I'm Home Still!

I am still home! Today was a day of celebration for me and a day of mourning for Mike. I didn’t have any changes at my doctor visit so they let me come home. Mike wanted me in the hospital so that he doesn’t have to worry about me. I really did not want to go in the hospital. I think I prayed harder!

We got some 4d pictures of the babies. They were VERY active and it was very hard to get pictures of them. We only have one picture of a face. The rest are of various body parts. The babies were so much bigger than last time. In the middle of my stomach there is a sea of hands and feet and they were all moving, trying to defend their space. Here is the weight chart for the babies. They are all right on track except for our baby girl. She is about a week behind the rest. She is baby C. Their estimated weights range from 1 lb 6 oz to 1 lb 2 oz.

For those of you who can't read the really small chart here is the most important stuff.

Average Ultrasound Age(AUA)= This is the age the are measuring.
Estimated Fetal Weight (EFW)= The babies estimated weight.

Baby A
AUA= 23 weeks 5 days
EFW= 1 lb 6 oz

Baby B
AUA= 23 weeks 6 days
EFW= 1 lb 6 oz

Baby C
AUA= 22 weeks 6 days
EFW= 1 lb 2 oz

Baby D
AUA= 23 weeks 5 days
EFW= 1 lb 5 oz





As for me I am doing great. On Friday my cervix was measuring 1.4-1.7 cm today it measured 1.8-1.9 cm. There isn’t any sign of thinning or opening. This is the main reason I was allowed to go home today. I don’t have any swelling, my blood pressure is still very low, my contractions are mild, and I didn’t have any complaints. Next week I will do the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) again. This will tell me whether I have gestational diabetes (GD) yet. They told me that I would most likely develop GD because of the 4 placentas.

This week I am measuring 34 weeks, last week I was 35 weeks. Mike asked the nurse why there was a change and she said it was most likely because Baby A had dropped so low and Baby C had moved lower as well. This just means I have more pressure on my pelvic area, mainly my bladder. AAAHHHHHHH!!! As if I don’t use the restroom enough already.

I have also been placed on weekly ultrasounds, OB visits, cervical length checks, and NST. NST stands for Fetal Non-Stress Test. Here is the definition I found on the internet:

The test involves attaching one belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes.

They measured my contractions today. I thought that I was having 1-2 contractions per hour but after measuring me they found that I was having 1 contraction every 8-9 minutes. The contractions were very mild (Braxton Hicks) so they weren’t too worried.

If anything changes I am supposed to go in immediately, no matter what time it is.


Mike update- He has a couple of new jobs. He is now the house maid and the waitress. I bet he never, ever thought he would hold those jobs or that he would be so good at them. He is doing a wonderful job. He really wants me in the hospital so that he doesn’t have to worry about me when he is at work. I will get there in due time. He is such a worrier. I feel very loved because he worries and cares so much.

Mike has also been thinking about names. He has come up with 5 that he thinks are really good. Here they are: Addison, Sheffield, Waveland, Clark, and Joseph. The first 4 are the streets that line Wrigley field and the last one is his fathers’ name. If only the world revolved around Mike and his Cubs.

Wrigley and Maddox both got hair cuts and are loving it because it has been so hot. They are still being very good “guard dogs”. They both take turns laying their heads on my belly. I don’t know if they can hear the babies or if they just think my big belly is a good head rest.


Thanks for keeping in touch! I love to read your comments, even if I don’t know who you are. It keeps me busy. Also, thank you for everyone that is praying. We are still holding strong!



Now for what all of you have been waiting for, if you didn't skip the reading. Here are the pictures. Good luck deciphering them. I will tell you what I can remember about each one.

BABY B
This is a picture of baby B’s bottom in the bottom left corner. He is sitting in the middle of my stomach all stretched out. His head is down and his legs are up trying to kick me in the ribs. You can see the leg it is bent. He has his back towards us and is hiding his head. You can see his back and his upper arm. Sorry I’m not too helpful or descriptive, my brain is fried.



BABY C
All I can say on this one is I think it is her arm. She was hiding and moving soooo much that the tech had a really hard time getting pictures of her. She is breech and stretched out along my whole right side. She is very cramped over there and is trying to fight for her space. We watched one the boys kick her and she punched him right back. She is going to be a tough cookie. She is also responsible for the constant (24/7) movement I feel. I don’t think she sleeps. My personal theory is that she moves so much that she can’t keep her weight up- that is why she is so small. Mike says that I just make stuff up.



