisis-level temper-tantrum. With her ability to attack from any angle at a moments notice she will undoubtedly be a handful.
Speaking of handful, it was surreal the first time I held Kali, because she literally fit into one of my hands. I am in awe of life because of the incredible intricacies of the human body and how they are replicated to scale in infants. I could hold her in one hand, but she already had perfectly crafted fingernails (on her pinky too!), footprints, eyebrows, a heart, lungs, intestines, and even a little itty-bitty tongue! Absolutely incredible.
Ok. Enough from me. Pictures!!!
Her parents are in a lot of trouble. How in the world can you to say no to that face?
Gotta love the hairdo.
Kali just a few days after birth. She weighed just over 2 pounds.
Gymnist? Power Lifter? The Female Thor? Only time will tell…
I’ll take what she’s having.
Please add whatever she’s having to my allergen list.
Seriously?! I didn’t even know my camera could contain that much cute.
Kangaroo time with mommy.
This beautiful scale goes to 11.
Cute bow, holding daddy’s finger, supper fussy face. Which one doesn’t belong?
Correct! The fussy face did not belong!
cutest. monkey. hat. ever.
Quick Kali Status Update: Little Kali is doing very well right now and continues to grow. Currently she’s up to about 2.5 pounds. Please pray she continues to tolerate her feedings so she can gain weight, and that her lungs continue to strengthen so they can function on their own.
Lillian Grace is one tough cookie. She has certainly had one of the more rough transitions to life outside of Mommy. This little love bug has faced breathing issues, a puncture in her lung, a brain bleed and an infection scare. But, she has conquered all of them! She is now leading the pack of ladies in growth and is one of the stronger breathers. You will notice below that she has fewer photos than the rest of the V-5. We did not want to bother her while she was healing, so we have some catching up to do now that she is well.
Little Lily has Daddy’s light hair, but Mommy’s nose. She is definitely a cutie like the rest! Our little Lily Bug is a great self-soother. Once you put on her little Lady Bug hat she is as happy as can be. She also cannot stand dirty diapers and she will let you know it. The minute she wets her drawers, she’s wailing. However, once you clean her up, she’s good to go.
If you click on an image, it will give you a full-screen slideshow of all the pictures.
Our little Lily Bug who closely resembles a Toadstool
Coming at Lily from above
Lily’s itty bitty hand holding Mommy’s
Lily is exercising her lil lungs
Lily & Mommy’a Snuggle Time
Lily is quietly performing her own extubation_bye bye tube
Lily is catching some rays
Lillian loves her binky
Snoozy lil’ Lily
We are so proud of Lillian and very thankful that God has granted her grace and has helped her to heal from her ailments. Please pray that His hand remains over Lillian and the rest of our Quints, so that they will continue to grow stronger and be able to return home together.
Big sister, Isabella Marie, is the oldest girl but one of the smallest at birth. She is our “I don’t do drama” queen. This blonde Bella has very keen senses of hearing and sight. When the others’ start sounding their alarms, or she has had enough photos for one day the little hands go up and shield her little eyes and ears. Bella also takes the cake (literally) as our best eater and grower. She is tolerating 6 times as much milk as her siblings. “Beautiful Marie” gets her looks from her Daddy with her light hair, long face and tendency to crinkle her forehead. We are excited to introduce you to our little Bella Bean.
If you click on an image, it will give you a full-screen slideshow of all the pictures.
Pretty in Pink
She’s the cat’s meow!
Snoozy Bella Kitten
One cool chica
She definitely gets her looks from her Daddy
Blonde Bella
This little one loves those fingers
She already has Daddy wrapped around her finger
Itsy Bitsy Izzy
Kangaroo Care with Mommy
Daddy loves his Bella
Not pictured above:
When Daddy gets the camera too close or her neighboring brother causes a racket, little Bella flashes her hands Vogue-style until peace resounds. Her little spirit finger-spread has caught on in this NICU pod as her signature move.
Our big sis also knows how to grab your attention. She’ll hold her breath just long enough to get mom or dad to pay her a visit and then rebounds back to healthy limits.
We are so thankful that Bella has been the most well of the bunch, evading spontaneous ruptures and breathing issues. Prayer requests for Isabella include her continued tolerance of her feedings, as well as, sustained growth and development.
Keep coming back to meet Lily, Kali and Ellie, too!
Theo is quite possibly, in our unbiased opinion, the cutest little infant baby-boy in the history of the world. It’s amazing how at just 31 weeks of age he is already showing quite a personality. It’s also amazing how much of a prototypical boy he can be at times. Here is a snapshot of sweet little Theodore Joseph who has more than stolen mommy and daddy’s hearts. (If you click on an image, it will give you a full-screen slideshow of all the pictures).
Theo does quite the Gerber Baby impression.
Eating while sleeping. Typical boy.
