Tag: motherhood

The V-5 are 2 months old!

Published on by onesource4wellness5 Comments

The V-5 are 2 months old today!

At these monthly milestones, I look back and truly cannot believe all that we have experienced in the last 2 months. It seems like just yesterday that I was trying to figure out how to change the diaper of a 2lb baby in an isolette without lifting them, while being blinded by their “bili light.” Today, I can walk right up to their crib, move a few cords, and lift them up to comfort them. I am eager for the day for them to come home where we can snuggle gown, glove and cord free!

It is also amazing to watch them grow and develop. We knew at birth that they had defining characteristics, but with each day they look more and more different. We thought we would share this growth one-by-one.

Big Brother Theo

TheoSmileyFrog

Theodore Joseph
Theodore Joseph
Theo keepin' it real
Theo keepin’ it real

Theo celebrated his 2-month birthday with a celebratory surgery. He had his reanastomosis today where they reconnected his ileum, or the lowest portion of his small intestine. His surgery went very well and they are planning to extubate him in the next 24 hours. He had his spontaneous bowel perforation on day 3 of life, so we were very happy to say goodbye to the smelly ostomy bags today. Now, at 6lbs and 7oz this little boy is a fantastic eater and we have no doubt that once he is recovered from his procedure he is in the running to be the first or second one home.

Big Sister Bella

Isabella2

Isabella Marie
Isabella Marie
Kung-Fu Bella
Kung-Fu Bella

Isabella has been our rock with no significant issues from day one. She has become the sleepy one of the bunch, nicknamed Sleeping Bella, aka Sleeping Beauty, and has maintained her quiet personality. She is learning how to eat by mouth and is a champ when it comes to taking a bottle. Breastfeeding is not her forte partially because she’s a biter- not fun. This little beauty is now weighing in at 5lbs and 14oz and leads the girlies in size. A few of the nurses bet that she will be the first one home.

Ms. Lillian Grace

Lillian1

Lillian Grace
Lillian Grace
Lily's Trademark Smirk
Lily’s Trademark Smirk

Little Lily continues to amaze us with her resiliency. We have had many scares following her grade 2 IVH with surrounding PVL, but she has showed no signs that this is hindering her development. She is one of the stronger eaters in the bunch and her growth has also been stable. She now weighs 5lbs and 13oz.

Kali-Mae

Kali

Kali Mae
Kali Mae
Kali's impression of Derek Zoolander
Kali’s impression of Derek Zoolander

This little monkey maintains her feisty personality. She has been struggling with GER the last several weeks, and is now on a formula for spit-ups. It was quite difficult to see this happen, since breast milk has so many benefits. But, when I see how much better she feels and looks, I know it was the right choice. We are hoping that she will quickly grow out of it and be back on mommy’s milk soon. Kali is on the smaller size, but is holding her own with the other ladies in the room at 5lbs and 12 oz.

Baby Ellie

Elliott2

Elliott Rose
Elliott Rose
Our little Peanut
Our little Peanut

Our little Princess Ellie also celebrated her 2-month birthday with a reanastamosis. She had her jejunum reconnected and was able to be extubated today. It was wonderful to see her breathing on her own and even smiling after they removed the tube. She truly is a tough cookie. Her tolerance for pain and her ability to self-soothe are amazing. We have no doubt that this was only a speed bump on her journey home. She is our little peanut at 5lbs and 7oz, but keeps pace with Theo in the eating department and definitely may beat the other girls home.

We are so grateful for the continued well wishes and prayers for the V-5. Hopefully, in another month we will be snapping these photos from the comfort of our own home!

Bon Voyage!

Published on by onesource4wellness5 Comments

Prop Plane

This has been the week of travel for the Vanderwall quints. Isabella and Elliott celebrated their 3 week birthday by departing for a Madison NICU.  Early Saturday morning, August 24, we packed up Bella and Ellie into a single isolette and began our transition. I joined the sisters, a nurse and a respiratory therapist for the trek on the medical transport prop plane.

Elliott & Bella are ready to head home
Elliott & Bella are ready to head home

It was an emotional 24 hours to say the least and got a good taste of what it may be like to go back to work and leave my little ones at home. I truly felt heartbroken to leave Lily, Kali and Theo for that day and a half. Tears flowed until we boarded the plane. I am happy to say that my heart perked right up when we landed near green grass and fresh water lakes. It also was such a blessing to see how excited Frank was to welcome our daughters home.

