7.27.09 ~ Avery comes home

Avery is a big girl and got to come home on Monday, July 27th. After a typical morning at the hospital she was finally discharged at about 3:00 in the afternoon. Here's a picture of her in her carseat :)

Of course, she had to come home during the hottest week in Seattle history...it was 91 degrees in Monroe according to weather.com. It felt much hotter. At least we have AC in our bedroom and we could all keep cool and sleep...well, kind of. Having Avery in our room we heard all her little noises and squeaks all night. We didn't jump up for all of them, but we have learned a lot since the first night and now we're all able to get 3-4 hours of sleep at a time. Somehow Dan is able to sleep through her cries, but he's great about getting up if I wake him and ask for help.

The other girls are still in the hospital. They are making progress but are both still on oxygen and have their feeding tubes. Brelynn is starting to eat more and more by bottle and took 4 full feedings in a row the other day. She tried to breastfeed today and did well for her first time. Her oxygen needs are down and she had a trial without oxygen today for about 2 hours before she needed it back on. Baby steps :) Oh, and she's now over 6 pounds!!! Camille is also growing like crazy and she's now over 5 pounds (and almost as much as Avery now...she gets lots of extra calories to help her gain quickly). She's eating a little more by the bottle, but still not taking full feedings. All the girls are starting to look alike as they gain weight. Dan & I will be able to tell them apart, but others may have some trouble in a few months when they're all home and healthy weights.

I'm still doing battle with this PUPPS rash that is now spreading to my legs. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy...the itching is so horrible. I try to distract myself by visiting the girls and playing with Avery at home. They all love to snuggle! Dan likes to take Avery out in the yard in the evenings and she helps him water the garden. He's teaching her the botanical names of all the plants...very cute. That's what's new with us for the week... hope everyone is doing well.

7.24.09 ~ updates for the week

Okay, so I'm getting busy and not posting as often... I'm sure it will only get worse :) Several people have asked what the girls need to do to come home. First, they need to maintain their temperatures in an open crib. Second they need to go 5 days without any drops in heartrate or oxygen levels. Third they need to eat all their food by the bottle or breast (no tube feedings). We haven't had a lot of big changes this week but each girl is growing, getting stronger, and working toward their goals. Let's go backwards today so Avery doesn't think she's the favorite...

Camille hit 4 pounds on Thursday this week. She's starting to get a little chub on her and her face is really filling out. She has met her goal of maintaining her temperature! She's starting to eat a little bit by the bottle but gets tired easily and still gets most of her food by her feeding tube. She is getting better about keeping her oxygen and heartrate up but does still have a few 'events' each day. Other than that, she's still got blonde hair and looks the most like Dan. I'd guess that she'll be home in another week or two.

Brelynn hit 5 pounds on Wednesday. Definitely got some chub on her as compared to the others. She has met her temperature goal, too. Same story with the feeding as Camille...eating some but gets tired easily (who knew it was so much work to take a bottle!). She still has a little bit of oxygen via a nasal canula and isn't ready to give it up just yet. I suspect she may have a bit of reflux because she tends to drop her oxygen level after she finishes eating/getting her feedings. She has the darkest hair but is a little bald on top :) With her chubby face I think she looks most like me. Best guess is that she won't be home for another two weeks, but who knows.

Avery is about 4 1/2 pounds now. She's leading the pack in all areas and is still on track to come home in the next few days (Sunday-Wednesday most likely). She's met her goals for temperature and oxygen/heartrate and is just trying to get all her food by mouth. She's getting close and eats by bottle most every feeding but some of them she doesn't take the full amount so a little bit still goes in the tube. I'd guess she's taking about 2/3 of her total for the day by bottle now. She's also trying to breast feed and took most of a feeding today and yesterday by breast. I think Avery is a combo of Dan's features and mine. I can't wait for the girls to all grow a bit so we can see their features and personalities really come out.