BABY C
This is also our little girl. You can see her little hand right in the middle of the picture. The rest I can’t remember.




BABY A or D
I think this is Baby D but we can’t remember and it isn’t labeled for us. This is the only face picture we have of the four. Mike thinks that he looks like him.

Baby A is very, very low. He is ready to be born. I am sure he is going to have a cone head due to being squished in the birth canal so long. Baby D is the highest baby and is on my left side stretched out. His head is to the left and his feet are in the middle, kicking with everyone else.

Happy Anniversary!

I have been sleeping downstairs on an airbed that has a slow leak in it. I didn't mind because when the air leaked out the bed got squishier for me. It has been too hot to sleep in our upstairs bedroom. Our house doesn’t have air conditioning and the last 2 weeks it has been over 95 degrees. No one up here on the mountain has air conditioning, I guess because it is supposed to be cool. On Wednesday Mike and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We agreed to no presents and no cards. He broke the rule and bought a card and a present- a new airbed that doesn’t leak. It was very sweet of him and I love it. Since I cannot go shopping I decided I would try to put together a slideshow of the last 3 years for him.

Looking through our pictures I realized how blessed we have been. We have been able to go on a lot of vacations, we have enjoyed each other, we got to know each other, we visited families and friends, and really enjoyed ourselves and played. I am so thankful for the time we had together alone and that we could become even closer as friends, soul mates, and eternal companions. I am even more excited that we now get to do it all with a family. Even though things will be tough, I couldn't choose a better person standing by my side and holding my hand through it all.

I love you Mike and appreciate EVERYTHING that you do!

If you can't get the slideshow to play, click on view all images and see if that helps. I have worked on this for a week and am still trying to figure it out. I thought I was somewhat tech savvy but I guess not.

Scary Nights and Cubs Win

Thursday night I woke up at 2:00 am having contractions. It took me awhile to figure out what was going on because I was having a lot of back pain. I was concentrating on trying to get comfortable and wasn’t paying attention to the fact that every time I had a back spasm I also had a contraction. I finally figured it out and started to worry. The whole time this was going on the babies were having a party in my belly. They were so active. I knew that I probably wasn’t in real labor because they were so active. The next morning I called the doctors office and talked to a nurse. Dr. Oshiro was out of town for the day but she called him and he told me to come in and to be prepared to be admitted. I burst into tears. For those of you who know me, I do NOT cry. I am going to blame them on exhaustion and hormones.

They did a TVS ultrasound to check my cervical length. I started out at 4 cm and I am now 1.4 cm. I think that if my doctor had been in the office he would have admitted me. Dr. Block was on call and told me to go home and to stay in bed. He said that the hospital couldn’t do anything for me that I couldn’t do at home, except hook me up to more machines. If I have any more contractions he told me to come back.

Mike is waiting on me hand and foot and I am getting very good at being bossy. He’ll say that I was always bossy but he doesn’t know what he’s in for now. Last night was a much better night. No contractions. Hooray!

More good news- Kristen and Rori are coming to visit. Kristen is my good friend from Las Vegas and Rori is my baby sister. Also, the Cubs beat the White Sox (thats for Mike).

Italian By Marriage

Mike brought this Italian By Marriage T-Shirt so that he would feel better about our children being only 1/2 Italian. They will be the first non-purebred Italian DeMarias in his family line.

I went to see Dr. Oshiro today for my check-up. All is well! I am measuring 35 weeks and I am 22 and 1/2. WHEW! I knew that I felt big. He did the quick ultrasound to check heartrates and to make sure they were all kicking still.

Here are the babies heartrates-

Baby A (boy)- 146
Baby B (boy)- 154
Baby C (girl)- 154
Baby D (boy)- 146

Baby A and D are more on my left side and Baby B and C are on my right side. Dr. Oshiro said all four of the babies are towards my right side, which is probably why my back hurts only on my right side. I also feel the majority of movement on my right side or down the middle of my stomach. I was a little worried about not feeling movement on my left side but now I know why.

I lost 3 pounds this week. I think its because I haven't been able to eat much. My stomach is soooooooo squished and gets full really quickly. All day long I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving Dinner. My weight gain has been great so far so the doctor is not worried yet.

