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!