Dan & I are doing well. We are still at the hospital visiting the girls everyday. One major highlight for the week is that the girls each got their first bath (Brelynn & Avery last weekend and Camille will get hers tomorrow). They all smile a lot and are much more alert now. I ended up getting a PUPPS rash which is very rare in pregnancy and goes away when you deliver...well, of course I got it after I delivered. The dermatologist said she's never seen anyone get it after delivery...lucky me. There's nothing that I can take for it that won't pass into the breast milk but I can use an anti-itch cream (I can't describe how badly it itches at times). Should be gone in the next 6 weeks or so :( Another huge blessing is that since the girls will be in the hospital for 30 or more days we will qualify for a program that will pay all their hospital copays for a full year!!! That means that we won't have to pay for doctor's visits or their NICU stay! We'll also be able to get WIC which will give us formula and baby foods for the first year. We are so fortunate.

We really appreciate all the support and prayers we're getting. Thanks to everyone who have dropped off meals, diapers, and other baby stuff. They say it takes a village to raise a child and I definitely feel the support from everyone. These girls are already so loved!

7.16.09 ~ new pictures

Here are some recent pictures of the girls...

Camille



Brelynn





Avery



7.16.09 ~ Cribs

So, not much had changed over the last few days... the girls are doing well and continue to gain weight and get a little more stable each day. We came in this morning to a huge change, Avery and Brelynn are out of the isolettes and in open cribs! They are both over 4 pounds now and are maintaining their body temperatures so they don't need the isolette :) Woo hoo! Camille is still a little to small to keep her temperature up on her own, but she's getting there. Brelynn is still on just a teeny puff of oxygen but other than that, they just need to eat a better and they can come home. Still guessing Avery may come home next weekend or early the following week. Brelynn probably won't be too far behind her but she's still not eating much by bottle. All the girls are trying to take a bottle now, it is just a little confusing for Brelynn and Camille to remember to suck, swallow, and THEN breathe! Way to go girls!!!

7.11.09 ~ good news

Avery took a full feeding from a bottle yesterday! She doesn't do that every time, but she's making progress. Brelynn is on just a little oxygen via a nasal canula because when we feed her or change her diaper, her oxygen levels drop a bit. When she's just sleeping, she doesn't really need it. Camille does not have an infection! Praise God! She's doing well and the blood draw that they took was contaminated somehow because the second one was fine and she's not sick at all. She had a few doses of antibiotics, but she didn't need to keep on them. All girls now have their IVs out so it is much easier to hold them with one less tube attached to them. They are all up over their birth weights and gaining weight well. Other than that, I'm doing well. Off my pain meds and I've lost 30 pounds so far. We've been to visit every day, changing lots of diapers and holding the girls when all the conditions are right (temperature needs to be good, high oxygen levels, etc.). The neonatologist (babies' doctor) told me yesterday that we may be able to bring the first one home at 36-37 weeks (we're now 34 1/2) so maybe another week or two and one of the girls will be home! Wow, seems like it's going really fast!

7.9.09 ~ progress

quick post because I've got to go pump (again!)...
--Avery is very stable and is starting to take some of her feeds from a bottle. I was able to feed her 1/2 of a few feedings today and then she got the other 1/2 from her feeding tube. Dan got to hold her for awhile after work and she is starting to smile now which is really cute.
--Brelynn is status quo. gaining weight, a few little breathing episodes here and there, but overall doing well
--Camille had a great day. a few episodes, but not nearly as many as yesterday. She had an exciting morning because one of her lab cultures came back positive from yesterday's blood draw suggesting that she may have an infection. The doctor attempted a lumbar puncture, but couldn't get it so they just repeated the labs to confirm there's an infection and if there is then they'll do the LP again tomorrow. It may be a contaminant because she did really well today and doesn't look sick. Just to be safe, she started taking antibiotics today. I got to hold her for 3 hours and she was great...just slept the whole time.

7.8.09 ~ Getting on a routine

It's so nice to be able to spend the whole day in the NICU and help take care of the girls. We're getting into a routine where I take temperatures and change diapers before most feedings now. In the morning I pump (8:00-8:30) and then get Avery ready and out to the breast and to snuggle for about an hour while she gets her feeding through her NG tube (8:30-9:30). She tried to latch on today, but was a little too tired to stick with it so we just had some good cuddle time. Our nurse takes care of Camille's feeding during this time. Then it's Brelynn's turn so I put Avery back and take Brelynn's temp and change her diaper and get her out to snuggle for an hour (9:30-10:30). Then pumping (10:30-11:00), a trip to the bathroom, a quick lunch, and it's Camille's turn. She's still a little to small to try to go to the breast, so she gets to have kangaroo care for about two hours (12:00-2:00). After another pumping session, I take a nap or read for awhile, wash all my bottles, and have a snack. Dan comes up at 5:30 and visits for awhile then we head home, have dinner, and after another pumping session it's off to bed.

