This is from last week. The girls were just over two months old. Greg has Rebecca (in blue) and Emma (in red). I have Julie.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Family Picture
This is from last week. The girls were just over two months old. Greg has Rebecca (in blue) and Emma (in red). I have Julie.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
As crafty as it gets around here anymore
I have found a use for some of my scrapbook supplies that are currently gathering dust...
Thickers + hair elastics + thread = custom bottle labels
Ribbons glued into the spines of their baby books for bookmarks
Things are ridiculously crazy here. Hoping to get another post up soon. For now, Rebecca's home from the hospital, and all of the girls are growing fast, doing well, and developing their own little personalities. I'm pretty much exhausted all of the time, and even with a ton of help, feel like I'm barely getting by.
Thickers + hair elastics + thread = custom bottle labels
Ribbons glued into the spines of their baby books for bookmarks
Things are ridiculously crazy here. Hoping to get another post up soon. For now, Rebecca's home from the hospital, and all of the girls are growing fast, doing well, and developing their own little personalities. I'm pretty much exhausted all of the time, and even with a ton of help, feel like I'm barely getting by.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I think Greg needs a blog.
Greg woke up the other morning, fumbling around to silence a blaring alarm clock.
Turns out, it was the baby monitor.
Turns out, it was the baby monitor.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Bear with me...
...as I started this post almost 2 weeks ago.
Emma, Rebecca, and Julie have been home from the hospital for about 2.5 weeks now. In a word, it's been crazy.
The girls eat every 3 hours. It takes anywhere from 1-2 hours to prep, change, and feed them, depending on how many people are helping, and how fussy they are. By the time the bottles get cleaned and I pump more breast milk, it's pretty much time to start all over again. If you add in some play time on the floor and/or tummy time, it's literally non-stop. Occasionally I find stretches of 15 minutes to throw in laundry, eat something, or try to relax... which is why it takes me a good 2 weeks to put together a blog update. :) I am also finding a shower to be a rather rare commodity.
Rebecca and Julie went to their first doctor's appointment two weeks ago, and everything checked out ok. The only bad part was that my digital Rebel fell about 3 feet out of the diaper bag onto the concrete floor. It would sort of work, but was acting funny, and would just stop focusing. I broke down and sent it in to Canon. They said it could be 2-3 weeks! It's going to be rough - that thing is like my right arm. I'm worried about how much the girls are going to grow in 2-3 weeks. I started looking into rentals, but my dad offered to ship me his "backup." We just got the estimate in the mail... $300 for the camera and lens. Ouch.
Rebecca had not been acting quite right - not hungry, very lethargic, breathing hard and fast, etc. We took her to the pediatrician on Thursday, and they ran some tests. They didn't find any answers, so we went back on Friday. They sent us for a chest x-ray ... which came back inconclusive for pneumonia. They were undecided about whether to hospitalize her, so we went back to the pediatrician. Her blood oxygen levels were even lower, and she was still breathing fast. So, 3 doctors appointments later, Rebecca was admitted to the hospital. On her mom's birthday. A very rough day, to say the least.
They're still calling it pneumonia, partly because they don't know what else to call it. All of the test have been negative - flu, RSV, no signs of any bacterial infections. They are treating her with antibiotics to be safe, and she is getting oxygen. They are trying to turn down the oxygen and she'll have to be off it for 24 hours before they'll let us go home. You can just imagine the logistics of having one in the hospital (where someone needs to be with her pretty much all the time 24-7, not like the NICU), plus 2 newborns at home, Greg working and my mom taking care of Emma and Julie. It's so hard for us to all be separated like this. We got about 2 weeks with all of us together before we've been torn apart again. Mentally, it's hard. Plus, as of right now, my medical leave runs out next week.
I didn't mean for this post to be a downer. We are truly very lucky, and love these girls to pieces. We just want to all be together and healthy and spend time together.
Some pictures to make this a happier post...
Rebecca
Julie
Emma, Rebecca, Julie
Emma
Rebecca, Julie
Julie
Rebecca, Julie, Emma
Julie, Rebecca, Emma
Emma
Emma, Rebecca, and Julie have been home from the hospital for about 2.5 weeks now. In a word, it's been crazy.
The girls eat every 3 hours. It takes anywhere from 1-2 hours to prep, change, and feed them, depending on how many people are helping, and how fussy they are. By the time the bottles get cleaned and I pump more breast milk, it's pretty much time to start all over again. If you add in some play time on the floor and/or tummy time, it's literally non-stop. Occasionally I find stretches of 15 minutes to throw in laundry, eat something, or try to relax... which is why it takes me a good 2 weeks to put together a blog update. :) I am also finding a shower to be a rather rare commodity.
