Happy 2 Months!

Can you believe it's been 2 months already? I can't! We've definitely come a long way in the last 2 months! This is going to be a short post because it's 10:00 and I just got home from the hospital and I'm tired. But I couldn't miss this important date!

Current weights:

Mason - 4 lbs. 13 oz.

Logan - 5 lbs. 3 oz.

James - 5 lbs. 3 oz. (James is actually 3 grams bigger than Logan)

They've almost gotten too big for preemie clothes! I can't believe it! Logan and James fill them out already. Mason is the little guy so he still has some room. But it's almost time to start putting them in newborn size clothes! They seem so big!

Here's what each of the boys have been up to this month:

Mason:

Mason has become a whole new baby in the last month. He went from the sickest to the most well off in a very short time. That's right, Mason is in the lead right now (don't tell James). Last month Mason was on the jet ventilator, he was puffy, and he was just sad (for me). Today, Mason is on a straight oxygen nasal cannula, he's unpuffed (that's a medical term in case you were wondering), and he's just overall doing very well. He's doing occupational therapy and speech therapy to work on his sucking reflex so he can start learning to eat soon. And he's doing great. Mason is the most alert of the three boys. The other day he had his eyes open and was looking around for an hour straight! He's a big boy (but the smallest triplet).

Mason loves:

• his paci (but not the newborn size one - that one's too big!)
• being held by anyone
• rocking
• looking around

Logan:

Logan has also become a whole new baby in the last month. In the last month he has been on the jet ventilator, had a chest tube, been on lots of sedation (morphine and versed), has been put in isolation for an infection scare, and has had to restart his feeds because of a belly infection scare. Today, Logan is off the ventilator (yay!), he's in a bassinet wearing clothes like his brothers, and he's doing great! He's also off his morphine and versed drips. He's having some withdrawals but overall he's doing great! He's actually doing better than his brothers did when they first got off the ventilator. Yay Logan!

Logan loves:

• being held and rocked side to side
• music
• his paci (but he doesn't know how to use it to soothe himself yet)
• being out in the open finally

James:

I don't even know where to start with Mr. James. He's a mess. But he's also doing really well. In the last month, James has gotten off the ventilator, into a bassinet, and started wearing real clothes first. He also has the biggest attitude so far! He looks like his daddy to me, so maybe that's where he gets it. We'll go with that. Like Mason, James is also getting occupational and speech therapy to start working on sucking so he can eat eventually. His reflux has gotten better at this point too!

James loves:

• his paci (seeing a trend here?)
• being held upright
• having his head rubbed and his booty patted
• making faces

James also got to swing this week for the first time. He wasn't too impressed. But look how tiny he is!

Also, we caught this sweet moment between Logan and James when we were getting all 3 boys together for their first triplet photo (at the top in case you missed it). So sweet! They really love each other. Maybe they remember each other? I'm not sure, but James was crying then when we put him next to Logan he stopped.

I'll post my weekly update on Tuesday of course for Week 9. 

Thanks so much for all of the prayers, good positive thoughts, and everything else. I truly believe that it's working! These boys are so loved by everyone and it means the world to me!

8 Weeks Old!

Can you believe it?! I can't! I don't know what most people do with their 8 week old babies, but you all know what we do. We're still trying to get into a routine, which I guess is normal. Mostly I'm trying to get in to work more often. I know this is hard for all new mommies, but I'm having a really hard time leaving the hospital! I know I've said before that it's a time warp. Well it really is! That combined with pumping every 3 hours (for 30 minutes plus set up and clean up each time) and it feels like I just get there and it's time to leave! I know the babies are in great hands (seriously we have the best doctors and nurses anyone could ask for) but I just want to hold them and watch them sleep all day! 

Enough about me. I know you really just want to know how the boys are doing this week and see some cute baby pictures. Nothing like Mason's huge transformation last week but we have made some progress this week (and only 1 minor set back). Oh but we did move to a new room in the NICU this week. We were in East, which is for the smallest babies. Mason, Logan and James are big boys now! And they don't usually have babies in bassinets in East but they let us stay as long as possible until they got new smaller babies. Now we're in Pod 1 with bigger babies. And they cry! It's so much louder in Pod 1! James was not a fan at first. He actually got another baby moved somewhere else because he was so upset! He's still not a fan but he's getting used to the noise. 

Mason:

Mason has had a great week. He is on cpap now and he's doing great! He's been on around 30% oxygen most of the week. Next step is the straight oxygen nasal cannula. 

Mason has also been getting oral stimulation occupational therapy. Basically the therapist works with him to practice sucking and to get him used to things in his mouth and touching his face. He's doing great. He also started getting speech and physical therapy this week. Speech is obviously to teach him to speak different languages (or to work on oral stimulation too). Physical therapy is to work on range of motion so he can hopefully catch up developmentally (they will be delayed because they are so premature). Other that that no major changes for Mr. Mason. 

Here's some pictures:

And here's a selfie of me and Mason:

Logan:

Today was Logan's turn to have a big day! He got off the jet ventilator today finally! I have a good feeling about it too. Hopefully he can stay off the jet this time! (We need his PIE to stay gone). So far he's doing great! In fact his blood gas tonight was better than it's ever been. Yay Logan!

