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.