Monday, November 24, 2008

No Words

This is by far the hardest post I have had to make since starting on this journey, and I struggle to find the right things to say. We have prepared for ups and downs, hard times and fun times, but today is not a day you can prepare for. We had our weekly sono, which we thought was just a routine visit to check on the babies and measure the cervix in hopes of going home. What they found instead is that Cody no longer has a heart beat. The doctors are not 100% sure what caused this sudden change but believe it was due to some changes in how the blood and other nutrients were being sent between the identical boys. At this point we need a miracle for Logan to hang on as he is already showing signs of heart failure, somewhat common when something happens to one of an identical pair. Please pray for our babies and for Amy-Jo, the coming weeks will be difficult and we need all the help we can get. And please help us morn the loss of our son, Cody Richard Sather.

PS - We did come home today just in case anyone is looking for us.

Cody Richard Sather

Monday, November 17, 2008

Moving on Up

****For those who that have asked we are at Presby Dallas room 462****

Well we had our doctors appointment this morning to take a look at the now infamous cervix. The results were good, not great, but an improvement over Thursday. She went from .9 cm to 2.1 cm, the result was a minimum of one more week in the hospital. We could very well be here for the long haul, but there is still a possibility of going home for a week or two. Truth be told I like AJ being in the hospital so when I am gone I know she is getting taken care of. AJ has other thoughts on the subject, and as you could guess they differ from mine (who could blame her).

On the plus side we were upgraded to the "Hilton" as the locals call it. Much bigger room with a couch instead of two uncomfortable chairs for me to sit on. Still no Hi Def but I am working on it, two months of no hi def this could get ugly. In the mean time I figure I have a couple months to try and pull an inside job and start selling carpet to the hospital. My plan is to start with the housekeeping crew and work my way up, I'll keep you posted.

The babies did look great in the sono today. They all seem to be growing fine and are pretty much unaffected by all the drama on the outside. Cody and Logan were facing each other and AJ is convinced they were cuddling, I let her know they are boys and they are most likely wrestling. Trust me Cody was head butting Logan, not going in for the smooch. We will try to have some pictures up in the next week or so, I will even try to get some of AJ. I will have to be quick and take them in the few moments she is allowed out of bed, but I will prevail.

Thank you to everyone who has called or emailed with your support. And thanks to those who were able to stop in and say hi and bring goodies for the mom to be.

Friday, November 14, 2008

4 babies, 0 jobs, 1 hospital stay

That's right we are that unemployed couple with 4 babies stuck in the hospital (Joe the plumber has nothing on us!), all we are missing is a Jeff Foxworthy CD. Just to clarify, AJ's last day of work was Thursday and I am starting my new job on Monday so I am not really unemployed, its just funnier if you say I am. And no worries we will not be without insurance either we are covered completely, actually due to the massive number of doctor visits this stay is on the house thanks to a low yearly maximum. Its kind of like a one star, all-inclusive resort vacation, do I know how to treat a lady or what.

Anyway, those who haven't found out as of yet Amy-Jo was admitted to the hospital on Thursday. She was having some pelvic pain and called the doctor who had us come right in. They found her cervix had went from doing great at 3.5 cm on Monday to doing very bad .95 cm on Thursday. For those who are not as familiar with the female anatomy as I have become, the cervix is the only thing holding the babies in. When you watch ER (for those under 25 asking what is this ER show use Grey's Anatomy) and they say she is dilating they are talking about the cervix. So this shrinking so early on is not good, not good at all.

The treatment for just such a problem is first and foremost immediate bed rest. I think if they would have had a bed in the doctors office they would have put her in it! Second they had to put a cerclage in. A cerclage is a stitch that goes around the cervix like a purse string and they tighten it to help keep the cervix closed. Too much info I know but if I don't say everyone will ask. She just got out of surgery and the doctor said she did great. I haven't seen her yet as she is still in recovery. She will be in the hospital until at least Monday when they will reevaluate the cervix and make one of two calls. 1) She can go home but is on a strict bed rest - this means no sitting, walking, etc. 2) She is on strict bed rest at the hospital. Obviously option 2 would be a worst case scenario. They would potentially have to keep her here until the babies come, which is still 2+ months away. The doctors seem pretty sure she can go home, but they are no where near guaranteeing this.

I will keep everyone posted through the weekend.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Today starts 18 weeks!

I cannot believe I am starting my eighteenth week. My morning sickness has decided to make a special appearance the past week, other than that I have been feeling great. Our doctor appointment today went well, all the babies are doing great. One of the boys measure 7oz (yes its seems weird do measure for weight but that is how it is done) and everyone else is at 8oz. They are all squished together other than Baby D who has the penthouse.

We had a wonderful shower this weekend and we were very spoiled by our friends. Thank you Tara for a fabulous shower and to everyone for all the gifts. We met with Casey on Friday, one of the quad moms we have gotten to know, and she brought over all kinds of goodies for the babies. They are going to look beautiful in all their clothes...thank you so very much!


I know many of you have been asking about names so here you go, and yes these have changed a little for those of you we had previously told...


Baby A - Logan Anderson

Baby B - Cody Richard

Baby C - Elizabeth Sage

Baby D - Madison Isabelle


Brandon put a lot of thought into this and he came up with a great idea. If you take the first letters of their first and middle names it spells out Miracles. It was much harder than we thought and some names we had previously wanted were not able to make it in there, but we are so excited for our little ones.


Here are some pictures from today:


Logan




Cody




Elizabeth




Madison



Monday, November 3, 2008

Baby Video Week 16

Ha Ha, Technology 1 Brandon 1.

Here is the video from the sonogram today. At one point you can see Baby B swinging his fist towards Baby A, I can see they are going to be trouble already!




16 week update

Okay lets start this thing off with a little bit of boring doctor stuff. AJ had 2 doctor appointments today (we see the perinatologist every week now) and everything went great. Her cervix looks great, which is the one thing the doctors are keeping an eye on. If the cervix starts to dilate its bed rest for AJ, so we need these reports to stay positive. We got another video today, my goal is to have the video on the site by Tuesday morning, no promises though.

Saturday we had an all day baby class. It covered CPR and some basic care type stuff. It was basically for me, having never changed a diaper AJ thought I could use a lesson or two. The best part of the day (and this is the best part of almost everyday) is announcing to the class we are having quads. The look on everyone's face is priceless, it never gets old seeing the shocked, jaw dropped look on a person's face. Its funny though, I think when you are a few weeks from being a parent of one like most of them were it can be a bit stressful thinking of whats to come then they realize it could be worse, they could be having four! Lucky for us we are used to the idea, and dare I say looking forward to it!

We have started to get asked if we have picked out names, the answer is yes and no. We do have a couple picked out and still debating on a couple others. Well momma wants to decide and sit on the names for awhile to be sure she still likes them. So maybe in a few weeks we will have an update on the names.

I will be starting a new job in about 2 weeks. I will basically be doing the same thing I am now except I will be working for a manufacturer instead of a dealer. It comes with a nice raise and some perks such as all my gas is covered. It will be nice to have the extra income with AJ set to quit work in a few weeks.

Here are some new belly pics of AJ. They were taken late on Sunday so no face shots this time, mom was a little camera shy. She has gained 13 pounds to date, the doctors are pleased with the weight gain which means I have been doing a good job as the Food Nazi.