When it rains…it pours…

Well well. I mentioned before that the quads got sick and that Blade had escaped it. Apparently I spoke too soon. Just when I thought we were over it, our little Blade caught it. Coughing, congestion, loss of appetite & fever landed him in the emergency room Saturday night and he ended up being admitted until Tuesday.

I had no idea just how serious just a little fever could be in a newborn. We were told he needed to be taken in if he did 100.4 or greater. I made the call to the on call nurse once he hit 100.5 and we headed to Children’s Medical Center. Upon arrival the doctors quickly started blood work, took urine samples and performed a spinal tap on our little man. My big, fat, full term baby now going through just a tiny bit of what the quads went through at birth No fun! Someone must have told him the quads had some major hospital time at birth so he needed to see what it was all about. The upside, I got to spend some one on one time with my lil man!

We finally were put into a room at about 2am where the doctors informed us they wanted to keep him a minimum of 48hours to watch cultures to make sure he had nothing serious going on including meningitis. After several hours of observation the were able to rule out RSV/Bronchiolitis. He did however test positive for Parainfluenza type 3 (I was told different than the flu). Although not too serious, they were concerned because of his age. I had to convince them he was only 23 days – they thought for sure he had to be 6-7 weeks based on his size! They said Parainfluenza 3 can easily lead to Bronchiolitis which wouldn’t be good at all which was another reason for the extended stay. After continuous IV  fluids and antibiotics our little man finally started to perk up.

After much improvement, our little big man and his VERY sleep deprived Mama were released. Blade is feeling mucccchhh better and the follow up with the ped today confirmed clear lungs, thank goodness.

Special thanks to all who helped out with the quads while we were down and out. Randell & Collette, Nana & Aunt Beth, Papaw & Linda, Chris & Bethany – THANK YOU! We are so blessed to have friends and family there to step in when needed.

Here’s to hoping for a clean bill of health for the rest of this nasty season! If you are not familiar with RSV please please click here and learn how to protect the little ones in your life!

The Cox Family: Post Vacation

It's rough sometimes winding down and getting settled after getting home from a vacation....yaaaa knoooww the unpacking, the laundry, getting back on a normal schedule, strep, 103-104 fevers, pharyngitis. Wait what? YOU don't get strep every 4 days too?!?!

Yes. They're sick again! Korbin and Baxlyn ran fevers all week but were acting decent, so I chalked it up to teething and attempted to fight it with tylenol/advil. Friday evening they both went downhill and spiked fevers as high as 104.5. A trip to Carenow confirmed Baxlyn had strep and Korbin, pharyngitis. Brody was soon to follow Saturday afternoon and despite my efforts of keeping Kylee out of the house, away from them, she was hit (mildly, thank goodness) last night. A visit to Dr. Reyes this morning confirmed she and Brody have it as well. Fun. We left with the ENT's number in hand and they have an evaluation scheduled for Thursday. Looks like we'll be sayin' adios to the ole' tonsils in the near future.

I'll update you after Thursday's appointment! Thoughts and prayers that our little foursome are feeling well soon are appreciated!

Easter 2011

I had been looking forward to Easter all week. Looking forward to the break I got having other adults around to help, being with family, and celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus! Easter morning started off like any other Sunday morning. We all got up, got dressed for Sunday church and headed out the door. By the time we got to church Korbin just wasn't himself and by the end of service he was running a fever. Boo. By the time we got to Aunt Beth & Uncle Darrell's house the poor little dude was miserable and had zero interest in his Easter basket. Brody Baxlyn & Kylee dug into their baskets that consisted of stickers, eggs and bubbles while we practically forced Korbin to sit with his for a group picture.

After lunch we took the quads outside to do another egg hunt and thankfully Korbin perked up enough to join in the fun. Below is a picture of them with their baskets full of eggs!

Love this one of Kylee reeeaaching for the egg that rolled between her legs, she got it too! While looking at all of the pics deciding which to post, Baxlyn and I came across several of these pics of Kylee and she yelled "Kylee fall dowm, UH OH! Kylee fall dowm. Kylee right deah fall dowm right deah!!" poor girl was SO concerned over her sister!

Leave it to Papa to show them how to eat that freshly melted Easter chocolate right out of the foil wrapper!