Let's see, what else can I remember . . . . . I am learning that with my figure going out the window my brain is also. I misplace things, forget things, hide things, and forget some more. Mike has been very patient with me. Yesterday I misplaced a gift card to WalMart that had a lot of money on it. I returned some curtains and they put the money on the gift card. I of course put the gift card in a "safe place". HAH! I looked in the safe place and couldn't find it. Mike later found it.

Anyway back to the doctor. Next week, at my ultrasound, they will check my cervix and if it has shortened at all he will put me in the hospital. He told me to have my suitcase packed. Yikes! Boredom and bad food. The hospital is a vegetarian hospital. They serve meat to the "inmates" but I bet it isn't that good.

I have been having contractions for about 5 weeks but they have been very irregular and I don't have any pelvic pressure, so I don't need to be too worried. My blood pressure is excellent (thank you mom) and I will have another glucose tolerance test week 24.

That was pretty much the visit and then I opened my big mouth. I said, "So, no real restrictions yet?" Dr. Oshiro looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You are 22 1/2 weeks pregnant with quadruplets. You don't need to be going to the market or planning any trips. Just take it easy, relax, stay on the couch or in bed." Bummer, there went my trip to Target after my appointment.

So, I am officially on bedrest. I feel like an old woman thrown into a rest home. No more freedom, even if I wasn't exercising my freedom, at least it was there. I think my physical body is very relieved and my brain is upset. My body is dead tired and my brain has so much to do still. I know that I am an incubator and that is my job for the next 5 1/2 weeks, hopefully longer. I will do everything I can to get these babies here, and here healthy!

Dr. Oshiro told me to expect to deliver at 28 weeks. My chances of going past that are pretty slim. If my mind has any control over my body it is going to prove him wrong. My goal the whole time has been 28 weeks but now I would love to cook our babies a little bit longer.

This post has been very long. I think that it is because I have been cooped up in the house all week and I am lonely. I have had visitors but I am used to having 200 students talk to me everyday. I am so grateful to the visitors and friends that have been by this week. Sandy came by and did our laundry, cleaned the bathrooms and entertained me. Gina came by and vacuumed, entertained, and fed me delicious cookies. Jerry came over several times, anytime he is in the room everyone is in stitches, he is so funny.

One humorous thing I learned this week is not to hang out in my underwear. It has been so hot that I have developed an aversion to wearing clothes around the house. I was caught 2 times in my skivvies. If you are interested in the story you can email or call me.

Anyway- Thanks everyone for the prayers, the calls, and the visits. Until next time.

Doctor Visit

Mike and I went in for my check-up today and everything is going well. The babies are still active and kicking. I am doing well too. He told me that I need to stop working. He was surprised that I was still working especially when he found out that I teach high school. I have one day of school left and he said that I can finish that one day. My next appointment will be on June 25th. We will keep everyone posted.

Visitors!

We had visitors last weekend. It was so much fun. Mikes brother Joe and our friend Mike came from Las Vegas, and our other friend Heather came from Chicago. What was the big occasion? The Cubs were in town! They were playing the Dodgers and Mike was lucky enough to get to go to every game. I told him Happy Fathers Day and to enjoy his last big splurge at the ball park because it would never happen again.

These are pictures of Joe and I comparing our bellies. I'm catching up to him. : ) The longer I stare at our bellies, I can't tell which one is bigger. This is my official 20-21 week belly shot.

WARNING- may contain baby parts!

Here are the pictures of the babies.

Baby A 4D profile picture. It is a little skeletal looking. You can see the eyes, nose, and the smile. All of the babies were grinning. I am hoping that means they will be happy when they come out too.





Here are the boy parts for Baby A. He's a boy still. This is also a picture of the legs folded up. He is in the lower left quadrant, closest to my cervix.


Baby B gender. He's still a boy! This was the only picture we got of Baby B. I got a little sick during his ultrasound and had to turn on my side, so his pictures were rushed. He is in my lower right quadrant, or bottom right bunk.


Baby C. This is the girl. She is in my upper right quadrant, or top right bunk. Her heart beat was 155 and the boys were 143-146. This picture isn't very clear. It is a profile view of her laying on her back. You can see her eyes, nose, and mouth. She is holding her hand/arm up like she is waving.


This is a picture of our girl in 4D. It looks like there are holes in her head but it is just water in the way. She is looking down. This picture doesn't look as skeletal-like as Baby A's was.



