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...