The INSTANT we came inside from hunting eggs, Brody was hit with fever and curled up under his blanket on the floor, not letting go of his Dudu. The girls got to enjoy coloring eggs with the family and Korbin eventually joined in a little. Poor Broman felt soo bad he didn't move a muscle to see what was going on :( The egg coloring consisted of 2 (at times 3) toddlers and at least 4 adults and it was all we could do to keep things under control. Leave it to Kylee to dump a cup of orange food dye then stick her hand in it!

Some parents use vinegar in the mouth as a form of punishment.... future reference this will not work for Baxlyn. The girl LOVED it. Between CHUNKING eggs into different cups with dye, she would do her best to sneak in a spoonful of the yummy stuff.... eww!

My lil' B sitting proudly with her eggs!

You can see Brody couldn't care less about the eggs, I hate that he was feeling so horrible and had to miss out on the fun.

Finally, my sweet girls and their bunny ears! I LOVE these things, so so adorable! Their "hats" as they call them, were a little bit big this year but will be the perfect fit next year, I know. A friend of ours in Kentucky makes all sorts of cute girly accessories including bows, bow boards, bunny ears, hats, headbands, purses and more! Find her facebook page and see more of her products here!

After an afternoon of high fevers and close contact with our AWESOME pediatrician (Thanks Dr. Reyes!!!!!!!!!!!) we made an appointment for Monday morning. Turns out our little boys, as well as Miss Kylee, had strep throat AGAIN. Luckily this time is passed quickly and stayed away from me! Within 24 hours they were all back to their normal little selves and enjoyed the rest of the week. Here's to hoping next year we have 4 healthy 3 year olds to celebrate Easter with!

Stay tuned! Coming up - an interesting night in Quadville as Mom & Dad are challenged by a certain little sneaky someone and a Barnyard Birthday Bash!

Just when I think we're in the clear...

Mama Bear gets sick...

I woke up Monday morning with a little sore throat and by that night I felt like my throat was rotting away. Tuesday morning, the doc confirmed I had BAD strep throat - joy. After a strong shot of antibiotics, pill form of antibiotics and spending the past 48+ hours (mostly) in bed, I feel zero relief. To make matters worse, migraines keep trying to sneak in on me and it's all I can do to stop them before they get too bad. It's safe to say I have the ugliest looking tonsils in Texas and I'm nothing short of miserable. Please say a lil' prayer I get some relief soon and more importantly that the babies don't get it. A HUGE thanks to my mom, dad and sister who have been here to help with the babies allowing me to v e r y s l o w l y heal, you guys are the BEST!

An Update from Sick Quadville...

Well... it's Friday. I am proud to say I(we) have survived one heck of a week consisting of endless medications, breathing treatments, kisses & hugs. We have had some major mood swings over the past 4 days. One minute everyone is happy and the next they're dropping like flies to the floor in complete misery. It quickly goes from a nice fun chorus of "Do The Potty Dance" to "...mama...hode you....ahhhhhhhhh......hode you!".

Korbin despite having RSV is doing ok. He's got a rough cough and a never-ending runny nose. At any given time he's got a face covered in dry, crackly snot... kinda looks like some kind of "dry and peel" facial treatment you'd see in a spa. He's been getting breathing treatments here and there to try to help with his lungs... so far not a huge improvement but not getting worse.

Kylee, mood wise, is doing WAY better than the beginning of the week. It was her and Baxlyn wanting to be held 24/7 making it impossible to do anything. I assume her infection is going away since she's not tugging at it.Tuesday morning she woke up crying and her legs were as stiff as a board. The steroid shot she got Monday to help her fever made her little thigh SO sore she couldn't stand to walk or bend her legs. Luckily though, the shot did it's job and finally kicked in after about 24 hours and the fever hasn't come back since. She and Baxlyn both have begged on numerous occasions to go "night night" throughout the week, poor girls :( Her cough has gotten more persistent but isn't sounding worse, so for now we just continue the meds and wait it out.

