1 Month Old & Better News

Yesterday marked their 34 week gestational age, as well as their 1 month birthday! Both are kind of a big deal to us. Lauren tipped the scale at 4 lbs 2 oz yesterday, too!!! Livy and Makenna aren't too far behind.

So the "better news" is that Makenna is back on pedialyte because her abdomen is looking better. Livy kind of followed Lauren and Makenna's lead when she got sick a couple of days ago. However, she seems to be improving a bit, too. They still aren't certain, but it kind of looks like whatever is ailing them may be viral. Thus, the antibiotics were making no difference. Just in case, they will remain on them, but Makenna was taken off of two of her meds since they are probably no longer needed. Hopefully within a few days she and Olivia will be back on their breastmilk feedings. Makenna was at least taken off of her canula, but Livy is still on hers.

More great news is that Lauren started bottle feedings!!! She took 12cc today at noon, and by 6pm she will be up to 14cc. And let me tell you, she sucked that stuff down in about 30 seconds. That girl wastes no time...she eats just as quickly as Mommy & Daddy. So the plan with Lauren is to do all of her feedings via bottle, every 3 hours, all day long. This is a little different than what they would normally do. Typically babies will start one bottle/day, then two/day, etc. Because Lauren hadn't been taking her normal 1oz plus and was only on a very small amount of pedialyte orally every 3 hours for the past few days, they decided to just switch out the pedialyte and use the milk. The nurse said once she starts taking more than an ounce (she will reach this on Tuesday), she may tire out and they may have to re-insert a feeding tube so they can give her whatever is left over. With Lauren, we'll be shocked if they have to do this. Also, more nurses are commenting that she will be in an open air crib soon. Today our nurse said that the crib thing won't come until they feel comfortable with her taking all of these feedings. They only like to introduce one new change at a time. So maybe by next weekend if she continues to do well, she may go into an open crib. And all I have to say is that we had better purchase our carseats because that's the last major step before they send our little girl home!!! Of course, that's barring any set-backs...which we know could arise at any time. And she still has to pass all of the "tests" to make sure she is ready...but if she's piling on weight and sucking down her food, I am thinking we may be kind of close to finally bringing home our first baby. And with any luck, Livy and Makenna won't be far behind!!!

Worn Out

I think the lack of sleep has caught up with me because I now have a cold. It really snuck up on me. Started as a little, tiny cough on Tuesday and by Wednesday I was sick. My body apparently doesn't enjoy sleeping for only 2 to 3 hours at a time during the night. So now I'm trying to take lots of naps during the day so that I can recover sooner, rather than later.

The girls are kind of doing better. Makenna and Lauren started back on feeds this week, but it was just a few ml's of pedialyte by mouth. Yes, that means they are bottle feeding the pedialyte. Makenna's x-ray today didn't look so hot, though, and she was taken off food again. Olivia is our little superstar at the moment. She had her very first bottle of breastmilk today. It also happened to be her very first Thanksgiving Dinner!!! She did very well and managed to get down a little over 2/3 of her 1oz feeding. The rest was given via her feeding tube. She didn't spit up at all and although she desatted a bit during the feed, she really did quite well overall. Perhaps they will keep increasing her feeds over the coming days.

Our nurse did mention that they may try to move Lauren and Makenna to open cribs sometime over the next week or so. I believe when this happens they can begin to wear clothes, as well. I can't wait to see the girls dressed, although they do quite enjoy being naked.

That's about all for now. Enjoy the videos...

Another step back...

Well, the girlies may have moved over to the other side of the NICU, but they have made it very clear that they still would like some extra attention. Makenna and Lauren have both been displaying some tummy/intenstinal issues and their feeds were stopped. They are on antibiotics, back on iv nutrition, and getting daily x-rays to see how their tummies are doing. As of yesterday Makenna and Olivia were both given blood to help their oxygen saturation. Livy seems to be doing well on feedings, though she is having some reflux issues. Still, while her bowels and tummy look good, she will continue to feed. She was up to 3lbs 9oz yesterday, so she is gaining very well!!! Hopefully the cultures on Makenna and Lauren won't show a bad infection and they will be able to resume feeds in the next few days. The only nice part about them not feeding at the moment is that their feeding tubes were removed, so they have a nice little break from facial tubes. And, of course, we get to see their pretty little faces. Here are some pics:

Olivia






Makenna






Lauren

Little Graduates...

