The absence of posts says it all.

John and Heather came home on Dec 26th, and we've been a little too busy to post for the last few days. Here are the photos of them just before we left the hospital (The afghans were made by their Great-Grandmother).

Sarah and I have been doing pretty well so far. We have been blessed with very content children. They sleep well and long - so much so that we've had to wake them up several times to feed them! We even took them to Walmart to get a few items.

Christmas Party in the CCN

The triplets have all been moved to the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN). That's a great thing, since it means they no longer need the level of care the NICU provides. The nurses say the kids in their care are on the "feed and grow" plan. It looks good for us to take Heather and John home tomorrow! William needs another 10 days or so of growing - he's still got to gain about 330 grams (~11 oz).

We put them in the Christmas outfits their Grandma got them - the first of many embarrassments we are sure to cause them! They looked so cute!!

Oh. By the way, Sarah's Home

Sarah came home on Tuesday afternoon. It would have been headline news, but the babies did something special. I can't recall exactly what it was, but I'm sure it was special - after all, it trumped Sarah's return home, right? Musta been something...

Just kidding! Sarah is doing spectacularly! She's healing nicely, she's up and about, and she fitting back into her early pregnancy clothes. She's got a little while before she'll fit back into her pre-pregnancy clothes, but one thing at a time!

They've Gone Wireless!!

Here's a picture of Heather in her first night of wireless activity - she's off the IV and taking all her nutrients by mouth now. She's up to 40cc per feeding (every 4 hours), a jump of almost 10cc from the previous day.


The nurses tell us that John is scheduled to come off the IV tonight, and they are considering a "do not reattach" order for William (they won't take it off, but if it comes off don't put it back on). So all three are fighting hard to get to come home!

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Both William and Heather are done with the Jaundice treatment. Hopefully tonight John will finish up as well.

Heeeerrree's Jaundice!!

We fully expected this - it is almost guaranteed in premies (and common in full-term babies too) to get Jaundice. It is an inability of the liver to break down excess red blood cells from the birthing process. Those cells collect in the skin and eye tissue and cause a yellowness. The light helps break it down.



William got it first, and by the time this is posted he should be off it. Then Heather and John followed suit the next day. They should all be done by Monday with the treatment.

--Break--

As far as their progress, everything goes very well. Heather and John are both taking 20cc's of formula/milk at each of 4 daily feedings and asking for more! For their size they need to take about 28cc's before they can come off the IV drip. That should be in the next day or two if they continue as they have. Both are back up over the 1800grams necessary to leave the NICU, too. Once they get off the IV, they are going to be weaned off of the heaters over about 3 days. Once that's done they can come home!!

William is fighting hard, but he's just won't be able to make up the distance between him and his siblings before they leave. He was the first to get and finish his Jaundice treatment, the first to start growing (all babies lose a little wieght right after birth), and the first to take food from a bottle. But he's just too small to come home yet. Poor little guy, he's fighting so hard! He'll probably be another week behind John and Heather.

Here they are!!

They have all arrived! All the babies and Sarah are doing unbelievably well! It is physically and statistically impossible for them to all be doing this well. Sarah is healing very quickly and will be discharged probably on Tuesday.

All three were breathing on their own right away - no intibation necessary. They are taking food via formula, and two of the three are well above the minimum weight necessary to go home. Heather and John could be home by the end of the week!! William has to gain about 400 more grams before he can come home. Still, I couldn't have asked for more!!

Heather Teagan was born at 9:30 at 4 lbs 1 oz. She appears to have Blue eyes and brown hair.

John Andrew V was born at 9:30 at 4 lbs 7 oz. He appears to have Blue eyes and Strawberry Blonde hair.

William Frederick was born at 9:31 at 3 lbs 3 oz. He appears to have Red hair and he has the most brilliant green eyes!

William is by far the most energetic - the doctor predicted he would be because he had to fight so hard to get nutrients inside. He is moving even when he sleeps.

The doctors and nurses have been nothing short of excellent. Here is a photo of the organized chaos in the OR at the time of delivery. Each baby had a team of nurses assigned, so the room was quite full!

Are we ready for this?!?

This is just a quick note to let everyone know that the Triplets are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow morning at 8AM. There is no pressing health concern for the babies or for Sarah, but both are showing increasing signs of stress and it’s time for them to be born. Please pray for all five of us. As soon as I have pictures they will be posted here.

Sarah will need about 4 days of recovery time in the hospital, and we don’t yet know when the babies will be able to come home. However, Sarah did a fantastic job going all the way to nearly 34 weeks, so it’s possible they will come home sooner rather than later. Here’s hoping!!

Cheers!