Busy Dad, Busier Mom…

As promised, here’s a quick photo of our triplets.  From left to right:  JD, Keri, and Maddy.

I’ve been off the grid for a bit too long….  I’ve been getting a few questions about the Triplets lately and realized that I hadn’t even written a post about the big news from last week.  Talk about a bad blogger Dad.

Last week on Wednesday, we brought little JD home!  He seemed a bit disappointed that he would no longer be able to flirt with the nurses, but I think he’ll get over it. Finally……..the whole family is under one roof!  After a rocky start to the weekend with both Jill and Lindsay coming down with the flu, we are finally getting things back on track.  All three kids passed their follow-up check-ups with flying colors last week, which is also great news.  At the appointments, they were all well on their way to 7 lbs and the doc estimated that at the rate they were going, that they may creep into the normal growth metrics for term babies by the 4 month mark.  It’s pretty cool that each baby has two plot points on the growth curves, one for real age and one for their adjusted age.  Technically, the Trips aren’t even age zero (adjusted) yet, so their first plot points for adjusted age are currently off the left edge of the chart.  As they grow, the points will eventually merge into a single set, indicating an informal exit from preemie status from the growth perspective.  Keep up the good work kiddos!

Somehow I haven’t managed to get a picture of all three kids together yet, but that is on my agenda for this weekend.  Once I get a good pic, I’ll get another post out.  Today I at least wanted to give everyone a quick update and hopefully I’ll keep things a bit more up to date.

Shortly after Lindsay’s ER stint for RSV, both Jill and I started to come down with colds.  So far this darn cold doesn’t want to let up.  I’m hoping that a nice peaceful weekend will help knock it out once and for all so that I can go back up to the NICU.  I haven’t seen my little munchkins since Monday evening……and it’s starting to wear on me.  Yesterday we also heard from the nurses that the triplets were displaying some minor cold symptoms.  Apparently it’s nothing real significant right now, but they are keeping a close eye on it due to our recent colds.  Apparently we’re the first case at the hospital in which the parents of NICU babies have had a child come down with RSV while the babies were still in the NICU.  As such it sounds like they are trying to figure out exactly what policy guidelines to follow for our nursery, which has now been placed in a sort-of lockdown state.  The grandparents are still allowed to visit, but now everyone (including the nurses) has to wear gowns, masks, and gloves when interacting with any of the babies.  So for now we plan to just lay low for a bit and let things settle down.  As painful as it is to not see the Trips, we have to do what’s best for them.   At least Lindsay is feeling much better and being able to watch her cruise around the house is at least some positive news, though Jill and I are now struggling to keep pace with her replenished energy level.  Just need to hang in there for a few more days…

Well, I survived my first full day back at work.  I was only able to make it up to the hospital once today, having just returned.  For the remainder of the this week and next week I have adjusted my work schedule to allow for NICU visits over lunch.  I’m happy to be home, but it just seems that my precious little ones are so far away.  It feels a bit strange every time I leave the hospital after a visit, almost as if I’m forgetting something.  But……there’s always the next visit to look forward to.

The best news of the day was that they will allow Jill to visit the NICU with a surgical mask.  Previously they had told us that her cold sore would have to be totally gone before she could visit.  Jill hasn’t seen the Trips since Friday, and having to wait another 3-5 days would have been pretty rough on her.  That info just made my day!

Maddy and JD are now off of the photo-therapy and Keri will likely be done tomorrow.  They all gained weight today, which is the first time that they’ve all gained.  They are now all over 32cc per feeding and today they started to add additional calories to help foster growth.  They also had their first vision test this morning and they all appear to be fine, with another test scheduled 3-4 weeks out.  Tomorrow they have a ultrasounds scheduled to check for any signs of brain trauma.  I know the odds are pretty low (though I’ve discovered that even bad odds are still not certainties) and that the test is standard procedure for preemies, but I think I’ll rest a whole lot easier once the results are back.  My little munchkins are doing so well……..we’ve truly been blessed.  Keep up the good work Maddy, Keri, and JD!