We have 3 little graduates who just moved to the step-down unit of the NICU!!! We arrived on Friday to find Makenna and Lauren on the "other side" of the NICU, which is used for less critical patients. By Saturday Olivia was moved over, as well. While there are other step-down NICUs in the hospital, chances are good that the girls will be released directly from NICU III. Our nurses told us that they like to keep their long-term babies in NICU III, if at all possible, and avoid them moving over to other NICU suites. Additionally, they really like to keep the multiples together, so they prefer to move them all at the same time, if possible. All of that said, this may be their final room before coming home with Mommy & Daddy!

There really aren't too many other important updates. All 3 girls are breathing with no assistance and are up to a good ounce plus of tube-fed breastmilk every 3 hours. Rumor has it that Makenna will start bottle feeds early this week. Lauren shouldn't be far behind. Not sure of the plan with Olivia yet. Their primary focus with her is weight-gain. Bottle feeds may be too taxing right now, so they may wait on those. We'll see, though.

So the way bottle feeds will work is that they will start them on one feed/day. As they tolerate that, they will increase to 2/day, 3/day, etc. Apparently as soon as they start bottle feeds, I need to let the doctor know that I want to breastfeed. I should then be able to put them to the breast fairly quickly, so long as they are tolerating their feeds.

It sounds like once they master feeds, we can try to move them out of isolettes and into cribs. They usually don't do cribs until they reach around 4 plus pounds, so we do have a while on that one. Currently they are weighing in at:

Makenna - 3 lbs 8 oz
Lauren - 3 lbs 13 oz
Olivia - 3 lbs 5 oz

If everything continues to progress as well as it has, Paul and I anticipate bringing some babies home by Christmas...maybe even mid-December!!!

Here are some pics and videos of the last few days:

Lauren


Lauren




Olivia - pay attention to her hands in the first pic



Hopefully we can get some pics of Makenna tonight. There never seem to be many lights on around her, so it's hard to get anything since we refuse to use the flash. And she always seems to close her eyes during picture time. Tonight is her bath, though, so perhaps Paul can play photographer while I bathe her.

3 Weeks Old!

Today the girls are 3 weeks old, and would be at 32w4d if still in my belly. As of last night everything was going pretty well.

Olivia's feeds are no longer continuous. They moved her feeding tube into her stomach (rather than her intestines) and are feeding her over a 2 hour period, then letting her rest for an hour, then another 2 hour feeding, rest for an hour, etc. She is at about 27ml at every feeding. At 6pm last night she had 9ml of residual and we don't know if she had any residual at 10pm. Hopefully she will tolerate these feeds so they can continue to move forward. The other great news is that they removed her pic line, so no more iv's and stuff for now. She still breathes well on her own, so everything is fantastic with her.



Lauren was up to about 10ml of food last night and should catch up with her sisters by tomorrow if everything goes well. She hasn't had any residuals and is tolerating her feeds very well for now. She is still puffy, even while on the lasix, but her breathing is improving quite a bit. We are really looking forward to getting her to a position where she can lose the canula. Through it all, she is the biggest of the bunch at 3 lbs 11oz...part of which is water weight from the swelling.



Makenna weighed in at 3 lbs 3 oz yesterday, just shy of 4oz, actually. Generally they like to see a gain of about 1 oz/day and Makenna is doing this, for the most part. Her weight was actually higher a few days ago, but she was in an isolette that we believe was measuring her a bit incorrectly. The day she was switched to that isolette she gained 100 grams, which is really odd. Then when switched out, her weight dropped. So it sounds like the isolette's scale was faulty. She is doing well on her feeds and breathing very well on her own right now. She tried to remove her feeding tube the other night and her nurse was none too pleased. That's pretty standard behavior for our girls, though. They like to remove everything. And speaking of removals, Makenna's pic line was also taken out yesterday. Mommy got to kangaroo with a practically wireless Makenna!!! The only things attached to her were the feeding tube, temp monitor, and the 3 leads that monitor her heartrate and respiration.



