FIVE MONTHS?! Really?!

Time has surely flown and I can't believe I have 5 month old babies. We're having a blast as they grow and interact more and more each day! It's fun to hear them jabber away even if their most common word is "Ahgoo". I love the sound of all of their voices and we are lucky enough to have very happy babies all around. Don't get me wrong, they let us know when they are ready to eat or tired and ready for bed, but for the most part they enjoy smiling and talking and playing when they aren't sleeping. Here are my sweet 5 month old boys:


Oscar is our man on the move (if you remember back to our isolette days, this is nothing new). He will squirm and wiggle from morning until night and when you're ready to put him down for a nap he likes to squirm while rocking and after a bit of squirming and rocking he has this very resigned sigh that says "I suppose I have to sleep now, fine" and then the eyes finally get glassy and out he goes. He's full of smiles especially when he's wailed bloody murder to get you to come in and check on him during nap or night time and then the minute you head to pick him up out of his crib--GIANT smile (you know, the "I got you" smile). Oscar's blue eyes will capture your heart a thousand times over.

Mylo is our chunky monkey and rarely will he be the last to eat and when he's done he loves to play! Mylo is a HUGE fan of the playmat and loves batting at the hanging toys, his arms just go and go and go! When he's not hungry, Mylo is pretty mellow and just likes to lay and play. Mylo has a great smile complete with a perfect dimple on his right cheek, it used to be a rare treat to catch that smile, but he shares it freely now and it's so fun to watch. He also loves to tell stories. Mylo's super cheeks continue to win my heart and reassure me when I'm worried whether they are getting enough to eat! 

Victor is our most patient little man and still loves to just sit back and observe the world around. He is getting more and more vocal by the minute though and I believe that every noise that comes out of his mouth is a carefully chosen word full of meaning. Even his cries sound like words, complaining words, but words nonetheless. That said, those cries aren't very common and his smiles are whole body smiles. Today, I was reading a story that I read to him every day we were in the hospital. It had been a while and I didn't look down at him until a couple of pages in and he was just beaming, I guess he missed hearing that familiar story because he certainly enjoyed it today! There's no way you can miss a Victor smile because it beams with every muscle in his body. 

Baby Talk!

So I've finally captured all of my boys sweet voices to brighten your Saturday...

Here's Mylo:

and Oscar:

and Victor ( a man of few words so listen close!):

4 months and GROWING!

Today, as I sat and snuggled Oscar close, I was reading the blog of a new triplet family who are just starting their long journey at Children's. Their mother had posted pictures of their first kangaroo cares and I saw those sweet little babes that fit on one shoulder, with space for more. I looked down at Oscar who now stretches all the way down to my lap and that's with his legs curled up a bit and couldn't believe how far we've come in four very long, yet very short months! My 2 pounders are now all almost 10 pounds (Victor-9lb 13 oz, Oscar 9lb 7 oz, and Mylo 9 lb 15oz) and have really started to become a part of the world around them. We are enjoying the boys frequent and genuine smiles and their intent focus on each other or us when they have a chance to just sit and watch. Here's a bit of an update on our BIG 4 month old boys!

Victor has really thrived at home and there is no question it was time for him to be out of that hospital. He is very intent on focusing on everything he can possibly take in and often that means he has a goofy cross-eyed look (for now it's funny and totally normal developmentally). He is quiet most of the time, but likes to let us know that he's around if he's been in one place too long and will occasionally have a little cooing to do, too. I haven't been able to catch his talking on video yet since every time I get the camera out he thinks it's so fascinating that he worries more about looking at the camera than talking! He is growing bigger each day and any fears about him eating have disappeared. He downs his bottles right alongside his brothers and is now breastfeeding like a champ, too! This is of course making him rounder (yeah!) and with that it is becoming more and more of a challenge to keep the ostomy bags on (boo!) so the poor little guy has to go through at least daily bag changes and the pediatric home service that supplies us coming to our door with new supplies constantly! He is also still on an apnea monitor, but we had our download to determine if he still needs it yesterday, so we're waiting for the verdict and keeping our fingers crossed that we get to go wireless today...

Oscar had a rough start to the month, as his hernia was causing him quite a lot of pain with gas getting trapped, so he would be napping quietly and all the sudden you'd hear a gurgle, he'd arch and bend and then scream out in pain. It was awful! When we left the hospital they had told us that their was no rush to get the repair surgery done, but with it causing him so much pain there was no waiting and we scheduled the surgery for last week Wednesday. By the time we got to surgery, he often had that glassy eyed look that you see when kiddos just don't feel good and he spent most of his time with a very serious furrowed brow. It was heartbreaking. Since the surgery he has been recovering without any complications and yesterday morning marked one of the greatest moments of motherhood to date. As we were sitting on the floor playing (like we do every morning), Oscar joined in chattering and smiling with his brothers as we looked at toys. He was finally feeling better and my serious little guy got to relax and have some fun!!! He has these amazing blue eyes and to see them accompanied by a smile was breathtaking!