The girlies handled the flight and transition really well. Halfway through the flight Bella wet the bed through her diaper, living up to her latest nickname of “Bella Blowout,” and Ellie was not happy about it. For the remainder of the flight, Ellie proceeded to kick her sister to the side of the isolette. By the time we reached Wisconsin, Bella’s face was nearly plastered to the side of the chamber. Firsthand witness to sisterly love! Now settled into their new NICU home, they continue to advance in their feedings and are getting to be better breathers!

After a quick night in my own bed, I boarded a plane on Sunday morning to return to the remaining quints in Arizona. My Mama mission was and is to continue to urge the medical team towards quick, yet safe, transfers home.

Lily and Kali’s turn was early this morning. They have been ready to head home since yesterday morning but there wasn’t any room in the inn… or the new NICU.

Lily on her tummy ready to go see Daddy.
Lily on her tummy ready to go see Daddy.
Kali is bundled up and ready to go!
Kali is bundled up and ready to go!

So, we packaged these little ladies up this morning and watched as the ambulance drove away.

Loading up Kali & Lily

Again, tears flowed.  Although it truly is a bittersweet event and more of a “see you later” than a goodbye, I learned that a parent’s unconditional love does not make sense. There simply is no logic in my love for our children.

Lily and Kali also arrived safe and sound in Madison. They are now enjoying their new homes in a room right next door to their sisters. The nurses reported to me that the plane ride was uneventful, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

Now, all but one are only 20 minutes from their final destination- our home. Theo and I will remain in Arizona until he is also ready to get his wings. He is doing very well and has achieved 4lbs!

Clean baby Theo
Big Brother, Theo

He and I have already logged quite a few hours of Kangaroo care, which I believe has definitely helped his breathing to get stronger. It is amazing to watch how his vitals normalize as we snuggle together. It also helps me to continue to provide “liquid gold” for all of these hungry babies… as evidenced by the overflowing freezer dedicated to the V-5’s breakfast, lunch and dinner!

BM Freezer

So, that is the latest and greatest regarding the V-5. Prayers remain that all five and mommy and daddy will be reunited soon! Please join me in praying that we will all be back in Madison by Saturday to celebrate their 1 month birthday!

Baby Theo

Published on by onesource4wellness

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).

 

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!

The Story of Theo and the 4 Princesses

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BABY_C2

As I lay on the ultrasound table this afternoon I watched the story of Theo and the four princesses unfold.The sonographers took just over 30 minutes on each baby to specifically measure and examine:

  • The spine
  • The heart, including all 4 chambers, the aortic arch and the heart rate
  • The brain and specific parts including the cerebellum
  • Nuchal fold
  • Kidneys and the blood flow through the renal arteries
  • The umbilical cord and placenta
  • Fluid within each placenta
  • Boy and Girl parts
  • Head circumference
  • Facial features (eyes, nose, lips)
  • Both arms with open hands
  • Both legs and feet

As you can see it was truly a marathon of measurements. But, three hours later we now know that we have very healthy babies. Everyone’s organs look great at this point and have great blood flow. All of the nuchal folds were less than 6 mm, which means they are all at a very low risk for genetic disorders, including downs syndrome. Everyone has 10 fingers and 10 toes and the cutest little noses!  Also, all of the babies’ measurements are within normal limits. We have two babies at the 70th percentile, meaning they are measuring bigger than one baby would at this time. The remaining three babies are at the 30th percentile.

We also got confirmation that we will be having four girls and one little boy. We have decided to name our little guy Theodore Joseph, or Theo for short. He may eventually come to enjoy the name TJ, too!  As for our little ladies, we are still tossing names around but definitely have a few that we like.

I commend all of the sonographers for their work because we certainly have a bunch of wiggle worms. However, everyone did give us a beautiful profile shot and a quick glance at their faces.

Baby D
Baby D
Baby E
Baby E

Even little Theo decided to show us his face, which up until this point he would only reveal his boy parts.

BABY A

The only baby who stayed in the same position was baby E, who is at the very top. She may be quite the diver some day because she assumed the Pike position and didn’t switch. Baby C was tucked in a little ball and was quite the rascal. The rest were rolling about the entire time. I was happy to see everyone moving and grooving.  I wish I could share all of the images from today with you but unfortunately I got a faulty disc. All of the images within this post are from our 19-week ultrasound.