He does several impressions, but Michael Jackson is his best.
Ouch. Theo. For the last time. That’s not a chicken finger.
A preview of Theo on a school-day morning 15 years from now.
He claimed this was his Scarface impression. Clearly he’s pooping.
His cool dude phase. It took a day or so, but we talked him out of a harley and a tattoo.
His Theo Epstien impression.
He’s Howie Mandel-ish about his foot.
Another prievew of school-day mornings to come.
Theo loves Theo time.
He also enjoys traveling the world.
And getting his Sunday morning praise on.
All in all, Theo is quite a happy little guy.
Not pictured above:
In an unprecedented incident, during the night, Theo escaped out of his little bed, pulled himself across his isolette, and positioned himself right in front of one of the entry portholes. Apparently, he thinks he’s ready to go home
We were photographing Theo and he felt the session was running a bit long. We kid you not, he looked right into the camera, conjured up an epic scowl for his little face, and then flipped us the bird. The picture was too obscene for this blog, but it was all captured in high-definition. We’re quite positive it will resurface in the years to come, accompanied by much laughter.
When Dad finally decided to jump in for one of Theo’s diaper changings, Theo made sure it was an unforgettable experience – if you catch our drift, literally Welcome to fatherhood!
We hope you have enjoyed the pics and stories of our precious little Theo.
Please pray for his continued health, well being, and many smiles and blessings to come.
Stay tuned for photo galleries of all Theo’s little sisters!
Over the next week, we will be starting a “Meet the Quints” series on our blog! Each post will feature one of our little cuties with lots of pictures and commentary. As we referenced in our previous somber-toned post The Quint’s First Two Weeks there have been many moments of pure joy in addition to the bumps in the road we’ve experienced thus far. These upcoming posts are our chance to share those joyful moments with you!
One last thing to prep you for the next five posts. The V5 are collectively in the best health they have been since birth. Still, they are hooked up to all kinds of Medical Miracle Machines (technical term) that are helping them to develop and grow into normal healthy babies. To help quell any concerns about their condition when we post wire-laden photos, below is a brief visual introduction into the anatomy of a typical NICU infant. Mr. Theodore Joseph has been selected to help enlighten you on the purpose of the lines and tubes you’ll see in the upcoming week’s pictures:
Anatomy of a NICU Baby, featuring Theodore Joseph
A: Free Baby Oxygen Bar/Spa Treatment – AKA: Nasal Cannula used to provide a variety of respiratory therapies
B: Hands-Free Food and Beverage Dispenser – AKA: Oral-Gastric (OG) tube used to provide breast milk and to check their bellies for residuals from prior feedings. It also can help to remove excess air from their tummies.
C: Personal Fitness Monitors (e.g. Nike+) – AKA: All of these wires are leads which are connected to a monitor which help to assess heart and respiratory rates.
D: Remote Thermostat Adjuster – AKA: The wire tucked under the heart sticker is a temperature probe which helps to identify the baby’s temperature and keep it in an ideal range.
E: Belly-Button Jewelry Clip – AKA: this is a clamp placed on the umbilical cords and is later removed.
F: Oxygen Bar/Spa Treatment Membership Card – AKA: This is a pulse oximeter which is used to assess and monitor the baby’s oxygen saturation.
I believe further explanation of how we went from “status quo” to “the babies will be delivered within the next 45 minutes” is warranted. I was settling in for a day’s work on the morning of July 31st, when I felt like I wet my pants. Now to be honest, I just assumed little Theo was going to be controlling my bladder for the day. But, upon further investigation, I realized he had popped his little sac and I had “broken my water.” I called my doctor’s office, but since they were closed it directed my call to the physician on-call, which just so happened to be Dr. Elliott’s “bat phone.” I felt awful for bothering him on vacation, but he didn’t mind one bit. He encouraged me to pack a bag and head to Ob triage (the moms’ ER).
We arrived at the hospital and were quickly shuffled in for an assessment. They tested the fluid and confirmed that indeed it was amniotic fluid. Then, they discontinued my nifedipine (calcium-channel blocker), gave me a steroid shot (Betamethasone) to enhance fetal lung development, and started me on 3g of Magnesium sulfate. I was then whisked away to ultrasound to confirm the culprit. It was indeed little Theo (baby A) whose deepest vertical pocket went from around 5cm to about 1.6 cm, which indicated that he only had about 1.6 cm of fluid surrounding his little body in his sac. His head was now so low in my pelvis he appeared as though his little body stopped at his neck.
The nurses assured me that once my contractions stopped, it was entirely possible I could remain pregnant for several weeks. This amazed me but they said it happens all of the time. Unfortunately, this scenario is only true if 1) your contractions do stop, 2) you tolerate the medicinal anti-contraction regimen and 3) you do not develop an infection. My contractions did stop, thanks to the “mag.” But, it was clear after 24h on the magnesium sulfate that I was not tolerating it, and my lungs began to fill with fluid.
