Two Cuties Come Home

What a miracle! At only 33 weeks and 6 days gestational age, Taerik and Keira were released to come home today!!! No more tubes, wires, or monitors. They spent only 17 days in the hospital. We are praising the Lord for His goodness!

On Monday, the doctor told us that in order for our babies to come home, Rob and I needed to spend a 24 hour period with all three of them in the special care nursery. I guess that this is hospital policy for unusual cases, such as multiples, preemies, or inept parents. Hoping we were not considered the latter, we went up Tuesday at 1:00 in the afternoon and spent the night with our babes. We were responsible for all their care. It was actually a good experience for us to work into this major lifestyle change with doctors and nurses close by. After a busy evening of feeding, monitoring, and changing, Taerik and Keira were cleared to be discharged at 3:00 PM today. So, our family grew by two overnight and eagerly awaits the arrival of our last little munchkin.

Drake is doing awesome, too! The doctors keep reminding us that he is actually performing quite normal for babies at his age. The other two were just remarkable. Little Drake seems to be a bit more laid back and we know that in his own time he will decide it's his turn to come home, too. His doctor suggested that it could be as soon as this weekend, however we're not holding our breath. It seems more likely that it will be next week sometime. That's still in time for Mother's Day, so keep praying! Drake should be moved to an open crib tonight sometime, as he was doing well at maintaining his body temperature. Also, his IV is scheduled to come out tonight. His last hurdle is taking all of his bottles by mouth, without the feeding tube. While on his heart medication, he had been getting all of his nutrients from his IV. The meds also caused him to retain a lot of water. Now that he is off of those, he is doing much better and starting to look a lot more like his brother. In order for him to come home without monitors, he also needs to have no apnea's lasting longer than 10 seconds through Sunday. Babies need to go for 7 days without these and his countdown started last Sunday. Until his release, either Rob or I will go up every day and spend some quality one on one time with our last little bundle.

At last nights assessment, the babies were all weighed and measured. As of that time, their stats were as follows -

Taerik

4 pounds, 14 ounces

16 inches long

Drake

4 pounds, 10 ounces

17 inches long

Keira

5 pounds, 1 ounce

16 inches long

We are once again praising God for His goodness! Though tired from a long night Tuesday, and another restless one scheduled for this evening, our hearts overflow with thanksgiving for these precious blessings! We wouldn't trade them for the world!

Keira & Taerik

Drake

Just waiting for Drake

Coming Home Soon?

"You might want to bring your car seat Monday," our nurse advised at tonight's visit. She seemed to think that Keira and Taerik would be coming home early this week. We will see....

We were excited to find that Taerik was moved to an open crib today. He is maintaining his body temperature like a champ and eating most of his bottles. Apparently, he can go home as soon as he will take ALL of his feedings from a bottle for a 24 hour period. Rob and I have had no problems getting him to drink all his bottle, but he hasn't cooperated quite so well for the nurses.

Keira is doing awesome at finishing all her bottles! She even got her feeding tube removed today. Her isolette is all the way down to 27 degrees Celsius, which means that sometime tonight she will also be moved to an open crib. If Keira can maintain her body temperature for 24 hours in this new environment, she will likely be coming home.

Drake is also doing very well, however he still lags a little behind his brother and sister. He is off the heart medications, as it seems that his duct has closed up sufficiently. His breathing is significantly improved and he has been gaining weight. In fact, he has gained the most so far and is almost caught up in size to the rest of the trio. Drake is now feeding from a bottle again, but is only taking about 15 ml at a time. He needs to take around 35-40 ml. He also needs to maintain his body temperature. Currently, his isolette is heated to about 29 degrees Celsius. Please pray that he would be able to come home shortly after the others. It is difficult to think about them not being together.

We are reminded often how well our babies are doing. My original delivery date was scheduled for May 1 (34 weeks). This means that some of them could potentially come home before they were even slated to be born. Several nurses have commented how amazed they are at the progress. We attribute this all to prayer! Thank you all so much for continuing to bring our family before the Lord!

9 Days Old

Our babies are 9 days old today and still doing great! Here's a quick update on each one -

Taerik - His IV was taken out and he is now feeding entirely from a bottle. He has been spitting up a bit, so we are still trying to figure out how much he should be eating. His isolette is heated to 29 degrees Celsius. In order to come home, this temperature must get down to 27 degrees, while still maintaining his body temperature. He is dressed in preemie clothes, making him all the cuter. He has blonde hair and enjoys making weird expressions with his eyebrows. Taerik is definitely the most alert of the three.

 The two boys...guess which one is Taerik.

