Coming Home

Ella folding her hands and patiently waiting for her turn to eat

The triplets are home! On December 17, the hospital called and said that they were ready to discharge all three babies. This was a bit of a shock to us since they had only been talking about sending Alex home and we did not know they were ready to send the girls home too. They gave us the option of bringing home all three at once or bringing them home one at a time. We decided to take them all at once so that we would not have to keep going back and forth to the hospital. So the night of the 17th, I took Cecil to the airport and the next day, I brought home three babies! It was a big couple of days but it was good that I was so busy so that I could not think about Cecil being gone. We've been keeping the triplets' homecoming quiet because the doctors were very adamant about them not having any visitors. Since babies get all their immunizations in the last trimester and these babies did not have much of a last trimester since they were six weeks early, they cannot risk being exposed to any germs or illness. So we are dying for them to meet everyone but it will have to wait until they are a little bigger and stronger. But in the meantime, I could not resist announcing they are home so that I can share some very cute pictures of them at home!

They are all doing great. They are all gaining weight and have gained about 2 pounds each since being born. So far, things have been going pretty smooth here at home. My mom is here with me - she's a pediatric nurse practitioner so there is not much these babies can throw at her that she cannot handle. Our days are filled with feedings, laundry, and washing bottles. They eat every three hours and they each take about 30 minutes to eat. So we feed for about an hour and a half, then we have an hour and a half while they sleep before the next feeding.

I've been doing most of the night feedings but we recently got a night nanny who comes in during the night so that we can get some sleep. The first couple of nights she was here I still did not get much sleep because I was worried about someone else taking care of them, but eventually exhaustion won out and I got some sleep. The nanny is wonderful and I think we have all fallen into a routine now.

The plan is still for us to move to Ohio. We got the OK from the pediatrician to move them whenever we are ready so we are planning to begin the trek up north on January 20. Then we will be there for several months with my parents and I hope to come back to Florida this summer.

Cecil is doing well. He has spent about a week travelling. They would fly to one county and spend a few days at an Army base before moving on to the next place. He should be at his final destination soon and as soon as we have his address confirmed, I will post it here. Afghanistan is about 9 and a half hours ahead of us so he is still pretty mixed up on his days and nights. We've been able to talk almost every day since he left and that has been great. We are hoping he will have regular phone and email when he gets settled too.

Helen in her going home outfit
Alex is ready to go home too

Ella is swimming in her outfit and we eventually had to take the snowsuit off because it was swallowing her in her carseat

The girls are ready to go! You can't tell that they are girls with all of that pink, can you? On second thought, I should not have gotten them matching car seats because I cannot tell which one belongs to who....

The three amigos all lined up ("dress right dress" their father would say) in their pack and play at home

Helen is still not enjoying her bath, but how cute is the bunny towel?

Ella with her post feeding drool and coma

Alex, Ella, and Helen camping out on the couch during the day

Christmas Eve - Santa left some very precious gifts in our stockings!

Hope everyone had a great holiday and more updates coming soon!

Week 3

Ella is getting ready for Christmas

Alex was not willing to give up his pacifier for his picture

Helen in her Christmas duds

Our first family picture

Daddy feeding Helen

Helen sleeping on Grandma

The babies are still all doing great! They have all gained at least a pound since being born. They seem so much bigger to me now but everyone else keeps saying how small they are - which they are compared to full term babies so I guess it is all relative! Here are some pictures from the past week.

Cecil left this past week and he is finally in Afghanistan. Other than sounding very tired and disoriented about what day and time it is, he seems to be doing well. He's been able to call home a few times and we are hoping we get to hear from him on Christmas day. I'll send out his new address as soon as we have it confirmed. Merry Christmas to everyone!!

Week 2

Cecil ordered storks for our front yard announcing the babies' arrival. They were quite the talk of the neighborhood! Our neighbors had no idea we were expecting triplets and within hours of the signs going up, we got calls from our neighbors asking what they could do - some of them just started showing up on our doorstep with food! It is amazing how wonderful everyone has been - I think they've started a triplet support group for us :)

Ella in her Pooh hat

Helen in another post feeding coma

Daddy and Helen while Helen "eats" through her feeding tube

Our first picture together

Helen calmed down again after her bath

Helen cried during her entire bath

Alex got all bundled up again after his bath

Alex chilled out during his bath

Ella and Grandma after her bath

Ella behaved very well for her bath

Ella got Mommy's big feet!

Helen in a post feeding coma

Well, it is official - I am completely in love with my children. They say that sometimes it takes awhile for a mother to bond with the baby but I can definitely say that is not the case for me. Of course, I say this while I am getting plenty of sleep and someone else is responsible for all the hard work with the babies. I get to just show up at the hospital for a couple of hours every day, feed them twice, then stare at them as the sleep peacefully. I suspect my adoration for them will change a bit when they all come home and I'm not sleeping anymore.

All the babies are still doing great. They had a great second week of life this week. Alex is still taking all of his feedings by bottle and is eating more than his minimum amount of food. Helen got her feeding tube out yesterday - or should I say she took her own feeding tube out 3 times and we finally got the message that she was ready to go to all bottle feedings. Ella is still on her feeding tube but only for half of her feedings. Cecil and I are convinced that she thinks she is staying at the 4 Seasons and wants to milk her NICU stay for as long as she can.

