Our heads are slightly above water....

Hi all, Just wanted to let everyone know that we are doing good. We are very exhausted but all we have to do is look at Emery & Grayson and we know exactly why we are doing this. Emery and Grayson had their first doctor's appt today. They have gained weight since coming home so I know we are doing something right :)

Nathan is continuing to get stronger everyday. His feeding tube has been removed so all his feedings will be given by bottle. The next thing they will work towards is getting him off the oxygen. With everyday that passes he is looking more and more like Grayson. He is closing in on 4lbs, only .5 of a gram to go!!! The hardest part of Emery and Grayson coming home is getting to the hospital to spend time with Nathan. It is really hard not to feel guilty but we know he will be home soon. When he comes home we will just have to shower him with extra love.

Here are some pics of Emery & Grayson outside the hospital!!!!:

Coming Home.....

We wanted to give everyone a quick update. The trio has been making tremendous strides over the last week. To prove just how tremendous, Emery and Grayson will be coming home this evening. Ryan and I are about to leave the house to pick them up. Nathan will likely need another week or so in the hospital. He has also come along way since our last post. He is now in an open crib and is taking bottle feeds. He is still on oxygen and has a feeding tube but the doctors are working to wean him off the oxygen and removing the feeding tube in the next few days. Needless, to say we will be busy over the next few days but we will try to post quick updates as often as we can.

Few pics of Emery:



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Few pics of Grayson:





Few pics of Nathan:

Making strides..........

Well, we are settling into our new home. It has taken some getting used to but we are transitioning the best we can. The triplets have made some great strides since the transfer. Emery is no longer on oxygen. Grayson is now out of the isolette and is in an open crib like Emery. Emery and Grayson have also had their feeding tubes removed as they are taking all their feeds by bottle now. It is great to see their faces with nothing on them. Nathan is making good progress as well. His feeds have increased to the point where they can finally start compressing his feeds into a certain time frame. This will get him ready to start taken his feeds from a bottle every 3 hours. He will likely start taking a bottle once a day tomorrow. At this point all of them are considered "Feeders & Growers" as we are just waiting on them to get bigger and stronger before they can come home. Below are some pictures of the little ones.

Some pics of mom holding the boys & then all of them:





Pic of our little princess with everything off her face and a bow in her hair:



Pic of Grayson, before the feeding tube was removed:



Pic of Nathan in his monkey outfit:



Until next time.....

Big Moves....

Hi all. We have had a busy last few days with the little ones especially today. All three of them were transferred to the hospital closer to home. It's good news as it means they are healthy enough to not need critical care and the hospital is much closer to home. It will be much easier to visit them as the drive will only take us about 10 minutes verse the 45 minutes we have been doing. We were really sad to leave the nurses that had taken care of them since birth. They provided them with exceptional care and treated them as if they were their own children. We will always have a special place in our hearts for them. Before we left last night the nurses made it possible for us to take our very first family photo which we didn't think would happen until all of them were home.



All of the babies are doing really well. Emery was moved into an open crib on Thursday and has been doing really well with holding her temperature. Grayson should be moved into an open crib tomorrow. Emery and Grayson have both started taking more of their feeds by bottle which they have both been doing really well with it. Nathan's feeds have consistently increased and we have been working with him with a pacifier getting him ready to start bottle feeding again. We are sure it will be happening very soon. Once he starts taking his feeds by bottle I am sure it will not take him long to catch up with his brother and sister. Nathan got his PICC line removed last night which means he can now wear clothes from home as well. All three of them are putting on weight daily and are now approx 4lbs 3oz (Emery), 3lbs 10oz (Grayson) and 3lbs 4oz (Nathan).

Here are some pics of Emery from a few days ago: The first one is of her in her new crib. The second pic is not very clear but it is too cute not to share.





Here are a few pictures of Grayson:





Here are a few pictures of Nathan (prior to his PICC line being removed):





Until next time.....

More snow....

Well, we weren't able to make it to the hospital today to see our little ones, thanks to the additional 12 inches of snow we got (on top of the 30 inches from the weekend) along with the white out conditions. We called the NICU every few hours just to check on them and see how their day was going. They all had a good day today which is always good news. It was hard not seeing them today but at least we know they are all doing well and are getting the best care.

We found out tonight that Emery will be moved from her isolette into an open crib!!!! We were so excited to hear the news as this is one step closer to her being able to come home. She has been holding her own temperature in the isolette for several days now so they are going to see how she does in an open crib. We have our fingers crossed that she will continue to hold her temperature in the crib so she won't have to go back into an isolette.

Nathan and Grayson continue to do well also. They are increasing their feeds everyday, working on their bottle feeds and gaining weight. All 3 of them had eye exams on Tuesday and their results were very good! One less thing we have to worry about.

Here are some pictures of the trio that we took yesterday.

Shot of mom & Grayson. I was trying to cover his eyes from the bright lights as their eyes had been dilated for their eye exams. However, in doing so I covered up most of his face from the picture....oops.



Pic of Grayson where you can see his cute little face.



Some pics of Emery as you can see she is sporting another one of her outfits.





Unfortunately, we were unable to hold Nathan on Tuesday b/c his temperature was a little low so we couldn't get as many good shots of him.



We will be making our way to the hospital tomorrow so we should have another update for everyone soon.

Lots of snow for lots of babies

The triplets had a great weekend despite the 30 inches of snow that dumped out of the sky. Things change for them on a daily basis. They are all moving forward and we just want them to continue on this trend.

Emery is continuing to grow and is currently approx 3lbs 15oz. She is almost 4lbs which will be a big milestone for us. Her feeds are being increased on a daily basis and she has also started to bottle feed twice a day!! Once she masters the "practice" bottle feeding the next step will be to turn off the continuous feeds and start her on full bottle feeds every few hours.

Grayson had a big day today. His bili lights were removed and he is much happier since he can be bundled. We have our fingers crossed that his numbers will not rebound again. Some of his blood work tests that were run in order to determine if there are any underlying issues that could be causing his bili numbers to rebound, have come back and so far so good. He will also have his PICC line removed later tonight which means he can start wearing outfits from home like Emery. I am excited to see him tomorrow in his first little outfit. He is getting better with his bottle feeds. He was solely on bottle feeds every three hours but he started to tire out so they cut them back to every other. As they are so little, drinking a bottle is a lot of work for them. They will be able to take more and more of their feedings from a bottle as they get bigger. