Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas!

As of last Thursday (officially from the doctor's office)...

• Wyatt 9lbs 4oz
• Grace 8lbs 6oz
• Chloe 7lbs 3oz

So, how much do they weigh?

This is a question we get alot and I usually give approximate numbers.

From their two month checkup on November 14th.

• Wyatt - 7 lbs 3.5 ounces
• Grace - 6 lbs 9.5 ounces
• Chloe - 5 lbs 13.5 ounces

Unofficially, today on the bathroom scale. (I weighed myself and then myself with the baby, then figured the difference.)

• Wyatt - 9 lbs 6 ounces
• Grace - 8 lbs 3 ounces
• Chloe - 7 lbs 6 ounces

OMG! They are getting so big! They did have their clothes on, so take a few ounces off for that. But still! They are like real size babies now.

More pictures!

There are more pictures from our photo session on November 21st from Dawn's sister-in-law, Christy!

Check out www.lucybluephotography.com and go to recent shoots.

;-)

Pictures!

On November 21st (the babies due date), we had pictures taken. The photographer is a friend and neighbor from Freeland that I grew up with. You can look at the pics on her website.

dbphotographyonline.com

Go to recent shoots.

Here is a preview.

Chloe, Grace, & Wyatt

Settling in at Home

It has been awhile again since I posted, but this time I have a really good excuse! All of a sudden the babies were coming home.

The last thing they all needed to master at the hospital was eating and I should have guessed that they would pick up on that pretty quick. (Bill and I claim to be pretty good eaters.) I still thought it would take longer and that they wouldn't be home until the end of October, but I was wrong.

On October 14th the nurse called and asked, "Are you ready to bring these babies home?" We answered that we pretty much were ready. She said, "No really, are you ready for these babies to come home this weekend?" Ughhhh?!?! And so the scramble started. For the next couple of days we kicked into high gear and got as much as done as possible. We tried to do everything we could to try to be prepared at home, but we really were not sure exactly what we needed.

On Friday, October 17th we brought Wyatt and Chloe home. Sadly, we had to leave Grace by herself at the hospital for a couple of days. It was a crazy weekend! Luckily, Stan and Glo came down for the weekend to help. Then on Tuesday, the 21st, Grace came home. It is so wonderful to have them all home and to not have to drive 35 miles to the hospital. Chloe and Grace came home on apnea monitors that monitor their heartrates and breathing, but we have not been getting any alarms that we think are real. Chloe has had a few low heartrates, but we think they are false. They all happen when she is in her carseat, so we think maybe the lead is not picking up right due to her position. For the past week we have only put them on the monitors at night. We will have the monitors downloaded this week and hopefully can get rid of them.

.

We took a tour through the hospital with our triple decker stroller to say good bye to everyone. As happy as we were to be going home, it also was kind of sad because the hospital had become our second home for the past 90+ days.

The back of the Saturn Vue is a tight squeeze, but they all fit for now. I am looking forward to getting a mini van!?!

The past 2 1/2 weeks have flown by, but I think we are finally getting used to the schedule. For now, Bill and I are both not working. It takes both of us to feed and change diapers every 3 -4 hours, plus I am still pumping. We are short on sleep and sometimes forget to eat, but we are hanging in there!

Happy Halloween!

from

Chloe the Ghost

Wyatt the Pumpkin

Grace the Cat

AND Mimi the Chicken!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to us!

Just thought I would mention it is our 3rd Anniversary today and I am 33 years old and we have triplets AND the babies would be in their 33rd week of gestation! That is a lot of 3's!

One Month Birthday!

Wyatt, Grace, and Chloe were One Month Old on October 1st! We attempted to take their pictures, but they were not as into it as we were. :-)

Grace, Wyatt, & Chloe

Wyatt kept sticking his hands up in front of the girls!

Forgot one thing yesterday...

Last week on the day that the babies moved down to the Stepdown Nursery Grace received a blood transfusion. Her hematocrit levels (has to do with the packed red blood cell volume) had been low for a couple of days and Monday night see wasn't taking her feedings very well (spitting up a lot of it) and she looked pale. So, with all of these things happening the Dr. decided to give her a transfusion to help her along until she started making enough of her own red blood cells. To do this she needed an IV put in again and we got to be with her when they did it. Poor girl, she got poked four times before it was in. Once in each foot and hand. I think I cringed more than she did. Grace didn't even make a peep, which is funny because if you take her temperature under her arm she screams! She then received the transfusion after we moved downstairs. It was only 25cc, which is just a big syringe full and it only took about two hours. The next day you could see a difference in her. She had better coloring and was more active.

Chloe also had slightly low hematocrit levels, but since she was not having any other problems the Dr. just put her on iron.

The Big Moves!

The babies are all doing wonderfully! I have lots to update, but this post will just be about last week. I have a hundred plus pictures to sort through from the last couple of weeks, and will post more later today or tomorrow.

By Monday, September 29th all three babies were moved from their isolets into what the hospital calls cribs. (Basically, they are wooden carts with a plastic bin on top.) They are also off their nasal canulas by this time, too. So, this means they are all breathing well on their own with little to no apnea spells and they are able to regulate their own temperatures. This is amazing for being 32 weeks!

Then on Tuesday, the 30th, all the babies moved downstairs to the Stepdown Nursery! This nursery is for babies who basically need to feed and grow. They are still on monitors for their heartrates and respirations, just different ones. These are called memory monitors and they store information so that the doctors can look at longer periods of time. They are getting closer to coming home. All they need to do now is learn how to eat! This freaks us out a bit because we still need to get the nursery at home settled in!

Chloe, Grace, & Wyatt in their new cribs

They are all starting to be more awake now. At least for a little while before and during their feedings. We were able to get a few pictures with their eyes open.

Chloe Abigail

Wyatt Alexander

Grace Elizabeth

Three weeks old already!

Wow time flies! The babies are three weeks old this week and still doing very well. They all are off IVs. Wyatt has been off his nasal canula since mid last week. The girls have been on and off their canulas for the past week. They still need a little help so they are not working so hard to breath. All are on breastmilk feedings every three hours through the OG tube in their mouths. Wyatt's feedings are up to 30 mL for each feeding (which is equivalent to 1 ounce), Grace is at 29 mL, and Chloe is at 25 mL. Over the weekend they started adding HMF (human milk fortifier) to the breastmilk to help them gain weight. Also, during the feedings all three babies are doing well with their pacifiers. This helps train them to associate sucking with a full belly.

As of Monday their weights and lengths are...

• Wyatt 3 lbs 6 oz - 16.93 inches
• Grace 3 lbs 2 oz - 16.34 inches
• Chloe 2 lbs 11.7 oz - 15.5 inches

It is so wonderful to report that all three babies are doing so well! Please, keep praying for our babies continued success!

On Monday, since all babies were off their nasal canulas that day, we held them all together for the first time. OMG! What a great feeling! The babies seemed quite bored with the process, but Bill and I were so excited. Wyatt is in the middle with the blue hat, Grace has the pink hat, and Chloe has the green flowered hat.

So small, only the doll clothes fit!

For our shower in August, we received handmade doll clothes from the talented Mary B. We never thought the babies would actually fit into them, but right now these clothes fit the best! All the babies have their IVs out, so it is easier to dress them in their own clothes. We brought in the doll clothes and preemie clothes for them to wear. They looked so cute in their outfits!

Wyatt with his typical concerned look. He wrinkles up his forehead a lot.

Grace wondering, what is going on?

Mom & Dad with Grace

Chloe goes with the flow.

Chloe in a preemie onsie. This size is for up to 5 lbs.
After the photo shoot, we dressed them in preemie outfits and wrapped them back up in their blankets.

Babies Haircolor

After the babies were over one week old the nurses started positioning them on their stomachs for a few hours a day. The nurses all made sure we knew not to do this at home! "Only because they are on the monitors here." One day, while they were positioned like this, I thought it was a good chance to get pictures of their hair.

Wyatt

Usually looks blond to light brown. (Bill was blond as a kid)

Grace

Possibly reddish, or strawberry blond?

Chloe

Dark brown with the most hair of the three.

(Instead of turning her head to the side while on her stomach, she moved hers to be face down into the blankets. The nurse turned her a couple of times, but Chloe kept moving back to this position. Silly Girl!)

Grandma Gloria and Wyatt

These pictures are from September 10th. Grandma got to hold and feed Wyatt.

Pictures from Thursday, September 11, 2008

There has been questions about their hair color and if any of them are red/orange. It is hard to see in the pictures, but Chloe has the darkest hair (dark brown). Then Wyatt looks like a light brown and Grace has the lightest, which might turn out reddish. It is hard to tell.

Wyatt

Grace

Chloe

Glad to be home.....sort of!?!?

I know everyone has been patiently awaiting an update for the past week. Sorry for the delay. I have been trying to adjust to being home again, healing from my surgery, and trying to spend time at the hospital with the babies.

After 45 days in the hospital, I was discharged on Friday, September 5th. It was the weirdest feeling, like it all was a dream. Bill was driving me home, I wasn't pregnant anymore, and I wasn't taking any babies home. I wasn't sure how to feel. As excited as I was to go home, I was also sad to leave our babies in the NICU even though I knew that was the best place for them. I miss being able to go right downstairs to see them and I miss being able to order room service whenever I was hungry!

Bill and I go to Bronson everyday for a least a few hours, even after he has worked a 12 hour shift. The babies amaze us everyday and seem to be constantly changing. The doctors and nurses all comment on how well all the babies are doing for being 28 weekers, and that they all are progressing the same. They say this is unusual. Thank you to everyone who is keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

After a couple of days without any breathing assistance, all three babies were given a nasal canula on Sunday the 7th. This is just a small tube that forces room air into their noses to help their respirations. All seem to be doing well with the canulas for the past week.

The biliblankets were on and off early in the week, but all babies were off them by Wednesday the 10th.

The babies have been fed increased amounts of breastmilk through the week. This is done through an OG tube that goes in their mouth and down to their stomachs. They are still too young to coordinate bottle feeding. As of Saturday, the 13th, all are taking 16mL every 3 hours. I find it hard to believe this amount fits into their little tummies! The feeding amount will increase for the next couple of days and if all babies do well with that, then they could get their IV's out early next week. I have been providing all this breastmilk via lots of pumping day and night. It seems that every time I turn around it is time to pump again. I try to pump every three hours during the day and every four hours at night. I have been very lucky that I have been able to produce so much for my babies. Our freezer at home is quickly filling, and we figure we need to buy a separate freezer just for milk. Otherwise there will be no room for food for us!

We have been able to take the babies out of their isolets and hold them one at a time this week. They sleep most of the day and can't handle too much stimulation. They still have to be hooked to the monitors, so we have to stay close to the isolet and why only one at a time. We like to do kangaroo care, where we hold them skin to skin on our chests. All the babies seem to love this, you can see that in their vitals.

Kangaroo Care with Wyatt

Kangaroo Care with Chloe

Kangaroo Care with Grace

09-04-08, Pics of the babies

Chloe Abigail

Grace Elizabeth Wyatt Alexander

Mary and Chloe

Good news!. All 3 babies are off their cpap's and breathing on their own! They are doing very well right now. We truly are blessed.

9/2/2008 - Babies on photo therapy

All babies on CPAP (hoses to noses) now instead of ventilators, which is excellent! (Means they are breathing room air with a little bit of pressure.) This happened all within 12 hours after birth. Tonight they are on photo therapy blankets for elevated bilirubin levels. We think they are glowing like aliens! They are all doing very well so far. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support! Dad and Mom doing well, also. Mom is a little slow and sore, but starting to walk around.

Wyatt

Grace

Chloe

Chloe's foot

Birthday Pictures!

Pictures from the NICU soon after birth. All babies on ventilators.

Chole Abigail

Grace Elizabeth

Wyatt Alexander

Day 41-Monday, Sept.1st. The babies have arrived!

This is Bill posting for Mary on our site. Happy Birthday to Wyatt Alexander, Grace Elizabeth, and Chloe Abagail. They came into the world at 12:52, 12:53 and12:53 pm. Wyatt weighs 2 pounds,15.1 oz's. Grace weighs, 2 pounds, 13.6 oz's and Chloe weighs 2 pounds, 8.2 oz's. Mary is trying to wake up from the anesthesia as she had to have a general instead of a spinal because everything happened so fast!
This morning she started having some cramping and heavy pressure in her pelvis. The rounding doctor did an examination and found nothing abnormal. But as the day went on the pressure intensified and she was having contractions. 4 shots of terbutaline did nothing to stop the contractions. Mary was transfered down to labor and delivery, where the rounding doctor from labor and delivery came in for an exam. Magnesium sulfate was started to help stop the contractions. Upon examination, I knew we were headed for a wild ride. Her eyes widened and she said take her to the operating room for a STAT c-section. This was going way to fast.... The Doctor could feel a membrane and part of the umbilical cord were starting to make their journey down. The operating room was a whirlwind of doctor's and nurses (15 in all) preparing for the delivery. The C-section went off with no complications. Mary did lose approximately 2 liters of blood, as one of the placentas had started to detach, which in turn was bleeding, causing her pressure and cramping. Her body was trying to tell us " hey, let's get these out of here." Everything went extremely well. All 3 babies had apgar scores of 8-9. The Doctors and Nurses up here have been absolutely WONDERFUL throughout our whole ordeal. Bronson Hospital is the palce to be for couple's with our situations. Well, I am going to check on my little ones. We will keep everyone updated as we can. Thank you to everyone who has thought of us and prayed for Mary and the babies. It is appreciated.