So everything continues to move right along. We're really really hoping we can bring one of these girls home by Christmas. That's 5 weeks from now, so maybe it's a realistic hope, especially if they do well on their bottle feeds. We shall see...

3 Pounds

As of last night, all three of our girls are now over 3 pounds!!! Well, Livy is exactly 3 lbs (and that was following a big poo) and Makenna and Lauren are around 3lbs 5 oz. Updates are as follows:

Makenna - Feedings were up to 23ml every 3 hours last night. We aren't yet sure what her "max" is for now, but we are certain she will soon reach it. The doctors set a maximum amount of food for her to consume for her weight. Once she hits her max, they level out until she gains more weight, at which point he feedings will increase. For now, I need to pump at least 8oz/day for Makenna. The goal is to get her off of the nasal canula in the next couple of days. She had gone solo a week or so ago, but had a bit of trouble, so they put her back on the lowest setting. Hopefully she will be able to stay off this time. As for her weight gain, we can see a huge difference in her chubby little face. She has really piled on the fat and looks like a puffy little baby. She's still under contact precautions due to the staph, so we're hesitant to hold her right now. We just don't want to take her out and possibly transfer something to the other girls. Instead, I will use the gloves and robe when I want to touch her. Last night, after her bath, I cupped her head with one hand and let her hold my other hand (well, my finger, really) at the same time. Her eyes had been wide open and she was on full alert, but when I held her she was comforted enough to try to drift off to sleep. I'm looking forward to being able to comfortably hold her again without fear of passing something on to Livy and Lauren.

Olivia - The doctor said that her immunological tests are actually coming back normal right now. So even though that IGG test measured low, I guess it wasn't significant. They are a little shocked that her immune system is testing so well since they expected that to be a problem with her. However, some research has shown that results from such early testing should not solely be relied upon, and that testing must be performed later to ensure a proper diagnosis. So before coming home, they will repeat all of these tests. As for food, Livy is on continuous feeds of 8ml every hour. So she, too, is receiving about 8oz of milk/day. Her max is 24ml for now, so she won't increase until her weight picks up. She is breathing well on her own, still, and everyone comments that she is doing the best of the three. Strange, considering her heart condition. We have a theory that she just absolutely hates all of the tubes and wires, so she just functions better without them. Last night Livy had her first spa bath. One of her nurses filled her bucket up with water and instead of a sponge bath, he placed her inside the bucket and let her have a full bath. She was sooooooo relaxed by the time it was all over. Then I got to kangaroo with her while her nurse made up her bed. She fell asleep within about 30 seconds! So all is well in Livy's world.

Lauren - She is finally back on feeds!!! I think she was up to about 2ml last night. So we'll see how she tolerates everything over the next couple of weeks. A couple of nights ago when we came in we noticed that she looked really puffy in the face. Her nurse also noticed that her legs looked very puffy. Also, she had gained 100 grams in a day, which is very unusual. Her respiratory rate had been extremely high for about 4 days prior and combined with everything else, her doctor was worried that she may have some fluid in her lungs which is causing everything to go out of whack. So he placed her on lasix for two days to see if it clears everything up. They also want to try to get her off the nasal canula in the next couple of days so that she can breathe on her own. Not much exciting news on Lauren, though we did get more videos the other night. See them below.

