Ready or Not....Summer is HERE!

The past couple of weeks have been filled with all the crazy end of the school year activities for the kids. Between student-led conferences, plays, and other activities, it seemed like I was at the school every day for something!

Today is the first official day of summer and I am trying to figure out how I am going to keep all the kids busy for the next eleven weeks and still maintain my own sanity. Fortunately (at least I think it is fortunate) we have a lot of things planned for summer, including several weddings to attend, DISNEYLAND (we gotta go now before the quints turn 3 and we have to pay for them!), and visits to both sets of grandparents. All together, I calculated that we will be putting close to 9,000 miles on our van (“the Beast”) by the end of the summer. Yikes! The kids did great on our road trip to Arizona last summer, but we will really be putting them to the test this year!

Kaiya and her school friends Ashley and Ryley

Riley and his school friends

Riley had his last Volleyball game of the season. He had improved a lot this year! Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy and Kaiya all went to cheer him on!

Riley and his friend "Fudgy" in the 4th grade play---they were rappers!

Kaiya and her 1st Grade Teacher, Mrs. Speegle

Kyndall, Kaydence, Kassidy, Ryder and Rustin enjoyed an outing to Burger King to celebrate the last few days of school.

Ryder, Kaydence, Kyndall, Kassidy and Rustin

The first wedding of the summer actually happened over Memorial Day Weekend. My brother, Colby, got married in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was a very small wedding---only parents, siblings, and a handful of friends were invited, so I was “forced” to get away for the weekend while Jayson stayed home to hold down the fort with the kids. It was a fabulous break for me! My mom flew in to Austin and we drove to Hot Springs together where we met up with the rest of my family. It has been about 4 years since all my siblings and I have been together and it was great to be able to hang out together kid-free. Hot Springs was absolutely beautiful---I had no idea.

The wedding was simple but very nice. I absolutely love my new sister-in-law Neeha and am so excited for her to be part of our family!

Colby and Neeha get married!

The Girls: Tiare, Betty Ann (aka Mom or Mimi) and Rachelle

The Boys: Ryan, Colby, Shane, McKay and Steve (aka Dad or Papa)

My Mom and Dad (Steve and Betty Ann)

Newlyweds Neeha and Colby. Neeha actually wore three different wedding dresses---the beautiful white one that she was married in and a couple of traditional Indian Sarees.

One wedding down, two more to go!! While in Hot Springs, we also did a little sight seeing...

My Family: Shane, Tiare, Dad, Ryan, Mom, McKay, Rachelle & Colby. I am the oldest sibling, and yes, also the shortest!

Newlywed's Neeha and Colby by an actual "hot spring"

Hot Springs is famous for it's European style bath houses. We enjoyed taking a tour of one of them.

In the "olden days" doctors prescribed baths, or "hydrotherapy" to cure many different kinds of ailments. As the field of medicine became more advanced, the baths became less popular. However, seeing the facilities brought back memories of the hydrotherapy that my doctor prescribed for me while I was pregnant with the quints! It was one of my favorite parts of the day!

Old Hydrotherapy Tub (McKay, Rachelle & Mom)

Things have changed a bit in the past few years, however---here is a video that Jayson took when I was pregnant of my modern hydrotherapy tub:

Yes, I felt completely ridiculous being lifted into the tub--wearing nothing and being roughly the size and shape of an exercise stability ball, but it was so worth it!

Ready or Not....Summer is HERE!

33 Weeks Today!! (7 more days to go)

Today marks 33 weeks! Just 7 more days until delivery, barring any unforeseen changes in my condition. I am actually amazed that I have made it this far. At the beginning of our journey, I had hoped and aimed for 34 weeks, but based on the statistics, thought that it would be unlikely that I would actually get there. I know that I have been very blessed to have made it this far, and to have spent so little time in the hospital, compared to other multiples moms. The doctor has also said that he will not put me on the mag again to stop contractions, which is another huge blessing. Again, I am so grateful for the many prayers on our behalf, many from people we don't even know, that have gotten us to where we are today.