Magnesium sulfate is used for contraction management. It is thought to affect calcium channels to slow uterine contractions. Typical side-effects include water retention, muscle weakness, sweating/flushing, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and blurry vision. For most, these symptoms are tolerable and some mom’s of multiples can again remain on magnesium sulfate for several weeks, in order to prolong their gestation. Unfortunately, I hit the jackpot and experienced all of the symptoms noted above.
My body was only able to combat these side effects for about 3 days. I was placed on b-pap to increase my oxygen saturation and Lasix to try and rid my body and lungs of the extra fluid. On the morning of August 3, I was moved back to labor and delivery due to my pending diagnosis of pneumonia. When I spiked a fever and my white blood cell count shot up, we knew today was the day. It was then that we got the news that we would get to meet the quints within the next few hours.
They informed us that Dr. Elliott was speeding to the hospital, on his way back from vacation, and we were going to try and wait for him to arrive around 4pm. But, when he heard that I had a fever, he gave the go ahead to deliver in his absence.
A moment to smile before delivery.
Thus, they unraveled the most well-orchestrated delivery I have every heard of. With over 20 people in the delivery room (6 teams: one for me and one for each baby), they delivered the quints in about 3 minutes. The entire “operation” took about 45 minutes. I vaguely remember these moments, but Frank was right by my side to catalog it all.
Following delivery, Frank headed to the quints’ recovery room. By the time I arrived, all were gone and up to the NICU. My mom awaited me in the recovery room, and was over-joyed to see me safe and sound. I, unfortunately, could not see our little angels until my fever subsided and my breathing had stabilized.
Frank is ready to be a Daddy!
Dr. Elliott arrived and it was clear he was upset that he could not deliver our babies, but we truly respected his decision. He shared with Frank that sometimes as a physician you have to make a decision with your head and not your heart. If we had waited even a moment longer my infection may have complicated the babies course.
Those 48 hours preceding the birth of our babies, were some of the worst of my life. But, I know that without that treatment regimen, our 5 little miracles would not have passed the “steroid efficacy window” and may have been at an even greater risk for serious complications.
Our heartfelt thanks goes out to Dr. Elliott and the teams at Banner Desert for their superb, patient-centered care, compassion and wisdom. For I know that if we were anywhere else, the circumstances and outcome may have been very different.
We have much more to share with everyone and are working on getting some fantastic pics of the quints, so look forward to some more baby updates in the near future!
It is our pleasure to announce that on the 3rd day of August, 2013, between the hours of 1:48 and 1:50pm, five beautiful new baby Vanderwalls came into the world. That’s right, it’s time to introduce you all to the V5!
First, is big brother Theodore Joseph – he was the first one out of the womb at 1:48 pm, weighing 2lb 14oz and measuring 14.5″. Upon being told by the nurse that he was the only boy, and had a life with four sisters to look forward to, he literally began screaming and kicking. It had everyone in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) laughing. I think he’s going to be a performer. I mean look at his picture, he’s already showing off his first public magic trick – making his feet glow.
Second out of the womb at 1:49pm, was 2lb 7oz Isabella Marie, also measuring 14.5″. Sporting a full head of hair at only 29 weeks, like her brother Theo, she was our first precious daughter to take a breath of real air. Already living up to the meaning of her name “Bella,” she is incredibly beautiful. We’ve requested she be kept away from any other boys in the NICU. I already caught one of the other premie boys eyeing her up on the way in 😉
Born at the same time as Bella, 2lb 11oz, 14.6″ Lillian Grace entered the world with her mouth wide open. She let out a cute little scream then was whisked off to the NICU to join her brother and sister. Adorned in her little stitched hat, she’s certainly making a good case to be daddy’s favorite little girl. Unfortunately for her, this daddy is going to have four favorite little girls, not just one. Let’s not tell her just yet, though 😉 She seems to really be enjoying her self-proclaimed title.
One minute later, at 1:50pm, our third little girl, 2lb 5oz, 13″ Kali Mae, joined her siblings. Kali, who you’ll see already has a striking resemblance to her very handsome father, was a kicker and a screamer from the get-go; further establishing the aforementioned resemblance to her father.
And last, but certainly not least, at 1:50pm Elliot Rose completed the V5’s arrival into the world. 2lb 6oz, 14.5″ Ellie was our little fighter, overcoming a couple weeks of very scary distress in the womb. She proved her tenacity once she exited as well. All of our little blessings performed admirably throughout their first day in the NICU, but it was Ellie who received the highest remarks, breathing all on her own with the least assistance from the NICU staff.
I am also happy to announce that after a medically difficult 12 hours, following delivery, Cassie has turned the corner and is back on track for a swift, full recovery. She made it up the NICU today (Aug 4) and FINALLY got to see our babies for the first time!
