Gavin's Getting Out

Gavin is getting out of the NICU tomorrow! We will call in the morning to see when he will be ready to go and then that's that, another baby home!

Kesleigh's first night was a little rough (on us, not her) but last night was much better after we did some tweaking she's now on a great schedule, let's hope Gavin will adopt a similar one.

Preston is doing great. He is gaining weight like crazy to get to be the 4 pounder he needs to be to get out of the NICU. It will probably be another week or so until he's home with us but that will give us time to get the other two on a schedule with each other.

It is so hard though to leave any of them in the NICU when you have one (or now two) home. I know they are getting the best care and are getting loved on all the time but it's still hard. Someone goes to visit them every day (sometimes more than once/day).

Kesleigh is Home

Kesleigh came home this morning. We roomed in last night at the hospital. It went pretty well but we didn't sleep much. She was pretty good but every little sound she made we were awake for which makes today a little rough but so worth it to see our little girl home and healthy. They boys should follow soon although it was VERY hard to leave them at the hospital this morning and take their sister home.

Going Home Outfit

Milk Update

I have started drinking the Mother's Milk tea (not bad tasting either) and taking the Fengureek. I also talked to my nurse at the peri's office and she gave me a prescription for Reglan so I've started taking that as well. I take 4 pills/day this week, then 3 pills/day next week...you get the idea. It's supposed to work wonders to I will let you know. Even taking the Fengureek and tea I am seeing somewhat an improvement in my milk supply (maybe it's all mental but who cares). The nurse also told me to drink an Easy Street or Blue Moon beer at night after a pump session. Since these beers are unfiltered their yeast helps the milk ducts stay open and with just one beer it will be out of my system by the time I pump again. That for sure should help me relax and I love Easy Street. That's the latest from here, I will keep you updated on if this stuff works.

Thanks for all the comments and encouraging words from my last post.

Milk Woes

Remember how in my last post i said that pumping/breast feeding is hard. Let me rephrase. Pumping is hard. It's hard when your babies are in the NICU and you're supposed to produce milk for them even though they aren't in front of you. My body is very confused. This weekend the thought of pumping made me cry (literally). I feel/felt like such a failure as a mother that I wasn't able to give my babies what they need. I have started taking Mother's Milk tea and Fungureek pills to aid in lactation. I hope they can help up my supply at least a little. I am able to breast feed the babies when I go into the NICU (which is 2x/day) so that's a positive. My nurse has "written orders" that I need to at least put a baby to breast every time I come in to help with milk supply as well.

I know full well that I will probably not be able to supply enough milk for 3 babies to have solely as their source of food but it makes me sad that I can't even provide enough for one.

I will keep you updated on my progress.

Update on Mommy (1 week pp)

So many of you have asked how I'm doing so here it goes...
I am still very sore from the c section. My section went as planned but we did realize as soon as I was open that all the muscles in the front of my stomach TORE while I was pregnant so when I sit up or do any kind of flex of my stomach it makes a tent shape. My incision looks great so there is no issue with healing besides the fact that it takes time:)

The emotions of postpartum have definitely come into play. I just started crying uncontrollably the other night on the way down to the hospital because I didn't think they babies were being held enough. I'm not depressed per say, just overly emotional.

Breast Feeding: It's hard work. I mainly pump everything and bring it into the NICU and then they get donor breast milk if mine isn't enough. My milk just came in the other day but I still don't feel like I'm getting enough.

6 Days Old

Kesleigh:
Current Weight: 5lbs, 9 oz.
Birth Weight: 5lbs. 8 oz.
Took two full feedings today via bottle.
















Preston:
Current Weight: 3lbs, 8 oz.
Birth Weight: 3lbs. 7 oz.
Passed his birth weight
Back on billi lights (called a billi rebound, very common) will be re-checked Saturday morning and will hopefully come off for good).
Latched on to the breast for first time tonight, did a great job and was able to get a little milk.

















Gavin:
Current Weight: 4lbs, 9 oz.
Birth Weight: 4lbs. 14 oz.
Took to the breast well yesterday.
Still on billi lights, will be checked Friday morning.

Baby Update

The babies are gestationally 35 weeks.