So, all in all we are doing very well! We are quickly approaching 22 weeks this Friday and then it’s just 3 more months to make it to our goal of 34 weeks!

Greetings from Arizona

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Superstition Mountain

All is well in Arizona!

21 weeks

Today we celebrate 21 weeks, which may have not been possible without this venture to the desert.

My mom came to visit this week and it has been amazing to have her here. She has cleaned, cooked, and cleaned some more. It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow, but I just have to remember that it’s really, see you later.

The home where I am staying is truly an oasis with a beautiful view from the patio.  Since there is not much to share in terms of updates, I thought I would share the scenery.

One tall cactus
One tall cactus
Cactus in front of Superstition Mountain
Cactus in front of Superstition Mountain

There is a lot more wildlife than I thought there would be. The birds are constantly chirping. I am greeted each morning by a pair of lovely doves. I even found a family of quail- mommy, daddy and several babies.  After meeting those little guys I was happy to see the vulture fly away. There are also the little lizards scampering to and fro and the coyote who takes his walk of shame down the road every morn.  I am truly surrounded by God’s handiwork, which is yet another blessing.

Mr. Morning Dove
Mr. Morning Dove

We will be having our 5-hour, 2nd trimester scan next week- woo hoo! I hear it’s a marathon with snack breaks and all! So, I will definintely have more to share about the V-5 next week. Stay tuned!

Hope in the Valley of the Sun

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4

This past Monday afternoon, Frank and I had our first 2nd trimester cervical screen where they measure the length of your cervix. I approached the appointment with minimal apprehension, assuming all would be well.

Our ultrasound technician surprised us with another peek at our little ones, and all was well. Everyone continues to have strong heart beats and are growing appropriately. They also have nestled into their locations, which makes identifying babies much easier for the trained eye. To me, it just looks like a big slumber party.

After we got to check-in on our little miracles they performed a trans-vaginal ultrasound to examine my cervix. The tech’s tone at this point completely changed. She measured it at least ten times and would not relay any information. Frank and I had no idea what was ahead, but we got a sense when we were walked down the hall to what was clearly a “bad news room” that that is what awaited us.

We just looked at each other as we waited for the doctor to come and see us, trying to figure out what was so wrong. When the doctor arrived he relayed that my cervix was 1.2 to 1.6cm in length, where ideally it would be greater than 3cm at 19 weeks into pregnancy, or at least 2.5cm. He then informed us that pre-term labor was inevitable within the next 3-4 weeks and there was nothing we could do about it.  I inquired about bed rest, medications, inversion and cerclage (the stitching of the cervix); he said there was nothing we could do to help, nothing. Then, the tears started to flow, and flow, and flow for the next 2 days… Until!

Until, I was praying on Wednesday morning asking for clarity and that my mind would quiet so, I could hear His still small voice granting me direction. The thought of simply being a ticking time bomb awaiting an ugly delivery was angering and fearful. Then, I remembered that His perfect love casts out all fear and that I needed to rely on His love which has been with us since day one of this journey. I calmed down and realized that we were not helpless, we definitely still had several choices.

I then hopped on Facebook and extended a question to my other momma’s of multiples and the answer was clear: We needed to switch doctors, get a cerclage and consider moving to Arizona. As scary as all of that may sound to someone who does not enjoy being away from her husband and family, traveling, or being awake during surgical procedures (aka me), I was at complete peace. I picked up the phone and called the best high order perinatalogist in the country.

He continued to build upon this renewed optimism, but also made it clear that time was our enemy and if we were going to save our pregnancy it needed to happen by Friday, or in 2 days. So, one door opened after another and I am now writing this post from a hospital bed in Mesa, Arizona awaiting my cerclage in 3 hours.

My devotional this morning read:

“8 By faith Abrahsunriseam, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country…11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise.” (Hebrews 11:8-9, 11)

I am certainly in a place that recognize as an inheritance from God. It is a promised land filled with proactive, compassionate physicians and kind, optimistic nurses. Though I am of childbearing age, I was enabled to bear children only by his grace. This assurance of faith and God’s love has certainly restored our hope here in the Valley of the Sun.