Rebecca and Julie went to their first doctor's appointment two weeks ago, and everything checked out ok. The only bad part was that my digital Rebel fell about 3 feet out of the diaper bag onto the concrete floor. It would sort of work, but was acting funny, and would just stop focusing. I broke down and sent it in to Canon. They said it could be 2-3 weeks! It's going to be rough - that thing is like my right arm. I'm worried about how much the girls are going to grow in 2-3 weeks. I started looking into rentals, but my dad offered to ship me his "backup." We just got the estimate in the mail... $300 for the camera and lens. Ouch.
Rebecca had not been acting quite right - not hungry, very lethargic, breathing hard and fast, etc. We took her to the pediatrician on Thursday, and they ran some tests. They didn't find any answers, so we went back on Friday. They sent us for a chest x-ray ... which came back inconclusive for pneumonia. They were undecided about whether to hospitalize her, so we went back to the pediatrician. Her blood oxygen levels were even lower, and she was still breathing fast. So, 3 doctors appointments later, Rebecca was admitted to the hospital. On her mom's birthday. A very rough day, to say the least.
They're still calling it pneumonia, partly because they don't know what else to call it. All of the test have been negative - flu, RSV, no signs of any bacterial infections. They are treating her with antibiotics to be safe, and she is getting oxygen. They are trying to turn down the oxygen and she'll have to be off it for 24 hours before they'll let us go home. You can just imagine the logistics of having one in the hospital (where someone needs to be with her pretty much all the time 24-7, not like the NICU), plus 2 newborns at home, Greg working and my mom taking care of Emma and Julie. It's so hard for us to all be separated like this. We got about 2 weeks with all of us together before we've been torn apart again. Mentally, it's hard. Plus, as of right now, my medical leave runs out next week.
I didn't mean for this post to be a downer. We are truly very lucky, and love these girls to pieces. We just want to all be together and healthy and spend time together.
Some pictures to make this a happier post...
Julie, Rebecca, Emma
Emma
Rebecca
Sunday, February 22, 2009
One Month: Together Again
I cannot believe we're at the one month mark.
Rebecca came home from the hospital on Wednesday, and is doing well.
Rebecca in her car seat.
Grandma and Grandpa on feeding duty.
Emma and Rebecca's reunion.
We took Emma to her first doctor's appointment on Thursday, and all is well.
At the doctor.
Emma on my lap.
Julie came home on Friday, on their one month birthday.
In dad's arms at the hospital.
Getting ready to leave the NICU for the last time.
In the car.
You wouldn't believe she's our screamer, would you?
Finally home!
The big reunion!
The girls aren't supposed to have any visitors, and aren't supposed to go anywhere but to the pediatrician for about two months. We look forward to everyone getting to meet them once they've built up their little immune systems.
Rebecca came home from the hospital on Wednesday, and is doing well.
Rebecca in her car seat.
Grandma and Grandpa on feeding duty.
Emma and Rebecca's reunion.
We took Emma to her first doctor's appointment on Thursday, and all is well.
At the doctor.
Emma on my lap.
Julie came home on Friday, on their one month birthday.
In dad's arms at the hospital.
Getting ready to leave the NICU for the last time.
In the car.
You wouldn't believe she's our screamer, would you?
Finally home!
The big reunion!
The girls aren't supposed to have any visitors, and aren't supposed to go anywhere but to the pediatrician for about two months. We look forward to everyone getting to meet them once they've built up their little immune systems.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Julie and Rebecca
are doing well, also.
Julie appears to be over her illness. She's done with her antibiotics, and all of her feedings are by bottle (so, no more feeding tube... for now). Her feedings are increasing a little bit every day, and she's eating everything that we can give her. Hopefully she'll be off IV fluids this week.
Julie is our screamer, and seems to be the loudest of the 3 right now. :) When we were trying to decide on names, "Julie" was on our short list. But I was looking through a baby name book that listed a meaning of the name "Julie" as "young and vocal." She was really the first one I felt kicking, and she was pretty fierce - - so, she our Baby C became Julie. And she's still living up to her name! She only really screams when you're changing her, or when she's hungry, but her cry is pretty distinctive. (Of course, if I weren't allowed to eat for 10 days, I'd be pretty vocal, too.)