Mylo is by far our most easygoing and laid back little guy (most of the time) and his personality reflects the smoother path he's traveled. He is full of smiles and coos all the time and has many stories to tell. It is truly a delight to play with him each morning. He's a great eater and a good napper. He's very content just about anywhere and loves looking up at the birds on their play mat or watching the ceiling fan. Marty might disagree with this description of Mylo if it weren't for weekends since this Mylo disappears at about 6 at night and the witching hour begins! At this point we only want to be held and walked or we let out a squeal like no other. Once we survive this though, we get rewarded with the best sleeper of the house as Mylo will sleep for 6 hours after their last feeding around 8 and even once he slept straight through until 6 am. If we could get his brothers on board, we'd be doing great!

Home Sweet Home

The day has finally come and my whole family has been under one roof now for 1 week and what a week it has been! 107 days after their birth, Victor joined us at home and ended a long, hard and amazing journey at Children's. Our week has been uneventful, albeit sleepless, and that is a beautiful thing. We are working on getting a good schedule now that the hospital isn't in the mix and the boys are falling into it for the most part so we're really hopeful, yet realistic, that nights with good sleep are just around the corner. It's been a joy to get up in the morning and play with all of my boys and not worry about when the first two will fall asleep so I can get to the third and with them all home and napping, I've even been able to get a couple of naps in this week. They are staying awake more during the day now, too, which has been really fun watching them interact with the world around them. As we get settled in, I'll get a better post up that shares a day in the life of a triplet family at home, but for now, here we all are on the best day yet! 

from left to right: Oscar, Mylo and Victor

Mile 20

We have reached a big milestone. Our boys are oficially past their due date which means the medical community no longer sees them as  "negative” in age. Today we are 12 weeks old or 2 days adjusted. All of the boys are showing us that they are really here now. Oscar took off rolling over late last week, and Mylo is grabbing on to things, and Victor is sitting here breathing room air as we speak! We are all making strides in the right direction which is a huge relief.

This has by far been the longest stretch of our journey (aka the most tears from mama). It's really hard leaving them in either direction and I always feel like I'm in the wrong place, but I have to trust my instincts and keep some words of advice from a former NICU multiple mom in mind, "go where the need is greatest." This changes day by day and hour by hour, but it helps me know that I'm doing what is best.  I've decided that where we are now with two home and one here at Children's is like Mile 20 in the marathons I've run. You've gone too far to give up but the wall you have hit seems insurmountable. I know from my training that I need to get to mile 23, that's where you get that final wind that makes the finish fun (and possible). I've never run a race I didn't finish and this one will not be any different, except the reward will be a whole lot greater than a finisher medal and a long sleeve t-shirt!

Playmat time for Victor:

Mylo grabs on:

Oscar rolls over

Steps forward, backward and even a few sideways...

So it's looking like blogging may only be a monthly occurrence in my new life as the mother of triplets, but I'll try to keep everyone posted a little more frequently as time goes on. As I type, Oscar is nodding off in his bouncer after a morning bath at HOME! So that would be our biggest news. We have one baby home! Hopefully our brothers are close behind. I have a lot of photos and videos to sort through, but for now here is our family Christmas photos in the ICC:

Victor is coming along, but as we've said before his road is simply going to be a bit longer than the others. After weeks of not being able to kick the oxygen habit, he has officially been diagnosed as Chronic Lung Disorder or more officially Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. This means that it will simply take him longer to get off oxygen as his lungs have more developing to do and some scarring likely from the intubation during his surgery and we have to move forward with that as a part of his life for now. That means that we are beginning to work on feedings by mouth with Occupational Therapy despite his breathing challenges and if everything else looks good and his oxygen needs have come to a baseline we could come home with oxygen. This is very scary for Marty and I, but as I look at the children around the hospital who are heading out to their cars hooked up to IV's and monitors of all sorts, I remind myself that we are really very lucky if this is all we come home with. Even with all this Victor is really looking amazing to us these days. Along with the Chronic Lung often comes water retention and swelling so Victor often looked really puffy and uncomfortable in his own skin, but with the diagnosis came treatment for the water retention and he's filling out in a chubby baby way, not a uncomfortable puffy way which is very exciting to see! Victor remains our attentive little guy who spends more of his time awake and just taking it all in. He loves music and listening to his family talk. He is also our super snuggle bunny and when you cuddle him in close his oxygen needs and heart rate go down and he relaxes right in. I have visions of life with all of them at home: Victor permanently attached to me or Marty in a sling or pack while we play with the other boys. He just likes to be held close.

Oscar, like I said, is HOME! Oscar came home on December 22nd after 61 days in the hospital and became the best Christmas present ever. We are thoroughly enjoying having him here and can't wait for his brothers to join him. The world here is certainly more stimulating than the hospital and Oscar is taking it all in. When he's awake he spends lots of time just looking around and is very content to hang out in his bouncer or on a boppy by me telling us stories. He's getting pretty good at outings since there are plenty of follow up appointments that come along with being a preemie and we go in often to see our brothers. With these though we know that he is growing and right on track for his age. He has an appropriate level of disdain for diaper changes and certainly lets us know he'd rather be doing just about anything else, but all in all Oscar is very content and is letting Marty and I sleep occasionally. We should see very little delay with our little Oscar and really our only remaining issue is a mini war on diaper rash which I appear to have won with my nipple cream--hey, whatever works right?!