Overall, everything is going well. Those other triplets haven't yet arrived, so I think the mom must be holding out. Once they do, our girls are in line to get moved down to the less critical "other side" of the NICU. Here are some videos:

Lauren


Lauren


Makenna

Random Updates

Well, we have barely gotten to see the girls in the last 36 hours, so I thought I would take this opportunity to post some completely random updates. Basically we popped in yesterday around noon and were told that they were low on milk. So I thought it best to do a quick pump so that they would have some fresh milk prior to bringing in more of the frozen stuff that night. By the time I was finished they were putting a new IV into Lauren. Not knowing how long the wait might be, and because we are not allowed to be in the NICU for these types of procedures, I decided that we should run some of our errands and head back in later. Now, the NICU shuts down from 6-8 in the mornings and evenings for shift change. So by the time we got back there it was around 9pm. We had called prior to arriving to make sure they weren't closed for any procedures and were told all was quiet and that we could come immediately. By the time we arrived all hell had broken loose and people were running about trying to get everything ready for some new admissions...3 new admissions, to be exact. Apparenly just 10 minutes prior they had gotten word that they were expecting another set of triplets that night!!! And while I know none of you really have an appreciation for the size of the NICU, just imagine a room not much bigger than the average master bedroom. The entire level III NICU is actually a decent size, but there are two sections to it. Our section is the most intense of the two and it's not very big. As of last night they never had more than 6 to 7 babies in there at once. With 3 new additions, space is going to be VERY VERY limited. That said, we were told they are considering moving Makenna over to the other side because she appears to be pretty stable right now. So if that happens, it's kind of exciting news, because it means she is moving forward. We know it's just sort of by default, but it still feels good to think that she is in the less critical area of the NICU.

As for me, my leg/ankle/foot swelling is probably 99% gone. My feet still have their issues here and there, but I can wear a couple pairs of normal shoes, so that's a really good thing. My blood pressure looks excellent again, so I was taken off my meds. I was worried about that one, but all looks good. As for my weight, I am now a good 5lbs under my pre-preg weight. Gotta say, I'm kind of enjoying the "you don't look like you just delivered triplets" comments. And the "my wife is hot...you should get pregnant more often" comments from my husband don't hurt, either. I'm sure it's the gigantic milk jugs I'm lugging around which make my tummy look smaller, but I do feel incredibly fortunate that my tummy held up so well. Of course, my ab musles are completely useless right now, but my belly is flat and I fit into my clothes, so what else could I possibly ask for?! And I think the weight loss has really contributed to a fast physical recovery. My muscles are sore from having been on bedrest for so long, but I am able to get up and move around with ease compared to when I was pregnant. I just have a lot more energy and it feels fantastic. My only complaint is that the joints in my hands are KILLING me at night, when I wake up, and a little during the day here and there. They feel arthritic, but after doing a tiny bit of research, I think it may just be swelling (even though they don't look swollen to me). Something about fluid in the joints...I don't know. I'm just hoping this one goes away soon because I can't even close my hands when it happens.

I'll update later when we get more news on the girls. For now we know that Olivia tested low on an immunity blood test, so it's safe to say that the DiGeorge is going to affect her immune system (really scary and hopefully treatable). We have to meet with a doctor or nurse to fully understand the impact of these results...and we are still awaiting more immunological test results, so not much news quite yet. Makenna tested positive for MRSA, which is a staph infection that apparently is easily transmitted in hospitals, schools, etc. They think it cleared up on its own already, but are awaiting results from a second culture in the meantime. For now she is under contact isolation and we have to put on gloves and a gown just to touch her. Lauren also tested positive for something (something popped up on a culture), but they are still trying to identify it...kind of wondering if it could also be staph. As of yesterday she still wasn't on breastmilk and they are still awaiting everything to normalize with her stomach before starting feeds again. So, as I said, more complete updates later when we get more news.

