2 Weeks Old . . . and Never a Dull Moment

2 weeks old today. We have had a very busy week. And we've learned that they mean it when they say things like "the babies are in charge," "this is a marathon not a sprint," and that we'll take 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

We've had quite a few firsts this week:

- Mason and Logan got a new home today. They were transported to Arkansas Children's Hospital. They both still have open PDAs so they will likely have surgery to close the valve.
- Mason and Logan went outside and took their first ambulance ride today

- Logan and James got my breast milk. James loves it. Logan didn't so as well so he's not getting feeds anymore right now. 

- Addison got to change her first diaper. 

- I already wrote about it but I'll say it again because it's awesome - WE GOT TO HOLD JAMES AND LOGAN!!

Mother's Day was this week too. A few weeks ago when Brian asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day I said "I want to still be pregnant."  That didn't happen as we all know. Needless to say, I was pretty emotional all day. And it was an eventful one. We went and visited the babies before church and everyone was doing well. And Brian had gifts from the triplets at the hospital for me. Pictures that the March of Dimes took last week (I'll upload the rest of the pictures and post some more later this week). 

At church, all 3 boys were listed in the petitions. So I cried. And didn't stop until church was over. I'm not sure why. I think it's because it finally hit me that the boys are so little and that they are sick. But I do know that they are getting the best care possible and that they are in great hands.

Then we had family over for lunch and my family from Memphis came and visited the babies at the hospital. I really enjoyed spending the afternoon with family. 

Then we had a rough night. Our first time really taking a step back. I didn't handle it too well. But I'm much better now. 

Mason:

As of last night, Mason weighed 2 lbs. 14 oz. He probably doesn't really weigh that much though. He has gotten lots of fluids over the last few days plus he just finished a second dose of indomethicin (PDA meds) a few days ago and that makes him retain fluids. 

Mason is stable but has had a rough few days. Sunday evening, his ventilator tube started leaking because it was too small (because he's grown). So they took it out and tried him on the cpap/nasal cannula like James has. The little man tried really hard but he wasn't ready to breathe on his own so they put a bigger ventilator tube in shortly after that. Then he developed another pulmonary hemorrhage (a bleed in his lungs). We were really scared for him all night because he was having such a hard time. And he's so little. Luckily Mason's night nurse Lisa updated us all night. And he got much better. 

This was our first real step backwards. He had been doing so well up until Sunday too. My heart hurt for him. I wish I could take his place. 

We got new EKG and head ultrasound results yesterday. The EKG showed what we already suspected - his PDA is still open and it's still moderate. Mason also has some hypertension in his right ventricle which is causing extra pressure on one side of his heart. This is not a huge concern but they can't do the PDA ligation surgery until this gets better. He will probably have the PDA ligation surgery but probably not until later this week or early next week. His head ultrasound showed that he still has a level 2 (possibly level 3) bleed but the ventricles are starting to dilate. The doctors at Children's will monitor this also. This is the main reason they went ahead and transferred Mason today. He got another head ultrasound today and the neurology people at Children's will follow him closely. If this stays the same or gets better, they probably won't need to do anything. His vital signs and everything else are great at this point so the concern is not too high. And, remember, the brain bleed is not that abnormal in a baby this size and age.

Here's a few pictures of Mason from this week:

This is Mason in the transport bed ready for his first outing. He's wearing his seatbelt of course.

Logan:
Logan has had a pretty easy week. He weighed 2 lbs. 11 oz. last night.

He has just been lounging in his box for the most part. Like Mason, he went to Arkansas Children's Hospital today too. His PDA is basically the same as before - moderate. He hasn't had any of the issues that Mason has had this week but they still need to close his PDA. He will likely have the PDA ligation surgery tomorrow. I was pretty upset about the surgery at first but now I think I've come to terms with it. I know that the surgery will make them better. And it's a pretty common procedure. They do the surgery in the NICU rather than taking the babies to the operating room. And the surgery only takes about 15 minutes.

Here's a few pictures of Logan from this week:

This is Logan's favorite position - all sprawled out with his tongue out and his arms out to the side.

Logan this morning at UAMS

Logan at ACH after the transport. He's still pretty happy

James 

James has had a good week. He got out of his box and we got to hold him 3 times! He's so sweet! He's also 2 lbs. 11 oz. like Logan.

James started getting breast milk in his feeding tube this week and he loves it. He's doing great so far. He's been getting 1.5 ml (about 1/3 of a teaspoon) every 3 hours. He'll start getting more sometime over the next few days. 

James is still breathing with the cpap nasal cannula. He's doing great on the cpap. His doctors tried to wean him down to just a nasal cannula but he didn't like that at all. And because the babies are in charge, they switched him back to the cpap.

James is still at UAMS for now. He will probably go to Children's sometime soon to be with his brothers. He just didn't need to go today because he  isn't sick like Mason and Logan at this point.

Here's a few pictures of James:

James loves his paci!

Addison:

Addison also had a good week. 

Addison is doing much better seeing her brothers. She was having trouble dealing with her brothers being in NICU. Brian and I had decided that we would bring her to the hospital less so she wouldn't have to see her brothers hooked up to all the machines. Then I talked to the social worker and sibling support lady and they both said bring Addison to see the babies more (not less). So we talked with each baby's nurse and brought her up to the hospital a few nights ago. All 3 babies left a note for Addison. She loved them! 

We also got to the hospital just in time for James's hands on so Addison got to help. She took his temperature, checked his blood pressure, and listened to his heartbeat.

Then the next day she got to change his diaper. She said "it was awesome!" I expect that she won't be saying that for too long.

Then on Saturday Addison had a small birthday party. Her birthday is actually June 5 but I scheduled her party in May so we could (hopefully) have her party before the babies came. Oops! It was actually perfect timing. She had a blast and we had a day just for Addison. The babies also left her a birthday card:

Tonight we took Addison up to Children's Hospital to see Mason and Logan in their new home. I think she will probably like Children's better because there is more for her to do there.

I apologize for the super long post! I'll try to post an update sometime in the next few days instead of waiting a whole week this time!

Again thanks so much for the prayers, happy thoughts, and sweet messages. We really appreciate everyone!