Names and other names

When I was pregnant with the Fab Four, one of the burning questions on people's minds was: "What are you going to name them?" And our reply was always the same: "We're not telling anyone until they're born." Although our family and friends may have thought we were playing coy, the truth is that coming up with eight names (four first and four middle) was a daunting task—so overwhelming that even we didn't know for sure what our babies' names were going to be until just a day or two before I delivered!

Two and a half years later, one of those babies (Lucy) has apparently decided that the names we so carefully picked out are lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. To remedy this lack of parental creativity, she has come up with some snazzier pseudonyms for the crew. Allow me to introduce you to:

LULU

When the Fab Four were still babies and it became clear that Lucia would be more petite than her siblings, I would occasionally call her Little Lulu (after one of my favorite cartoons as a kid in Peru). I randomly used her old nickname a while back, and it seems that the "Lulu" part caught her fancy.

The only nickname that Lucy uses more than her own is:

JUDO

A few weeks ago, Ted joked with me that Jude's name in Spanish would be Judo. I didn't even realize that Lucy was listening to our conversation until about a week later, when she pointed at Jude and repeated what Ted had said. She now refers to Jude by his "Spanish" name so often that I've even caught myself calling him that!

Another nickname that is catching on around here is:

BIG GUY

I recently heard Lucy start crying in the playroom and ran in there to find Isaac unintentionally smashing her against the side of the school bus. As I rescued Lucy, I told Isaac that he needs to be more careful because his sister is a little girl and he is a big guy. Little Lulu must have appreciated the imagery, for she soon dubbed Isaac "Big Guy." Even Jude seems to think the name fits: When I told him the other day that he was a big guy, he immediately corrected me, saying, "Isaac big guy!"

Unlike the boys' nicknames, which are relatively new creations, Dahlia's goes back just as far as Lucy's does:

JULIA

When Dahlia was a baby in the throes of acid reflux, I used to soothe her during feedings by singing the Beatles song "Julia," substituting her name for the song's title. Now, every time we listen to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Lucy's song) or "Hey Jude" (Jude's song), the kids also insist on listening to "Julia," which they call "Dahlia's song." Lucy isn't fooled by my lyrical switcheroo, though. She knows the song's real name, and to her, Dahlia is Julia.

I'm sure these nicknames are the first in a long line of aliases that the Fab Four will come up with for themselves—but what they don't know yet is that Ted and I already employ our own code names for them. I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that we long ago assigned each a number according to birth order?

First quad pics

I apologize for the long silence on my end: The last few days have been action-packed with family and NICU visits, moving up to the post-partum unit, filling out lots of paperwork, talking to nurses and doctors galore, learning to pump, etc., etc.—not to mention that I wasn't even able to access the hospital's wireless network anyway all day on Saturday, which was my last day there. Yep, I'm home!!!! I feel like a prisoner who's been freed—a very tired prisoner who hasn't walked in 3 months, is recovering from a C-section, and still has a huge uterus that makes me look heavily pregnant (hopefully the pumping will help it shrink back down to a manageable size; Ted asked me what I would say if someone asks me when I'm due, and I told him I'd just give the quads' real due date of February 9, ha!).

But enough about me—I know that what you guys are really interested in are the babies! Without further ado, here are some first pics, along with the info that everyone's been asking for:

Isaac Nehiel

Isaac was Baby B in the womb. When he was born, he weighed 4 lb. 11 oz. and was 19 inches long. His first name means "laughter" in Hebrew, and he gets his middle name (pronounced "nay-yell") from my dad. He never required extra oxygen and was the first to come off his CPAP. I got to take his temperature (under his arm, whew!), change his tiny diaper, and give him his first bottle on Friday. After that, the doctor determined that his bilirubin levels were elevated (translation: he had jaundice), so the nurse put him in a blindfold and trained the phototherapy lights on him (but I just found out that they turned them off today, yay!). We think he really looks like Ted and can't wait to get to the hospital this afternoon so that we can see his cute little face again!

Lucia Celeste

Lucia was Baby C in the womb. When she was born, she weighed 4 lb. 5 oz. and was 17 inches long. Her first name (pronounced "loo-see-ah") means "light," and her middle name means "heavenly" (yes, there's a Beatles connection here—can you guess it?). Celeste also means "light blue" in Spanish and is the color of the Uruguayan flag. She never required extra oxygen and came off the CPAP on Saturday only to be put back on after her first bath (I guess the experience got her all excited or something). I got to hold her on Christmas while she was still on her CPAP, and then she went under the phototherapy lights, so we didn't get to see her face until a couple of days ago, when we happened to visit while she was taking a break from the blindfold. She is super-cute, and so far I think she also favors Ted. Now that she's on CPAP again, though, we're not sure when we'll get a good look at her next.

Jude Wesley

Jude was Baby A in the womb. When he was born, he was our big boy at 4 lb. 15 oz., and he measured 18 inches long. His first name is a direct reference to a Beatles song, and he shares his middle name with Ted, Ted's dad, and Ted's grandpa. He never required extra oxygen and is now off his CPAP, although he is usually blindfolded due to jaundice and phototherapy. Ted got to hold him the day after Christmas, I got to give him his first bottle yesterday, and we narrowly missed being able to give him his first bath. His hair is a little darker than Isaac and Lucia's, and his face is a little wider, so maybe he looks like my side of the family? Whoever he looks like, he is an adorable, alert little guy and I think he will be a lot of fun when he gets a little stronger!