Difficult news about Olivia

Last night we learned that in addition to Livy's heart condition (Tetralogy of Fallot), she did test positive for DiGeorge Syndrome. Basically, part of chromosome 22 is missing. It affects only 1 in 4000 babies, but is still the second most common chromosomal abnormality in infants. In my research, I found that the infant mortality rate for DiGeorge babies is as high as 55% in the first month and 86% in the first 6 months of life, largely due to the heart defects and immunological deficiency which accompany the disorder. For now the only thing we can do is feed her like crazy and hope she grows quickly enough to have her heart surgery ASAP. Down the line, we won't know how severely she will be affected by DiGeorge until time progresses. She may have delays in developing speech and fine motor skills, she may be on a feeding tube depending on her digestion and how well she can learn to eat...by the time she is 7 or 8 we should know if she has any learning disabilities (children with DiGeorge often have an IQ between 70 and 90, though this is skewed b/c their only trouble is with reading comprehension and mathematical reasoning skills). I think there are other possible issues, but these are the ones that seem to be most common, from what I can gather.

For now, we plan to talk to the doctors to see what type of immediate steps we must take to ensure her health. We also need to talk to a geneticist to see if we should test the other two girls and to get ourselves tested to see the likelihood of passing this on to future children.

The good news is that Paul doesn't feel the slightest bit overwhelmed by all of this, but I'm having so much trouble accepting things. We went through so much just to become pregnant and now the next few years of our lives may be filled with even more doctor visits and medical complications than we ever imagined. My heart is breaking for my little girl, who has a complicated future ahead of her. And the worst part is that I can't seem to find any information on how DiGeorge affects people into adulthood. I know the complications of infants and children, but I don't know how adults function. Can they hold jobs, support themselves? Will she be emotionally and psychologically capable of dating, getting married, having children? It seems like it could be promising, though I have no idea b/c I can't find any information about adults. I do know that she will have a 50% chance of passing this on to her children, so she will likely have to undergo genetic testing when she gets pregnant...which would mean IVF...something I wouldn't wish on any of my girls. And apparently there is a 30% chance of psychological disorders like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in adulthood.

I just hope that Paul and I can figure out a way to take the very best care of our little girl and give her enough love to make up for the challenges she will face.

Mommy & Livy

10 Days Old

Everything continues to go well today. Lauren was taken off of all feeds a few days back because she was having some green residual and an x-ray showed extra air in her abdomen. She was taken off CPAP and moved down to a lower setting on the nasal canula to reduce the amount of air getting into her abdomen. They tried letting her breathe on her own, but it wasn't working out so well yet, so she remains on the canula at the lowest setting and as soon as they feel her system is ready, they will start her over on feeds. They just want to be careful so that she doesn't develop any serious gastrointestinal issues. She is gaining weight, though, on IV nutrition. Her brain scan came back the same and so we will do another on the 28th day of life. Chances are good that all will be fine, but they will need some good imaging when she's a little bigger to make sure.

Olivia is breathing completely on her own and taking in 12cc of breastmilk, increasing by 2cc every 12 hours. Although she was off to a very slow start compared to her sisters, she is "eating" more than both now and breathing very well on her own. She is back up to her birthweight and with these feeds, we expect her to begin gaining more weight soon. Livy's heart condition is fine for now. They continue to do EKG's as needed to make sure the situation doesn't get worse. In the next few weeks we will probably come up with a plan to move forward with further imaging and surgery.

Makenna is up to 10cc of breastmilk, and increasing. She had a difficult time with the feedings at first because she wasn't digesting anything. Everything seems to be going well now and she is barely having any residual. She, too, is still breathing on her own and gaining weight.

Here are some pics...

Lauren




Makenna



Olivia

Olivia Video

Olivia put on a little show for us last night.

Lauren Videos

Just wanted to post a couple videos we took of Lauren this afternoon. She has been opening her eyes quite a bit lately. Everything she sees is a complete blur, but she moves her eyes around quite a bit, taking in whatever she can see. So the first video is just of her face with her eyes open. The second video is of her sucking on her paci for the first time. Notice how absolutely relaxed she appears to be, with her little legs completely spread open. We love staring at our silly girl!

