Late update Thursday night

I apologize for taking so long to get to this! As almost always, no news is good news. Seth, while clearly sick and much more lethargic than normal, definitely perked up after getting oxygen on board, even before the prednisone or antibiotics arrived. He sounds really junky when he coughs, and we're doing his CPT back thumping and inhalers every 4 hours to try and keep things open and loosen up the gunk so he can get it out. We're grateful for the coughing he does, therefore. He's keeping his food and pedialyte down really well, so that's a praise and difference from last time. Thank you so much for praying! I could definitely see God answering immediately.

It was chaos around here tonight, so I sent Marcie home with her dear Aunt Pam. Marcie's gain. :) Since she tends to be one of the clingy ones especially in the morning, I'm hoping having only 4 plus Isaac allows me to give Seth more of the focused care he needs, including treatments in the middle of the night and early this morning.

Early mornings have bordered on slight madness around here lately. Today I had to just stick the kiddos out on the porch and watch them wail at the door while I heated up the bottles. Isaac helps too, but sometimes only Mom or a bottle will do, and Mom only has two hands! I find myself glancing at the clock, counting down the minutes until my treasured helper of the day arrives. God bless you all! This is definitely not a job for one person when all five babies are awake and fussing. Case in point: When I was on the phone with the doctor's office today, Will climbed up onto the Fisher-Price plastic garden wall and was about to pull a huge box of toys down on himself and his sister sitting and playing sweetly below. Thank God for Ypie being right there! :)

David is walking all over the place. I had to do a double-take the other night when I was at the kitchen sink, saw something out of the corner of my eye, and turned to see David walking down the hall past the kitchen doorway. He wasn't going to anyone, he was just "out for a walk"; everyone else was playing in the living room. His walking is especially funny-looking and endearing because he's such a little, bald baby-looking guy compared to Will or other average-age walkers.

Will and Marcie have taken a step or two, Gracie is cruising with the best of them along furniture, and Seth is really starting to cruise too, or was before this nasty illness struck. The physical therapist said yesterday how astonishing it is that all five are doing so well, for which we deeply and sincerely thank God. He doesn't always give us the answers we'd like, of course, even when hundreds or thousands of people are praying, but we're so grateful He's said "yes" to this request.

Okay, I've got to get off as it's past midnight and I have a 4 a.m. breathing treatment date with handsome Mr. Seth. :)

Thanks again for praying; I'm so grateful for our delightful (albeit sometimes chaotic) group of precious little individuals and you who love them with us!
Carrie

P.S.

My wonderful sister-in-law Courtney (an ER nurse) listened to his lungs with her stethoscope and could hear congestion in both lower lobes. He's also receiving continuous low-rate fluids through his g-tube. Thank God for that! He doesn't want anything even touching his mouth. :(

Another stroller picture - how cute he's smiling!

Seth really sick again :(

The kids all started with a mild cold again, but in Seth it VERY quickly overwhelmed his little lungs, causing his oxygen saturations to plummet back into the mid-80%'s - and this after satting 97-99% on average the past few days. He was the most lethargic I've ever seen just an hour ago; it was freaky. I had already put a call into the pulmonologist early this morning and was waiting for a call back because Seth had a fever (101) and was starting to sat lower than normal, but he was still in the okay range. That went south really fast; when he woke up from his nap I put in an emergency call and got an immediate response.  When we'd seen the pulmonologist on Tuesday he was worried this might happen despite how great Seth was doing that day, because I told him the others were fighting yet another cold. So now my dad is picking up steroids and antibiotics, Seth is on a liter of oxygen and if he needs any increase at all we're supposed to take him to the ER. His temp is higher now - 102. We just took it again.

Thanks for praying, we'll keep you posted.

Love,
Carrie

At 8:30 this morning, when he was fever-free and satting 93%

-

At 11:30 when he had a fever and was satting 85% before oxygen. The scary thing was that he didn't care or move at all when we put the oxygen cannula on him. Normally he really fights it, even last time when we ended up in the hospital!

At the "races" this morning

This was all Isaac's idea. :)

Contestant 1: Will Edward (Baby A)

Contestant 2: David Stephen (Baby B), the mischievous one

Contestant 3: Marcie Jane (Baby C), investigating her ride for top fitness

. . . and removing any dead weight

Contestant 4: Seth Jared (Baby D), completely recovered after a recent bout of illness

And last but never least, Contestant 5: Grace Elise (Baby E)

Originally the contestants were unfocused and undisciplined, even their leader (in back)

With their leader in the front, their enthusiasm was finally sparked!
Left to right: David, Marcie, Will, Grace, Seth

Alas, the brief period of readiness vanished quickly.

A very short one

Just 12 seconds.

Marcie and Gracie on Philbert

Round two

These videos were taken right after church, so David was exhausted, as you can no doubt tell. The video I posted last night/early this morning was taken right after bath time, hence the mostly naked babies.

David, Marcie and Gracie on Philbert

Gavin continues to enjoy his time in Papua New Guinea and work hard at getting stuff moved over from our old house to our new. I think they moved the bigger stuff, like furniture, today. He's grateful for friends to help.

We are doing fine here at home, better than fine actually. I am so grateful for extra help, especially when the babies get clingy two or three at a time. Sometimes it's hard to move through the house, my legs are so tangled up by the little limpets and my arms are so full of the ones who most seem to need holding, but that's a sublimely wonderful "problem" to have. (Easier remembered when I am sitting down blogging at the end of the day than when I am in the middle of trying to accomplish some essential task, like getting food or bottles for them!)

Another video

Just a minute or so this time. :)

The babies are SO much fun now, it's tempting to film everything.

Love,
Carrie

David, Marcie and Philbert the Stuffed Dog