A Trip to the Cardiologist

We've had a busy week of appointments! The girls had to go to the pediatrician yesterday to get their Synergis (RSV) shot. This is their second shot. They will be getting the shots until April or May. The Synergis shot does not prevent RSV, it is just supposed to hopefully provide a "lighter" case should they contract it, which we of course are praying that they won't. We still have to be very careful about their exposure until spring. (We are counting down the months! Can't wait to bring them out into the world to meet everyone!)
They were all weighed yesterday too.
Brynn- 8lbs 7 oz
Leah-7 lbs 6 oz
Maryn-7lbs 3 oz
They are getting so big! They are totally out of preemie clothes now...moved on to newborn. They seem to be right on track. Their due date would have been Feb 3rd...Superbowl Sunday! I can hardly believe they will have been home for 5 weeks by their "due date". We're so lucky to have had extra time with the little munchkins.

Brynn went to the Cardiologist today too to follow-up on her PDA (murmur). Unfortunately, it is still there, but it is tiny. (They said about 1 mm) The doctor actually couldn't hear it with his stethoscope, she had to have another heart echo to even find it. (an echo is just like a little ultrasound) Brynn actually enjoyed her echo. The room had colored lights in the corner to entertain babies...they did a good job! She was mesmerized! The doctor did not seem concerned about the PDA at all. He said one of 2 things will happen:
1-it will close on its own. It is already much smaller than it was, so that is a definite possibility. Since it is causing her no problems, there is no need to do much with it right now.
2-We go back in 10-12 months and decide to have a procedure to close it. It is a very non-invasive procedure. They lightly sedate the kids and non-surgically close the PDA. Not sure exactly the details on how they do it, but I was happy to hear that she would not need surgery.

It was fun to have time out with Brynn today. One car seat is so much easier to lug around than 3! What a breeze! ha,ha We weren't quite the attraction that we usually are, but we had a good "mommy and me" day!

Here are a couple of pictures:

Brynn in her car seat; getting ready to go to the doctor:
(the tag on her seat is from the NICU, it says "Please wash your hands before touching mine." Other triplet mom's have suggested putting the signs on car seats since so many people love to come up and see the girls. I think it is a good idea. We'll see how it works...)



Leah and her buddy Reese:

Maryn enjoying an afternoon swing:

The girls and great grandpa Campbell:

Our 2 Month Picture....

We're 8 weeks old today! Yippee!!!

Love to you all,

Maryn, Brynn and Leah

Our Weekend in Pictures...

Watching football with dad:

Leah:

Brynn:

Maryn:

Hanging out with Dan while on our very first outing to grandma and grandpas:

Cuddle time with mom:

7 Weeks!

Maryn, Brynn and Leah are 7 weeks old today! I can hardly believe it. Sometimes I look at them and think if they were term babies they would still have another 2-3 weeks inside. Incredible! They are so amazing!

We've had a busy week of appointments! The girls had an eye doctor appointment yesterday to make sure that their eyes are maturing correctly. (Preemies are at risk of developing a disorder called ROP (or Retinopathy of Prematurity) which causes vision impairment. All of the girls checked out fine. Their eyes are totally mature so we are no longer at risk for ROP.

Today, we went to the pediatrician for their "well check" and again great news all around. The most exciting thing was that the doctor could no longer hear Brynn's heart murmur. He is very hopeful that it has closed! We have a follow up appointment on Jan 29th to confirm, but he couldn't hear the murmur so that is great news! Pray that it has closed totally! We're very hopeful!
Maryn is still on her apnea monitor, though her "spells" are few and far between. Most of them are when she is eating, and the doctor told us he isn't concerned about those at all. Hopefully a couple more weeks and we are free of the monitor!

Updated Weights:
Maryn 6 lbs 3 oz
Brynn 7 lbs
Leah 6 lbs 2 oz

Trips out are hilarious! We are stopped by dozens of people (literally!) no matter where we go. Everybody loves the triplets! One lady yesterday asked if we were collecting babies. :) (sometimes it feels like that! :) Another lady asked if we were featured on the news. We hear some pretty funny comments. The most common question is how we can tell them apart. Now that they have been home for almost 3 weeks, they actually don't look all that similar to me anymore, but they look pretty identical to most people. It will be fun to watch them develop more!
It's too bad it is RSV season, cause this nervous mom doesn't like strangers getting too close to her babies without knowing they have washed their hands. I feel like I have to stand guard so that nobody touches them. (maybe I should start carrying around Purel) People must think I am crazy, but that's fine. Anything to keep my little girls healthy.
This picture is a little bit old, but I forgot to post their New Years Eve celebration picture. They are party animals already! :)

Busy!