1 Week Old

The girls are 1 week old today!!! Here are some quick updates:

Olivia - Little Miss Livy thought it would be really fantastic if she extubated herself last night. The nurse heard some crying coming from her bed and knew something was up (they can't make crying noises when they are on the ventilator), so she headed over to check things out. Turns out our feisty little monkey finally got ahold of that tube and yanked it right out. Should have been no surprise, I suppose, because all she did last night was try to grab at it during our visit. So now she is on a high flow nasal canula, set at the highest setting. Hopefully she can deal with those tubes being in her nose for a little while. As for feeds, she is on 3cc of breastmilk and they plan to hold her there for a while. She is on Erythromycin to help digest her food, so hopefully she can start picking up on the feeds. With her heart condition, we really need her to start gaining weight so that she can have her surgery when the time is right.

Lauren - Lauren is taking 12 cc of food right now and increasing by 1cc every 12 hours. She is tolerating her feeds pretty well for the most part. She is also on Erythromycin for digestion and increasing by 1cc every few hours. They did a brain scan on her today, but we haven't yet received the results. Last week they found a spot on one part of her brain and so we are hoping that spot is absolutely nothing to worry about. We should find out more by tomorrow. Lauren was on the highest setting of the nasal canula, but they moved her back up to CPAP because she wasn't doing as well as they would hope. The girls will likely move back and forth between "levels" of breathing assistance, so this is no surprise that she slightly regressed.

Makenna - Well, Makenna is outshining her sisters on the whole breathing thing, but she has some major catch-up to do with the feedings. She is on the very lowest setting of the nasal canula and we won't be surprised to find her breathing completely on her own anytime now. Of course, once those tubes are out, they can always go back in, but she seems as if she's really getting ready to fly on her own. Feedings are a different story. She is still only taking 2cc of breastmilk per feeding and a lot of it doesn't ever get digested. So they placed her, too, on Erythromycin. She has only been feeding for maybe 48 hours now and it's totally normal for them to have difficulty making the transition...so we just need to wait it out and hope for the best. We know she makes really good poops, so it's just a matter of turning my breastmilk into that poop and she'll be good to go.

All three girls really have their own personalities, which we can see coming out just by their sleeping positions. Makenna sleeps like a froggy, on her belly with her legs bent up underneat her. Lauren prefers her back or side with her arms wide open above her head or her hands closed in against her face. Olivia tends to keep her hands folded nicely over her chest, though it's unclear which position she most prefers at the moment. And they are all incredibly feisty. If they are unhappy, you'll know about it. They scrunch up their faces, stretch out their legs, and pull like hell on their cords.

Last night Olivia was particularly upset during our visit. She couldn't make any crying noises, but her face was scrunched up as if she was crying and she couldn't stop moving around. Then she coughed up some food and she just wouldn't relax at all. I tried cuddling her while she was in bed, but it just didn't help at all. So the nurse decided that mommy needed to hold her to calm her down. She pulled up a big comfy glider and placed my baby girl against my chest, inside my shirt. It was so amazing how quickly she settled down. She even opened her eyes off and on for about 10 minutes, which she rarely ever does. It was such a great experience.

Here are some pics of the last few days:

Olivia




Lauren




Makenna

We Held Makenna!!!!!!!

When we arrived in the NICU tonight, our nurses told us they were thinking perhaps we could hold Makenna this evening. Of course we jumped on that opportunity. While I was holding her, she got the hiccups, coughed a bit, and kept moving her eyes around under her lids (we still haven't really seen her eyes). It was really fantastic!!!

Good news is that Makenna and Lauren are both off their ventilators and on cpap. They are breathing on their own, but have room air blowing on their noses to help them along.

Last night Olivia was getting really fussy, so Paul placed his hands over her body to calm her down. Everytime he moved his hands away, she became fussy again...so it was obvious that she loved having her daddy's hand on her. We took a video below:

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!

This post is a few days overdue, but our three little angels were born on October 29, 2008. First was Makenna Elizabeth, at 4:27pm, weighing in at 2 lbs 12 oz. She was taken right out of the delivery room before we had a chance to even hear her cry. As she was entering the world, Paul was standing and looking over the drape. My most memorable moment of the entire birth was him looking back down at me with so much love and pride, telling me how beautiful she was. It was a moment we shared that I will cherish for as long as I live.

Next came Miss Olivia Lyn, at 4:29pm, weighing in at just under 2 lbs 12 oz. This little one came in screaming and appeared to do very well from moment one. Her sister, Lauren Avery, was born last at 4:30pm, weighing 2 lbs 13 oz. I honestly cannot remember if we heard Lauren cry, but I do remember her sweet little face as she was wheeled out of the OR, right behind her sister, Livy.

My c-section experience was mostly a good one. For those wanting a play-by-play, here you go. If you don't, just skip this paragraph. I was taken into the OR and sat up on the table. I was very nervous, so they gave me some anti-anxiety meds in my IV. I instantly relaxed a bit and they began my spinal. As you can imagine, with 3 babies inside, it is very difficult to arch one's back well enough to get that spinal in. I'm not sure how long it took, but I know they had to poke a couple of times before it all worked out, and we had to reposition my legs about three or four times until we found a good position. I felt bad and kept apologizing for not being able to bend over well enough, but in the end we got it, so no biggie. Next they helped me lie back on the table and put in my catheter. I could feel my body, but I mostly just felt a mild tingling all over. I thought that would feel irritable, but it didn't bother me at all. After the catheter, everyone started really filing into the room. They put the oxygen tube thing in my nose (and it kept falling out during the surgery, so we kept having to help it back into place), and put the drape up over me. The drape was actually very irritating b/c it kept falling into my face. One of my big fears was having my arms tied down and out to the side, but they didn't use anything to secure them to the table, so that was no biggie, either. My blood pressure dropped often during the surgery (not too low, though), so they kept giving me meds to keep it elevated so that I wouldn't drift off to sleep. I honestly could have closed my eyes at any point and slept so well, but I fought to keep them open the entire time. As for the pulling and tugging, it wasn't so bad. There was one point where there was a lot of pressure pushing up into my chest, but it was bearable. And although I couldn't technically feel anything, I could definitely tell when they were closing me up. It didn't hurt a bit, but I could feel the sensation of my belly being put back together. After all was done I was wheeled into recovery and had a nice little nap. The worst part of the entire surgery actually came at this point. The nurse had to make sure I was bleeding properly, so she had to press down really firmly on my belly to expel blood at least twice during my hour plus recovery. This process continued for the first 24 hours, but the pain lessened every time. It was quite intense during that first hour, though. The whole experience was actually fine and my incision is healing very well. Everyone comments on how great it looks and how small it is. One of my docs even said it was the best-looking one she has seen. So I suppose I should pass on compliments to my OB for all of the great feedback, haha. He really did an outstanding job getting us through this pregnancy and he continues to check on our girls in the NICU to follow their progress. He just goes above and beyond what we would ever expect and so I know we are all in good hands.

So, back to our babies! The first few days are really difficult with preemies because that's when we get a lot of bad news. There's good news, too, but some of the scariest news can come early on. It was on Thursday, I believe, that we learned our little Olivia has a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. The cardiologist assured us that it has nothing to do with her prematurity or the fact that she is a multiple. It is something she would have been born with no matter the circumstances. Her prematurity just makes treatment difficult since we must wait until she is at least 4lbs prior to having it surgically repaired. But the good news is that surgery is effective 95% of the time. Babies often will require multiple surgeries, but she can live a very normal life once the heart is repaired. The one thing we are keeping an eye on right now is the pathway in Olivia's heart that sometimes functions as a PDA. Normally we are all born with a PDA pathway which closes up during birth. Preemies are often born with PDAs that remain open and require meds or surgery to close. Olivia was born with no PDA at all, but instead her heart grew a completely different pathway in the same general area. Sometimes this "fake pda" acts like a normal pda and closes off. The problem is that Olivia needs this pathway to remain open so that her blood can continue to flow throughout her heart and into the proper areas of her body. If it begins to close then she will need to take meds to keep it open. Those meds have some bad side effects that will make her treatment difficult. For now the pathway remains wide open and no meds are required. She will continue to be monitored every 2 days with EKG to make sure the path remains open. Then, when she is big enough, we can focus on having the surgery to begin repairing her heart. If she continues to do well, we may even be able to bring her home before moving forward with surgery. It just depends on how her body does as time progresses. Everything else seems to be going fine for Olivia. They can't give her any food yet, so they just use an IV to supply her with nutrition. She is definitely having the most trouble of the three, but it seems to be due to the issues surrounding the heart defect...and honestly things are going fine considering the circumstances.

