8/25 - Life with triplets

This will be a lengthy update since it has been a while since we have been able to write. First let me just say that everyone is home and doing well. As of today we had to put Emma on a monitor so her and Savannah are both on monitors for apnea/bradycardias. Here are the details on everyone:

Savannah was able to join us on Wednesday, August 19th. We had originally thought that she would come home on Saturday the 15th but she had another bradycardia, it was severe enough that she needed stimulation and choked on her reflux so they wanted to keep her a few more days. This episode had occurred right after her formula feeding (they all get 2 formula feedings a day for the extra calories) so we asked if that could be causing these episodes. It appears that several of the episodes were followed by formula feedings so we switched her to all breast milk with 2 feedings of fortified (adding a powder for extra calories). She has done great with this and has not had any of these episodes. We did opt to bring her home on the monitor though so that we would be able to monitor her more closely. Here are some pictures of the homecoming:

Last Thursday the 20th everyone went to the doctor together, wow that was quite the experience. We still have not purchased a van so we had to take 2 cars, just the logistics of everything was a nightmare, we have not been anywhere since! The girls weights are now:

Emma - 5lbs 8oz
Olivia - 5lbs 15oz
Savannah - 5lbs 9oz

Emma's story begins yesterday when after her feeding at 6pm she choked on her food, we are very fortunate that my mom was here and watching the girls, I had only gone to take a pee break when I heard my mom calling Emma's name and I came running only to see that she had started to turn blue, it was very scary but before I could make it to her, my mom had already gotten her to start breathing. Needless to say no one slept last night as we waited for her appointment today. She is fully recovered from the spell now, but we do have her on a monitor and also on reflux medicine which is what seems to be the underlying problem.

As for me in the midst of all the chaos I have contracted mastitis which makes me achy, feverish, and tired (basically I feel like I have the flu), I am on antibiotics now and trying hard to recover.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support during this difficult but rewarding time. We have had some great helpers (Scott's mom, Elissa, my parents, my sisters, etc.) and some great food from neighbors, friends and family. We could not be doing this without you all, I think we may have underestimated how hard this would be but everyone has been so great and we are grateful!

On a much lighter note, last week my "College Mom" Elissa decided it was time for a photo shoot. She had gone out and bought these adorable white gowns for the girls and then she posed them, here are some of the results that Lynn (my MIL) was able to capture (aren't they awesome)

(left to right - Emma, Olivia, Savannah)

8/13 - First Nights Home

First let me say thank you to everyone who has already helped out, we have had some awesome meals and terrific help. My mom has been staying with us to help out and it has truly been a blessing I am not sure we would still be sane without her. Also, we have been eating very well and believe me we would probably have been eating PB&Js everynight had it not been for all the help we have already received.


Emma and Olivia have adapted well to life at our house, we have put them on the same eating schedule as Savannah so that when she comes home it won't be hard to get everyone eating together. They eat at 9,12,3,6,9 during the day. The night time feedings have been hit or miss, one night they only got up to eat once, but every other night it has been a few times and then someone (they take turns) won't go back to sleep. This is not much different than what we expected but we are a little nervous about adding the third one, we only have so many hands, lol. Funny story about the first night, we got them up at midnight to eat and Emma did not eat much but Olivia ate most of her bottle. Scott then put them back in their bassinets but Emma was fussy and seemed hungry so I got her up and let her eat some more, half way through the bottle I realize that it wasn't Emma I was feeding but Olivia and the little booger was eating again!


Emma and Olivia went to the doctor on Tuesday, Emma was 5lbs and Olivia 5lbs 8oz so they have both grown a good bit. We have another appointment tomorrow so hopefully they are still gaining weight. Here are a few pictures of them coming home:

Thank you for the extra prayers for our little Savannah, she is still having a few bradycardias and so today we and the neonatologist decided that we should bring her home on a monitor. We are ready to have everyone home and if she didn't come home on the monitor it could still be weeks before she was released. We are hoping to bring her home this weekend. We can't even begin to tell you how excited we will be to have our family all together and home. It is funny though, because it feels like our journey is really just beginning.

The hospital also took some newborn pictures of the girls, feel free to check out their pictures:
http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=fb0cbb6e-cabb-46ad-95ac-ae06be170964

8/9 - Coming Home

The big day has arrived, tomorrow Emma and Olivia will be coming home from the NICU! We are so excited to have our girls coming home, but also very sad that Savannah will have to stay at the NICU alone. We had thought that maybe they would all get to come home together, however Savannah has had a few spells of bradycardia which is where her heartrate slows down for a few seconds. We have been there twice when it has happened and it is scary, please pray for her and also for her sisters that they will not have any spells. The bradycardia is very common in premature infants and the doctors have reassured us that she is very healthy and just needs to grow a little more. Currently their weights are: Emma 4lbs 12oz, Olivia 5lbs 2oz, Savannah 4lbs 8oz.

Scott and I had a chance to spend the night last night at the hospital with Emma and Olivia, it was just an opportunity to do everything ourselves but in a controlled environment. We made it through the night with very little sleep but everyone was feed and clean at the end. We realize now how much help we will need, the girls eat every 3 hours but it takes almost an hour for them to eat even with 2 people getting them ready, that left less than 2 hours for us to sleep in between. Many of you have offered to help when the time came, and now it is here. My sister put together a website for us to help us organize meals and occasional yard work and house work. Please visit our site at: carecalendar.org, the calendar id is 13609 and the security code is: 8878. If you have any questions or would like to help in another way, please feel free to email my sister Amanda Williams at williams614@ymail.com.

Here are some new pictures of the girls:

8/4/2009 - Sarah is back

Hi, this is Sarah again. Scott has done a great job keeping everyone up to date, but now I get to tell a little bit more from my view.

I am now on bloodpressure medicine and it is helping but it is still a little high, they will continue to watch it but think it is temporary. My swelling is still very bad especially in my feet and legs. My incision is slowly healing, but on a more interesting note, we found out that even though my incision is a bikini cut on the outside, they actually cut my uterus up and down like a classical c-section. So this explains why the healing process has been a little different than a typical c-section.

I was so blessed in the hospital (both times) with visitors, gifts, flowers, etc. Scott got me the cutest 'push' present it is a ring with 3 rubies (July's birthstone) and each girl's name engraved. He was getting very nervous that the babies may come in August and ruin his plans, lol! Here is a picture:

Also my mom got me a shirt that said, "Sometimes when you pray for a miracle you get three" and Scott's mom provided lots of the preemie clothes so the NICU has been so kind to dress our girls everyday. They look so cute all dressed.

Now for an update on the girls. The girls are now all in 'big girl' beds this means they are in the regular bassinets that all babies are in after birth. The only thing left is to have their feeding tubes removed. Savannah's tube was removed on Sunday but only because she kept taking it out. The nurses said they will leave it out until she refuses to finish her bottle, which has not happened yet. All the girls are a little past their birth weight now, they are growing so fast. We are hoping to have some or all of them home later next week.

On Sunday I was very sad that I had not had a chance to hold all my girls at the same time, so that evening we asked the nurses if they could arrange that for us and they did! Here are the first pictures of our family: