Update

Carter just can't seem to open his eyes....EVER!!! I think he is wishing he was still on the inside!

Daddy changing Carter and Lila


Mommy and Maddie...look how much bigger she is!!!



Lila posing for the camera

Maddie out of her isolette

Yesterday I got the biggest surprise...Maddie is out of her isolette. They have the top popped (as you can see in the picture above) and she has been in room air for 24 hours so she is officially out!!! A few days ago Maddie was put on some oxygen because her breathing was low and her heart rate was high. Alot of babies with growth restriction in the womb do fine on room air for the first two weeks and then their little bodies poop out. So she has been diagnosed with mild Chronic Lung Disease. So basically she has scar tissue in her lungs and b/c her lungs are so small its really taking a toll and she needs just a little bit of O2 to help her out until she gets a little bigger. She will grow out of this in the next few days or weeks. They are currently weaning her off the O2 and she is doing really well. This shouldn't effect her as she gets older but b/c she will always have this scar tissue she may have difficulties with sports related activities...if this is the worst of it...we are SO blessed. She is being tested again for an infection just to be sure but the doctors are pretty certain she does not have one and once this comes back in a day or two all of my babies will FINALLY be together again. It makes me cry just thinking about how awesome it will be to see them all laying together.

Lila is the bottle champ...yesterday she was taking 90% of her feeds by bottle and they told us that she could be coming home very soon. So of course Brad went into panic mode...we need to do this and this and this...he told the nurse "you mean we take them home...just kidding". So this morning when I called to check in the nurse said that her new orders is to take a bottle every feeding and she only has to average 24 ml so it sounds to me that they are working on sending her home soon....we are not ready for that. I think why we are not ready is b/c we know it will be awhile before Maddie comes home and we can't stand the thought of leaving her there alone and it will be hard to go spend as much time as we do now but it will all work out.

Carter is doing great as well and is taking about 50% of his feeds by bottle. It does take him about 20 minutes to take it but he eventually gets it down. He always looks so exhausted after he takes it!! He just a little lazy sometimes...he gets it honest.

Current weights...

Carter 4lbs 10 ounces

Lila 3lbs 10 ounces

Maddie 2lbs 2 ounces

one year ago today

One year ago today I was saved by the Grace of God and today I have three beautiful Gifts from God!

Carter cheesing as usual

Maddie in her new outfit

Lila loves her bottles...she's already learning to hold it!!!

As I reflect back one year ago today I am so thankful for the path that God has chosen for me. Its amazing to think I could have lost my life in the accident just one year ago but God had bigger plans for me...much more than I ever anticipated. Three beautiful miracles sent from God. I am so thankful for my family, friends, and especially Brad who is put up with me for 10 years....he had no idea what he was getting himself into!!!

The babies all had great weight gains today:

Carter is now 4lbs 1ounce

Lila is 3lbs 3.8 ounces

Maddie is 1lb 15 ounces.

THINK BIG!!!! That is what I tell them every night before the weigh ins....and so far its working:)

“From the fullness of grace we have received one blessing after another” - John 1:16

Back to birth weight

Carter, Lila and Maddie are now all above their birth weights!!!! Its only up hill from here...think BIG so we can go home soon. Lila is loving her bottle she took the entire bottle again that i fed to her today!!!

Daddy and Lila

Maddie says yeah!!!!

Lila

Carter

Carter and Lila snoozing together

Great Day

Carter and Lila

Mommy and Maddie

Maddie with her first bottle

The scariest test is finally out of the way....the head ultrasound that checks for brain bleeds which happens to alot of preemies. They passed with flying colors...what a relief. Madelyn took her first bottle today and she did pretty good taking about 9 mls. Lila took her entire bottle and Carter gained 50 grams. So everyone had a their own success today and we couldn't be more proud of them.

Just some pictures

Lila and Carter sharing a crib now

Maddie after mommy gave her a sponge bath...she liked it but boy is she tired

Lila and Carter in crib and Madelyn in isolette behind them

One week old!

Its hard to believe that a week has gone by already...the hoplets are already one week old. Not too much to report (which is a good thing). The one exciting thing that happened today is that Lila and Carter both took their first feeding from a bottle. They usually don't start this until 33 weeks (they are 32 today) but because they are showing the cues they decided to try it out. They will only do it once a day so that it doesn't burn too many calories because we want them to get big and strong quickly. Madelyn found her thumb today and she loves it!!

Mommy holding Carter and Lila...only wish we could Madelyn in the picture

Madelyn has found her thumb and loves it!

Carter getting his first bottle

Carter doing the famous stretch

Daddy feeding Lila

Lila in her cute outift!

Proud Mommy and Daddy

Today was a great day!!! The babies are doing wonderful and we couldn't be more proud of them. Carter of course had his second day in big boy clothes, is still out from under the warmers and is only a few milliliters from taking one ounce of milk (piggy). Lila is not under the lights and spent the day dressed up but got a little chilly so she had to go back under the warmers and we will try again tomorrow. Madelyn got her IV out and is on full feeds now and also got dressed up today for the first time as well.


We couldn't be more proud today of Little Madelyn....she gained 40 grams and is now 1 lb 12 ounces she is now the only one of the three to be above her birth weight and its by 2 ounces. She is SO amazing...God has blessed us so much with three very strong babies. Lila gained 15 grams and is now 2lb 13 ounces (2 ounces to birth weight) and Carter gained 5 grams and is only a few ounces from her birth weight.