Makenna is doing fairly well overall, but her PDA still hasn't closed. That means that she cannot yet begin to be tube fed any of my breast milk. She will have another EKG on Monday. If the PDA is closed, we can be happy and move forward with some feedings (again, through a tube). If it is open, however, we will need to consider a course of action to close it. Often docs like to use meds, but it sounds like ours will surgically close it off if it's still open on Monday. We are told this is a routine bedside procedure and nothing to worry about.

Lauren's PDA was closed at her first EKG exam, so she was able to start tube feedings a couple of days ago. Since she is so small, it's difficult for her to digest the food, but they are finding that if they place her on her right side, that things go well. They did find a dark spot on her brain scan, but aren't really worried about it right now. They will run another scan in a week and then in a month, I believe. If it's still there, then we may have cause for concern. Sounds like these things are kind of common in preemies, though, and may not lead to anything serious. Overall, Lauren is doing the best, so it's hard to imagine there is anything wrong with her brain...but I guess you just never know.

All of the girls are still on oxygen, though Lauren and Makenna may be weaned down soon. They will all have breathing assistance in some fashion for a while, but there are many steps they can take in the NICU to decrease the amount of breathing help they receive. This is the area of their care that Paul seems to have a better understanding of than me, but now that I'm getting a bit more rest I'm able to learn a bit more about everything.

One of my big goals with these girls is to breastfeed in some capacity. I would love for them to eventually take to the actual breast, but my primary concern is that they receive breastmilk rather than formula, if possible. That said, I started pumping milk for them six hours after my c-section. The first pumping session went well as we gathered 5cc...which is about a teaspoon full of milk. After that I got 1/2 to 1cc of milk for a day or so. Then by Friday night I was getting about 2cc of milk. We had signed consents on Friday for them to receive donor breast milk since I wasn't producing enough for Lauren's 2cc feedings, but only had to use it once, I think. You can imagine my delight when I was able to pump 6cc at once by Saturday night. Well, my last pumping session was 2 hours ago and I knew it was going to be a good one because when I woke up I could feel that my breasts felt fuller and firmer than they have. I looked at Paul and said "well, I'm certain my milk has finally come in". Sure enough, I got 18cc of milk this morning!!! It sounds ridiculous, but I'm so happy to have gotten so much at one time. Paul and I have these little celebrations when my production increases. This is really my only way to contribute to my babies' health at this point in time, so the more milk I can provide, the more I feel like I am helping them to grow strong and healthy.

So that is my extremely long update on our situation. I should mention, too, I suppose, that my legs are extremely swollen (typical after a c-section, we're told) and that I cannot stay on my feet for longer than 15 minutes or so. Even sitting in a chair is bad. I really have to keep my feet elevated to keep my lower body from swelling too much. So visiting the girls is going to be a challenge once I'm discharged tonight. We're going to have to come up with some creative solutions to sitting around the NICU. Also, my blood pressure has been high. I was put on blood pressure medication yesterday and it's helping. Hopefully this is very very temporary and I can get off the meds soon.

I'm going to post some pics here for you. Enjoy!!!

Belly shot about 1 hour before the c-section:


Olivia Lyn crying as she is coming out of mommy's belly


Lauren's birth


Makenna resting with her shades on. They left them on after her time under the bili lights b/c she is so much more comfy with less stimulation.


Lauren sleeping so peacefully. She always has her arms and hands in such cute postions near her head.


Little Livy stretching out. She has her daddy's hair!!! I call her my hairy little monkey.


I'll post more pics and updates as time progresses.