Did That Seriously Just Happen??

I keep asking myself that about my summer and all the time I spent in the hospital. I now have the knees and joints of a 90-year old and can't use my back and neck muscles for very long before they get fatigued. Combine that with swollen ankles and c-section pain and I'm a hot mess!

However, it all seriously happened. Fast and furiously. I'd still be counting down until my scheduled c-section if our little Zachary hadn't caused so much commotion! :) Clark did a good post of all our excitement and today it's the triplet's one-week birthday! Lots has happened in just one week so I'm going to try and keep up with it all and document what I can.

Well, nothing can prepare you for leaving your new babies at the hospital and coming home empty handed. Although coming home after 10 weeks was pretty monumental, it felt wrong. I was admitted to the hospital so unexpectedly and have been totally consumed with this pregnancy for so long. So driving away without any babies in my belly or in their car seats....just felt wrong. Heartbreaking. Clark and my Dad had cleaned and prepped the house so it looked spic and span. I also had a gorgeous bouquet of roses on the table. I toured the house looking at all the wonderful projects Clark had completed while I was gone. Pretty amazing. All in all it was a good homecoming.

After the c-section I was totally out of it. Once my epidural wore off Clark took me down to the NICU but I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than 5-10 minutes. The nurses there were totally overloading me with information too so I didn't get much out of that first visit. We've been back everyday though and it's fun to see how quickly they change, progress, and how much more we love them everyday.

All babies were immediately put on CPAP to help them breathe right away but were taken off about 48 hours later. Little Leah wore a nasal cannula for a few days to give a little bit of oxygen to remind her to breathe. She no longer has that or her IV so the only wires stuck to her are the monitor wires and feeding tube! She has the normal preemie apnea and dips in her heart rate but she always resolves it herself. She is now big enough to wear a t-shirt and be swaddled and I think that has made her a little happier. She loves to have her binki and her hands near her face which makes me think that's how they were in utero. She's doing great and looks just like her mama! I try to do kangaroo care (skin to skin holding) with her every morning and she seems to like being close and warm with me.

Weight: 3 lbs 11 oz

She, along with the others have lost weight since arriving but are slowly gaining it back.


Grandpa Nelson




Zachary, the smallest, is feisty and doing so well! He had to be on photo therapy for a couple days because his bilirubin levels were high but those have resolved and he doesn't have to wear those terrible eye covers. I think he liked being under the light though, getting his skin all tan. The light certainly made all his hair very noticable! Boy is he hairy. He likes to stretch his legs out and is REALLY strong. He, like Leah, is just hooked up to the monitors and a feeding tube. No more IV! I felt so bad that they all had to have IV's and be poked so many times. My nurse prepping me for surgery failed on her IV twice!! The third one finally worked but seriously, it wasn't pleasant so I'm glad these guys no longer have them. Zachary likes his binki too and seems to have the sucking mechanism down. He has the least bouts of apnea and heart dips and we're always so surprised with how he's doing considering he is the smallest.

Weight: 3 lbs 5 oz





Last, but NOT least, is Caleb. Some of the same story for him. No IV but still hooked up to feeding tube and monitors. Normal preemie apneas and heart dips. Because of his weight he's able to wear real clothes and was actually taken out of the isolette to an open crib. However, he had difficulty maintaining his own body temperature so today he was put back in the isolette. That's fine with me. I want him to be nice and toasty warm. He tries with a bottle twice a day. Sometimes he's into it, other times he's so sleepy that he forgets to breathe. So depending on how alert he is dictates whether we try the bottle. He could care less about the binki and seems to be able to soothe himself well enough without it. He's very mellow and rarely cries. Just sleeps....ALOT! He eats twice as much as the other two and is doing great. So cute...and smells so good. We kangaroo'd today and he was out!

Weight: 4 lbs 8 oz





The little white thing in my shirt is called a cuddle doll. You stick them against your skin for a while and then put them close to the babies nose so they can smell their mom and dad. I smell it and can't smell anything but apparently they can! :) None of them will be coming home very soon but they are all stable for now and we are moving forward!