Logan also got to start eating again today. Last week they stopped feeding him and ran a bunch of tests because his belly was distended and he had blood in his stool. This can be a sign of NEC, a belly infection that we really don't want. Luckily all the tests came back negative except a minor urinary tract infection (completely unrelated to NEC). They treated this but just to be sure they did 7 days of antibiotics and held his feeds the whole time. Now he's starting back over at the beginning. So he gets 5 ml (1 tsp) every 3 hours. We are taking things slow with Logan though. He does better with slow changes. 

Here's a few pictures of Logan:

We got to hold Logan this week too! Apparently they don't usually let parents hold babies on the jet ventilator. But they let both of us do it this week! I think the respiratory therapists and nurses learned some new things thanks to Logan! This was the first time Brian has held Logan since he was about a week old!

James:

James has been pretty cranky this week. I think it's mostly because he has pretty significant reflux. Poor little guy! There's not much they can do for reflux in a premature baby. Most of the medications don't actually treat reflux; they just make it easier to tolerate. The problem with these meds - they increase the risk of NEC (which we really don't want). So they switched James to TPT feeds. This means that they put the milk straight into his intestines (through a feeding tube that goes through his stomach). He was still pushing a lot of gastric juice (I don't think that's the official name for it) up into his OG tube though. This caused his electrolytes to get out of whack. So (and I know this is gross) they started feeding that back to him (also into the intestines). And today he started a 14 day course of medicine to hopefully help with gut motility. We will just watch his belly extra close now. 

Because of the reflux issues, James had to go back on cpap then back on nippv. His lungs weren't inflating all the way with just the oxygen nasal cannula and they weren't able to wean his oxygen requirement. As of right now, James's problems are not respiratory, but we want to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure it stays that way. So far on nippv he's been doing pretty well and he's on around 30% oxygen. Hopefully we can go back down again soon.

What all of this means is that James has a few more weeks added on to his NICU stay. But I'm ok with it. Whatever he needs!

James is also getting occupational therapy, speech and physical therapy like Mason. He's doing ok so far. 

Here's some pictures of James. He makes the funniest faces!

Bath time!

And Brian took a selfie with James:

All in all we've had a good week. And Mason and James got some snuggles from Teresa this weekend!

And Addison and James took a little nap together (don't worry . . . his nurse and I were right there!)

Last but definitely not least, we are so happy that we got some new primary nurses this week! We had been having the same nurses all the time but when Mason and James started getting better we started getting random nurses every day. I'm so glad we are getting are usual nurses again now! They know our babies so much better! 

Another Week, Another Baby Off the Ventilator

We've had a pretty eventful week this week. And mostly good too! Let's hope this trend continues!

Guess who our allstar was this week? Mason! He rocked in every possible way! More on that later. Here's some pictures of the boys from this week:

Mason 

Logan 

James

And now for the weekly update:

Mason:

I am just so amazed at Mason's progress this week. We were told he may pass James. For real. We thought it was a joke at first. I don't even know where to start because Mason has done so much this week. I guess I'll do what his doctor does bad start at the top. 

Head: Mason had another head ultrasound today and . . . his head looks better! The old bleeds are healing, no new bleeds, and the ventricles are getting smaller. Because we've seen improvement the last 3 times, Mason won't get another head ultrasound until a month from today. Yay! (Remember I hate head ultrasound day). 

Lungs: If you remember, last week (exactly one week ago today) we were told that Mason was responding well to the steroid and that they were planning to take him off the jet ventilator and put him back on a regular ventilator. Well, Mason was doing so well that they just extubated him and took him off the ventilator completely. He's rocking it. 

Feeds: Mason is now on full feeds. That means no more iv nutrition. Yay! He's doing great with his milk and digestion. 

Mason also got to where he can regulate his temperature so he moved to a big boy bed. You know what that means? It means we can hold him whenever we want! And he gets to wear clothes. (This also means I got to go shopping. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you're Brian) they don't have a large selection of preemie clothes). 

Remember how puffy Mason was from the extra fluid? Well he lost all of that this week too! He had so much extra fluid that he lost like 1/2 pound! He looks like a completely different baby.

Here's some more pictures of Mason from this week. It's his turn to have extra pictures! 

Brian's first time holding Mason! So sweet!

Mason in his crab sleeper and matching hat! (I bought this one!)

I helped give Mason his bath! In a bucket! He wasn't a fan.  

Logan:

Logan is doing better this week. Best thing ever this week though is that I got to hold Logan again finally! I really didn't want to put him back! He's too sweet. He just cuddled up on my chest and slept the whole time. I feel like he gets left out now that Mason and James can be held any day any time. So I really cherished this time with him!

Logan's lungs are looking better. He's still on the jet ventilator but his PIE is still gone and his lungs look good (for him). We had a doctor over the weekend who is the jet ventilator guru (nationwide) and she said Logan is doing well and that he's actually in pretty good shape to get extubated straight from the jet. Let's hope she's right!