Kesleigh: Off the billi lights and in an open crib (looks more like a Rubbermaid bin if you ask me). She can bottle feed about 10 cc's before she is exhausted and can't do anymore. She is a veracious eater and has the breast feeding concept down. She loves to be swaddled and is very good about letting you know when she's not happy with something. Last night we were at the NICU and were trying to give her a bottle, she did not want it and stuck out her bottom lip to let us know. She will definitely be the first one to come home but we still aren't sure when.

Preston: Is off the billi lights but still in an isolette because he cannot hold his body temperature. He doesn't have the suck, swallow, breathe concept down so when we bottle feed him we let him take about five little sips and then pull out the bottle some so he will breathe. This is very common since he is so small. He is gaining weight like a champ.

Gavin: Still on the billi lights. His billy score was 10.2 this morning and they like to see it under 10 so he's very close. The doc decided to put him on for a few more days to hopefully have him be done. He is not very interested in breast feeding but can also get about 10 cc's of bottle before he's just too tired to do anything else but sleep.

In order to come home each baby needs to be regulating their own body temp, eating and pooping on their own (no issues here), and be able to take every meal through a bottle (working on this but they are too exhausted right now).

It's still a little hard to tell but we think that Gavin and Preston might be identical. We will have more of an idea when they are both out of isolettes and we can compare them side by side. Even though they had their own sac and placenta there is a 30% chance that the embryo split right after it implanted. We got our first glance at both of them side by side when we took the family photo when they were in the NICU.

Now for some pics:
Gavin

Kesleigh

Preston

Photo Therapy

Since the babies were born early there is a chance they could develop jaundice so they go under the lights every once in awhile. We caught them under them today when we went to visit. They all looked so comfy under there we just had to share. Kesleigh already looks like a diva in her glasses and is all stretched out in her isolette.

Gavin

Kesleigh

Preston

Great Day

The babies are doing great and today they made great strides. All three babies have come off the CPAP machines and are breathing room air. When we went down to the NICU tonight we were told they were all graduating up to the grad NICU. Thia is a huge step towards them coming home. We also got some great pics tonight. We are so proud of the three of them!

Daddy feeding Kesleigh

Mommy, Daddy, & Kesleigh

Mommy with all 3 babies (Preston is on top, then Gavin, Kesleigh is in left arm)

First Family Pic(Preston is on top, then Gavin, Kesleigh is in left arm)

Triplet Pics

Kesleigh (baby A)

Preston (baby B)

Gavin (baby C)

Meghan was wheeled back to the O.R. at 8:55 and twenty five minutes later three healthy babies were born.

In order of delivery:
1.Kesleigh Elizabeth-9:20am
weight- 5lbs 8oz
length-18in

2. Preston James- 9:20am
weight- 3lbs 7oz
length- 17 1/4in

3. Gavin Michael-9:21am
weight- 4lbs 13.7oz
length- 18 1/4in

Babies and Mom are all doing great!!
Meghan should be out of recovery around 11am.

Final Countdown

And let me just tell you it couldn't come soon enough. I have managed to tweak my back and neck again in the last couple days making sleep and any kind of comfort non-existent.

Babies are still looking great on the monitors that I am on 3x/day. I swear my stomach has gotten even bigger in the last couple days. I plan to take one last belly pic tomorrow morning before I head to delivery. The c section is set for 9 am so by the time I do recovery etc. I should be back in the room by 11 am.

I have showed DH how to update the blog so you should be informed even if I am out of it.

Baby B Update

Yesterday I had an ultrasound to see how Baby B's absent placenta flow was and if it was any worse we would have to deliver earlier than Friday. Great news...the absent flow has kind of fixed itself. It is still there but not as bad as it was when we discovered it last week. We still plan to deliver on Friday at 9 AM. All three babies continue to look great when they are on the monitors three times a day for about an hour at a time.

48 hours until we get to meet these precious babies!

34 Weeks

Still here in the hospital and just taking it easy counting down the days until Friday! The docs come in and see me every morning and just check on me. One of the docs in the practice came in this morning and said they would like to do an ultrasound this morning to take a look at Baby B and see how the absent flow is doing and make sure it didn't turn into reverse flow. It's a gloomy day here so I plan to stay in bed (what else is new?) and nap off and on throughout the day. The countdown is on!!




