The Spencer Girls

Jordan is still having some issues. She had another apnea while feeding this morning. I really thought that we were past that stage. We will know more after the Oct 10th sleep study. We are not looking forward to the office visit though. We will be looking at about 6 hours in the office and we have not worked out the logistics yet.

This is all pretty challenging, but we are getting it done. Thanks for all the well wishes.

I am really glad that we found a pediatrician that we liked. The first visit today with the twins reinforced my favorable first impression. She seems to be on top of things and very sympathetic to the stress of caring for 4 little girls.

I got the impression that our girls are doing better than the doctor thought that they would be at this point. They continue to gain weight and have had no major health issues. Madison is still in the lead at 6 lbs. 7.5 oz. While Jordan is a close second at 5 lbs 15.5oz. We see the pediatrician again next Tuesday to check electrolytes and overall check up. October 10th we do the sleep study again to see if they can come off the O2.

I am so tired right now that I don't know if

Mark is at the pediatrician with the twins. I keep hearing them cry and listening for alarms. I made bottles and washed laundry (now drying) Hopefully the twins bedding will be dry by the time they get home. I'm trying to get everything sorted, cleaned, mixed, and put away so Mark can go to sleep when he gets home. I so needed that extra few hours of sleep this morning. Now Mark needs to catch up. I really wanted to do a shift change anyway, so maybe we can do that today now that I'm more rested.

Reagan goes to her 15 month check-up on Wednesday or Thursday (thank goodness its written down). Then we are doctor free until ..... next week. LOL!

I have officially lost my mind, but my alter ego is still trying to keep her sanity. I keep repeating "Please Lord, give me patience to endure my blessings!!!"

My heart is giving me issues, highly due to stress. I need to make an appointment for beta-blockers, but when do we have the time?!? I know I need to just do it, before I have any major episodes and scare the crap out of Mark and I.

Pumping breastmilk is now down to 1-2 episodes. Again there is no time. I just need to let go of the guilt and rationalize things. Hard to do without sane mental faculties. I wish energy drinks were more tasty, I can't stomach them. I need to get some chocolate covered coffee beans .... yeah, that'll help the heart.

Reagan is up... so gotta go! We will update after the appointment is over, sometime in the next 48 hours.

And I thought looking after two was tough. Kari is off to the doctor with the little ones and I have Ry and Rea. Two toddlers is a cake walk. I guess it is all relative.

We are still doing it, but we sure are tired. Kari was going to get up for the 5 a.m. shift but she didn't get to bed till late and was exhausted. So I took all the shifts last night. I feel pretty good for having less than 30 minutes of sleep. Fortunately the big girls are being good. ----Were being good--- Rylee just unloaded half of Reagan's closet and locked her sister in the crawl space. It sometimes takes all day to write one post.

Last night Kari and I started adding up how many bottles and how many diapers we go through in a week. 182 diapers per week and 112 bottles of formula. The diaper estimate is on the low side.

Kari got some good shots of Rylee and Reagan "helping" me wash the dogs.



We still need to work on "share." They both like to spray the hose.














Guess what happens next.












Yep. Should have seen that coming.











Reagan was a good sport about it though.











Kari just got back from the eye doctor and the little girls don't have ROP anymore. GOOD!

The girls are 2 days old "adjusted age," which will be used to track development. It is hard to believe that we would have had to wait this long if the girls had gone to term.

Madison and Jordan are doing well. No major issues to speak of at the moment. Madison is still getting a high heart rate intermittently. We will see what the pediatrician has to say about it on Monday. If it was a continuous thing I might be more concerned, but since it is only happening when she gets really mad, I don't think that it is going to be an issue.

It has been a long day today. Neither I nor Kari slept all that well. However, we have gotten quite a bit done today. It is kind of funny that I now consider getting the last load of wash into the dryer and the lawn mowed a major victory.

I stepped out for about an hour after the 8 p.m. feeding. Kari called me about 20 minutes after I left the house. She was quite distraught, but she handled the situation well. Jordan had vomited...A LOT. It was up her nose, in her eyes, all over the bedding, and clogging her throat. Her apnea alarm sounded and when Kari got to her, Jordan was blue. Kari was unable to find the bulb syringe and feeling a bit frantic she turned Jordan over and cleared her mouth and throat with her finger and patted on her back. That got her breathing again and gave Kari some time to hunt for the syringe. Jordan seems fine now, but that episode left us with some lessons.

1. Always have the bulb syringe close by. (Which it was. Right where Kari put it, in the pocket on the side of the bassinet.)

2. Remember where we put the syringe. :)

3. Always have one of the phones in the bedroom. With all those wires the girls are not very portable. If we had to perform CPR it would be difficult to call for help.

4. Remember to thank God for those apnea monitors. The ones that we hoped we wouldn't have to have. I hate to think what would have happened if that alarm had not alerted Kari to the situation.

I woke up this morning to the sound of Reagan screaming and Kari trying to calm her. She has learned to take her diaper off... There was quite a mess in the crib... Not the best way to start the day. Things have improved though.

Kari bought a new stroller. (See the photos below) It is the biggest thing I have ever seen. I am honestly not sure that it will fit in the truck, at least with the back seat up. The girls seemed to approve of the purchase and wanted a ride. The ride was not long enough for Rylee and resulted in a tantrum, which landed her in a time out.

The girls also really enjoyed the box that the stroller came in, which reinforces my belief that kids like the packaging more than the gifts in the packages.

Kari went out to do some shopping and get a hair cut today. Not normally big news, I know, but this is the first time I have looked after all four girls at the same time for an extended period. It is a little challenging but not too bad.

I even had time to snap some photos for the family to enjoy.

The little girls are doing very well. No significant issues today. Like they say, "No news is good news."


Don't turn your back on them for a second or this might happen.






It is fun to chew on "color magic" coloring books.












This beast is called the "Caboose" And yes it is about the size of a train car.











It doubles as a Jungle Gym. I am making a sand pit for it in the back yard.











Don't you remember playing in the boxes. It is fun to relive your youth through your children.

























Guess what happens next... No, I wouldn't do that to my kid!



















Reagan likes ice.


















Madison working on a burp.