We were told Monday to bring Baxlyn back in on Thursday if she was still coughing, which she was(is). She was tested for both Strep and RSV. No surprise, both were positive. With hardly any appetite she's lost 1lb since her birthday (2 weeks). Good news though - her lungs sound better than they did on Monday so the breathing treatments are helping tackle the pneumonia. Her mood, unfortunately, hasn't gotten much better. She clearly doesn't feel well and spends the majority of her days hidden under her blanket on the couch or begging to be held. She doesn't seem to be getting worse so that's a plus. Brody has somehow managed to stay pretty well. He's coughing a little and has a clear runny nose but that's about it. He's full of energy and walks around like a little ray of sunshine hugging the others as if he knows they don't feel well! Not wanting to be left out, he gets in on the breathing treatments every once in a while too! We ask the others if they want to "take their 'BZZZZZZ' medicine" and while they answer "no", Brody waddles over as fast as he can, plops down in the chair and says "Bo Bo! Bo Bo!" So so cute!
So, we're all hanging in there and are hoping the next few weeks fly by so we can get back to our normal routine...ya know...church, playdates, our weekly trips to the zoo ;) Please continue to keep us all in your prayers. Thanks!

The last words a preemie mom wants to hear...

...."your baby has RSV". Welp, I just heard 'em. Our lil' Korb had a positive RSV test this afternoon at the doc's office. Like I mentioned in the last post, the boys have been coughing and this morning Korbin went down hill. He was coughing a very different cough, one that sounded a lot like Baxlyn's and the one he had in January, which is when he was diagnosed with pneumonia. I loaded Korbin and Brody (might as well kill two birds with one stone, right?) into the car thinking we would go, find Korbin has pneumonia again, get some more meds to add to my now at-home-pharmacy, and we would be on our way. Nope.

Dr. Reyes was out this afternoon so we saw Dr. Alvis and the first thing he asked me was "did they get synagis this year?" unfortunately I had to tell them that no, they didn't qualify. He listened to Korbin and said he could hear "stuff" in both lungs, especially the right. He said he wanted to do an RSV swab as well as a breathing treatment. I thought OK sure. The nurse came in, swabbed his lil nose and proceeded to check his O2 saturations. I stood, making the "quack quack" noises moms make to make their kids feel better about having their finger slightly pinched. After several tries the nurse said "hmmm....92, Mom...". It hit me by surprise, I have to admit. They always take their sats at sick visits and they are always a nice and pretty 98-100%. 92 wasn't soooo horrible, but it wasn't where it was supposed to be. Luckily after a breathing treatment his oxygen level was up to a 94/95%, much more pleasing to see by all of us. The boys and I then sat in the exam room and played while waiting on the results from the RSV test.

The door finally opened and Dr. Alvis looked me in the eye, sighed and said "It's positive". My heart SUNK. Sure I know RSV is nothing to them like it would have been last year, I know are in the clear for any life threatening outcomes, and I know everything will be ok. But RSV is the monster of monsters in the preemie world, and a part of me felt defeated the moment I heard those words. Dr. Alvis said although it was horrible news to hear, thank goodness it's this year and not last. I couldn't agree more and I thank God for that. He said it's very likely the girls have it and it's very likely Brody, although clear now, will get it. He also said they are highly contagious for two weeks and it could take 6-8 weeks for it to completely go away...ugh.

For now, we continue to give them all breathing treatments as needed, stay away from other kids, and most importantly watch their breathing patterns closely at all times. There are no meds or cures for it, we just have to ride it out and pray it doesn't get worse. Sooo once again, we ask for your prayers as we are on a new "lockdown" until they are all strong and healthy again!

My Lil' Sick Princesses

Sick. Yup, sick again.

It started a few days ago with a few coughs and a fever here and there and just got worse. Way worse. We had the typical Motrin/Ibuprofen on board but they weren't helping. Baxlyn opted not to eat all day Sunday and by Sunday night she had a temp of 103 and Kylee 103.6. With high fevers and many coughs, it was a loonng night. This morning (Monday) I made the call the to pediatrician and was told to bring them in. Nana came over to watch the boys, I loaded up the girls and we were on our way. Upon arriving the nurse weighed them (Baxlyn 22lb 8oz Kylee 24lb 4oz) and took their temps. Luckily B was a normal 98.4 but Kylee was at 101.7 and the poor girl looked miserable. Whenever Kylee has to do something she's not a fan of (diaper change/having her face washed after meals/getting her hair put up...etc) we tell her "almost done, Baby, almost done". The second Dr. Reyes opened the door to our exam room, Kylee immediately yelled "AAAWWMOSE? AWMOSE?" Bless her heart! She knew he was there to mess with her.