Brothers

Drake - He is certainly starting to fill out, especially in his face. At birth, there just wasn't anything to him, however, his cheeks are quite kissable now. He has regained his birth weight and then some. Drake still has some minor issues with his heart. The doctor noticed a murmur the other day and so an echocardiogram was ordered. They discovered that he has Patent Ductus Arteriosus, a condition in which a certain duct in the aorta does not close off at birth as it should. They stopped feeding him by bottle several days ago, in order to give him some medications. A second echocardiogram was performed today. The duct has gotten smaller, but still has a ways to go. So he will get medications for a couple more days, in the hopes that it will close up like it needs to.

Keira - Little Miss K almost came home several days ago. She was feeding entirely from a bottle and maintaining a good body temperature. In order to come home, each baby must hold a consistent temperature for 24 hours. About half way through, she dropped a little low and so her isolette temperature had to be raised. She is doing fabulous and just needs to pass this one final test before her release. Of all the babies, Keira is definitely the one with the loudest opinion. She is really the only one that we have heard cry with any sort of conviction. We're thinking she'll be just fine handling herself with four brothers.

Griffen and Rhys finally got to meet their new siblings. We warned them profusely that there was to be absolutely no coughing, sneezing, or getting germs on the babies. You have never seen two boys wash their hands more in your entire life. They scrubbed down about 20 times. I caught Griffen washing his arms AND legs. Not sure what he was thinking there, but he sure was clean. Rhys kept asking me if he was allowed to breathe yet.

Griffen meets Taerik. 

Rhys meets Taerik. 

 Griffen holding Keira for the first time.

Rhys feeding Taerik 

Boys help feed Taerik a bottle. 

 Griffen holding Drake

Rhys with Keira

Sometimes the hospital stay can get a little long. And then we get something like this...

We certainly do feel very blessed and cannot wait to bring these precious babies home! Our family tries to go up to the hospital every day now. We are usually able to help feed, change diapers, and check temperatures. After that we like to hold them and sing to them. At about 7:30 PM, we kiss each one good-night. You can usually hear Rhys poking his head into an isolette and saying, "This is your big brudder. I love you."

So Many Milestones

Well, after 51 days in the hospital, I was finally discharged to go home on Wednesday, April 16. Though still in much pain, my doctor pretty much left it up to me. I was ready to go home! Griffen and Rhys were so surprised to come home from AWANA and find mom in her bedroom. Rhys' first comments to me were, "Can I see where they cut you open?" He is one brave little booger After showing him my scar, he mildly replied, "Well, I'm sure glad they didn't cut you all the way in half, mom." Me, too....

Milestone #2 happened only one short day later. On Thursday, April 17, after only four and a half days in the NICU, all three babies graduated up one floor to the special care unit!!! Babies are only moved out of the NICU when breathing is not an issue anymore. Taerik was on room air almost immediately after birth, and Keira and Drake followed shortly behind him. So, we now have our own private triplet room in the the special care nursery. It is SO nice to have all three babies together. The room also has a nice couch and recliner where I can come and stay whenever I want for as long as I want.

Milestone #3 - All three babies are feeding from a bottle already!!! One nurse commented to me that she just couldn't believe the doctors had even attempted to feed them via bottle yet, as usually these efforts don't even begin until the 34 week gestation mark. However, at only 32 weeks gestational age, all three were showing signs of readiness, and so they decided to give it a try. Sure enough, all three drank their first, second, and third bottles this way. If they cannot finish their whole bottle, the remainder is poured down their feeding tube. Drake and Keira have not had this problem yet. They always seem to want more. Taerik, however, seems to lose interest about half way through. It has been so fun for Rob and I to come and feed them at least one bottle each day

My mom was able to come down from Iowa to meet her new grandbabies this weekend. She came just in time for their 6:00 feeding and assessments. What a joy to be able to introduce her to our 3 little cuties! (My dad has been quite sick this past week, so he was not able to come. Please pray for his healing, as he has infections all over his throat and is dealing with a severe cough.)

We are STILL waiting to introduce Griffen and Rhys to their new siblings. Rhys has been dealing with what we think is major allergic congestion. Anyone with any type of cough or cold symptoms is not not allowed in the special care unit. The boys have been so eager to go and meet the babies! It is possible that we can bring them by soon and introduce them through the window, however, there will be no touching or holding until they are both completely healthy.