It's a GIRL! not a boy anymore. The ultrasound doctor came in and said that he reviewed the last ultrasound and she was a girl back then too. So her being called a boy was an ultrasound tech error. OOOOPPS.


Baby D profile- He is in my upper left quadrant, right next to Baby C. This is a profile view with him waving. His hand is hard to see. It is in the upper middle of the picture.



Here is the 4D profile of Baby D. He is waving at everyone and is squished against something on the right. You can see his eyes, nose, mouth, and head.


The final boy! Which means we have triplet boys!

OOOOPPS!!! But a good one!

We are having a GIRL! Yes, we found out today that our little Quad C that was a sketchy boy last time is really a girl. We are so excited. Because the ultrasound was spur of the moment, Mike wasn’t there. I called him after to tell him and he didn’t believe me at first. Then he said, “I have to go. I have to start calling everybody!” So, if you didn’t get a call from Mike it’s because his battery ran out of juice. My sister was so excited that she couldn’t stop jumping up and down like a jumping bean. I had to call her back because I couldn’t hear her talking. So, Mike really doesn’t have a baseball or basketball team but he still has a good start on one. I am positive that our girl will be just as athletic or more athletic than her brothers. I, of course, ran right to the store and bought a girl outfit.

There is more good news. I don’t have to be on bed rest yet and I can finish the school year. The dr. said to enjoy myself because I would never feel this good again. Thank goodness, no restrictions yet. I think I would go crazy on bed rest. I hate holding still and having to stay in one place. It is punishment to me. We feel so blessed that all is going well and that we are all healthy. Thank you for all of you who are praying. We love you!

I will post pictures tomorrow. It is getting late and Mike is mad at me because I missed my 8 o'clock bedtime. We have good pictures too. Some of them are 4D.

19 WEEKS and lots of FUN!

We made it through another week. Hooray! On May 23 my students and team of teachers put on the school Health Fair. This was a huge accomplishment that had me seriously thinking about retiring immediately. The only thing that held me through was I knew I had a 3 day weekend. After the Health Fair my Honors Physiology and Anatomy students threw a shower for me. It was so fun and I was amazed at the students’ excitement. They had tons of food, cake, ice cream, balloons, gifts, and happy smiling faces. I don’t think that I have taught better kids. These kids are AWESOME!

On May 28 we went on a Field Study (trip) to Long Beach. We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Redondo Beach Pier, and to Macaroni Grill for dinner. I drove down so that I didn’t have to ride the bus and met them at the Pier. I have a funny tan line on one of my legs, my nose, and my chest. Everything else is still white. Thursday May 29 I took the day off to go to the doctor. I was just supposed to get a check up. My ultrasound was scheduled for Monday. Dr. Sakala took pity on my and got permission to squeeze me in. Squeezing me in is not an easy task. It takes over 2 hours to ultrasound the 4 babies. Anyway, I will talk about the ultrasound later. After the doctor visit and ultrasound I went back to school. My fellow teachers told me that I had a meeting that I needed to attend and I could NOT miss it. SURPRISE! My freshman students surprised me with a baby shower. The teachers and the students snuck into my classroom during the school day and decorated the lab half of it. There was more cake, presents, food, and fun!

I am so impressed with my students this year. They are so caring and giving. Even before they knew I was pregnant they were like this. They are incredible kids and I am so grateful that I was able to meet them and be their teacher. THANK YOU for those who are reading this. You are amazing.

Here are some pictures from a few of the events.

Natalie, Josephine, Y'Tasia, and Coletta burying Shanelle in the sand.



Teachers at the Pier- Bill Williams, Karen Rosa, Megha Kapadia, Amber DeMaria, and Kim Merriam.


Redondo Beach Pier with some of the kids.

Megha Kapadia and I at dinner at Macaroni Grill. Karen Rosa is there too she just isn't an active participant in the picture.


Shower May 29, 2008. I don't have pictures from the May 23 shower. When I do I will post them.





Go Dodgers! They don't sell Cubs gear in California.


Ms K, Ms D, Mrs Merriam, and Ms Rosa. The kids told me to do the gansta' pose, I'm not sure what that is, but how do I look trying? I personally don't think my pants are low enough.


Yummy Cake!



They finished the party with a cake/frosting fight. Everyone took pity on me and left me alone. Sometimes I really like the advantages to being pregnant.



Have I grown?