Avery is tolerating her NG feeds really well and was pretty content today. I dressed her in regular preemie clothes since her IV is out now and they are HUGE on her! Brelynn is tolerating her feedings well, too. She is about 50/50 for oral feeds and IV feeds and making good progress. She is generally remembering to breathe, but occasionally still forgets for a few seconds then figures it out. Camille is doing really well with her feedings, too, and if she continues to do well she'll be off the IV by tomorrow night. She was having a bit more trouble remembering to breathe today and had quite a few 'episodes' where either the nurse or I had to go and wake her up to remind her to breathe. Scary, but I guess this is still pretty normal for preemies.

7.7.09 ~ a quiet day

I spent the day with the girls again. they pretty much just slept and were peaceful. No more bili lights for Brelynn and Avery did get her PICC line out last night. After I pumped this morning, Avery and Brelynn each got a chance to go to the breast. They were amazing and figured out how to latch and actually nursed a little bit! It was amazing that they knew what to do right away. I changed lots of diapers and took lots of temperatures today. Dan came up on his lunch break and took some pictures of Camille since she was out of the isolette...

check out the blonde hair! She's so tiny...today she weighed 2 pounds, 14 ounces. She's almost back to her birth weight.

7.5.09 ~ growing and gaining

7/4/09. Day 6: Happy 4th of July! Camille is now off CPAP and on a nasal canula. She's tolerating her oral feeds. Brelynn has a pneumothorax (air that leaked outside her lung), but the air is aspirated out and she starts breathing much better. Brenda gets to change Avery's diaper today.

7/5/09. Day 7: Woo hoo... all girls are off CPAP and are on nasal canulas on room air! They are now all tolerating some oral feedings, although Avery is the chow hound and is taking 14 ml of breast milk every 3 hours. Camille gets 6 ml and Brelynn gets 4 ml. They get the rest of their nutrition via the IV (called TPN). Brelynn is back on her bili lights, but the other two don't need them anymore. Dan worked today so I spent the whole day in the NICU. I got to kangaroo each girl for a few hours and it was wonderful having them out of the isolettes for that long. All are breathing much better and we may be able to d/c the nasal canulas soon!

7/6/09. Day 8: We went to visit the girls for a few hours this afternoon. They have a new apartment now, all three girls are sharing two conjoined rooms in the NICU. They like sharing a room because they were all doing awesome today! They are still in isolettes, but no more breathing tubes! Brelynn is under bili lights for another day, but the other two are off. The big news is that Avery should get her IV out tonight because she's able to eat enough through her feeding tube so she doesn't need the IV anymore. Tomorrow she gets to try to breast feed (after I've pumped so she doesn't get too much) so that will be exciting. Brelynn and Camille are moving along with their feedings, too. Brelynn is getting 6 cc of breast milk every 3 hours through her feeding tube and Camille gets 10 cc. That should continue to go up pretty quickly then they can get their IVs out like big sis. I'll be spending the day there again tomorrow while Dan works so I should get lots of cuddle time with them. Did I mention they're beautiful? I'll get some more pictures tomorrow.

7.3.09 ~ first few days

6/30/09. Day 2: So, just a few hours after they're born, the girls are all in the NICU in separate isolettes. They each have an IV, feeding tube in their mouth to help vent the stomach, and have little tiny CPAP masks to help them breathe easier. They each get their first chest x-ray to check for respiratory distress syndrome. It's hard to tell what they look like because most of their faces are covered by the CPAP mask. We can see that they all have hair, Avery's is the longest and brown with some red. Brelynn's is the darkest brown. Camille's is the lightest...she may be a strawberry blonde!