After a thorough examination, we found that Kylee has a single ear infection and a rough cough (although her lungs are clear yay!) she was given a shot to help bring down her fever as well as antibiotics. Miss Baxlyn wasn't as lucky. Although she seemed to be feeling better than Kylee, her case was a little worse...pneumonia and although they didn't do an RSV swab to prove it, RSV is a possibility after listening to her lungs. That's two babies within 2 months being diagnosed with pneumonia. Gotta love those premature lungs (ya feel my sarcasm?)! So Baxlyn left with a prescription for steriods, antibiotics, as well as making this Mommy a not so proud owner of a nebulizer. Once we got home, Baxlyn puked the little lunch she had had up all over me and the floor and within minutes poor Kylee was BEGGING to go night night. Although it sucks that they're sick, I'm SO THANKFUL this crud hit us this year and not last year. Sure their little lungs are not the best of the best, but they are much stronger than they were and this diagnosis last season could have easily landed us in the hospital.

Non stop coughs and tears from my poor baby girls :(

Baxlyn did GREAT with her first breathing treatment!
My hopes are high it's all uphill from here but realistically there's a good probability we will be seeing Dr. Reyes again sooner than later. If Kylee's fever returns and is high tomorrow, we go back. If Baxlyn is still wheezing on Thursday, we go back. If either of the boys spike a fever in addition to the minor coughs they already have, you guessed it, we go back. So if ya could, please say a lil prayer for our sweet babies and that they are as good as new in no time!

My Sickies...

Brody: Double Ear Infection/Cold/Fevers

Baxlyn: Cold/Fevers

Kylee: Double Ear Infection/Cold

Korbin: Pneumonia/Fevers

Mommy: Upper Respiratory Infection/Cold

Yep, were havin' fun around here :(

My Sick Little Quadlings

Yep, you read that right, the babies have been sick. A few days ago the clear runny noses started, no big deal right? Before we knew the attitudes started and moods changed, everyone became clingy and irritable. After multiple doses of Tylenol and Pediatex the Broman seemed to only get worse and his diapers (even the morning ones) were not as wet as normal. I bought an ice cream thing at sonic the other day on our way back from an appointment and the babies loved it, except Brody, he put his head down on the floor and moaned. I knew at this point it was time to call the doc. I took him in and he checked out OK. Throat looked good, no fluid in the ears, no fever etc. Our plan was to go home, continue our meds and expect him to feel better soon.

Yesterday Bret and I took them all on a diaper run to Sams. Usually the babies smile and wave at all of the onlookers, but this time Brody had a blank stare and by the time we got to the check out line, he had his head resting on the side of his choo choo wagon. I could tell the little dude was not feeling well AT ALL. I told Bret we need to hurry and get him home ASAP. Of course all eyes are on us, people are ooing and ahhing "wow 4 babies. oh my gosh 4 babies. you had 4 babies?!...." in the middle of us being the main attraction Brody started to puke... and puke more and more and more. Everyone's oohs and ahhs quickly turned to looks of shock as this one baby starts to randomly vomit all over himself. I try not to panic, turn, see the sign for the bathroom and start running pulling the choo choo behind me with Brody puking away - now people are really looking. Nice. Thankfully the other babies cooperated and sat quietly (besides Baxlyn saying "Uh-Oh!" very 4 seconds) while I undressed Brody and cleaned him up.

At this point Brody is pale, OK he's always pale, but he was even more pale than normal and could barely hold his eyes open to look at me. Dr. Honeycutt, his neurosurgeon, has always said sickly symptoms without fever (as well as other things) is a sign of shunt failure. After talking to Honeycutt and the pediatrician we decided to take Brody to the Children's ER to have him evaluated. There was a good chance it was nothing, but if it was a shunt malfunction and we ignored it, it could be fatal. They started by taking blood, then did a CT scan, head chest and ab xrays, another CT, followed by an IV drip. I think the worst part of the whole thing was that he couldn't hold his Mickey during the procedures :( He cried and cried and clung on to that Mickey like there was no tomorrow! After several hours the doc came in and told us his shunt looked great and was working properly. He said his white blood cell count was up which meant he is probably developing (or has) a viral infection, but nothing major to worry about.

As bad as he felt, the INSTANT he saw the camera he flashed me a smile!

This morning Brody is feeling much better, not back to his normal self, but better! The other babies are fussy and still dealing with their runny noses but nothing we can't handle. Just hoping they're on the mend soon!