Woes and Wishes of the First Trimester

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The first trimester poses something new with each week. The two-week wait presents great anticipation of finding out whether you have been part of the miracle of conception, as well as, the opportunity to strengthen your patience. In week three and four you begin to realize that your body is certainly not your own. As your blood volume begins to increase your heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate all tend to also increase, which left me exhausted and out of breath. It is amazing how nature has a way of slowing down even the busiest of all the bees. Then, come the GI (gastrointestinal or belly) woes. Bloating, indigestion and the beloved “morning” sickness all of which can be attributed to the hormones that are bouncing around like Flubber. My biggest woe has certainly been “morning” sickness, which for me has been 24/7 nausea.  I am very grateful that everything has stayed down, because we know every nutrient counts. I’d love to take a moment to share my tried and true tips for nausea.

The Do’s and Do Not’s of Morning Sickness

  • Do take 60-100mg of extra vitamin B6 everyday.
  • Do get your hands on ginger chews and ginger tea.
  • Do have your own stash of seltzer water and salty snacks on your person at all times…in your purse, car, desk, bag and table next to your bed.
  • Do get fresh air. For me, there was nothing like taking a walk around the block.
  • Do try a cold cloth on your forehead and back of neck.
  • Do stay hydrated with ice cold water.
  • Do purchase Seabands…they rock.
  • Don’t eat really fatty or smelly foods. The high fat foods take a long time to digest which delay transit time. Smelly foods (spicy foods, fish, etc) can trigger the nausea center in your brain, which usually doesn’t end well.
  • Don’t become constipated. If you can help to keep that train running you will prevent the intestinal traffic jam that can cause a nasty back-up. Focus on whole grains and fruits and vegetables that you can tolerate.
  • Don’t eat foods that don’t sound good. Food aversions are odd to me. Foods you love can quickly become foods that you cannot even think twice about. Don’t force it, save them for later because this too shall pass.
  • Don’t wait until you are hungry to eat. Establish a meal pattern, such as every 2-3 hours. An empty stomach is not your friend.

Alright, thank you for entertaining my list. Hopefully, some of you find it helpful. Onto a few more woes and wishes. During week 8, my nausea began to subside, which was scary for me because up until that point that’s how I knew I was not alone. My greatest fear at this point remains miscarriage. So, I am highly cognoscente of my signs and symptoms. This fear only escalated during week 9, this is a warning that if you’re grossed out by lady talk skip on to the next paragraph.  During week 9, I started spotting. It is really frightening to bleed during pregnancy, because I immediately think Aunt Flow has come for a visit and she doesn’t visit pregnant folks. I called my docs and they assured me that as long as it is not accompanied by cramping or back pain and does not increase in flow that everything is alright. I’ve heard a variety of reasons for bleeding during pregnancy, including:

  • Implantation
  • Placenta Formation and Attachment
  • Blood clots created during placenta formation
  • Bursting of blood vessels
  • Uterine growth and contractions

My plan is to keep a close eye on things and make a follow-up to ensure that everything is alright, so please be praying for this.

My greatest wish at this point is to make it to 32-34 weeks miscarriage free because I know at that point my babies have the best chance of a handicap free life.  I also hope and pray that I can create the ideal environment in my belly for their growth and development.

All of these woes and wishes, hit me pretty hard on the way to work yesterday. Then, I was blessed by a song on the radio; “I need you now, how many times” by Plumb. Amazing song and exactly what I needed to hear.  I hope it inspires you, too!

Written by: Cassie Vanderwall

The Announcement…explained.

Published on by onesource4wellness

Sharing the news that you are going to have a baby is an exciting opportunity; sharing the news that you are going to have five babies is seriously five times as exciting! We decided to share this news with our family and very close friends the day of our first ultrasound. We sat in the car after that quintessential moment and contemplated how we would share with each individual. Everyone was as lost for words as we were, and their support was also breath-taking. Since that day, the thoughts, kind words, prayers and support and have not ceased to bless us. My dad even lit individual candles for our five miracles, and my mom texts 7 hugs to us every night!

Five heartfelt prayers for five little miracles
Five heartfelt prayers for five little miracles

We welcome the opportunity to share this news with the world yesterday. It was a difficult decision to share this so early in the pregnancy (8 weeks). But, with risks being so high we know we are going to need all the prayers we can get!

More to come on our first visit with the perinatalologists…