Dahlia Solis

Dahlia was Baby D in the womb (but the fact that her name also starts with a D is a coincidence). She is the runt of the litter and was responsible for the doctor deciding to go ahead and deliver the quads before we got to 34 weeks (which would have been today). When she was born, she weighed 3 lb. 9 oz. and was 17 inches long. Her first name (pronounced "dowl-ya") is the name of a flower that Mom grew in our front yard in Uruguay, and her middle name (pronounced "so-lees") is the beach in Uruguay where my family used to vacation when I was growing up. She is the only quad who's needed extra oxygen, but it's only been a small amount (regular room air is 20% oxygen, and she's been given between 28% and 40%). She hasn't yet been taken off her CPAP, but the nurse practitioner just called to say that that might happen in the next day or so. We hear that she's a feisty little girl, and we can hardly wait to see what she looks like under all those tubes and the blindfold!

Everyone is feeding regularly now and has been gaining in grams, although not enough yet to impact the pounds and ounces. The docs say that if they keep this up, they should all be able to get their IVs out soon. And do you know what that means? Quad pics where they're all together!

We are so blessed!!!!

They're here!

We are proud to announce that the Fab Four made their debut this morning in the following order:

Isaac Nehiel at 8:40am, 4 lb. 11 oz.
Lucia Celeste at 8:40am, 4 lb. 5 oz.
Jude Wesley at 8:41am, 4 lb. 15 oz.
Dahlia Solis at 8:41am, 3 lb. 9 oz.

Ted got to see the babies in the resuscitation room while they were putting me back together, and then we were able to go up and see them in the NICU after I got out of recovery. They are all on CPAP machines for the time being to help them breathe, but otherwise they are doing great (as am I). I'm pretty sure they're super-cute, but it's hard to tell under all of those tubes and wires!

Thanks so much for all of your prayers this morning, and please keep them coming, as the nurses say that it's not unusual for preemies to backslide a bit in the first couple of days. Also, please be aware that the hospital staff has advised us that visitors are not a good idea until we can be sure that everyone is stable. For now, I am trying to rest as much as possible, but I'll keep everyone posted on how we're doing and will upload pictures after I've had a chance to go through them.

What a wonderful Christmas this is turning out to be!

I am full of babies

That's how my coworker Jon described me today, and it cracked me up! Of course, I can't feel any of the babies yet, but that doesn't mean I'm not constantly aware of their presence. Mostly, they make me tired and extremely hungry to the point that I cannot even sleep through the night without waking up for a hearty snack (okay, it's more like a meal). I hear that's pretty normal, but I can't help suspecting that four babies make you hungrier than just one.

In other news, at 9 weeks I can no longer button my jeans. I am using a hair band looped around my button and through my button hole to extend the reach of my waistband. It's working pretty well so far, but I have to admit that I had to unzip my pants on the car ride home from work today (I don't think the drivers around me noticed). Any day now, I won't even have to inform people that I am pregnant. Things are already happening so quickly!

What's not progressing quickly is the name selection. The truth is that we have been so overwhelmed by the thought of having quads that baby names are the last thing on our minds. We've kind of decided that the most efficient thing to do is to wait to make those decisions until we find out the sexes of John, Paul, George, and Ringo (yes, that's what I immediately dubbed them when we got the quad news), which won't happen for a few weeks yet. That way we don't waste a lot of time deciding on names that won't even be needed.

Nevertheless, we do have a number of helpful friends who are having fun coming up with names on our behalf. Here's the most complete (and the most inspired!) list I've received so far, courtesy of Jana (coworker and cat-sitter extraordinaire):

The basics (read: boring!)—these are the top four names for boys and girls in 2008-2009 (in order):

Girls: Madison, Hannah, Emily, and Alexia
Boys: Jacob, Michael, Joshua, and Matthew

In no particular order, here are the more—shall we say—colorful names!!

The 4 food groups: Ham, Broccoli, Milk, and Wheat
The Growing Pains kids (kinda appropriate): Mike, Carol, Ben, and Chrissy
I Love Lucy: Ricky, Lucy, Ethel, and Fred
The Scooby gang: Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy (I'd be remiss if I didn't include them)
Deck of cards: Heart, Club, Spade, and Diamond (although these do sound stripper-ish!)
70s disco: Earth, Wind, Fire (and Water)
The 4 elements in all living things: Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen
4 really bad celebrity kids names: Pilot Inspektor, Prince Michael II (yes, because there's a Prince Michael I), Zahara, and Kal El
The 4 seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter
The 4 corner states: Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico (the kid who gets the name New Mexico could definitely be shortened to "Mexi"—just a thought)
If you have 4 girls, how 'bout 4 flowers? Daisy, Rose, Lily, and Iris
Popular city names: Paris (of course, right!?), London, Brooklyn, and Dallas
And finally, what seems to be the most logical of all, The Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing

Other interesting suggestions have included rock stars (Axl, Slash, Izzy, and Duff), comedians (Larry, Curly, Moe, and Shemp), and biblical characters (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Chuck—hey, sometimes it's hard to come up with that fourth name!). If you have any more name ideas for us, leave a comment—we just might use one of them!