It Was A Difficult Decision To Make.......

I get alot of people asking me, incredulously, "Are you really staying there with the babies?" Yes, I really am. And believe it or not, every Neonatologist and Nurse that I've asked agrees with our decision, even saying that it will help us to go home faster.

When we came into all this, we knew the possibilities of the girls being in the NICU. It was high. I wanted to avoid it but what can ya do? Never, in all of the discussions that Aaron and I had, did we ever talk about the fact that I would camp out in the NICU with the babies. The talk was always of how much it would suck to go back and forth to feed, bring milk and spend time with them. It's so easy to talk about what you will do when your not actually faced with the situation. Now that we are in the middle of it, and even immediately after the girls were born, we both knew, there was no way that the girls were going to be left alone. Ever. The first 4 days that I was in Postpartum Recovery, we talked daily about what to do. It always came down to the fact that no matter what our children's ages, we wouldn't ever leave them alone in the hospital. NO MATTER WHAT, one of us would stay with them always. Why do that to the girls just because "they don't know any better" or "they have great care there". I beg to differ. While I agree that the care is above and beyond what I could have hoped for, they girls DO "know better". For 34.2 weeks they have lived inside of me with our family. They have come to know my voice, my heartbeat and my movements. They know Daddy's voice and awaken whenever he comes into the room. They would kick inside if they heard either of their sisters cry. They know us. All of us. And we are supposed to leave them here, all alone with nobody that they know? I am very aware that this is hard on my other kids, and on Aaron. I feel it in my heart every single day. I cry when I hear their voices on the phone. Aaron is an amazing father and husband. I couldn't ask for anyone that loves me or our children more. This was an agonizing decision to make but we made it based on the needs of our kids, all 9 of them. Our kids have 2 great parents. We have 6 kids at home that need us and 3 in the hospital that need us. The realistic answer is for one of us to be with each "set" at all times. Since we breastfeed only, that pretty much lays it on the table. Aaron is with the 6 at home, and I stay here with the girls. I think it's a pretty obvious solution.

But believe me when I say, it was the hardest decision we've ever had to make. I miss my kids. I miss my husband. I can't wait to get home and be together again. In the long run, 14 days away compared to a lifetime together is easy. Now, to just get through it. Anything worthwhile is never an easy road. And these baby girls and our family, is worth everything in the world to us, as difficult as it may be, we are ready.

Are We There Yet?!?!

So ready to go home. So so ready. The Dr's say about 6-9 more days. Yay! The NICU has a few "rules" before the girls can go home.

1) Must be able to maintain their body heat on their own.
2)Off the Phototherapy lights
3)Must be gaining weight continuously
4)Take all feeding from a bottle and/or breast

We have passed them all but the feeding one. We just need to work on nursing. The Dr. says it will come. Soon. They have all gained weight. Alot in just 24 hours. 3oz. each!

Emilia is 4#11oz
Gwendolen is 4#3oz (Back to her birth weight already!!)
Rosalie is 3#11oz

So, all is good. Not alot to report. We are kinda like the boring NICU family. lol.

**One Week Old**

I can't believe they are one week old. Already. Time flies in the NICU that's for sure. I thought it would be very draggy and boring. I'm realizing that things will never again be boring. Not with triplets to take care of, that's for sure. I was thinking today, I do that alot here, that each of the kids have had a different "First Holiday". Madeline's was The 4th of July, Joseph's was Mother's Day, Noah's was Halloween, Juliette's was Labor Day, Annabel's was Easter, Delilah's was Valentine's Day and the Babies is Thanksgiving. (Happy Thanksgiving by the way) Kinda cool huh? As I said ALOT of thinking time on my hands.

Aaron, as if you all didn't already know this, is THE.BEST.DADDY.EVER. A few days ago, he realized that outside the babies windows is a courtyard that you can get to from the 2nd floor. He decided that he needed to bring the kids to the courtyard so they could actually see the babies, not just in pictures. So the babies nurse and I got them all ready, Aaron and the kids were waiting in the courtyard and we held all 3 babies up to the window at the same time. It was awesome. Annabel and Delilah were so excited. You could see them pointing and smiling and saying Momma, Babies, Momma, Babies over and over again. Then after we got the babies laid back down, I met them downstairs and we had a treat. It was so good for the little girls to see the babies, see me and the babies together and see where we were staying. I mean, this has been a lifetime to them. I've never been away this long and I was so worried that they thought I just left them forever. So now, I've seen all the kids and it has settled my mind and heart so much. I still can't wait to get home but now I feel so much better knowing that they are more settled too. And Oh Man, after being with 4# babies for a week, Delilah sure looks big!

As for the babies, they are good. Perfect. Growing. Emilia is up to 4#12oz, Gwendolen is at 4#2oz and Rosalie, is the only one that didn't gain or stay the same today. She lost an oz. That was hard to hear, but as the Dr. reminded me, she is very tiny and has alot of catching up to do. He upped her caloric intake by about 4ml's to see if that helps. She is my best nurser though so maybe she's using a few too many calories trying to outdo her sisters. I sense another competitive child here. Nursing is going well. All babies latch on, they just have a hard time staying on and awake. I have 2 visits scheduled with lacation this weekend so that will be helpful. The Dr. did mention that maybe giving them a bottle or two a day, would not only give me a break, but it might increase my milk supply since I will be nursing two of them more, but it will also help Rosalie gain weight a tad faster thus moving us outta here faster. All 3 Dr.'s have given us a guess-timate of 7-10 more days. That means I have just 7-10 more days to get these baby girls nursing like pros. Wish me luck.

One Week Old:

SUN Anyone?

lol. I thought it would be fun to show everyone how the girls like their lights. I think they are pretending that they are in Jamaica. :)

Emilia:

Rosalie:

Gwendolen:

35 Weeks Today.....

That is how old the girls are gestationally. Which means they are starting to do more. The Dr. ordered today that they can start nursing whenever they look like they want to! Yay! We tried Emilia today and she just got too tried to suck alot. Then Amber had me move to Gwendolen and that little princess shocked us all. She sucked, swallowed and breathed perfectly and nursed for almost 3 minutes straight! I'm so proud of her!! We could hear her swallowing and breathing and it was the best thing EVER! That is almost their last step to come home. They are all holding their body heat, weight loss is minimal, and they will be done with the lights within a few days. So basically, we get the nursing down good and we are HOME BABIES HOME!! The Dr's also ordered that they can come off monitors to eat at the same time if 2 of them want it at the same time! That is huge! Way to go baby girls! We are so proud of you!

Quickie Update

All is still perfect. Babies did lose some weight which is perfectly normal. Up to 10% is expected, they are at about 6%.

Rosalie: 3#8oz

Gwendolen:3#15oz

Emilia:4#11oz

So so good!!! The Dr's are very happy with their progress. They are even starting to show signs of rooting and suckling, so will be nursing very soon! More awesome news? They don't even need the donor milk anymore! I'm providing enough milk for all 3. I'm even a feeding ahead. There is about 8oz of milk stored in their fridge at all times. And I'm sure it will only get better and better.

The girls have totally won the hearts of every single nurse on the NICU floor. They get alot of nurse visitors that just want to see the "beautiful triplets". They have one nurse in particular that I love, that is already very attached to them and loves to show them off and tell everyone how cute they are. The care we have received here has been amazing. These nurses truly love our baby girls and take such good care of them. I'm so impressed.

Here's where they sleep :) The quilts are donated by a group of ladies that sew them for the preemies. It's called the Linus Project and they are so pretty.

Gwendolen's Isolette

Rosalie's Isolette

Emilia's Isolette

Day Four

Hard to believe it's been 4 days already. Amazingly, time flies when you taking care of three babies in the NICU. They are on a every 3 hour eating schedule so by the time we start one on a feed, do vitals and change clothing (if needed) and diapers all the way down to baby #3, its almost time to start again. The babies are all on gavage (sp?) feedings. This is by our choice. They could do bottles, but Aaron and I want them to start breastfeeding asap, and this way, as they are getting their food, I can bring them to breast so that they get the idea. You cant really do that with a bottle. The 2nd day, Rosalie nursed for almost 30 minutes, but hasn't been able to stay awake to try that again. Gwendolen is not showing too much interest yet and Emilia, today tried for the first time. She did pretty good and stayed latched on for about 5 minutes but then fell asleep. I continued to hold her as if she was nursing while they started the feeding, that way she associated the taste of the food with the breast.
They tested all the babies Billirubin levels and they are all high. What does that mean? It means that they are just not eating quite enough food for their body to process the billirubin levels. Another term for it is jaundice Normally a baby will poop out all the billibrubin. Since her food levels aren't quite that high, she's not pooping it all out. So she gets phototherapy. Basically looks like she's laying in a tanning bed. It's not uncomfortable for her but she hates that she can't be swaddled. She has to have as much skin exposed as possible so its just a diaper and some really cool foam sunglasses. Which she keeps pulling off. She's keeping her nurses on their toes, that's for sure. Emilia and Rosalie have lower levels but not super low. They will probably needs lights too, but the Dr. will check their levels tomorrow and Gwendolen's again too, to make sure her levels are lowering. Gwen's seem to be since her diapers were a bit green and that's the first sign that the lights are working.

Here's Gwendolen with her lights:

Kangaroo Care is my favorite time of the day. For 2 hours each day, an hour at a time, we get to hold the babies, skin to skin. It helps them with their breathing, heartrate and heat. Their little bodies don't have to do as much since our bodies are doing it all for them. It gives them a much needed break. Aaron even jumped in and as you can see, Emilia loves her Daddy and even sleeps just like him. Little mouth hanging open and all. And here's Emilia right after her nursing session. It made her a bit milk drunk. :)

Rosalie is still trying to steal the show. Anytime she hears a voice, especially Mom and Dad, but pretty much any voice will do, she starts fussing. She just wants to be held and touched all the time. It's so hard not to grant her every little thing she wants. I have a feeling she will get her way. Alot. Here she got Auntie Noelle to hold her. With a little whimper, she's got her wrapped around her tiny little finger. (is blurry because I didn't want to use flash)