Carter's first outfit

Carter sporting his baseball outfit

Lila exhausted after mommy struggled to get her dressed in her first outfit


Lila all snuggled up

Madelyn sleeping peacefully (and gaining weight!!)

Homecoming for Jenny

I came home last night for the first time in over 6 weeks. What an emotional moment it was for me. Talk about sensory overload...I forgot what it was like on the outside. I didn't want to leave the babies and drive an hour home away from them so I cried before I left, I cried all the way home and I burst into tears when I walked into the house and seen the babies room all finished and waiting for them. Thanks to Mom D and sister Shell it looks amazing...we are so blessed! However, I couldn't be leaving my babies in better hands. The newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at Good Sam is wonderful. The nurses have become our best friends and almost like family and have really taught Brad and I how to take care of these wee ones. Both of us had never changed a diaper and they started out by making Brad do it and now he loves it. Its a calming feeling know that a professional is there to help if you screw it up so by the time this is over we will be pros. It has truly been a remarkable experience so far and though I would rather have them home with us its really not been so bad. One day, I will probably wish that I could drop them off for a day just to have someone else do all the work...(just kidding).

The babies are all doing great...they are all eating more and more everyday and Carter and Lila got their iv's out last night. Madelyn's will be awhile before she is able to do this but she too is going up on her feeds and gaining weight (more than Lila actually) everyday so it will only be a matter of time. But she always has those fists clinched just in case big brother tries to keep stealing her food (but what she hasn't figured out yet is nothing is stopping her now). This morning when I called to check in on them Lila and Madelyn had to be put under the tanning bed lights because their bilirubin levels (jaundice) went up but they are both only 0.1 over what their limit is so hopefully it will only be one day they will need this. Today will be Carter's first day fully clothed (what a big boy) and as soon as Lila is out from the lights she too will be in clothed and they will be put in a crib together (hopefully tomorrow) and little Miss Madelyn will be put right next to them (currently she is on the other side and is not next to them)

So thank you everyone for all of your prayers thus far...these three are truly something from God...and little Madelyn is just amazing with her resilience. We have been so blessed so far that they are all doing SO VERY well (knock on wood).

Lila loves her paci

Lila smiling



Carter chilling


Carter trying to suck his thumb (haven't mastered that yet)

Carter Snoozing

Madelyn kangarooing with Mommy

Madelyn resting peacefully

Our 3 little miracles born on 11-10-09

Madelyn Kate 1 lb 10 ounces
Lila Grace 2 lbs 15.5 ounces
Carter William 3 lbs 10 ounces

Please keep them all in your prayers they have a long way to go but we are so blessed that they are all breathing on their own at room air. Little Madelyn is in an isolette because of her weight and body temperature regulation and she has a little jaundice but hopefully she will come off the lights tomorrow.

How it got started: After finally getting Baby B (Madelyn) squared away I developed some severe preeclampsia and had to be delivered within 3 days of starting to feel some pretty intense symptoms. Even though I tried to talk the doctors out of delivering me and reassuring them that I was absolutely fine they decided not to listen. I am thankful that they did b/c I have know realized exactly how bad of shape I was in.

We are so thankful that they are here and well. God is so Good!!!

More pictures to come its just been a crazy couple of days!!!

30 weeks

I believe our babies are a true testament of the power of prayer. I can't thank all of you enough for all of your prayers so far. I pray everyday for all of the moms in here and hope that they to believe that God answers prayers and that they are not alone during this difficult time. I just can't imagine going through this not knowing, believing, and understanding that God is in control and whether or not we like the situation at the time everything happens for a reason and for our good.

The doctors are now telling us that they are very surprised that we made it this far. I don't think they were to optimistic in the beginning which explains the panic at first and then as they watched they noticed that things appeared to be fine but were still unsure of what the future held for us. We know that it was God that has sustained us through all of this and our prayers have been answered so far. I ask the doctors if they thought baby b could hold out 2 more weeks to 32 weeks and they seem to think we will no longer need to intervene for the babies but that my body will just start to give out first.

Tonight I received my results from my preeclampsia test and my protein has doubled so they are giving me a rescue dose of the steroid shot just in case they have to deliver soon. They will use several factors before they intervene but basically preeclampsia starts to age the placentas more rapidly. Because of the discordance (weight difference in the babies) they will see baby b affected first since she is so much smaller and they will be watching for this. However this may help baby c once he has arrived since he has not had to struggle in utero this whole time. All the babies feeling the pressure may actually help speed up their development. The doctor said it could be 3 days or a week but I dont think they are thinking it will extend out to 2 weeks...however they have been wrong in the past!

One of my triplet mom friends Kara (who has been here alot for me during my hospital stay) sent me this inspirational story that another mom sent to her while she was pregnant and it is exactly how I feel about my baby b and why we have come so far.

There was a story about a little girl and her mom that I had read about when my kids were in the NICU that was very comforting to me -- This woman gave birth to her daughter prematurely, and the little girl was hooked up to a lot of things and not able to come out of her isolette. The mom was so guilt stricken and felt helpless in the first days of her daughter's life. Then later on, when the little girl was 3 or 4, they were sitting out on some metal bleachers and the clouds started darkening for a storm. The little girl said to her mom, "Can you smell that?" Her mom said, "Yeah, it smells like rain is coming." The little girl said, "Nope, it smells like God." Then she ran off to play. The mom said she just welled up with tears knowing that those days that she couldn't hold her daughter to comfort her, God was doing it for her.