Julie:
Rebecca has been doing much better with her bottles in the last day or two. She had kind of hit a hurdle where she was having a hard time finishing the bottles, and was dropping her heart rate a couple of times during each feeding. Hopefully the little light bulb went off in her head and she's figuring it out now. They removed her feeding tube today, and we're going to see how she does with all bottle feedings.
Rebecca:
Julie appears to be over her illness. She's done with her antibiotics, and all of her feedings are by bottle (so, no more feeding tube... for now). Her feedings are increasing a little bit every day, and she's eating everything that we can give her. Hopefully she'll be off IV fluids this week.
Julie is our screamer, and seems to be the loudest of the 3 right now. :) When we were trying to decide on names, "Julie" was on our short list. But I was looking through a baby name book that listed a meaning of the name "Julie" as "young and vocal." She was really the first one I felt kicking, and she was pretty fierce - - so, she our Baby C became Julie. And she's still living up to her name! She only really screams when you're changing her, or when she's hungry, but her cry is pretty distinctive. (Of course, if I weren't allowed to eat for 10 days, I'd be pretty vocal, too.)
Julie:
Rebecca has been doing much better with her bottles in the last day or two. She had kind of hit a hurdle where she was having a hard time finishing the bottles, and was dropping her heart rate a couple of times during each feeding. Hopefully the little light bulb went off in her head and she's figuring it out now. They removed her feeding tube today, and we're going to see how she does with all bottle feedings.
Rebecca:
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Emma comes home!
We got to take Emma home on Friday. It turned into a bit of a hectic day, as we were trying to get their newborn pictures taken, get their regular feedings in, and get Emma discharged. On top of that, she decided that she wasn't too sure about us, and dropped her temperature on Friday morning. It was back up by lunch time, but she hadn't had a problem maintaining her temperature for the last 3 weeks!
So, around 4:00, we finally left.
Emma in her car seat. Grandma made her Valentine's Day hat.
Isn't she pretty?
Dad takes her inside.
Dusty's not too sure...
We've made it through 2 nights successfully, and we're all still alive! My parents are here, and are helping with the feedings. Emma's temperature has been up and down, but she's doing well
So, around 4:00, we finally left.
Emma in her car seat. Grandma made her Valentine's Day hat.
Isn't she pretty?
Dad takes her inside.
Dusty's not too sure...
We've made it through 2 nights successfully, and we're all still alive! My parents are here, and are helping with the feedings. Emma's temperature has been up and down, but she's doing well
Baby Boot Camp
I started this post last week. Sigh.
On Tuesday, the hospital offered us a "Family Learning Center" room for Emma. It's basically a hospital room, set up with a queen bed, so we could room in with Emma and take over her care before we took her home, with a nurse's station right outside the door. It was actually easier to be living at the hospital again for 2 nights - not worrying about travel back and forth, and having access to all 3 of the girls all the time. Honestly, I would have moved in for good if they had let me.
Things went well with Emma, and we managed to get up for all of her feedings. One of my big fears (besides all the usual ones) is that we're going to sleep through a feeding.
Some pictures from our first night...
(Different outfit, same night. Yup.)
On Tuesday, the hospital offered us a "Family Learning Center" room for Emma. It's basically a hospital room, set up with a queen bed, so we could room in with Emma and take over her care before we took her home, with a nurse's station right outside the door. It was actually easier to be living at the hospital again for 2 nights - not worrying about travel back and forth, and having access to all 3 of the girls all the time. Honestly, I would have moved in for good if they had let me.
Things went well with Emma, and we managed to get up for all of her feedings. One of my big fears (besides all the usual ones) is that we're going to sleep through a feeding.
Some pictures from our first night...
(Different outfit, same night. Yup.)
Monday, February 9, 2009
An update from us
The girls will be 3 weeks old tomorrow! It feels like we've been going to the NICU forever already, and the hospital is our 2nd home.
Emma is doing well, and growing fast! She is up to just shy of 6 lbs right now, and taking 1/3 of her feedings by bottle right now.
Julie has been sick for the last 10 days or so. They had to stop feeding her and start her on antibiotics and lots of blood work, x-rays, IV sticks, etc. She just started feeding a tiny bit yesterday, and we are hoping that this sickness is behind her now.
Rebecca has been working on feeding, and is working on 2 of her 8 feedings by bottle. She's growing well, and weighs almost 5 lbs.
