Only one day late.

It's the 5th, so I'm only one day late right? Okay, one month and one day late!! Here are some pics of our Fourth of July celebration.

We started off at the park by the lake early in the evening. A photographer from the local newspaper took our picture here too, but it never got published. :(

Emily

Brenna
Carter
Drew had fun on the merry-go-round, and I LOVE this picture!
Future firefighter
Showing off their patriotic attire

Drew - tired and ready for fireworks!

God Bless America!

We Won!!!!

I can't believe it!!! We won the stroller I posted about a week ago! Scroll down and you'll see the picture we entered for the contest at http://www.triple-take.blogspot.com/ . If you follow the link to Stefanie's (the contest hostess) blog, you'll see the Chicco Trevi Twin Stroller Extreme. Nice, right?

Thank you so much Stefanie! It seems the contest didn't end up playing out the way originally planned; there wasn't a vote, but a random drawing instead. And we really appreciate being able to participate!!

Can't wait to try it out!!!

July 25th, 1978

It's the 30th birthday of the world's first baby conceived by in vitro fertilization, Louise Brown, born in Oldham, England (1978).
Her parents had been trying to conceive for nine years. A doctor told Lesley Brown, the future mother of Louise, that she had a blocked fallopian tube and referred her to Dr. Patrick Steptoe, who had been conducting research on fertilization for many years. The Browns decided that they would have Dr. Steptoe harvest an egg from Lesley's ovary, which would then be fertilized with her husband's sperm in a laboratory. Dr. Edwards would perform this fertilization in vitro (from Latin, literally "in glass" — coined in reference to the test tube in which experiments were performed). A few days later, Dr. Steptoe would transfer the newly formed embryo back into the uterus of Lesley Brown.
The research leading up to successful human in vitro fertilization spanned many decades. In the late 1800s, a research doctor had extracted embryos from an Angora rabbit and placed them in the uterus of an already pregnant Belgian rabbit. The litter this pregnant Belgian rabbit produced consisted of four Belgians and two Angoras. Through this, the doctor proved that it was possible to take embryos at a certain early stage and put them into a gestational carrier — in other words, a biological surrogate mother — and that these transplanted embryos would develop normally.
Scientists began to study eggs and embryos widely in the laboratory. It took researchers two years to figure out correctly the timing of human egg maturation.
In 1959, Dr. M.C. Chang, a reproductive biologist, performed an in vitro fertilization that resulted in the first successful live birth. He took eggs from a black rabbit, fertilized them in the lab with sperm from another black rabbit, and transferred the resulting embryos to a white rabbit, which gave birth to a litter of young black rabbits. His experiment formed the basis for the first successful human in vitro fertilization.
The procedure done by Dr. Steptoe and Dr. Edwards was successful. Louise Brown was delivered on this day in 1978 at 11:47 p.m. by Caesarean section. She weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces. When she was four years old, her parents told her about the manner of her conception and showed her the famous video of her birth.
She has a younger sister, also conceived by IVF. In December of 2006, Louise Brown gave birth to a son, conceived without any fertility treatment. For many years she earned a living taking care of children at a nursery. Today, she is a postal worker near Bristol, a job that leads to puns about "deliveries," according to sources. Today, there are over a million children that have been conceived by in vitro fertilization, and the birth rate of IVF conceptions is now near 1 percent.

Thank you Drs. Chang and Steptoe for leading the way, and to our IVF doctors at DVIF&G for making our baby dreams possible!!!!!

Trying to Win a Stroller!!!

Stefanie at http://www.triple-take.blogspot.com/ is having a photo contest for a Chicco Double Stroller. It's the new model and it looks awesome!!!





I have to submit a picture for the contest using at least one kid (no problem!) and the word Chicco somehow in the picture.





Well, it just so happens we have a Chicco single stroller, so I took this pic of all the babies trying to get a ride! It says Chicco on the seatbelt strap, but it's hard to see.

"Is it my turn now, Mommy?"

Wish us luck!!

There's going to be a vote for the winner, so I'll let you know if we make the final cut!

Road Trip to Maine

*****WARNING - There are ALOT of pictures!!!!*****

Here we are at our first official pitstop in at a Connecticut rest stop/gas station. The grassy area was right near in front of the parking spots and we just set up all our stuff and took a break!

Our first unofficial stop was way back in NJ, when Carter threw up about 20 minutes into the trip and needed to be changed!!!!

Brenna and Carter didn't want to keep these hats on, but I got the pic!
So proud - Brenna is walking with the walker now!

We found out Carter is very allergic to EGGS at out Father's Day picnic. Poor guy. Benadryl cleared it right up!

We're starting to see Emily's smile more often!

Who had more fun with sparklers, Meme or Drew??

Unlike the unity candle on our wedding day (ah, memories) these lit up easily! :)



Ready for our road trip to Camden. Hey wait, FOUR babies!?!?!!

That's our cousin Sierra (on the left)!!!!!!!!

Stopping to see the beach in Belfast
Skipping rocks with Pepe



Maine lobster

The weather wasn't quite hot enough to really want to get in the pool. 75 degrees was enough to get Drew and Meme in. And Brenna and Carter took a quick dip too.




Hanging out at the house

Trying to get some of Meme's snack :)





Sierra, Sierra, Sierra!!! We're so happy to finally meet you in person!!

We took Drew over to the park where I took him when we visited two years ago.

Unity Pond

Helping Meme with the laundry

On the way home - we stopped at an IHOP in Mass. (where we bumped into a mom with 8 year gbb triplets!!!) and took a long break.

It was a long trip, but the kiddos were really very good considering. Did I mention that Drew threw up once too, and Carter threw up twice on the way home? Ugggh.

