Fifteen days old

The seventh floor continuing care nursery (CCN) contains about thirty babies and is an extension of the third floor  intensive care nursery (ICN).  In the CCN, babies are placed 2, 3, or 4 to a room which provides a quieter setting for parents to get involved before taking them home.  Babies are still hooked to monitors but during their visits parents are expected to perform primary care under professional guidance.  Our quadruplets are eventually expected to fill the only room in the CCN that holds four babies.  Most hospitals have a NICU but not a CCN.

Alyssa will be the first to arrive which should be sometime today.
 

Seventeen days old

Emily and Nicholas have joined Alyssa in the CCN.  Christopher is left alone in the NICU until he can get off of his i.v.  Alyssa, Emily, and Nicholas now share a room with another baby which will eventually be displaced by Christopher.
 

Twenty one days old

Christopher, the big guy, skipped the CCN entirely.  This afternoon Christopher leap frogged his brother and sisters and was discharged from the NICU into our care.  Yesterday, mommy and daddy took the infant CPR class as part of the discharge ritual.
 

Twenty seven days old

Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy!  Happy Birthday Mommy!

It looks like the remaining three musketeers will be discharged within a few days (Sunday or Monday).  Emily and Nicholas are likely to go home with monitors to detect heart rate and breathing lapses.  Alyssa might, too.  Yesterday, daddy took the monitor class and mommy will take it today.  What a pain.  We're not fans of monitors.  Daddy spent last night "nesting" with Alyssa, Emily, and Nicholas.  Alyssa was awake and cranky most of the night.  Medication every eight hours, feedings every four hours, diaper changes more frequently than that with an occasional temperature reading.  Monitors were ringing off the hook due to fast heart rates and apnea episodes.  There was little sleep to be had by daddy.  It's mommy's turn to nest tonight.  What a nightmare.  I've heard from other quadruplet parents that they didn't know how they got through the first year.  Now, I understand what they meant.  Does anybody want to change careers? Nanny for hire -- all shifts!  If you know somebody who wants the job, let us know.  Seriously.
 

One month old

Nicholas, Emily, and Alyssa are still co-bedding down in the continuing care unit.  Circumstances at the hospital over the past few months have been known to twist sometimes on a daily basis.  That hasn't stopped.  Daddy donated blood a few days ago for Nicholas' blood transfusion.  It turns out that Emily also needs one but her blood type is incompatible with daddy's.  Nicholas and Emily are each receiving two blood transfusions today.  Their color has already turned pink and hopefully they will perk up a bit.  Alyssa will most likely be discharged tomorrow or Tuesday.  She will come home on a monitor just like Emily and Nicholas.  Alyssa is the only baby with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) which is a common problem with the blood vessels in the eye.  Many babies outgrow this condition while others require a corrective operation.  She will most likely have a follow up visit with the doctor in a few days.    Baby weights are as follows:
 

One month, two days old

Well, it's official.  Emily was discharged last night into our care.  She spent her first night with us while daddy was on night duty.  Daddy has turned into an octopus -- he simultaneously diapered, fed, burped and dispensed medicine to both Christopher and Emily.  What a comical sight.  Mommy performed most of Christopher's and Emily's primary care today while daddy worked from bed.  Must be nice to have a job where you can work from bed. ;-)

The doctors had previously speculated that all three CCN babies (Alyssa, Emily, and Nicholas) would be released by this past Sunday or Monday so we began making arrangements to fly home on Saturday, June 24.  Those arrangements were stifled today when one of the doctors announced that they would keep Nicholas into next week because Nicholas has continued to have about five apnea episodes per day.  His body is simply still too immature.  Flights and Pennsylvania pediatrician's appointments were canceled.  We are now speculating that we will fly home on July 1.  Who knows.  For now, we are stranded in Phoenix.
 

One month, four days old

And baby makes three.  Three babies: Christopher, Emily, and Alyssa, are now in our care.  We are now waiting for Nicholas to be discharged before we fly home.