Your babies now weigh about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Their fat layers – which they'll need to regulate their body temperature once they're born – are filling them out, making them rounder. Their skin is also smoother than ever. Their central nervous system is maturing and their lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Day in the life of hospital bed rest

Nothing really new to report. I am still in the hospital on bed rest and will remain here until after I give birth. We are officially on the books for Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8 AM to deliver these three babies.

Right now my days are pretty boring. I wake up about 7 am and order some breakfast (not that bad of food) ad watch some TV. Food takes about 45 minutes to get here, then I eat and usually take a little nap. The nurse comes in and gets all three babies hooked up to the heart monitors (which can take some time if they aren't being cooperative) and we monitor them for about an hour. After that it's about time for lunch so I order something and wait. Pool therapy is at 3 pm so we try to get out second session of monitoring in before I go down to the pool. I'm at the pool for about an hour. It's just a therapy pool that they keep pretty warm and there are usually about 4 other pregnant women in there with me...some are more conversational than others if you know what I mean. I get back to my room about 4 pm and take my daily shower and then usually have someone come visit (friends, family, etc.) After dinner (which is sometimes nicely brought in for me so I don't have to eat hospital food) I go back on he monitors and then it's about time for bed. I watch some TV here and there and watch TV shows on Netflix to keep me busy.

The nursing staff has been absolutely amazing.
So that's what's going on right now with me, not very exciting:)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a wonderful week.

No Babies Today

The amnio results came back and the lungs aren't mature enough to deliver today. The peri isn't too concerned about Baby B at this point because even though he is small his heart rate still looks great on the monitor. The plan is to go one more week! He said I could choose to deliver next Wednesday or Friday. I think we will go for Friday since my DH's cousin and niece have the birthday of the 13th (Wed.).

update #2

The amnio has been drawn(not bad at all). We are currently waiting the results which should be within the hour. Doc says there is a seventy percent chance the lungs will be mature enough to deliver today. Fridays are extremely busy so if they do want to deliver today it will not be until late afternoon. Next update will come when we get the amnio results.

Update #1

Waiting to get my amnio right now (should be within an hour or so). A nurse just told me that even with the steroid shots there is only a 10% chance that they will be mature...uhhg.

I'm hearing such conflicting stories so now we just wait on the amnio and see what it shows (one of the down sides of a large practice). I feel very comfortable with all the docs but I just want to know what's going on.

I am fine staying pregnant longer if it's for the babies but bottom line is Baby B isn't growing.

Tomorrow

Well it looks like tomorow will be the big day. I am pretty emotional today just thinking about the fact that these babies will be here tomorrow. The doc says they will probably stay in the NICU for 2-3 weeks. I am OK with that because I really need time to heal from my c section before they come home. I just can't believe it's here!

I will update when I can. Thank you for all the positive messages and prayers.

Update

My peri came in this morning and said that I will get my 2nd steroid shot tonight and then he will do an amnio on Baby A (biggest baby-baby girl) on Friday AM and if the lungs look OK we will deliver Friday afternoon. He will not let me go past 34 weeks (Tues) because of the stress baby B is under.

I found it very interesting that the steroid shots are for the fat babies, not the one in distress. The two biggest don't know it's time to deliver while Baby B's lungs are fine due to being in distress.

Looks like we're going to be parents on Friday!

33 weeks & in L&D

First of all, let me say that the average triplet pregnancy lasts 33 weeks, which is where I am today so we are already doing great!

Appointment Update:
I came in today for my routine growth ultrasound and when they were measuring Baby B I knew something wasn't right. He hasn't grown very much since our last growth u/s 3weeks ago. Baby A is now 4 lbs 15 oz, Baby C is 4 lbs. 9 oz. but Baby B is only 2 lbs. 9 oz. He has what they call absent end diastolic flow where the blood flow into the placenta isn't flowing like it should. They don't seem too concerned about this but they did admit me into the hospital today and I will be here until I deliver. I got my first steroid shot tonight to help develop their lungs and will get another tomorrow. I will have pool therapy 2x/day while I'm here and they will hook me up to monitors 3x/day to listen to the babies' heart rates. I could deliver as early as Friday but I could go several more weeks just being monitored here in the hospital, it's all a play it by ear situation. Please say a prayer for these babies (especially baby B) that they are healthy when they finally do decide to come.

Since I'm not sure how much longer I will be pregnant, I will take belly pictures every week from now on.

Belly Slide Show