Busy Dad, Busier Mom…

My family and I would like to extend our thanks to Abbott, the makers of Similac brand products.  Upon discharge, we enrolled in the Similac multiples program in which Abbott sends some of their product to assist the families of multiple births.  This week we were delighted to receive the first shipment of Similac Neosure.  With three babies that are quickly gaining a healthy appetite, this generous offer is greatly appreciated.

Once again……My family thanks you, Abbott!

Last Monday started out nicely.  I ran a few errands in the morning, dropped by the Schmuck Grandparents for a quick visit and then back home to watch the Trips for the afternoon with Sherri (the former owner of our house).  The afternoon was going very well until about 3:00, when JD had some trouble breathing during his feeding.  He turned very pale and his lips started to turn a slight shade of blue.  After rubbing his chest and back for what seemed like forever (but likely only 10-15 seconds), he soon recovered from his little episode.  At this point I was just a bit shaken up…  Although he seemed ok for the most part, it seemed that his breathing was a bit labored and JD wasn’t really himself.  Before long, Jill, JD, and myself were off to see his pediatrician.  Luckily Sherri and my mother-in-law were available to watch the girls.  After a quick visit at the doctor’s office, JD was admitted to the hospital for observation.  After getting situated at the hospital, I caught a ride back home from Jill’s aunt to pick up my Jeep and pack some clothes and gear for an overnight hospital stay.  That stay stretched into 72 straight hours for me at the hospital and an eventual discharge for JD on Friday afternoon.  We’re still not completely sure as to the root cause of his problems, but it appears that he has a moderate case of reflux that was aggravated by a bad cold.  The combination of the reflux and subsequent pain, the congestion, and the fatigue associated with both all seemed to contribute to his apnea episodes.  On top of that, he dropped from 8lb-1oz to 7lb-9oz the first three days……not good.  Because of the reflux we had to change his feedings to every 2 hours with a smaller quantity, after which we were supposed to keep him upright for 30 minutes afterward.  It seemed like once we got him situated after the feedings, it was almost time to feed him again.  Thankfully we only had to fight through this routine for about 4 days, before he began to return to his normal self.  He’ll be on an apnea monitor for about a month and is currently taking Zantac, Reglan, and caffeine, but all in all he’s doing much better.

The girls are still doing great.  After getting a bit more educated on the symptoms of reflux, we decided to cut the girls’ feedings down by an ounce as well.  So far, it appears that they are not very fond of this change.  I’m hoping that they will adjust soon.  All three kids have been more alert this past week, absorbing their surroundings for a while after every feeding.  They all seem to be developing good neck support and have done well on the boppy, so we’re planning on starting some tummy time with them this week to see how they do.  Keep up the good work kiddos!

Happy Birthday Kiddos!!

Today, Maddy, Keri, and JD are officially “zero”…….according to their adjusted age anyway.  Today would have been their official term due date.  In reality, the Trips are now just shy of two months old and the time has just been flying by.  Jill is baking the kids a birthday cake this afternoon and we plan to throw a mini party to celebrate this funny little milestone.

Our family has finally managed to ditch all of these bugs and things are starting to roll smoothly again.  The kids are up to 3-4 oz feedings and are typically making it to 4 hours between feedings.  They are doing so well at this point that they don’t even seem like preemies any more.  We have been so very blessed that things have gone so well for the kids.

I would also like to extend a huge “THANK YOU!” to all of our family and friends for all of the help and continued prayers for our family.  Caring for Triplets and a 15-month old would be quite an adventure (to say the least) without the wonderful support that we have been blessed with.

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.

The girls finally came home on Friday!  I have to say, it was an afternoon of mixed emotions.  While Jill and I were ecstatic that Maddy and Keri were coming home, it was tough to leave JD behind.  We joked that he just wanted more time to flirt with the nurses.  After signing a bunch of paperwork and getting a final run-through of care instructions, we were finally on our way home.  As is tradition, the girls’ first stop was the McD’s drive-through for a Diet Coke.  The rest of the afternoon was surreal.  It wasn’t until later in the evening that it hit me………we have triplets……….and they’re really real!  It’s tough to explain, but in the NICU it’s really difficult to grasp the idea of multiples.  Because each baby is in their own isolette, you never really get to see all of them together.  At some point in time on Friday, I wandered over to the crib and saw both of the girls laying there.  I kind of froze for a moment as it sank in that I was truly the proud father of triplets.  While a bit tiring, the rest of the weekend has been wonderful.  The girls are and us are adapting very well to the change in surroundings.  It’s so wonderful to now have all four of my girls here at home.

In other news, JD had his MG tube removed this weekend, is no longer on oxygen, and is now wearing a onesie.  He is also eating very well, taking over 60cc at every feeding.  It is wonderful to see him doing so well again.  Based on what we’ve heard today, I’m thinking he will be home by the end of the week.  I miss you JD………and I’m drastically outnumbered here!  Can’t wait for you to come home!

I apologize that I’ve fallen a bit behind on my updates.  Here goes nothing…

We finally got over our colds and have been visiting the NICU again!  Last Friday the Trips had some out-of-state visitors when my cousin Dawn and her husband Joe (not the Dawn and Joe that just had a baby) came back to MI to visit the family.  My aunt Sharon was also able to come up with them.  It was great that they were all able to stop in for a visit.

The “playoff beard”:  What started as a lack of shaving on my part while I was at the hospital quickly transformed into a fun tribute to the NHL.  Similar to the proverbial playoff beards that are sported by many hockey players during the playoffs, I have decided that I would not shave until all of the Trips were home.  So, I guess I now have a NICU beard.  Who knows, maybe other NICU Dads will follow suit and it will become a new tradition…

Little JD continues to have a little trouble breathing.  It doesn’t appear to be anything serious, but he did have a precautionary echocardiogram today to rule out a few things.  We haven’t received the results yet, but we know that the tests were completed.  Hopefully the fact that the doc did not call means that everything came back normal.  We’ll find out for sure tomorrow when we can talk to the doc.

And the best news of the week…  Keri and Maddy are coming home tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!  Jill and I are so excited and nervous.  It’ll be great to have them home, but it’s also kind of a bummer that JD will still be in the NICU.  Scheduling visits for JD will become a bit more difficult, but hopefully he won’t be too much behind the girls in coming home.  Tomorrow should prove to be the beginning of an exciting weekend…….I better get a bit of sleep tonight while I still can.  Take care everyone, and thank you all for your support and prayers.

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…

 JD

I apologize that it’s been so long since I provided an update.  It seems that the time has been flying this past week.  The Triplets continue to do very well.  All of them are done with the photo-therapy and now they are wearing little onesies.  They are gradually lowering the temperature of the isolettes to help facilitate self-regulation of the Triplets body temp.  All of them seem to be responding well the adjustment so far.  As of yesterday, Maddy was at 4lb 5oz, Keri was at 4lb 6oz, and JD was at 4lb 9oz.  So, for the most part they are finally all back to their birth weights.  Great job little guy and gals!  

Maddy 

We have also reached another big milestone, in that all 3 are beginning to eat on their own.  They have all made great strides in the suck/swallow/breath reflexes and it appears that they may soon be able to have their feeding tubes removed.  One step closer to coming home!

 Keri

I also want to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone that has helped us over the past few weeks.  It has been a challenge to keep up with all of the hospital visits and whether it was driving us up to the hospital or watching Lindsay, we couldn’t have done it without the help extended to us by family and friends.

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!