39 Weeks

 This week we have been adjusting to life at home with Jack and Alexis.  Micah's mom was in town for a week and a few hours after she left on Saturday my parents arrived from Michigan.  We have been really thankful for the help as Micah is working full time and it is very time consuming to take care of two babies and visit one in the NICU.  Jack and Lexi have been adjusting well to life at home and we have enjoyed going on walks, having a few friends over last weekend, and even taking our first outing to REI so I could buy new running shoes (my feet grew during the pregnancy)! 

Unfortunately, Faith has continued to have spells so we are not sure when she will make it home.  We thought she was coming home tomorrow, but sadly she had a spell while I was visiting this afternoon so the 5 day countdown has restarted.  The nurses and doctors are not sure if the spells are due to her prematurity or reflux.  There isn't anything we can do if it's prematurity since she just needs to outgrow the spells, but they have put her bed at a steep angle and she is getting a small amount of rice cereal in her milk to aid digestion.  Regardless of the cause, we are praying that the spells cease and she comes home ASAP.

Since we do have so much help at home with the grandparents visiting, the hardest part of all of this for Micah and I has been trying to split our time between home and the hospital which means we hardly see each other. Although it will be difficult to add another baby to the mix (especially during nighttime feedings), it will be so nice when the entire family is home together.

Here are some pics from the last week.

Jack

Jack and Lexi

Faith in her new crib.  The current thinking is that reflux is causing her spells so they had to move her to a bed that allowed her to sleep on a steep angle.

Lexi getting a "manicure" from Grandma

Jack after his first bath at home

Jack

Lexi

Faith

Lexi with Amy

Jack with Sarah

Lexi with Grammy

Jack with Grammy

Lexi with Grandpa

Lexi with Grandma

Jack with Dad

Walking with Grandpa

Lexi and Jack

38 Weeks

The triplets are getting so old now (7 weeks this coming Friday) that it seems crazy to refer to them by their gestational age, but it's more just a reminder that they are just now considered full term.  This is a good reminder as even though Jack came home this past Friday and Alexis came home on Sunday, Faith is still in the NICU due to spells.  In fact, her most recent one was last night, which means her five day countdown restarted. From the beginning the doctors and nurses told us to expect them home around their due date, which means Faith is not really behind schedule yet, she is just taking more time than her siblings.

Because we now have two of the three babies at home and Faith's homecoming date keeps moving farther and farther away, this week has been a mix of joy and sorrow.  We have had so much fun finally having two babies at home, but then feel guilty that we are having fun without Faith as she is now spending more time alone at the hospital. Micah and I have been going to the hospital separately for one feeding time each so that one of us can stay home and take care of Jack and Alexis, and Faith has more time with us if we go separately.

Although the transition to taking care of two babies has not been 100% smooth, I really don't think we could expect anything smoother than what we've experienced. Jack and Alexis have pretty much stuck to their feeding schedule from the NICU (every three hours) so we just keep track of the time and feed them the same times they were fed in the hospital.  Sometimes they do wake up earlier and want to be fed, but usually only like 15-30 minutes earlier which isn't a big deal.  I'm sure this will change as they get bigger, but so far the predictability of their hunger has been very helpful!


Our current plan during the night is to have Micah wake up for the 1:30-2:30 feeding and I wake up for the 4:30-5:30 feeding (plus 30 more minutes for pumping after feeding the bottles, which is how I have time to write this blog).  This is great as we both get a big chunk of sleep.  Micah has been sleeping near the babies, either on the floor in their room or on the couch in the living room, so that I can sleep well until I get up at 4:30. Although I do feel guilty as I think this role usually falls on the mom or the baby sleeps in the parents' room, I am so thankful as I function much better with sleep.  Of course, when Faith comes home the feeding times will take 30 minutes longer which means less sleep, but the babies should also become more efficient in their eating so the time period should (hopefully!) decrease.
Although I wouldn't ever wish that one of our triplets had to stay at the hospital longer, and it's not fun still having to go to the NICU when we have two babies at home, it has been helpful in transitioning to life with babies outside the NICU. It means we get more sleep right now and more rest during the day, and it is helping us establish our routine (although I know it will change).  We are figuring out how we will handle this all with one extra baby, though, and we absolutely cannot wait for Faith's discharge.  Please pray for her to grow stronger so that she can stop having spells and join Jack and Alexis at home.

Here are some pics from the last week:

Our last dinner out at Elephant Bar before Jack came home (with my fav drink as I hadn't had it since before I was pregnant)

Last view of Jack's monitor before turning it off

Jack getting his leads taken off

Ready to go home!

Jack's car ride home (yes, I was riding in the back as we were paranoid...but when we brought Alexis home two days later I was alone in the car since Micah was home with Jack)

First diaper change on our changing table

Jack's first bottle at home

Alexis ready to go home!

Alexis's first bottle at home

Alexis and Jack in the pack n play

Alexis and Jack reunited

Jack enjoying his rock n play sleeper

Alexis playing on the floor

Jack in his crib

Alexis in her rock n play sleeper

Alexis relaxing with Daddy at home

Faith - at the NICU 

First walk - Alexis

First walk - Jack

double stroller

Faith at the NICU - enjoying one on one time with her mom

After a 4:30-5:00 a.m. feeding. These rock n play sleepers are a lifesaver.