Other than that, they travelled well and we made it home safe and sound. And very tired.

Love you Meme and Pepe, and Aunt Nicole, Uncle Joe and Sierra!

Now please move back to NJ!!!!! ;)

Independence Day

Well, yesterday was the fourth of July, and we were "freed" from CHOP yesterday morning. Emily is doing well and we are both very happy to be home with the family. Thank you for all of your comments, good wishes, happy thoughts, and prayers. It really means so much to me!

We took everyone out to the park for the festivities yesterday evening. Then we came home to put the babies to bed, and Drew and I went back out to see the fireworks!

Pictures coming soon . . .

Still at the Hospital

I thought for sure we'd be heading home Monday. Then I thought the same thing on Tuesday, and Wednesday, you get the picture.

So, it is Thursday night and until an hour ago (it is 10pm), I actually thought we might be able to go home tonight. That's not the case.

She has been doing great with her oxygen levels, but started having drops in her heart rate either Monday or Tuesday (the days are blending together). The doctors weren't sure why and wanted to consult with neurology to rule out seizures as a cause, and also to consult endocrinology to rule out a hormone issue.

So we had a long EEG today - no heart rate drops have been observed.
Then endocrine came and they don't think it's hormone related.

BUT -

yesterday they started checking her blood sugars and twice they were very low. So then they were concerned about that. She had to skip a feed this afternoon, so they could do hourly blood sugar draws. And they put some cotton balls in her diaper to do some kind of urine test.

Well, her sugars were all OK, and here we still sit with the cotton balls still in her diaper (because "they need to be good and wet")!

We just can't get out of this place!!!!!! We'd better be leaving tomorrow. I've had enough.

PICU Update

Emily spent just under 24 hours on the ventilator. Around noon on Saturday they had lowered her pain meds so that she would be awake enough to do the extubation. She did great after the tube came out!!! She was breathing fine on her own and has been ever since!

Her g-tube site looks great too. She started getting fed through her new tube last night, just pedialyte, and this morning they started her on her formula. She is tolerating it very well so far, although she is only getting a teensy bit continuously. So we just need to give it some time and see how she does as we increase her feeds until they are back to normal.

She had a good night last night, and they will probably be moving her back down to the post-surgery floor later today.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and keep them coming! :)

Surgery Day

Right now, Emily and I are back at CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia). She had her
g - tube (gastrostomy tube) placed this morning through laproscopic surgery. The general surgeon was able to complete the surgery today after the doctors from Interventional Radiology were unable to finish the first attempt at placing the tube earlier this month. Her colon was in the way that time, but this time, the doctor was able to manipulate and move the organs to get the correct placement.

And during the surgery, they removed the nasty little ng tube from her nose!!!! Wahooooo, her face is free and clear of tubes and tape! She won't need to wear a sock on her hand anymore either. She can touch and rub her face as much as she wants now that I don't need to worry about her pulling the tube out!

The surgery involved making three incisions, one on her right, one through her belly button, and one on the left where the mickey button was placed. This type of gtube is more of a button/valve rather than a tube hanging out of her belly. The incisions are minor and the mickey itself is only maybe 2 inches long or so, so not too big.

She has been in pain and she's been having some trouble keeping her sats up. When she tries to move her legs, she's in pain from her tummy muscles being cut and she gets so upset, she holds her breath! So we've had to keep the oxygen mask nearby and have had to use it quite a few times. But she is getting pain medication as well, so she is mostly comfortable, except when she moves too much.

We are now on the surgery floor where we will stay until Sunday it seems.
Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts for Little Miss Em - who once again is our little trooper!

Surgery day Update

After I typed the first part of this update, Emily started having the desat episodes (difficulty breathing) more frequently, and not just when she seemed to be in pain. Her nurse, Shawn, noted that she was having stridor (noisy breath sounds) and her breathing seemed labored. He put a call in to the ICU because he felt like she needed to be more closely monitored. I was reading on the couch and was popping up and down every 5 minutes or so to put the oxygen mask up to her face to bring her sats back up. Her numbers would drop in to the 70s or even 60s (They should be in the 90s and ideally at 100%) but would come back up with the mask.

Then, it happened again, but this time as I held the mask, her numbers just kept dropping, her color started to change, she was looking bluish, I called for Shawn who came running. Her numbers dropped even into the teens and he called for the "code". It seemed to take forever until others came into the room, and then in the next minute the room was filled with about 25 doctors, nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists, the crash cart, the respiratory team, and the social worker who stood with me the whole time talking to me and patting my back as I sobbed off to the side of Emily's bed. They told me she was crying, but I couldn't hear it. It certainly wasn't her normal cry, just a very weak one. I was told she would be going right up to the PICU, and within minutes they were giving her meds and using the oxygen mask and an oral airway device to keep her breathing.

When we got to the PICU, they made the decision to intubate her. They put a tube down her throat so the ventilator could breathe for her. Later I was told that they "think" the pain medicines she was given after the surgery, although she was given appropriate doses for her size, were possibly more than she could handle given her already complicated medical issues. So she will stay on the vent overnight and they will try to wean her pain meds and oxygen levels so that she can come off of it tomorrow morning.

Please continue to pray for our little girl.

Having a bad day?

Then watch this video - you'll be glad you did!
(Just ignore me and my friend talking in the background!)

Also - I tried to shorten the video and put the edited version on the blog, but it has the whole thing on there - (she stops smiling after about 40 seconds or so)

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a Million!!

We're not sure why she's smiling so much (it wasn't really in response to anything we did) - but we don't care. I'm just so happy I got it on film!!!