Pregnancy update for the week of September 30.

I am officially 30 weeks pregnant on September 30th!

We are very fortunate that I have been able to carry this foursome for 30 weeks, and we are hoping to keep them cooking for another 2-4 weeks. Babies born after 32 weeks gestation have an almost 100% survival rate and very few serious complications of prematurity.

As of our last growth check on September 25th three of the four babies were over 3lbs and the fourth was just under 3lbs. My docs are very pleased with their growth, and state that they are all growing at similar rates.

I'm generally feeling OK, this pregnancy has been uneventful. I've got lots of back pain, lots of heartburn, and I'm seldom comfortable. The babies kick all the time and one of the boys just can't keep himself out of my liver, which is very painful for me.

Just in case you don't know:

• We are expecting two boys and two girls. This has been confirmed on ultrasound several times.
• Each baby has its own amniotic sac and placenta, so they are most likely all fraternal, although it is possible that either or both of the girls or boys are identical.
• We have names! The girls are Audrey and Melanie. The boys are Theodore and Oliver.

To help everyone keep up with our news....

I've been thinking about doing this for quite some time, so now that we are in week 30 of our pregnancy, I think it is high time I got on the ball. Honestly, I was waiting until I was on bed rest to do it. Well, we have much to be thankful for, because this pregnancy has gone so smoothly that I haven't been sentenced to a minute of bed rest, yet!!! Knock on wood!!!

My plan is to update the blog at least weekly, but I'm seeing the doc twice a week now, so there may be additional updates. I think this will be a nice way that I can keep concerned friends and family informed about our family, especially at times when I might not be able to make lots of calls or respond to email messages.

I'd also like to just say up front that you will not find any belly shots on this blog. While I don't mind sharing pictures with friends and family, I loathe the idea of someone forwarding a picture to someone I don't know with a note that says, "Here's a picture of a girl I know that is pregnant with quadruplets." I understand why someone would be curious, but I'm not a circus side-show, if you get my drift. If you had an unusual medical condition, would you really want people flashing your picture around saying, "Look at this guy with a purple spotted arm!"?

I promise there will be lots of baby pictures once the quads arrive!