Once again, I cannot thank everyone enough for all the help and kindness they have shown to our family. I used to keep a list and stay on top of all the official "thank-you's", however I have totally lost track now. It seems like every time I turn around someone is offering help of some kind. From cleaning our house, to doing the laundry, to mowing our lawn, to making food, to visiting me in the hospital, to decorating my hospital room, to watching our older boys, to homeschooling our older boys, to buying our older boys their entire summer wardrobe (brand new, including Easter outfits), to giving baby gifts ---ALL IS SO MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Many have asked me if we have family close by to help us with these babies. While both Rob and my physical families live out-of-state, I answer with a loud YES. Our church family has been one of the greatest blessings in our entire lives! I could literally go on for pages, listing all the ways they have shown us Christian love, however most of them do not even desire to be recognized. Ultimately we recognize that our Christian family shows us love because of their deep love for God. And so, we remember the words of Psalm 105:1 - "O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wondrous works."

 Taerik

Drake

 Keira

Rob burping Taerik

 

      Mama holding Drake                                       Keira's First clothes

Daddy feeding Keira

Mama holding Taerik after feeding him

All three back together in the same room

Grandma Bjokne feeding Keira

30 Fingers, 30 Toes

These past few days have been a whirlwind. Friday night I was being wheeled down to Labor & Delivery for sever pre-eclampsia symptoms. My liver was not functioning correctly and so the doctor wanted to give the babies the second round of steroids before delivery. I was also given an IV with a magnesium sulfate drip to prevent seizures. This caused many flu-like symptoms. The doctors hoped to wait until Monday morning to deliver - primarily because I pleaded the case of my husband - a music PASTOR, who had many responsibilities on Palm  Sunday. I did not get any sleep on Friday night, due to round the clock monitoring.

Saturday, they decided to give me a little break from the monitoring so I could actually sleep, however, by Saturday night I found myself gasping for air. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't catch my breath. By 4:30 AM the doctors ordered a chest x-ray and an EKG. I was wheeled downstairs for these tests, and then we waited. By 8:00 Sunday morning, the results were in - I had fluid in my lungs and the babies were to be delivered within the hour. I called Rob, who was already at church preparing for his Sunday morning responsibilities, and told him the news. He needed to come immediately!

Sure enough, by 8:52, 8:53, and 8:54, each little life was delivered. There were a grand total of 27 people assembled in that busy operating room. We heard each baby cry (which was not promised due to underdeveloped lungs), and then got to see each one briefly before they were taken to the NICU. Not one of them needed a breathing tube!

Keira Ashleigh

Born at 8:52 AM

4 pounds, 5 ounces

Taerik Andrew

Born at 8:53 AM

4 pounds, 5 ounces

Drake Alexander

Born at 8:54 AM

3 pounds, 11 ounces

After the surgery, I was wheeled back to Labor & Delivery, where I needed to stay on the magnesium sulfate for another 24 hours. Since Rob also had some cold symptoms, neither of us was able to go see the babies until about 36 hours after their birth.

I have been dealing with some sever pain since Sunday morning. I was put on small doses of oxygen to help my lungs recover and have had to have my blood work monitored regularly to make sure that the pre-eclampsia symptoms are subsiding. At this point, I am experiencing some improvement. The first trip to the bathroom was a process of weeping with each step. Now, I can at least manage on my own without quite as much pain. I would still greatly appreciate any prayers on my behalf - that the pain would subside and that I would be able to spend more and more time with our babies.

The NICU stongly encourages skin to skin contact with preemies. Because of my pain, I had been unable to do this until today. However, this afternoon I was able to be wheeled downstairs to the NICU where I got to spend some quality time with my babies. After visiting each one briefly, I had to choose which one I would spend an hour with doing "kangaroo care." I chose Drake, and was able to snuggle with this precious little bundle for one hour of uninterrupted time. While I was doing this, Rob went over and was able to spend one hour of contact with Keira. Apparently, the nurses LOVED this, as not all the fathers are so eager to get involved. While I quietly snuggled, I guess Rob read Keira all our Facebook posts and messages, sang to her, and then read part of a book he was reading. All in all, the time spent with these two was very precious.

I cannot say enough how much all the prayers are appreciated. I would ask continued prayer for my recovery. I feel like I have much I need to do, however I have no ability in which to do anything. I also believe wholeheartedly that it is because of prayer that our babies are doing so well. As of this afternoon, both Taerik and Keira are both completely off any breathing assistance. In fact, the doctor was going to move them to the special care unit and out of the NICU, however has decided to wait for Drake to catch up with them. He is not far behind. He still has the C-Pap on it's lowest setting which just helps to keep his airways open, but does not offer any breathing assistance. They are really all doing remarkable! The Great Physician is definitely loving and caring for them each perfectly.