Everyone has been off of any sort of breathing help for about 2 weeks now, and all of the girls are now in open cribs. They got to visit with each other for the first time since they were born last Thursday night. Julie was coming back out of the isolette, and while they were changing her bed, the nurses got all 3 girls together and gave us this picture on Friday morning. (We weren't there when the picture was taken. You KNOW I would have taken a ton more.) Their first slumber party!
+05Feb2009.jpg)
That's Emma, Julie, and Rebecca from left to right.
Emma is doing well, and growing fast! She is up to just shy of 6 lbs right now, and taking 1/3 of her feedings by bottle right now.
Julie has been sick for the last 10 days or so. They had to stop feeding her and start her on antibiotics and lots of blood work, x-rays, IV sticks, etc. She just started feeding a tiny bit yesterday, and we are hoping that this sickness is behind her now.
Rebecca has been working on feeding, and is working on 2 of her 8 feedings by bottle. She's growing well, and weighs almost 5 lbs.
Everyone has been off of any sort of breathing help for about 2 weeks now, and all of the girls are now in open cribs. They got to visit with each other for the first time since they were born last Thursday night. Julie was coming back out of the isolette, and while they were changing her bed, the nurses got all 3 girls together and gave us this picture on Friday morning. (We weren't there when the picture was taken. You KNOW I would have taken a ton more.) Their first slumber party!
+05Feb2009.jpg)
That's Emma, Julie, and Rebecca from left to right.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Perfect.
Welcome, Emma Grace, Julie Catherine, and Rebecca Caroline!
I had a c section on the 20th (inauguration day, and my great aunt's birthday) and the girls were born at 8:35, 8:36, and 8:37 am. The OR was organized chaos! Surprisingly, we did hear the babies all cry (or at least whimper) when they were born. The NICU staff whisked them away pretty quickly - we got to see 2 of them on their way out the door.
I was in recovery for an hour or so. The actual c section, while overwhelming, wasn't bad. On my way back to the room, they took us through the NICU where we saw all of the babies, and despite all of our (and doctor's) expectations, none of the girls were doing as well as they should have been doing. It broke my heart right there. 2 were on ventilators, one was on CPAP. Rebecca, our smallest and single umbilical artery baby, was in the worst shape. Her blood pressure was frighteningly low, and the doctors suspected I had some sort of infection based on Rebecca's blood work and respiratory status. They started all 3 on antibiotics.
Everything in between now and then is a blur. They have all made dramatic progress. Rebecca had about 2 days of blood pressure medicine, and now her bp issues are resolved. She will still get a full course (10 days) of antibiotics, but Emma and Julie were taken off antibiotics after a day or two. There's really no explanation for why they had such a rough start. But everyone is now off of any breathing assistance, and we're working on starting bottle feedings with all of them.
I am still trying to recover from the surgery, and am finding myself just exhausted between the pain, breast pumping, and trips back and forth to the hospital.
There's really no way to guess yet how long they'll be in the NICU, or when they will come home.
Some pictures from when they were 5 days old...
I had a c section on the 20th (inauguration day, and my great aunt's birthday) and the girls were born at 8:35, 8:36, and 8:37 am. The OR was organized chaos! Surprisingly, we did hear the babies all cry (or at least whimper) when they were born. The NICU staff whisked them away pretty quickly - we got to see 2 of them on their way out the door.
I was in recovery for an hour or so. The actual c section, while overwhelming, wasn't bad. On my way back to the room, they took us through the NICU where we saw all of the babies, and despite all of our (and doctor's) expectations, none of the girls were doing as well as they should have been doing. It broke my heart right there. 2 were on ventilators, one was on CPAP. Rebecca, our smallest and single umbilical artery baby, was in the worst shape. Her blood pressure was frighteningly low, and the doctors suspected I had some sort of infection based on Rebecca's blood work and respiratory status. They started all 3 on antibiotics.
Everything in between now and then is a blur. They have all made dramatic progress. Rebecca had about 2 days of blood pressure medicine, and now her bp issues are resolved. She will still get a full course (10 days) of antibiotics, but Emma and Julie were taken off antibiotics after a day or two. There's really no explanation for why they had such a rough start. But everyone is now off of any breathing assistance, and we're working on starting bottle feedings with all of them.
I am still trying to recover from the surgery, and am finding myself just exhausted between the pain, breast pumping, and trips back and forth to the hospital.
There's really no way to guess yet how long they'll be in the NICU, or when they will come home.
Some pictures from when they were 5 days old...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)