7/1/09. Day 3: We get to hold the girls for the first time today. I held Avery and Brelynn and Dan held Camille. They're beautiful. We decided that while the girls and I are in the hospital, Dan should work and save his vacation time. Well, he got in trouble today because the girls needed more x-rays and Dan came up to the NICU to visit the girls. The per-diem neonatal nurse practitioner thought this was a conflict of interest and she and Dan didn't communicate very well. I'm sure both were upset. Oh, well. At least now we know his roles as a daddy and as an employee.

7/2/09. Day 4: The girls all got a PICC line late last night. Camille went to NPO because she wasn't digesting her food. Brenda was discharged from the hospital

7/3/09. Day 5: Avery comes off her CPAP for about 8 hours then goes to a nasal canula for the night. Brelynn is now NPO because she's not digesting all her food. Camille resumes oral (gavage) feeds. Kangaroo Care starts...Brenda holds Avery and Dan holds Brelynn each for about 2 hours skin to skin. Dan changes his first diaper ever (lucky for Brelynn the nurse walked him through it...he's a natural!)

6.29.09 ~ Happy Birthday!

So, it's been awhile since our last post. Here's why... On Monday, 6/29 I went in for a routine doctor's appt to check on the girls. Here's a breakdown of the day's events:

11:00-12:30 non stress test. Baby A and Baby C were laying on top of each other so the ultrasound couldn't pick up their different heart beats. After about 90 minutes of trying, I was sent down to the radiology department to get a better view.

12:30-1:30 wait for radiology to get me in

1:30-3:00 finally get in to ultrasound. it was hard to see the details we needed since the babies are getting crowded in there. The tech took some measurements to compare to our last ultrasound. Turns out that Baby C didn't grow in the last two weeks. Time to be a little concerned.

3:00 wait to see my OB again to see what to do about Baby C's lack of growth.

4:00 ate a cookie and drank some water (this is significant)

4:30 OB able to finally get ultrasound results and compare to two weeks ago. Baby C really didn't grow much. Decision time. My OB called my perinatologist at the UW to see what we should do.

4:45 OB came back and told me we're having a birthday party that night. Since I ate a cookie, we need to wait for the c-section until 10 or 11 at night.

5:30-10:00 admitted to Overlake, met nurses, signed consent forms, got prepped for surgery, waited around. A whole team is starting to arrive, including Dr. Waller from the UW (yippee!). Dan, both sets of grandparents, and Chelsea also arrive. Dan gets dressed up in a big white jumpsuit so he can come in the OR with me.

10:00 Dan and I walk to the operating room. I get up on the table and the anesthesiologist explains how he's going to do my spinal. Everyone is getting ready for the babies to come. There are at least 18 medical personnel in the room, two surgeons for me, a neonatologist, neonatal nurse practicioner, anesthesiologist, respiratory therapist, and a team of nurses for each baby. I start shaking uncontrollably. Adrenaline is kicking in...


10:05 the anesthesiologist starts my spinal. I'm numb from the chest down. I get a catheter placed. The big blue sterile drape is placed and I can't see anything anymore. Surgery starts.

10:26 Baby Avery is born weighing 3 pounds, 5 ounces. She's 16 inches long. Cries immediately. The nurses bring her by me before taking her to the nursery to be cleaned up and stabilized.

Avery Hope

10:28 Baby Brelynn is born weighing 3 pounds, 14 ounces. She's 16 3/4 inches long. Cries immediately. I get to see her for a quick peek before she heads off to the nursery, too.

Brelynn Grace

10:29 Baby Camille is born weighing 3 pounds, 0 ounces. She's 15 1/2 inches long. She cries after about a minute. Since she was our little one, we didn't get to see her in the operating room. She was taken to the nursery right away.

10:30-12:00 Dan bounces back and forth between me and the babies in the next room giving me updates and taking pictures. I get my tubes tied and get all stitched up.

12:00-2:00 we wait in the recovery room for the anesthesia to wear off so I can go to my real room for the night. When I can move my legs, we go by the NICU and see the girls and then to my room. Unfortunately, one of my pain meds (tordol) makes my vision do funny things so I can't see the girls very well.

2:00-3:00 we get settled in to the room and the nurse brings by a breast pump. I pump for the first time. I get pain meds.

3:30 time for bed. we sleep a few hours and are up by 5:30. What a crazy day. Our girls are finally here!

More updates to come...