Thank you for all of your continued prayers, hugs, kisses, and well-wishes. We are humbled and most thankful for everyone’s support. Stay tuned for more updates.
Friday we surpassed yet another milestone! The babies have been cooking for 7 months, which means we are now above the average gestational age for quintuplets. All of the babies were measured on Friday and they are all measuring within a day or two of the recommended size for babies at this point in pregnancy.
The picture below is a cool diagram that my sonographer drafted for us, which depicts where each of the babies are located in my belly, along with their current weights and percentiles.
The weight of each baby is estimated based on the length of the baby’s humerus (bone in upper arm) and femur (bone in upper leg), the circumference of their abdomen and their head circumference.
Baby B’s Abdomen and Kidneys
The biggest one in the bunch is Baby B at 2lbs and 12oz at the 62nd percentile. Little Elle Rose (Baby E) is the munchkin, but not by much as baby D and Theo (baby A) are also the same weight (2 ½ lbs) but just a bit longer. At this rate, when the baby’s are measured again at 32 weeks they will be about 1lb heavier each. Let’s just hope this Mama can keep up!
Baby C’s BrainTheo’s Heart
All of their organs (kidneys, bladders, hearts, brains, stomachs) look great and are also appropriate sizes. The blood flow to Elle has improved and has stabilized. All heart rates remain within normal limits, and are often on the higher side, which is probably because they just can’t sit still. We are truly excited to meet our little wiggle worms!
Baby DElle Rose
I am also doing well. It seems I am stretching by the day, but my body is adapting. Pregnancy is definitely a physical challenge, but the emotional, mental and spiritual journey that accompanies gestation is truly a blessing!
The quint’s domain is nearing completion thanks to Frank and our invaluable friends! This past week Frank coordinated the rearranging of an abundance of furniture, cleaning of closets, and construction of all of the baby furniture and shelving!
I cannot thank Jake, Bethany, Sean, Jenny, Liz, Brad, Ryan, Hayley, Sam, Angela, Sunghee and Jo enough for their generosity. We have been so blessed by their friendship and support since day one. I can’t explain the peace that it brings me to know that our babies will have a place to lay their little heads when they arrive back in Madison. Thank you!
Here are some more snapshots of the action!
Sam cleaning out the closetLiz reconstructing our guest roomOur reconstructed office in the basement!Sam, Ryan & Jo building a cribThe new cribs constructed by Frank, Sam, Jake, Ryan and Jo!Hayley cooking up a storm for our hungry helpers!
These shelves were built in mere moments as Sean moved about like The Flash
With about 9 weeks to go, Frank and I have decided to let the names be known!
Our little boy, previously known as “Baby A” will be Theodore Joseph. Both, Frank and I, believe that Theodore is a strong name, and acknowledge many Ted’s, Teddy’s and Theo’s who have made their marks on history. Also, I came to find out that Theodore is also a family name. Joseph is also a very significant name in the Turzy family and has been passed down for four generations. It is my dad’s middle name and my brother’s first name; two men who I am proud to name my son after. The meaning of his name is: God’s Gift (Theodore) and “He will add” (Joseph). There is no doubt that this little guy is a gift from God who will hopefully continue to add to history as his Theodore forefathers.
We are unable to assign names to our little girls (Babies B-E) since upon delivery the docs simply grab whoever is next in line and we won’t be able to tell who was who. So, we have preferenced the names:
The first girl will be Isabella Marie, which means “Devoted to God” (Isabella) and “Wished for child” (Marie). Marie was also the name of my Grandma on dad’s side. Baby Bella has definitely been a wished for child who we devote to God.
The second girl will be Lillian Grace,which means, “Pure” (Lillian) and “Grace” after the mercy God has shown us in this process. She will be a reminder that each day can be a new day. I also found out that I had an Aunt Lillian who was married to my Uncle Ted.
The third girl will be Kali Mae, which we will pronounce like Kaylee, also means “Pure.” Mae is my middle name, as well as, my great Polish Grandmother’s name. Mae is a derivative of Marie and thus also means, “Wished for Child.”
The fourth girl will be Elliott Rose, which means, “Jehovah is God” (Elliott) and “Flower” (Rose). We chose Elliott after our current doctor, who has been so understanding, compassionate and supportive in this process. We found out after sharing this news that I also have a Great Aunt Rose, the sister of my Grandma Marie. Little Elle Rose will be a reminder that the Lord is God and He deserves the glory for leading us through these testing times to a beautiful testimony.
Naming these little miracles makes this experience all-the-more real. Also, I loved learning what each of the names meant and about our family history after we had unknowingly chose the names. It is even more evidence for me that God’s fingerprints are all over this story.
Bump 2 Bab[y]ies 