Here's our downside for the week. Poor Logan can't catch a break! He got put in isolation for a few days this week because of a blister! Isolation isn't as bad as it sounds (he stayed in the same place but anyone who touched him had to wear a gown and gloves) but still! The blister turned out to be just a blister. They had to put Logan in isolation because they ran tests for a potential viral infection (along with bacterial infection of course). Luckily everything turned out negative. So we can touch Logan again without gloves!

Today Logan developed another issue. His belly is looking big so they stopped his feeds, took cultures to run more tests, and started antibiotics. The big thing they're worried about is an infection called NEC. So far it doesn't look like Logan has it but they are being very careful because it's really bad if he gets it. Please say an extra prayer for Mr. Logan again this week!

Sweet Logan laying on my chest. He was snoozing! His mouth is always wide open like that!

James:

James is basically just hanging out. He moved from cpap to a nasal cannula with just oxygen (he gets 3 liters of oxygen an hour). They tried to wean this but James wasn't having it. Now we're just staying the same until Thursday when they draw his next blood gas. 

James has been having some reflux issues this week. I asked his doctor about it today and apparently treating reflux in tiny people is difficult, especially because they are laying down all the time. Also most of the normal medications for reflux can cause NEC in preemies so we don't want to do that. So, they put in an NG tube which puts James's feeds directly into his intestines to try and alleviate some of this issue. I hope it works! 

James and Mason also started occupational therapy to work on their feeding by mouth. Mason did better than James so far. But the therapy is designed to get them used to sucking. Once they get down to 1 liter oxygen we can maybe start feeding by mouth. 

Here's a few more pictures of James. 

His hat has ears! It matches his outfit but you can't see it

Oh and Addison got to hold James this week!

Such a proud big sister! 

My parents, my sister, and my aunt came in town this weekend to visit. And everyone got to hold Mason and James! Mason and James loved getting all the snuggles!

Nana with James 

Grandad with James 

Lou Ann with Mason 

Lizzie with Mason 

Lizzie with James 

Lou Ann with James

Grandad with Mason 

Nana with Mason

Nina and Pop (Brian's parents) held Mason and James too! They actually held James a month ago while he was at UAMS but this was their first time to hold Mason. Here's pictures:

And last but not least, here's a side-by-side of Mason and James. Can  you tell who is who?

To The Dads

Moms tend to get all the credit for raising good kids. Dads don't get the acknowledgment they deserve most of the time. And, while I would love to take credit for everything, that just wouldn't be right. So here's to all the great dads in my life. And why I think each one of them is great.

Brian:

I don't even know where to start. Addison and I lucked out when we found this one. Seriously. Brian has been Addison's dad since day one. Addison was with us when Brian proposed. And we were at the zoo (for Addison). Things have just gotten better since then. 

Brian is the dad who coached 2nd grade girls soccer, even though he knew how awful it would be. He's also the dad who takes Addison to chuck e cheese and the park, and the dad who plays hide and seek and sidewalk chalk with Addison and her friends. Sometimes even on Saturdays and Sundays during football season. He used to twirl her on demand until she decided she was too old to twirl (a sad day for all of us). And he walked her into school until she was too old for that too. And he's taught her some great things too. He's taught her to have a sense of humor, to be herself, and that it's ok to be silly. 

I can't wait to see how Brian is with our 3 boys. I know he's a great girl dad already. I bet he's a great boy dad too. He's already shown that some even though the boys are not even home yet. I can just see unconditional love every time he looks at one of our babies. 

Mason

Logan

James

My Dad:

I got lucky with my dad too. My dad has taught me lots over the past 31 years, like how to ride a bike (I'm the only one he taught because I'm awesome like that), how to play piano, and how to drive. But it's so much more than that. My dad may not be cooler than your dad, but he taught me that it's ok not to be the coolest one in the crowd. (He's basically a big boy scout and he sports the mustache-only even though he's not a cop and he's not Mexican). He taught me to be myself. (My mom helped with this too but it's Father's Day so we're not talking about her). 

My dad was the one at ball games yelling at me from the stands. He didn't want to be the coach. He just wanted to tell me how to play from the stands. Very loudly. He got a little quieter when I started yelling back. See, yelling has it's benefits. The yelling didn't traumatize me. The opposite really. I remember that he was there at every game pushing me to do my best. And that's what dads are for. 

Dad about to walk me down the aisle

Dad with Mason today

This was before I had to share my dad. And also apparently before he started sporting the mustache-only look. 

My Father-in-Law

You always hear people who despise their in laws. Not me. I lucked out here too (seeing a theme here?). There's never a dull moment with this one though. To say he's a mess is an understatement. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

My father-in-law is full of life and knows how to step back and not take everything so seriously. He'll keep you on your toes (Addison calls it picking on her). And he's teaching that to Addison and I know he'll teach my boys that wonderful trait too. I can't wait for Addison (and the boys) to get him back!

He also visits the boys at the hospital every chance he gets. That means the world to me. I'm sure they love that he's there too!

Today on this Father's Day I'm reminded of all the wonderful dads in my life and I'm truly grateful for everything you've done for me, Addison and the babies. We're all lucky to have you! So thank you for all that you do!