Prayer requests for this week and ongoing

Hi again everyone,

It's been a little while since I actually wrote much on here, so I guess it's time. We need some help in the Heavenly Realms. :)

Seth is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday at 3:30 to have his g-peg stomach tube removed and a little "button" put in instead for his tube feedings (still 100% of his nutrition, alas - please pray he will learn to eat by mouth!). That will make it much easier on him, not having a tube hanging out and getting caught on things and pulled by himself or others. We're really looking forward to having that button in. Unfortunately, it involves an overnight stay in the hospital. Sam, who I love more each day, is going to be the one to stay the night while Gavin and I are back home with the other four. She has lots and lots of experience with hospitals and is a TROOPER!! Gavin and I will be with/near Seth for the actual procedure and the admittance and make sure all is well, of course.

A related prayer request: Our 35 hours/week volunteer (thank you, Deb!!!) is going to be gone for 10 days. That is equal to almost two of her work weeks (Tuesday-Friday) starting the day after Seth's surgery, so we're extremely short of help even with Sam working full time. Sam does nearly every late evening feeding so can't do the mornings when Deb is normally scheduled. We know God will provide all we need - He always has. Thanks for praying!  

Another big need around here is sleep! As of this week we will have lost almost all our overnight help (saints who have stuck it out for 6 months!), including Seth's nurse from 12:00 to 4:00 a.m. Whereas before Seth was sleeping through the night, he has woken up screaming between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m. the past couple of nights. The other babies aren't sleeping through the night either. Usually by 5:15 they are starving again, even after being fed around 11:00 pm or midnight, and by the time I get through feeding them all in the morning David is ready for the day. He's the one who is early to bed and early to rise. :}

All of this listening for five babies has resulted in some pretty significant insomnia for me; it's like my brain can't shut down. Despite being REALLY tired when I go to bed, it is taking me an hour to fall asleep or fall back to sleep once woken up. Last night my grand total was only 4.5 hours, and that in two different smaller chunks. Gavin is also running on much less sleep than he needs, and he can't really nap through all the baby noise around here. :} (Four of the five have now discovered the shriek/scream - Gracie demonstrated her new skill this morning. Seth is the last hold-out!) I developed bad, bad, bad insomnia when Isaac was nearly five months old and really don't want to repeat that. I know what to do to address the insomnia but I can't really do it well with five babies - I will be too groggy and/or the hours are too short!

Gotta run - four babies crying!

Love and gratitude!!!!
Carrie

What have we been up to this week?

Handsome big brother Isaac and his new braces!

Attending "a baby shower for a shower of babies" at the Duncanville Senior Center - what a blessed time! (Grace)

Marcie and Gracie wore matching outfits from Caren and matching light green and light pink be-ribboned booties. 

Visiting with Aunt Betty (left to right: Marcie, David and Gracie), wearing outfits from Lynnette and head bands from Shauna, Sharon, Jan and Diana. David clearly escaped the dressing-up and was quite happy that way. :)

Gracie and Marcie doing their best "Candy and Mimi" impressions from Guys and Dolls, in honor of Lynnette and Whitney and their excellent dancing and acting last night! 

Entering a photo contest

Hanging out with Aunt Sam, watching baseball games (fascinating!) - Will and Grace

Holding his own bottle (David with Aunt Deb, who will be gone for 10 days - sad!!)

Cooking with Quints

Now that six months have gone by, I am finally resuming some work in the kitchen. I made three meals this past week. This was the most complex, and with two of the five babies really not happy I had to get a bit inventive. Thankfully we have two Snugli baby carriers. :)

David in front, Marcie in back. It was a challenge to stay far enough away from the frying pan that David couldn't get his patty hands into it! 

Empty crinkly bags are fun!

"Oh, was I not meant to get ahold of this?"

Link to photo for James Avery contest :)

Thanks for the tips, you savvy Facebook friends! Hope this works . . .

   A mother's love is multiplied, never divided. 

update Thursday morning the 2nd of May

No pyloric stenosis! Also, kidneys are doing great, functioning normally, and no high blood pressure, praise God! (Regarding Seth)

I just entered a James Avery photo contest, so Facebookers out there, please go and "vote" for me! You have to "Like" James Avery jewelry first, then look at the photos for "A Mother's Love is . . ." photo contest, and vote for us when they put the picture up. Here's the picture I submitted. Thanks, Jim Cartright, for being in the right place at the right time, and thanks to the Debs and Erin for helping and for Ashley being the impetus behind the "photo shoot" in the first place!

The pin I am wearing was my mom's Mothers' Day gift to me (early) - it's a James Avery pin with two little girls and three little boys dancing in a circle. How perfect!! When the salesperson heard why she was buying me that pin and that we had quints, she begged us to enter the contest. So we did. :)

And a couple more

FYI, I am taking Seth in today to rule out pyloric stenosis as the cause of his vomiting. He'll get an ultrasound to check for thickening of the pyloric sphincter. Thanks for continuing to pray!

Marcie enjoying Seth (that's his night nurse)

Seth calmly sucking oxygen. He's definitely self-weaning. He loves pulling his canula out!

My beautiful girls! Thanks, Lisa, for the outfits!! They wore gorgeous red taffeta and black velvet dresses on Sunday with matching patent leather Mary Jane shoes with ruffles, also thanks to Lisa. :) Alas, I didn't take a picture before they ruined them (for the day) with drool and spit-up.

Laughing together. Looking more and more alike! Gracie is on the left, Marcie on the right.

Could Gracie be any happier with her friend Vivienne? We had a wonderful time on Saturday morning at the Cowan Retirement Center where my mom works. LOVE you, Cowan residents! Thank you for praying!

Pool days!

Our new hot weather pastime. David, Seth, Marcie, Gracie and Will (left to right)

Thankfully the manufacturers included this warning on the side of the pool so we knew to intervene when Will tried to dive in head-first yesterday. (Really, how funny is it that a no-diving warning is required on the side of a kiddy pool?)