My days are all pretty much the same. I am so large now that the only way to get semi-comfortable is to lay on one side or the other. When I am on my left side, I watch video's (I finished Gilmore Girls and am now working on Alias) and read emails. When I am on my right side I read books (I am 300 pages into Harry Potter). Eating meals is interesting, since I can't actually sit upright anymore--there is too much in the way. I try to sit up as much as I can, then I spread a big napkin over myself to catch anything that falls on the way to my mouth. The day we had spaghetti, my mess could have competed with that of a two-year-old. I love it when visitors come because it makes the time go by faster. It has been nice having my husband here this past week. My mom also makes it out to visit me several times a week, as does my aunt Jeanie. My kids like to come and visit, but I think it is more for the snacks and lemonade that I save them than it is for me :-)

Other than visitors, my favorite part of the day is still the "hydro-therapy" bath. I used to go down to the 3rd floor for the hydro because the tub up here on the 5th floor was broken. They fixed the tub up here a few days ago, however, so now I use it. The tub on the 3rd floor is shaped kind of like a little boat. The sides have doors to make getting in easier. The tub is filled part way before getting in, then the door is put back on the the tub is filled the rest of the way. The tub on the 5th floor is a little bit different, however. The tub itself is just a big, deep, tub---no doors so it can be filled all the way before getting in. There is a chair that I sit in that raises me up and over the tub and then lowers me down into the water. The first time I used it, I had a hard time not laughing the whole time. The noise the chair makes while rising sounds like a ride a Disneyland or something. You almost think that once you get to the top, the chair is going to drop suddenly. Fortunately, it doesn't, but it feels pretty silly to be up in the air in this chair, especially considering that it's purpose is to get me into the bath---so no clothes on! But once I finally get in the bath, it feels great! I am determined to get a picture of this tub before I leave here.

I have another growth ultrasound tomorrow and am anxious to see how much the babies have grown in the past two weeks. We also get to meet with one of the Neonatologists to talk about what happens with the babies after they are born. I will post the estimated weights tomorrow.

I just got a visit from Dr. Elliott a few minutes ago and he said that they are moving up my delivery time from 10 am to 8 am. As I type this, it is about 9 am, which means that at this same time next week, I will have babies!!! Kind of exciting to think about!

33 Weeks Today!! (7 more days to go)

A Post from the Luxury Suite at Banner Good Samaritan

I finally figured out how to get on the internet from my room. Of course it helps that I am not whacked out on heavy duty drugs at the moment! That was certainly not fun. Hopefully I won't have to repeat the mag anytime in the near future. But for now, I am am feeling great (other than feeling really large!). Today they moved me to my "permanent" room on the antepartdom floor. All things considered, the room is not too bad and even comes with a mini fridge and entertainment armoir. I also had an ultrasound today to monitor the babies growth. I am happy to say that all the babies are growing well and are right around normal for 31 weeks gestation. The five babies weights were:

4 lb 2 oz
3 lb 5 oz
3 lb 9 oz
3 lb 10 oz
4 lb 3 oz

The smallest one is the one on the bottom of the pile, so it is understandable that she is smaller than the rest. Still she made it into the 35th percentile for 31 weeks gestation, so that isn't bad. The two 4 lbs-ers were both over 50th percentile for their age.

So, with all this baby in me, you can probably guess that I feel HUGE---kind of like a balloon about to explode. But I know I have to hang in there a few weeks more, so I am sure I will look back fondly at these days as the days when I was "little". OK, that might be exaggerating things just a bit. Not only do I have lots of baby weight in me, I have also gained 8 lbs since I have been in the hospital. Considering I didn't eat anything for the first three days, that only leaves one explanation----water weight! My feet, ankles, legs, etc. have gotten huge in the last few days. They hook me up to these machines that basically have a series of balloons the blow up around my legs and are supposed to help circulation. They also look stylishly like white moon boots.

My favorite part of the day here is when I get to go for "hydrotherapy". This is just a big tub that, yes, even I can fit in. The water is supposed to help keep up the babies amniotic fluid and hopefully help some of my swelling. It is very relaxing, so whatever the reason for the tub, I am quite fond of "hydrotherapy".

I have been very lucky since I have been in here to have many visits from my mom, aunts, kids, cousins and husband. It really helps pass the time--especially now that I am not so drugged up. I am so grateful for all the the kinds emails and comments that I have received from many of you----they really boost my spirits. It is not the easiest thing to sit up and type, so I many not get all the email's answered, but please know how much I appreciate them.

Please keep our family in your prayers! I will try to post when I can, but Jayson will make sure that the updates stay regular!

A Post from the Luxury Suite at Banner Good Samaritan