Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We went trick or treating last night at Grandma Debbie's house. I really don't know how we do many of things we do! We left Emma at Grandma's and took the kids out. When we started, it wasn't quite dark yet, but it got dark quickly. We were able to do about 3 blocks (both sides of the street) until we gave up. The kids loved it! Hayley went up to a couple of kids on the street with their plastic, orange pumpkin buckets and said, "Trick or Treat!". For some reason, she thought kids with those buckets were also handing out candy. The triplets did great! They walked/ran the whole time. The hardest part was keeping track of all of them. When we were about a block away from home, we realized that Cameron didn't have his trick or treat bag :( Adam ran back to look for it, but it was gone. We had enough candy for everyone though and they didn't even notice. We got a lot of ooohs and ahhhs from fellow trick or treaters over the kids' costumes. They were WAY TOO CUTE! Hayley was Ariel. She decided on that costume a LONG time ago. She has been telling me she needed a fin, red hair, and "those purple things" (sea shells). Cameron was a lion. He loves to make animal noises and roar. Cole was a monkey. He also loves making animal noises, and he loves bananas! Lauryn was a pink monster. She loves yelling "BOO" at people. Emma was a dalmatian. Grandma Debbie was Snow White. Hayley loved it! She totally looked the part.

Grandma Debbie (Snow White) and Hayley (Ariel-without her wig):
Lauryn/Cameron/Hayley/Cole

Cole with his banana hanging out:

Grandma Debbie, Daddy, Hayley, Cole, Cameron, and Lauryn:

Emma had her one month check up on Friday. I took all five kids out by myself to the appointment. That was a first for me! I packed snacks for everyone to keep them busy during the appointment. I put the triplets and Emma's car seat in the quad stroller and Hayley walked. We were packed into a little room like sardines, and it got HOT in there quickly but everyone did okay. Emma now weighs 8 pounds and 10 ounces! She's doing great! Dr. Carl took a listen to Cole's lungs while we were there to follow up on his pneumonia. We have to go in and repeat his chest x-ray this week to make sure everything is fine, and we think/hope it is because he's seemed fine ever since he started his antibiotics weeks ago.

The days are passing really quickly! We just got through Emma's baptism, and I realized that the triplets' birthday is just around the corner. We almost have three two year olds in the house! It's only two weeks away!

sleep...sweet sleep

Thank God! We started Emma on Zantac for reflux, and she is doing MUCH better! I knew that her fussiness had to be more than just newborn gas. She would be crying/screaming in PAIN after feedings. At first it was just at night, but as the days passed, more and more feedings became painful for her. Lauryn also had reflux like this as a newborn, so we knew we recognized it! Since Emma started her medication, the past few nights have been great! She wakes up to eat around 11pm, 3am, and 6/7am. It's just a relief to not see her in that pain anymore.

Emma is becoming more and more wakeful in the day time too. She has even started "playing" on her baby gym play mat! I have to watch her very carefully because she has lots of little mommies and daddies tending to her every need. If she starts to fuss, someone will grab her nuk and try to shove it in her mouth. The triplets were even attempting to share their snack with her this morning. How sweet of them :) And there is always someone who wants to give her a hug or a kiss. I have to admit, those cheeks are irresistible!

Pumpkins and Cousins

Today we took the whole gang to the pumpkin patch! October just passed us by and we realized that this was the last weekend before Halloween. We got everyone on the hayride and rode out to the patch. We were the only ones on the ride since it was still early. They dropped us off at one end of the patch, and off we went! Cole's first steps in the patch were through some major mud puddles. I held Emma all bundled up and under a blanket and watched as the other four kids and Adam ran through a field of rotten pumpkins. We had to shoo the kids off of some pretty bad ones. So, we pretty much took a LONG walk in the cold and mud and then jumped back up on the hayride to shop in the "pre picked" selection they had at the entrance. I guess it's been a bad season for pumpkins with a few hard freezes already this fall. The hayride was a major highlight, but so were the farm animals! They had a barn with cows, pigs, chickens, bunnies, turkeys, ducks, goats...and probably more I can't remember! The kids ran back and forth from each of the cages excitedly making animal noises and poking their fingers in at all of the animals.