All of the babies are now in open cribs which is a big step. They had been in isolettes where their temperature is regulated for them. Now they are all able to maintain their own body temperature so they have graduated to open cribs. So far, it looks like there is a good chance that Alex may come home next week. Typically, premie girls do better than premie boys but I guess Alex is determined to prove them wrong. Right now, all three are on what is called "brady watch." A brady is when their heartrates dip down to unsafe levels. This is very common with premies because their immature nervous systems are not used to regulating breathing, eating, temperature, heartrate, and lots of other bodily functions that we don't even think about. So sometimes they "forget" to keep their heartrate up and they have a "brady." They need to go 5 days without having a brady before they can come home. Either that, or they come home on a heartrate monitor. We are hoping they can meet the 5 day goal and not have to come home on any monitors. Other than the bradies, they are all eating well and gaining weight. Their personalities are starting to come out too. Alex and Ella are pretty mellow and rarely cry. They just hang out and stare around them trying to figure out what is going on. Helen is the feisty one. She lets you know as soon as she is unhappy with something - a dirty diaper, hunger, being changed. But it is hard not to laugh at her with her big chubby cheeks.

Next week we are going to have a bit of a celebrity photo shoot with the babies. The March of Dimes wanted to take a picture with some babies and one of the Jacksonville Jaguars football players. So the NICU asked us if we would mind having the triplets be the babies in the picture. We said sure, so on Tuesday, we are going to get all dressed up and get our picture taken for the March of Dimes. I'm just excited that I get to pick out cute outfits to dress them in and get a picture!

Cecil is scheduled to fly back to Kansas on Monday night. Then he will be starting his 2 day journey to Afghanistan on Wednesday. We do not have a solid address for him yet but I will get that out as soon as I do have it. It has been great having him home this week and I know the babies will really miss having him around to help with feedings. As will I!

Happy Holidays and here is hoping that at least one baby will get to come next week!

Week 1

Here are some pictures from our first week in the world! Hey, we may not do a whole lot but our parents sure do think we are cute!

Ella sleeping

Helen takes a nap in mommy's arms

Helen had to have her IV in her head for awhile - and was not happy about it!

Alex is getting his suntan under the phototherapy lights for his jaundice

Daddy feeding Ella

Mommy's first visit - holding Alex for the first time

Alex with his CPAP (breathing machine)

Ella all cleaned up

Helen - one hour old and cleaned up

Happy Birthday

Welcome Alexander Dwight

Welcome Isabella Lauren!

Welcome Helen Ann!

Being monitored

Cecil made it in time!

Cecil and I are bursting with joy to announce that our three children were born on November 29, 2007 at 7:39, 7:40, and 7:41 PM. Helen Ann (Baby A) was 4 pounds, 5 ounces, Isabella Lauren (Baby B) was 3 pounds 9 ounces and Alexander Dwight (Baby C) was 3 pounds 11 ounces. Thankfully, Cecil was able to be there for the birth but just in the nick of time.

On Thursday morning, I went to my doctor for my regular check up and my blood pressure was elevated. The doctor diagnosed me with pre-eclampsia which is a condition that if left untreated could result in a stroke or seizure in me. He sent me straight to labor and delivery because the only cure for this is delivering the babies. While the doctor called the Red Cross to get Cecil permission to come home, I was calling Cecil on his cell phone to tell him to get on a plane and get here ASAP. He was in the middle of a convoy in a field in the middle of Kansas doing some training so he had some challenges getting back to civilization and an airport. When he got back to Ft. Riley , he got straight in his car and drove to the airport. He was able to get there in time to catch a flight that would put him in Jacksonville around 6:15 PM.

In the meantime, I'm in the hospital having my blood pressure monitored. The doctor said he would only be willing to delay the delivery for Cecil to be there if my blood pressure did not continue to rise. I found it ironic that in the midst of trying to get my husband home, my mother here, talk to my doctors, the neonatologist, the anethesiologists and fill out all the paperwork, I was supposed to be staying calm and relaxed so that my blood pressure stayed low. I was not doing a very good job so they started me on some medicine that was supposed to lower my blood pressure. But this was some nasty medicine and made me feel awful. It was enough though that I was able to bargain with the doctor to hold off for Cecil.

Thankfully, Cecil's flight was on time - he landed a few minutes after 6:00 and was in my hospital room by 6:30 - wearing the same clothes and carrying exactly what he had on him when I called him 7 hours earlier. By 7:00 I was in the OR being prepped for the C-section. Thankfully it all worked out and he got to see the babies come into this world. The delivery was very quick and after a quick peek at the babies, they were wisked into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I was taken back to recovery and my mom arrived shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, things got pretty bad for me after that. The blood pressure medicine they had me on was such nasty stuff that the next 24 hours were completely miserable for me. Cecil and my mom were able to go to the NICU and see the babies right away. Alex was put on a breathing machine to help with his breathing but the girls were both doing fine. Alex only stayed on the machine for a day and then came off.

Friday night when I was finally able to stop taking the medicine I felt like a whole new person again. I was finally able to enjoy being a mom and get to see my babies. On the one hand they seemed so tiny yet amazing that all three of them fit inside of me too. We are very very lucky that they have not had any problems other than being small. They are all feeding from a bottle now and just need to get bigger and stronger. Hopefully their progress will continue. We've taken lots of pictures and have to confess that sometimes we cannot tell who is who yet. But the girls seem to have Cecil's darker coloring and Alex seems to have my lighter coloring. As we spend more time with them, we are learning their personalities more and can tell them apart easier.

I came home from the hospital today but the babies are still there. We are not sure how long they will be there - hopefully they will be home before the end of the month. Cecil is home for now - he'll have to go back to Kansas for a couple of days this week then will be back on Saturday until he leaves for Afghanistan . He has been doing most of the feedings and diaper changes in the hospital while I've been recovering. He is a natural at being a dad and the babies just love to lay there and stare at him.

We'll have some pictures out soon so everyone can see them. We are all thrilled to be doing so well!