School Baby Shower

Today the science department at my school threw me a baby shower for the whole school. We went to Coco's restaurant and enjoyed each others company, ate, opened presents and had cake. I work with the best people. I am really going to miss all of them. Here are pictures of the "loot" and later I will add pictures of the actual party.



Mike and the goodies.

















18 weeks belly- Hooray! I feel so much bigger than I look. I rub oil on my belly morning and night to try and help the stretching process. I can actually feel my abdominal muscles stretching. Gross, I know.




Ok, I have to add pictures of my other 2 babies- Maddox and Wrigley. They think they own the bed but that will soon change.

15 week ultrasound

Here are the ultrasound pictures from 15 weeks. They are only 2 weeks late. It took me that long to pick up the DVD and then to figure out how to download and then upload them. Next time will be faster.

Baby A. He is the lowest, or as I say- on the bottom bunk.


Baby B showing off his vertebral column


Profile of Baby C with his hand- Me or Mike?



Baby D's hand

15 Week Ultrasound cont. . . .

Baby B Profile with arm and hand


Crossed legs and feet of Baby A


OUCH! Baby C kicking Baby B in the head


Baby D Profile. Do you think he looks like me or Mike?


Baby B rolling over for a better view. He was quite the show off!

17 Weeks

Here is a picture of Michelle and I . . . .

and Mike and I.



I am 17 weeks. Here is the first belly shot for those of you who have been waiting.

Finally or Already Registered

One of my best friends, Michelle, flew in this past weekend to visit and to help me register. She too has quadruplets. I was so overwhelmed and lost when I even tried to think about what we would need when the babies came. People were asking what I needed and I could only respond with, "Diapers". Michelle took me to Babies R Us and helped me figure it all out. It was so nice to have a girls day out too. I have been cooped up for 5 months. She got me out of jail for the day. HOORAY! I am so grateful to her.

This past week I was able to go on the Six Flags Field Trip and had a lot of fun. I wasn't able to go on any rides, not even the Merry-Go-Round. I love field trips because you get to see the students in a relaxed setting and they are so much fun. I am really going to miss teaching this next year. I guess just until the babies come and then I will be too busy and I will have my own children to love.

My next doctor appointment is on Wednesday. My glucose level was normal! No worries yet. I will get the DVD of the last ultrasound on Wednesday too. I will post those pictures. Our camera was stolen when Mikes car was broken in to so we have been taking pictures on a disposable. Sorry for the drought. We have ordered a new one that is supposed to be here in 2 weeks. For all of you who keep requesting "belly pictures" they are being taken. I will post those too.

Love, Mike, Amber and the 4 boys

Baseball Team

On our last doctor appointment we found out that we are having 4 boys. Hooray! I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't get one little girl but very relieved that they weren't all girls. Mike has a great start on his baseball team. People keep saying we will save money with boys because we won't have to buy all the clothes and make-up and hair stuff. I don't think so. When it comes to sports Mike thinks that he needs all kinds of equipment and I think he will be worse with 4 boys. They will probably cost more than girls would. : )

All of the babies were perfect and were actually ahead in their development. I am measuring 23 weeks pregnant (I'm 15 weeks) and my cervix is long and not thinning. Dr. Oshiro told me to enjoy myself while I could. I could participate in any normal activities until 20 weeks. He even cleared me to go to Six Flags with the Yale House field trip. He said no rides though.

I had to take the glucose tolerance test and almost threw up. Disgusting! I have a higher risk of getting gestational diabetes because I have PCOS and am carrying 4 placentas. I will find out the results later this week.

I had a wonderful sonographer that talked to me the whole 2 1/2 hours that he was working. He told me everything that he was doing and pointed out every little thing to me. It was amazing and overwhelming to see the little organs and body parts. I was even able to distinguish the cerebellum and the cerebrum by myself. He told me I was very smart. I was very proud of myself. Mike was at a POA for work and couldn't be there. We are getting a DVD of the ultrasound this week and I will try and post some pictures from it.

All is going well so far. I am now 16 weeks. I have gained 18 pounds, all in my belly. The tiredness I was feeling before is going away. I don't know if it's because I go to bed at 9:00 or if I am feeling better because I am in my 2nd trimester. Still no morning sickness. I am still trying to fit into normal clothes. I tried a pair of maternity pants and they felt so bulky. I wear the rubberband around the button in the pants to make them fit.

Thank you to all of you who are keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it.

Amber and Mike and the 4 boys

Ultrasound