Cameron/Lauryn/Cole running through the mud at the pumpkin patch:
Lauryn/Cole/Cameron on the hayride:

Hayley and Lauryn petting the pigs:

Cameron/Daddy/Hayley looking at the horse:

Cameron reading:

We really enjoyed our SHORT visit with our cousins from Texas early this past week! We wish we could see them more often!

Corryn holding Emma:

Corryn catching Lauryn on the slide:

Brenna catching Hayley on the slide:

Hayley, Aidan, Brenna, and Corryn playing with "Lucky" the dog:

Other than that, life is pretty much crazy as usual here...so "normal"! On Monday I took the kids out to drop off some diapers for a diaper study that I'm participating in. I put the triplets and Emma in the quad stroller and Hayley walked. It was chaotic, but we made it. When we got home, I sent the kids downstairs while I got Emma out of her car seat. I thought that the triplets may try to get into the the bathroom, but I remembered that I had just cleaned and disinfected everything so if they did they wouldn't get dirty. Well, when I came downstairs with Emma I saw all three of them leaning over one of the little potties. They were all soaked in urine and so were the walls and the rug that I had JUST laundered. I guess Hayley went to the bathroom as soon as we got home, and they followed in after her. Apparently a potty full of urine is just too tempting! I put Emma down and stripped the triplets. I washed them in the sink and sent them off and running again. Then I cleaned and disinfected the bathroom...AGAIN! It sounds like chaos, and it was, but it's our normal!

Adam and I are struggling with figuring out our little Emma! She just seems so uncomfortable at times after eating. Her fussy time is still in the early morning hours. We're just hoping that she starts sleeping more and more at night as time progresses. It seems like she more and more wakeful times during the day, so I hope that means we're moving in the right direction. We just remember that when the triplets were newborns, we'd feed them and lay them right back down and move on to the next baby. There wasn't any walking and shushing them in the night. Emma eats, and then we need to calm her for about an hour or more after the feeding is over before she/we can get some sleep. We've started drinking coffee in the mornings now. It's a step up from our usual diet coke and mt. dew!

Emma's Baptism

Today was Emma's baptism. She did great in church. She didn't even cry when the water touched her head. When we got home, she slept through her whole party. Yes, she is still having trouble with her days/nights. She is having more awake time during the day, but that doesn't mean that she's sleeping more at night! For some reason, she just seems fussier at her feedings in the nighttime. During the day we can feed her and put her back down, but at night she needs to be walked around and held. Adam has been doing the majority of the night shift so that I can sleep, so that has been SO helpful! I'm still exhausted so I don't know how he's functioning on the amount of sleep that he's getting, but he seems to be doing okay.

Every one's health has returned here, so I hope it stays that way for a while! Cole is supposed to have a repeat chest x-ray in a week or so to make sure his pneumonia is gone, but he's been great ever since he started his antibiotics. All of the kids, except Emma, got flu shots yesterday. My mom and I took all five kids out to the flu shot clinic at the pediatrician's office. Emma had just been at the doctor's on Tuesday for her 2 week check up. She weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces! She has regained the weight she lost after birth AND passed her birth weight. We think she may be a chunky baby like Hayley was! We'll see!

Hayley didn't catch this round of colds. She just continues to enjoy her preschool and ballet each week. She was VERY excited today because her cousins from Texas came over to play. She LOVES her cousins, and the only reason she didn't put up a fight about going to bed this evening was because I told her she needed to rest since they were going to be over again to play with her tomorrow. She can't wait!

Hayley and her cousin Aidan:

Uncle David, Mom, Emma, Dad, Aunt Denise

What a Week!

I should be sleeping right now instead of blogging, but I thought I'd try to do a really quick update. This past week has been crazy! Emma has her days/nights completely mixed up. She sleeps solid all day long and is awake/fussy at night. Her worst time is the early morning hours from about 3/4am-8am. This makes breakfast time REALLY crazy here since all 5 of the kids are buzzing at that time. We are loud, and the lights are all on during the day so hopefully she'll start to realize that is the time to be awake soon, but that was her schedule in my belly too! She'd be still all day and then start jumping around as soon as the other kids went to bed.