It was almost exactly four 4 days ago that I made my first visit to the NICU to see the Triplets.  I had no idea what to expect as the nurse took me up there to see them.  I have to admit that it was a little intimidating.  On the way up, she filled me in that everything was going very well, which at least helped put my mind at ease.  The nurse showed me how to call in and told me about the PIN numbers that had been assigned to each of the Trips in order to request information.  I was then led to the nursery that my brave little munchkins were calling home.  It was incredible to walk in and see the three warmers, with a sudden realization that all of them contained my precious little miracles.  The nursery has room for four infants, and when I first arrived they had the room to themselves.  It was basically the Sella Suite.  The on-shift nurse for the nursery then gave me a quick orientation outlining all of the health and security details and then explained all of the equipment that they were using to monitor the Trips.  The nurse that night did an awesome job explaining the current status of the babies and gave me a tentative plan for the next 24 hours.  It was very reassuring to know what they planned to do and why.

Since that night, the NICU has become a second home.  When I’m there I feel right at home and when I leave I always find myself wishing to go back.  The nursing staff there has been absolutely awesome.  They always welcome us to the room with a smile and fill us in with any new updates right away.  They even take care to notice little character traits to tell us about.  When you can’t spend much time with your babies, it is great to hear things like “We think Keri is going to be the feisty one.” or “Maddy is just so laid back, she never gives us any problems”.  It is so wonderful to see that the staff takes a genuine interest in each infant, above and beyond the medical necessity.

After I finish this post, I’ll be heading up to the NICU for the third time today.  All three triplets were put on photo therapy this morning to help lower their bilirubin levels.  Day 5 is typically when most infants will see peak levels, so it’s not too unexpected.  As of 6:00 this evening (my last visit) they were all responding very well to teh treatment and will likely be done tonight or tomorrow morning.  We got the chance to hold Maddy and JD before we left on Friday, but during the photo-therapy they have to remain under the lights.  I’m anxious to hold Keri, so hopefully the photo-therapy will be done soon.  All three also had they IVs removed today, as they are doing very well with their feeding.  Overall, they are just cruising along.

Well…..off to the NICU!

Tuesday the 24th began as a day of routine appointments.  We had an appointment scheduled in the morning with the high-risk specialist and then our weekly appointment with the OBGYN scheduled for the afternoon.  At this point we were at 32 weeks and 3 days and Jill had avoided any visits to the hospital and hadn’t been on any type of bed rest.  Jill and the triplets were doing outstanding!

At our appointment with the specialist, Madison’s heart rate was slightly elevated.  As a precautionary measure, the doc sent us over to the hospital for observation.  Once there, they began a non-stress test and verified that Madison’s heart was spiking occasionally, but nothing that seemed to be of much concern, as it returned to the baseline relatively quickly.  Shortly after being hooked up to the monitors, Jill began having contractions pretty regularly and before we knew it, she was having them every 2 minutes.  They gave Jill a steroid injection for the babies lung development and tried two medications to slow the contractions, which they hoped would provide them enough time to administer the second dose of steroids.  Despite the medications, Jill continued to dilate and at around 6:00 PM our doctor decided to move on the C-Section.

The following hours went by in a blur.  I quickly found myself donning scrubs and moving all of our stuff to a recovery room.  Shortly thereafter, I vividly recall sitting on a little bench, watching a seemingly endless string of doctors, nurses, and technicians pile into the OR.  That 15 minutes was just so weird.  Then……action!  I was called into the OR and quickly ushered over to a chair right next to Jill’s head.  I barely remember walking into the room, as I was trying to absorb all of the happenings going on.  The first few minutes where completely overwhelming.  The room was a blur of activity.  I finally got a little acclimated to the room, just in time to see Madison brought into the world.  A few seconds later, I heard the best sound ever……a little cry!  Within another minute, Kerilyn and Joseph were also delivered.  That single minute passed by a second at a time in what seemed like slow motion.  Soon after, Kerilyn and Joseph joined Madison in the most beautiful chorus of cries.  We were given a preliminary “thumbs up” and our three little miracles were quickly wheeled up to the NICU for further evaluation.

Jill and I have now been blessed with 4 amazing little miracles and would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

I want to extend a warm welcome to all of my readers.  I hope you all enjoy reading about the triplets!