Sorry for the delay in updates. Busy household!

Our doctors appointment went very well! The doctor said that the girls looked great. They are gaining the perfect amount of weight. As of last Thursday Maryn was 4 lbs 14 oz, Brynn was 5 lbs 5 oz and Leah was 4 lbs 12 oz. They gain about 1 oz a day typically, so we should be up over 5 lbs for all of them by now!

They are eating about 60-90 ml's (30 ml = 1 oz.) per feeding, and they still eat every 3 hours. I think in a week or two, it will go up to every 4 hours which will be great!

We have been busy, but other than the minor sleep deprivation we're having a lot of fun! :) Brynn actually rolled over yesterday! All by herself. I had her in her pack and play. She was on her back one minute and on her tummy the next. I couldn't believe it! She's so advanced for her age! :) It is so much fun to watch the girls interact! When you put them next to each other, they immediately squirm together and hold hands. They love to be close. It is the coolest thing to watch! We have a couple of pictures below. We'll try and get some clearer ones to post.

I said I would post a little more on doctors orders too. Thank you for all of the wonderful offers to help. We are so blessed by great friends! Our doctors have told us that we need to be very careful during cold/flu/RSV season to keep the girls healthy. They won't have much time out of the house except for doctors appointments until late April because there is just too much junk going around. Unfortunately, we aren't able to have any kids in our house until spring either. Parents of young children who are coming over to visit will need to change their clothes prior to coming over because RSV can be carried on clothing. For most kids/adults RSV just shows up as a common cold, but for preemies it can be life threatening, so we need to be very cautious. (If you feel like you might have a cold coming on, we will schedule another time for you to visit) Hand washing is another big thing---my hands are raw! We ask that all of our guests wash their hands upon coming into the house and periodically while they are here. Hand washing is the best way to prevent RSV.

Overall, we just ask that all guests are healthy and cautious.

So if you are ok with dealing with us as over protective new parents we would love and welcome help in the following areas.

Meals (lunch or dinner)

Periodic house cleaning (wash kitchen counters, do some baby laundry, empty/load dish washer, dust, etc. (Don't worry we will handle the bathrooms)

Gift Cards - Target, Costco, etc. They will be used for diapers and formula. Since both change periodically (bigger size diapers and different formula varieties) we have been told by other triplet parents that gift cards are the best route. We go through a can of formula every 2 days as breast milk supplement. We also go through about 30+ diapers a day! Pretty amazing, huh?! :)

Holding/Feeding - 2-4 hour windows where you can come and sit with the girls so Ali can rest, check e-mail, chat (adult conversation is great), etc. (This one is where clean hands and clothes are watched most closely)

Prayers - You can do this any time...even with dirty clothes and unwashed hands when you think of our family.

Below are some pictures of the nursery, changing room, holding hands, etc.

Love you all!

Peter, Ali and M. L. B.

Girls Day!

Day 5 of the triplets homecoming! We are busy (and tired!) but so blessed!
The girls are so much fun! It is amazing to watch them interact. When we lay them next to each other they immediately search for each others hands to hold. They love their sisters and mom and dad couldn't be prouder!
Both grandmas spent the day with the girls today and had a little photo shoot. (pictures below) So FUN!!!
We are feeding them every 3 hours, and it takes about an hour and a half to finish a feeding. We are going through more diapers than we ever would have dreamed! :) We are so thankful for all of the volunteers to help. We will be hitting you up in the near future! (if you are interested in helping, let us know!) We do have to be very careful to have healthy volunteers though. Because the girls are preemies, we need to restrict their exposure and be strict about the doctors recommendations. We'll post more on that soon. We're heading to the pediatrician tomorrow to get updated weights. I will post them after we get back. Love from the girls!!!

Happy New Year!

Maryn:

Leah:

Brynn:

Sisters!

Home Sweet Home

We made it home!
Here are a few photos...
We will post more as we figure out our routine here at the house.