The triplets have been battling a cold for the past week. We've been cranking out the Tylenol and Motrin doses around the clock! Cameron and Lauryn seem to be doing better, but Cole has been getting worse. He's been waking up in the middle of the night lethargic with a fever and just miserable. He also hasn't been napping. So, even when Emma may be sleeping, he's been up. Adam and I were trying to trade off sleeping/caring for Emma, but with Cole sick, neither of us can rest. I took Cole in to the doctor today and after an extra trip to get a chest x-ray, we confirmed that he has pneumonia. Wonderful! As if I wasn't paranoid about germs in the house before, now I'm just sick to my stomach, worried about everyone getting sick and I'm worried about my sweet Cole! He started some antibiotics this evening, so I'm hoping that starts to "kick in" soon. The doctor said it could take a couple days to see a difference, and we have to check back in by Friday if he's not feeling better. My poor little guy is just so miserable. It breaks my heart to see him so uncomfortable.

Hayley has been a little extra emotional lately. I asked her preschool teacher how she was doing, and she told me that she's just great and that she talks about her new baby sister all the time. She hurt her foot a little over a week ago jumping off of the climber in our basement. She's been limping on it ever since, but she refuses to admit that it hurts or limit herself. How do you tell a 3 year old to sit still all day long so her foot can heal? The doctor took a look at it, but didn't think there was anything we could do for it. I just hope she can rest it enough for it to heal so she doesn't have to walk around with a limp anymore!

So that's about it here. Pray for health and SLEEP for the Indermuehles :)

Announcing...

the arrival of Emma Olivia Indermuehle! She was born on Tuesday, September 29th at 5:44pm, and she weighed 6 pounds and 12 oz. The long day started at 6:00am when my water broke and contractions began. Grandma Debbie came over to hold down the fort until Grandma Gayle could arrive. Adam and I headed out to the hospital. I told Hayley we were finally going to the hospital to get baby Emma out of Mama's tummy, and she said, "Yeah. I need some juice".

We somewhat expected the labor to go quickly because Hayley's did, but I was induced with her so we had the pitocin to help me along then. I progressed through the morning, but stalled out in the afternoon. Once they decided to start some pitocin, things happened rapidly. We were successful in avoiding a c-section, and I'm SO grateful for that now! Since we got home this afternoon, there hasn't been time to sit down! I know I couldn't be keeping up this level of activity if I would have had a c-section.

Emma came out screaming, but she's been a really, really sweet baby so far! All of the nurses thought so as well. She likes to be bundled up and cuddled. She's a good eater too. Hayley got to come by the hospital to visit her new baby sister yesterday, and she was ALL smiles! It was so cute. She said, "Oh, she's so beautiful! She looks just like ME!". The triplets stayed back at home to sleep and play with Grandma. Unfortunately, they all have a cold with a cough, so we have jumped back into mega hand washing and hand sanitizer mode just like the NICU days. They aren't too interested in Emma yet, so that helps. The hardest part so far was when I had to feed her because they all wanted to check out the "show", but we had to keep them from breathing/coughing on her while she was eating. I missed being away from the kids SO much while Adam and I were at the hospital with Emma, but it was so nice to have a couple of days to really bond with Emma before bringing her home. It's amazing to me every time how you can be so in love with someone from the moment you meet them!

Emma in her first outfit. Ready to go home from the hospital.
In the car seat. Going home to meet ALL the brothers and sisters!

Hayley checking out her new baby sister.

Hayley was ALMOST as happy with the balloon as the new sister.

The first meeting.

They finally meet!

And now...life with FIVE kids under FOUR begins!

38 Week Update

Yesterday was my 38 week appointment. I saw another doctor since my regular ob is on vacation. She confirmed that there's been no change since last week. Emma is still holding on strong. I've concluded that she's a very smart little girl, and she knows how good she has it right now so she's staying put as long as she can! My next appointment is on Tuesday with my regular doctor. We will see how things are progressing and discuss if the scheduled induction for the 5th will actually happen or not. If things are not looking "favorable", then they won't induce me because I've had a previous c-section. There is an increased risk of uterine rupture when hormones are introduced. This is because the hormones cause rather strong contractions, much stronger than naturally occurring contractions. So I'm feeling like this may be an over due baby, but I've been told that things can change in an instant so we'll just have to wait a little longer and see!