We are all home!

We are all home! Nora came home first. We stopped by Grammy and Grandpa's house first where Will welcomed her with a sidewalk chalk display. Nora was then able to cuddle with Grammy and Grandpa before coming home for the first time!
Next Eva came home, then Parks. Although I am experiencing sleep deprivation like never before, it is so amazing to have my trio at home with the rest of the family.

The Pictures From Top to Bottom:
-Will by the sidewalk chalk art at Grammy and Grandpa's
-Grammy, Grandpa, Will and Nora
-Parks in his car seat
-Nora
-Eva smiling at Nora during tummy time
-All three babies Nora, Eva, and Parks

Doing Better

Parks is now out of the isolette/incubator and back in a crib. The tests never revealed any signs of infection. The doctors suspect that his episodes were due to reflux. They will perform a couple tests on Monday morning to try to confirm this and determine the cause. Meanwhile he is eating, growing, and even smiling occasionally.
The girls are continuing to do well. The doctor guessed that Nora will be home in about a week, and Eva won't be far behind. Parks will probably have to stay a little longer than the girls, but not much.
Will has enjoyed visiting the babies in the NICU and kissing each one on the head.

Poor Parks

Poor Parks just can't catch a break. Yesterday I left the hospital in the afternoon to try to sneak in a quick nap. As soon as I got home I got a phone call from the doctor on call, Dr. Kerr. Parks had a couple episodes where he had stopped breathing. While this not uncommon for preemies, he required intervention and oxygen to help him recover. His body temperature was low, and his color did not look good. These events together were enough to give everyone a good scare. The doctor thought this may indicate that Parks was beginning to suffer from an infection. Dr. Kerr immediately put Parks back in an isolette to help him maintain his body temperature. They also put him on IV antibiotics, and began running tests. The preliminary blood work did not indicate an infection. They decided around 8 pm to give Parks a blood transfusion to treat his anemia in hopes of improving his blood oxygen saturation. We are now just waiting to get results from continued testing.
It was horrible to see Parks back in his isolette after all the progress he has made. It was a heart wrenching way for Steve and I to spend our 8th wedding anniversary. Parks looked so sad and frightened. They are still allowing us to hold him so I was able to enjoy quite a bit of snuggle time with him, which seemed to benefit us both.
The girls are both doing great. Eva now weighs 5 lbs and Nora is 5 lbs 5 oz. I will continue to try to post updates on Parks.

All My Children

Steve and I are so excited that the triplets have a new doctor who has allowed Will to visit them in the NICU. Will has enjoyed seeing his siblings. He is such a wonderful big brother.

All three babies are still doing very well. Now they just need to continue to work on eating and growing.

10 days old

All three babies are doing great! Parks has improved so much, so quickly. He is breathing on his own without any assistance. His breathing rate has slowed down and become more regular. He is getting all of his nutrition from feedings and no longer has an IV. He is so happy when he gets to be held with his sisters.

Nora and Eva are also cruising right along. Eva has surpassed her birth weight. Nora has too. They also seem the happiest when they are held together with their brother Parks.

Will is still doing well considering the NICU won't allow him to see his brother and sisters. (The rule is you must be three years old, and he is 2 yrs and 9 mo old.) I am very sad that they have been so inflexible on this, and I am hoping they will change their mind eventually (especially since this is expected to go on for a month or more!) Will asks about the babies all the time and keeps asking about when they will get to come home. He has said that he would really like to help give the babies their baths, and feed them bottles.

5 days old

Here is an update on each of the kids:

Nora had her IV removed last night. She is doing really well eating and growing, so she doesn't need it anymore. She is very far ahead of the game for a 32 week triplet. Her doctors and nurses continue to be amazed at how quickly she is progressing. I have a feeling she will be the first one home.

Eva, is also moving right along. Tomorrow they will remove her IV and she will get all of her nutrients strictly from feedings, like Nora. She is a "hand holder." Whenever you put your hand by her, she will grab on with her little fingers. She looks beautiful with her little hat and her sweet little outfit.

Tonight I was able to hold the two girls together for the first time! It was very exciting.

Sweet little Parks is still having the most difficulty of three. Last night his breathing rate increased significantly and they considered putting him back on the ventilator, but decided to wait and do a chest X-ray in the morning. The chest X-Ray showed some cloudiness. The doctor decided to give him some medicine to remove excess fluid and thought that this would improve his breathing. The doctor was right, and his breathing rate improved. He still continues to struggle with his breathing. The doctor seemed very optimistic that this would improve within a week. As we approach the end of the first week, the doctor has seemed discouraged that Parks had not improved faster. And of course Steve and I are very worried. So we are asking that everyone please keep him in their prayers. It is incredibly difficult to watch your child go through something like this. We are hoping and praying he will start to turn the corner soon and that this is not an indicator of another problem. We have only been able to hold him once. It is difficult to get a good picture of him because he likes the lights to be turned down low, and of course we don't want to bother him with the flash.

Will seems to be holding up very well with all the chaos and change. His ability to go with the flow never fails to amaze me. He seems as happy as ever. Today he played at Grammy and Grandpa's house, with Grammy and his cousin Luke. He had a wonderful time. He even asked Grammy if he could feed baby Luke his baby food. He was very proud of feeding his cousin Luke. He said next, he would like to teach Luke how to play soccer and baseball (Luke is only 9 months old). Will is going to be the best big brother. I am not surprised; he is above average at everything he does. :)

In the picture of Will at the incubator, that is not a real baby inside, it is a doll for him to play with and learn about where his brother and sisters sleep.

Kids are doing great

Today was a great day. Laura and I spent all day with the triplets. I got to hold Nora and Eva for the first time. They are both doing great. The doctors keep increasing their feedings, and they haven't been on any breathing assistance for a couple days now. Their jaundice is also getting better and the light therapy was removed today, which means their fancy sunglasses were also removed.

All the kids are now dressed in some cute clothes, and have cute blankets in their beds.

Parks was removed from the ventilator on saturday, but put back on Sunday. Then yesterday he was removed again. He is still on the CPAP which helps put oxygen in his lungs. He seems to be much more comfortable today. We will be able to hold him tonight.

We are still at the hospital right now, but Laura will be discharged today.


Nora is wearing the fancy hat. Eva has the bow in her hair. Parks has the blue blanket.