We're Home!

After a loooong day of surgery and postop vomiting, Sav was feeling better and decided to wake up at 4am for some light refreshment. (In all of these pictures, Miss Thang is doped up and feeling great! Hilarious)



Yep, popsicles and pudding...a toddler's dream diet



Silly little Sav---how about some more sleep, baby girl? Its not even light outside.



Goofing around with Mommy later that morning---she LOVED her new doodle pad that Aunt Susan gave her!...wouldn't put it down.



Such a mess---couldn't make up her mind about what she wanted, so she ended up with about 10 stuffed animals, 11 books, toys, milk, snacks, etc in her crib for easy access...the little goober.



Did I mention that she was doped up?

Seconds later...out like a light! She would wake up and grunt at us every time we tried to pry her snack cup out of her wee little fingers.



By Saturday afternoon---Sav was doing SO well that the doc decided to discharge us that night (instead of Sunday!!!) Prayer works! I tell ya, she's a feisty one, this gal. Stopping to smell the beautiful flowers from our friends at Harris.



Broke my heart when she grabbed the keys and kept pointing to the window saying, "Out-sigh...out-sigh". SOOOOO ready to be home.



Before we returned home, Joe & I had sweet little visions of Sav and her brothers running toward each other with lots of hugs and kisses---hahaha, yah, not so much. I think Miss Priss got a bit overwhelmed.



Sav protecting her balloon. You touch--you die, Benny boy.



After a while, all was back to normal. Here is Ethan going in for a "kiss-kiss"



Lots of kisses to go around! Mama and her sunshine- Drew...his smile lights up a whole room!



We missed our boys!!! A huge thanks to Granna, Papa, and Aunt Susan for staying with the little guys this weekend. It was so nice being able to spend that one-on-one time with Savannah while in the hospital.


Sav woke up with some pain this morning, but is doing great. We have to watch her brothers carefully- so they won't fall on her or play rough with her. She will go back for a follow up in about a month and will have more icky kidney testing in about 4-5 months. So, at least we know Sav has a while to heal before surgery on her left kidney. Thanks again for all of your prayers and kind words!!!

My Little Trooper

We headed to the hospital early this morning--poor Sav had no idea what was going on.


I gave her a picture of her brothers and she wouldn't let it out of her hands. In fact, she was wheeled off to surgery with the picture in her kung-fu grip! (Look who she is pointing to...she LOOOOVES Beeeeeeen)


She kept kissing the picture, saying "kiss-kiss" (The quads go around kissing each other all day and say "kiss kiss" while laughing. It is adorable)


Missin' her bros...so sweet.


Precious little hospital gown


Playing in the waiting room


I did great until it was actual surgery time and I had to put Savannah on the stretcher. UGH. RIP MY HEART OUT! She was doped up on Versed, so Mama was the only one bawling. The surgery lasted 3 hours and Dr. Pinto found something very unusual. Savannah had a UPJ obstruction caused by a crossing renal vessel. (Meaning- her renal artery was anatomically positioned on top of her ureter--pressing down, causing the obstruction...normally, the renal artery is supposed to be located UNDER or below the ureter. This condition is usually found in adults--occasionally in teenagers. Dr. Pinto had never seen this in a child--he was surprised and had to work carefully around the artery, but worked his magic and Sav's surgery went perfectly.

This was right when I saw her after surgery for the first time. She asked for 3 things: Mama, "baby", and the picture of her brothers...awwww


Sweet Sav takes after her mother and Granna and has had some pretty bad postoperative nausea/vomiting. She has been unable to keep any liquids down, poor baby girl. As I sit here typing, Sav is getting lots of lovin/pampering from Dadda. (as if he could get any MORE wrapped around her wee little finger??)


THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOO much for all of the sweet words, encouragement, and prayers. I've read each and every one of them over the past couple of days through watery eyes. I will keep you posted on the lil princess and our hospital vacation this weekend.

She Would Have Made the BEST Big Sis!

Don't forget to be checkin' in on my review blog where I'll be posting every week day about my Crystal Light Water Way Challenge--its Day 4 and I'm feeling great!

Lizzie and her twin girls, Kinley and Maddie, came to visit with us today! They are SO precious and are getting SO big! Every time the ladies come over, Savannah thinks she has two new baby dolls to play with...it is adorable!
Kinley on the left, Maddie in front of Sav (who is sporting her ACU gear for Auntie Liz)









kiss kiss








Precious little angels asleep (Kinley left, Maddie right)


I will have my laptop with me this weekend to update you all on Savannah's status. Her surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) morning at 10:30am. It will last 3 hours with 1+ hours in recovery before we can love on her or even see the princess. Thanks again for your prayers and positive energy.

God bless,

Drink. More. Water.

You might have noticed my button on the right hand side---I am SO excited to be making a delicious change with BlogHer and Crystal Light.


What does that even mean, Suz?

Well, hop on over to my review blog and check it out for yourselves! I'll be posting every week day for the next 2 weeks.

I have some exciting news coming up about the Steece Quads---(NO, its not a reality TV show)---you'll just have to wait and see. (Check out the review blog for pics)

In other news, we had a great time with Grammie Steece this weekend!
Waiting for our table at BJ's (Drew, Savannah, Ethan, Ben)


Then back to the house for some MUCH NEEDED hair cuts! (Sav supervising/assisting while Mama cuts Ethan's hair---the boy doesn't move an inch)


Savannah's surgery is still on for this Friday. Please keep those prayers and positive thoughts flooding God's inbox for this little munchkin! ;)

Our Da-Da is AWESOME

We love our Dada SO much because he always: makes us laugh, throws us up in the air, plays chase with us, treats me like a princess (Sav), does Aggie yells with us, holds us tight when we are upset, dotes on me constantly (Sav), teaches us all different kinds of sports, runs around like a kid in the back yard with us, takes us for long walks, and loves us unconditionally.

We LOVE you Dada!
Eeeeee, Saaa, Beeeeeen, An-doo (as pronounced by Mz Thang)

I am SO unbelievably thankful for this man. He is my partner in crime, my best friend, the love of my life, and the most amazing father to my children. We are MORE than blessed to have you in our lives, Joe Steece. Love you SO much.
Suz

If you're feeling nostalgic, check out the video I made for Joe on Father's Day last year. I still can't get through it without bawling like a baby!

Happy Father's Day to all of you amazing, strong men out there! (and to the future fathers as well)- God bless you and your families!

Savannah, her kidneys and upcoming surgeries

(This post is taken from an email I wrote to friends and family on Monday with new updated information)

Monday, the quads and I drove to Fort Worth for Savannah's appointment with her pediatric urologist, Dr. Pinto.

Ethan, Drew, Ben (Sav on the table)


Ethan


Andrew


Ben (who by the way--looked SO grown up to us when we returned from Chicago! Something about his face looks more mature)

We received the results from Sav's VCUG and RENAL SCAN that were performed on June 1, 2009. Not so good--pretty much worst case scenario for the poor gal. She has two very distinct and different situations going on with her kidneys/ureters and will require 2 different, big surgeries. I will do my best to explain.

Sweet silly Savi


SAV'S RIGHT KIDNEY (the worst problem):

She has almost a complete UPJ obstruction and lots of scarring, causing her kidney to swell.
The kidney is functioning around a 10% or lower capacity right now. (scary) Here is some info I found on the web to explain the surgery:

The classic treatment of UPJ obstruction is an open operation to remove the UPJ
and to reattach the ureter to the pelvis of the kidney, creating a wide junction
between the two. This operation, called a pyeloplasty, allows rapid and easy
drainage of urine produced by the kidney and relieves symptoms and the risk of
infection. The procedure usually takes a few hours and has a success rate in
excess of 95 percent with one operation. Hospitalization after surgery depends
on age of the patient. A variety of drainage tubes can be used to promote
healing, and the choice of which one to use is dependent on the surgeon's
preference. The incision usually is just below the ribs and just behind a line
that would pass from the patient's arm to the leg on the affected side. The
incision usually is two to three inches long.

The doctor told me that the surgery will last 3 hours and she will be required to recover in the hospital for 48 hours. They will also place a ureteral stint during surgery that will be taken out several weeks later in the office. Dr. Pinto was booked up until August, but managed to move the schedule around (including giving up a vacation day) for little Sav to get in sooner. She is now scheduled for next Friday, June 26th @ 2pm. Joe and I will spend the weekend with her in the hospital and she is expected to be discharged sometime on Sunday, the 28th.

SAV'S LEFT KIDNEY:

She continues to have vesicoureteral reflux at the highest grade (IV/V)---to the degree where her poor little kidney is completely swollen and full of urine. (not good) The good news is that the ureter is at least draining (unlike the right ureter), POORLY, but draining nonetheless. Here is some information about the surgery involved with this condition:

Open Surgery
The most frequently performed operation for the correction of
reflux is the Cohen cross-trigonal reimplantation. This is done through an
incision in the bladder and the ureters are relocated into the bladder to
prevent reflux. This procedure can be done with a 1-2 day hospital stay and has
a very high success rate – approaching 98% at most institutions. Due to the high
success rates of this procedure, some surgeons will forego follow-up VCUG. You
can read more about it here:
http://urology.jhu.edu/pediatric/diseases/reflux.php

HOWEVER, Sav's little body would not be able to endure both procedures in one day (it would be a 4+ hour operation)...not to mention that BOTH of her kidneys/ureters would be compromised at the same time (which is scary). So, we will wait a while for her body to heal from the first RIGHT kidney surgery, and then we will proceed with the Cohen cross-trigonal reimplantation for her LEFT kidney. (I'm guessing within a couple of months) Same scenario, 3 hr procedure with a 48 hr hospital stay.



Poor little girl does not act sick at all. You would have NO idea! Although we are relieved to finally take care of her renal issues, I am getting more and more anxious about the actual day of surgery. Please, please, pleeeeeeeease be praying for precious Savannah, our family, and all of the personnel who will be taking care of my sweet little angel.

After Sav's appointment, we headed upstairs to love on Dr. Tabor for a quick second. I just LOOOOVE all of his staff. Such sweet, caring people! I miss seeing their smiling faces every week!

The genius and his quads---its almost been 2 years!


Then we strolled across the parking lot to visit our buddies in the Harris Methodist FW NICU. You might recognize NURSE ASHLIE there in the middle! LOVE HER! MISS HER!


We also took a trip upstairs to visit the nurses on Jones 3rd floor where I lived in the hospital 2 summers ago. MY my my....just amazing to think about. (Forgot to take a pic, Jones 3! Much love)

And there you have it...a pretty intense little Monday afternoon for our family. I will keep you updated on Sav and her surgery. It is incredible to imagine how much your life is going to change once you have a child. One of my best friends once told me, that it is like having your heart walking around outside of your body. SO TRUE. Taking your baby in for surgery is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do (Ethan and Andrew had inguinal hernia repairs when they were just a few months old)---and it is getting more and more difficult the older they get. Praying for peace of mind and a successful, minimally traumatic surgery for the little girl.

Chi-caaah-go

Last Thursday we headed to the airport at 9am to catch our 11:30am flight to Memphis then on to Chicago. Well...that's at least what was SUPPOSED to happen. After a long night and crazy morning of thunder/lightening storms, about a buh-zillion flights were cancelled at DFW. We were among the lucky ones who could not get on another flight to Chicago until THE NEXT MORNING at 7am.

SOOOOO sad



We waited for our luggage and headed home---until Conor McNulty hooked us up with his points at a nearby hotel--made the reservation for us and everything! (How cool is that guy?!?!) We were given strict orders from our amazing friends, who were already partying in Chicago, to NOT go home and to start our vacation at that very moment!