Mylo is ready to come home.....almost. He passed his car seat test the same day as Oscar, but was still working on feedings. Mylo is just hanging out and has a very good "don't bug me mom" groan whenever we try to wake up to eat or changing diapers or whatever. Mylo is our sleeper and wanting to sleep all the time is getting in the way of eating enough to grow without the help of his feeding tube. As of yesterday, he is on his second round of ad lib feedings where he gets to decide when and how much he eats for a day or two and if he grows, he goes home, if he doesn't he goes back to tube feedings and we try again in a few days. This time seems to be going better and we are hopeful that we will have Mylo home by the weekend. We're pretty sure that Mylo knows how sad mommy will be when the day comes where we have to leave Victor alone in the hospital and he is being a holdout to keep the peace in the family.

Mommy and Daddy are doing well through all of this. Marty is stretched very thin between work and the hospital and now, with a baby at home, that only gets more difficult. He's a great sport helping out with midnight feedings though so I can get a little sleep, too. We are both very ready to have our family in one place as the running around is getting very old, but we are very thankful to my mom who has come to stay so that we can get back and forth without packing Oscar up every time. I'm enjoying hearing my mom interact with Oscar as she is quite the baby whisperer and her way with him is magical.

3 sleeping babies

I'm sitting in Victor's room after a quick check confirmed that I do in fact have three sleeping babies* (although I believe I'm hearing Oscar stirring in the room next door) and since this is a rare occurrence with them all on different feeding schedules, I thought I'd try to get in an update with a couple of pics, too!

The boys are all doing well. We had a big day last Sunday, Nov 27thm  and graduated from the NICU and are now officially ICC (Infant Care Center) patients. This came as a big surprise for us since we were told on Saturday that they would start looking for 3 beds together and within an hour we found out that they were, in fact, available. I, of course, melted into a puddle of tears when hearing about the move (both happy-we're closer to home, and sad-we're leaving our NICU family tears) and Marty was just baffled by his crying wife. He just kept saying, "I don't get it, this is good, right?" and of course he was right and we had lessons in "you don't have to get it, you just have to hug me." At any rate here are our little geniuses in their very cool NICU graduation hats from one of our favorite primary nurses, Kris...

As we've made our transition to the new unit we are getting to enjoy our family outside of their isolettes as they have all gotten to move into cribs. This has been one of my favorite milestones, it is worlds better when I can just pick up my boys and snuggle whenever they need attention and it's so much easier to change diapers and get them dressed. The first step in the move is getting them all bundled up in their isolettes with the temperature off and making sure they can maintain their temperature.

Oscar all bundled showing he's got what it takes for his crib move:

and all moved in:

Mylo ready to go:

and making the move:

and Victor all moved in (he got moved in without pictures because he was such a champ with his temp he had to move before I got back from dinner since he was overheating!)

We've also gotten to start getting cuddles from grandma:

and real big boy baths:

All in all, we are all doing really well. Oscar is just down to figuring out how to eat by mouth and he'll be headed home and he's getting the hang of it so it shouldn't be too long! (I'm hoping to have him be the best Christmas present ever). Victor and Mylo are still on oxygen and have troubles with desaturating their blood oxygen levels when they get full tummies so it will be a bit longer for them. Victor has a few added little issues that continue including facing his follow up surgery, having some troubles with his metabolism because of his hypothyroidism and the absorption issues that come from only having part the intestine doing it's job. The boys all had their second round of preemie eye exams that look for Retinopathy of Prematurity (a condition concerning the blood vessels in the eyes of preemies that can cause vision loss) and both Oscar and Victor have Stage 1 ROP which typically corrects itself with age, but they will be followed with biweekly eye exams until it wither improves (hopefully) or worsens. If it worsens, there is a laser surgery to treat the condition so we're hoping for better next time! Aside from all the medical issues, all the boys are getting to be so much more alert and spend a lot more time awake and aware. It's really fun to watch their little personalities forming and I can't wait to see them all in the same room! 

Here are a few more pictures of our fun with the little men:

Mylo taking a snooze with dad

Mylo with all the tape off his face!

Oscar and dad with Oscar's favorite fish face

Snuggles with Victor

Mom's a little tired...

Visits from aunts and uncles 

and special great-grandmas

Victor peeking

Oscar snuggles

*this blog post may have started in Victor's room with 3 sleeping babies, but that was three days ago and as I had predicted Oscar was stirring and the remainder of the post has happened during the brief moments that all three boys are asleep over the course of three days...Hopefully we'll work towards a feeding schedule that doesn't leave them all sleeping at different times before they come home or mom and dad will truly be zombies (happy to have them home zombies, but zombies nonetheless) in no time!