Day 38 - Friday, August 29,2008

We made it to 28 weeks! Yeah! This is a big milestone for the development of the babies. The survival rate greatly increases at this gestational age.

I did have a quick ultrasound this morning. My cervix is unchanged and the babies look good.

28 week photo

Day 37 - Thursday, August 28, 2008

Bill is off for the next couple of days so he is hanging out with me here at the hospital. Not a lot going on. My friend, Kristin, stopped by for a while and the pet therapy dog came through.

I am discovering something new that makes my life miserable once in a while. Heartburn! OMG! I have never had it before. Finally after talking to the nurse, I figured out it was somewhat treatable. But Still! Now I am paying closer attention to what I eat and if it might cause heartburn. I looked up on the internet what foods typically cause it. I know I can't eat pizza, and now I am avoiding all other foods on the potential cause list. The only one I wasn't sure about was chocolate. I couldn't believe that chocolate could make me feel like that. So, today I tried it out. After lunch I had some chocolate, and later on I felt so bad I couldn't even eat dinner. So now, I will only try to eat bland and non-chocolate foods to avoid that horrible feeling. No wonder there are so many ads for heartburn medication on TV! I hope this is just a pregnancy thing.

Day 36 - Wednesday, August 27, 2008

They woke me up for my ultrasound this morning at 7:30am. I love it when they do that! The tech just did a quick check of the babies (which all still look good) and a cervical length. My cervix looks about the same according to the Dr. It is hanging in around 1 cm, and is staying closed. Wyatt's butt is right at the opening, so it is like he is keeping everyone else in.

I received my second shot of the Betamethasome today. They will continue to monitor my blood sugar through Thursday. So far, I have only needed the one shot of insulin, and I think that is just because of what I ate.

After work today, Bill stopped for take-out from our favorite Marshall place - The Dark Horse. Mmmmmm!

Day 35 - Tuesday, August 26, 2008

I have been checking for the last two days, and there really is nothing on TV now that the Olympics are over.

Started my 2nd round of Betamethasome shots this morning. They are a steroid shot that helps the babies lungs develop. The shots increase your blood sugar, so I also get to have my blood sugar checked for the next several days. (Lots of finger pokes!) At lunch today I ate way too many carbs, and ended up needing six units of insulin. My blood sugar was 212! I didn't feel any different, but they tell me that is pretty high. The nurse said they normally don't do anything until it is over 200. I am feeling better today than yesterday, so I am sure we can make it through the week. The doctor still ordered ultrasounds for Wednesday and Friday.

Bill is working today, so I had a quiet day. Later in the evening I got a surprise visit from my neighbors, Lori and Kelly.

This is a picture that Lori's daughter, Greer, made for me. Super cute!

Day 34 - Monday, August 25, 2008

It's Monday, and that only means one thing.....ultrasound!

All the babies still look great. They are moving all over the place still. We don't always see breathing movements from all of them, but that is normal. They are only practicing and don't do it consistently. Today Chloe scored 8 out of 8 points and Wyatt and Grace scored 6 points each on their BPP.

We thought my cervix looked a little shorter, but Dr. Hendricks thought it looked about the same. I am feeling more pressure today when I move around and get up. It could be from my cervix, babies in odd positions, or the unhealthy food I have been eating the past couple of days. She recommended giving me a second round of steroid shots to help the babies lungs. I will be given those on Tuesday and Wednesday. The doctor also changed my next ultrasound to Wednesday, just to be sure. Raises some concern, but I don't believe these babies are ready to come out yet. We've only got four more days to 28 weeks!

Here are some pictures of the pictures we got at the ultrasound today. The first one is Wyatt. You can see his head is to the left and it shows his profile with his mouth open a little. Also, I think that is his left arm sticking up (or it could be someone else's limb).

This one is Grace. Her head is to the right and her arm is stretched out around her head.