So that is exactly what Joe and I did---a little Thursday afternoon movie at the Studio Movie Grill in Arlington



Hit up Gloria's for some good food, good drinks, and great conversation with the hubster. (Trying our hardest not to get sad that we weren't with our friends as planned)



We called it a night around midnight to get ready for our 4am wake up call. This was the scene at the airport on Friday morning at 5am! All of these people were in ONE line, being helped by ONE, I repeat, ONE DELTA airline personnel. We waited for hours, and hours. Surprise surprise, our flight was delayed.



...and delayed some more...



We finally get to our layover in Cincinnati (or, "the 'natti" as Joe calls it) to waste away 4 hours at the airport Outback Steakhouse. We arrive at our gate to begin boarding and.....awesome. Flight delayed again.



Delirious by this point.


Exhausted.



Losing our minds.



FINALLY. Our plane arrives.



And our buddies are all there to greet us and pick us up from O'Hare (over 24 hours later...which felt like TWO DAYS later!) Suz, Gen, Jen, Mari



Chatty Cathy over here, filling the guys in on our *AWESOME* airport adventures. Conor, Brad, Joe



Chris & Suz


Catching dinner with Mari, Chris, Conor



Joe, Suz, Gen (J-Jen was back at the condo, playing the role of nurse to poor Brad who finally caught the icky "Murray family stomach bug" that had been passed around all week---POOR GUY!)



Suz, Gen, Mari



Saturday morning brunch at Rockit Bar & Grill (awesome place!) Mari, Chris, Conor, Gen, Jen, Brad (feeling MUCH better), Suz, and Joe...."Hey babe---where is your Minnesota Twins gear? After all, they are playing the cubbies and aren't you a huge fan???"



That's more like it! Supportin' the "family fav" (Steeces are from Minnesota)



The dudes headed to Wrigley for the game...



...while the gals shopped & sipped on Ghiradelli cocoa.



Hanging with the boys after the game---the atmosphere was amazing! Reminded me of tailgating at Aggie games (times about a billion). LOVE it. Joe, Chris, Conor



Our last night (boo, we just got here?!)...the girls all ready to go out and catch a Bob Schneider show! (One of our favorite Texas-based musicians!!!) Suz, Murr, Mare, Gen



LOOOOOOOVE this pic of these two hotties! J-Jen and G-Gen--------savers of my sanity when I was pregnant with quadruplets. Seriously don't know what I would have done without their constant love and support. I love them SO much! To read about our first trip and the background of our friendship, click HERE.




Not to mention this sweet thang and navigator of our trip (Mari used to live in Chicago). LOVE Mari SO much. We each have 3 boys/1 girl quads born in August 2007---so, we completely understand what each other is going through at the exact same time! Love her.

These fantastic couples mean the world to Joe and me. Our hearts physically ache when we leave them. We connect on SO many different levels and have such an awesome dynamic--each person bringing something different to the table. When we get together, it recharges the soul and revitalizes our spirits---just to know others that share our same life experiences. I just cannot even explain it. Joe and I are better parents, spouses, and friends with you in our lives and we love you more than words could possibly say.



Gen and Conor McNulty



Mari and Chris Goerlich



Brad and Jen Murray


Suz and Joe Steece



Sunday morning we had MORE airline drama! (Seriously numb by the time we got home) But we were excited to be re-routed to MN for a layover!



Joe's family is from Minnesota and I've always wanted to visit---so, the airport will have to suffice until we can plan a real visit!


We had an awesome trip and already miss y'all somethin' awful. (We will actually be playing with the Goerlichs in July when they bring the entire family to stay with us for a weekend! CANNOT WAIT!) Thanks again to our wonderful families and friends who make getaways like this possible. We have been blessed with the most incredible support system that anyone could EVER ask for and we NEVER take you for granted!!!

Hugs all around!

& Joe ;)