Jack at his first doctor appointment

Alexis at her first doctor appointment

telling secrets

Alexis

Enjoying some tummy sleep (don't worry, I was watching this is just a very comfy position for a fussy baby)

interacting in the pack n play

Alexis getting frustrated when she couldn't roll onto her tummy.  Yes, she is 6.5 weeks old and most babies are still in utero at this point.  Determined? I think we might have our hands full...

37 Weeks

This week has brought some progress, but also some of our first setbacks.

Everyone is still off of their nasal cannulas so it looks like they will be able to come home without oxygen tanks. This is great news as it will make life simpler and also I had no idea where we were going to put tanks in this house as we will already have baby paraphernalia everywhere.

Everyone is also now on "shift minimum" feeds, which means instead of trying to eat a certain amount every three hours they have 12 hours (which includes four feeding times) to try to meet a certain goal.  Jack was put on a shift minimum several days ago and he has been doing great.  In fact, Jack is doing such a good job eating that he no longer even has a feeding tube so we have been able to look at his cute face without any tubes! The girls were both put on that schedule yesterday morning, and so far have been doing well.  Since there is not a specific goal each feeding time, they do not receive any additional food through their tubes if they come up short.  Of course, if they are unsuccessful at the shift minimum feeding plan (by eating less than the minimum amount determined by the doctors and nurses, or by losing weight over a period of time) they will be moved back to a specific amount each feed and whatever isn't eaten will be given through a tube again (their feeding tubes will not be removed until they prove they can eat enough). 

Last night their weights were:
Alexis: 5 lbs 5 oz
Jack: 5 lbs 1 oz
Faith: 5 lbs 1 oz

We were so surprised when Alexis passed Jack in weight, but it probably has to do with the fact that he has been eating all of his food by bottle instead of part of it through a tube for a longer period of time, so he has been burning more calories.

There are some things that need to be done before the babies go home, such as an eye exam (since they were on oxygen for awhile and this can cause issues with their eyes), a hearing test, and a car seat test.   Strangely enough, Alexis and Jack passed their eye exam and hearing test without a problem, but it was determined that Faith is not as developed and therefore needs follow up testing for both.  It seems crazy to me that although all three are the exact same age, Faith's system is somehow less mature, but I guess this happens with multiples. Jack is the only one that has had his car seat test so far (to make sure he can sit in his car seat for 1.5 hours without having a spell), and he passed.  The girls will get tested in the next day or so.

Last weekend we were thinking that Jack might be home yesterday as he was eating well and he had gone a couple of days without having a spell, but then on Sunday he ended up having two spells which means he must go another five days without a spell.  Supposedly, once a baby goes five days without a spell the doctors feel confident that he has outgrown having spells.  If he continues to go without a spell, he would be discharged Friday night or Saturday morning.

Although Alexis is a bit behind Jack in eating, she was doing great in the spell department and she had gone six days...until last night :(.  I was feeding her and she was doing a great job of pacing herself and taking breaks to breath.  She was getting to the end of her bottle and she suddenly became very still.  Although I tried to react by pulling the bottle out of her mouth and rubbing her back, it was too late as the monitor went off and showed her heart rate drop.  We were so disappointed as we were thinking she would also be home sometime this weekend, and now her five day spell count has restarted.

Faith had gone 3 days without a spell and then had one early yesterday morning.  Although it is disappointing to hear that any of the triplets are having spells, this news was not quite as disheartening as Alexis's and Jack's spells as we know Faith will have a longer hospital stay since she has had more spells in the past and she isn't consistently eating as much.

Yesterday the OT's came for "play time."  They brought a couple of mats and a large boppy for the triplets to lay on. We were planning on doing tummy time, but Alexis, Jack, and Faith had just had their eye exam and they were exhausted, so instead it turned into a photo opportunity as we haven't had all three together many times. It was so cute watching them interact with each other.  They also looked so relaxed being together (most of the time).

Jack and Faith before Alexis joined...

Alexis (left), Jack, and Faith (right)...

This past week I have been working on getting things ready around the house for the triplets' homecoming.  I have been running errands for the first time in months, cleaning (it's amazing how good it feels to vacuum after not being able to do it yourself for several months due to Braxton Hicks and C-section recovery!), reorganizing the kitchen to make room for bottles, and buying last minute things that will make the triplets more comfortable at our house (like a humidifier for their bedroom).

Micah and I are feeling a bit burned out on spending time at the hospital, which is hard since we want to spend time with our babies. The spell that Alexis had last night definitely did not help our morale.  Overall, we know that everyone is doing great, but I truly thought they would all be home by now so it has been difficult to watch them all have slight setbacks this week.  Thank you for all of your prayers for us and the babies as we continue on this NICU journey.

Here are some photos from the past week:

Faith

Alexis

Alexis (left), Faith (right)

Jack

Alexis

Faith

Me with Alexis (left) and Jack (right), Micah with Faith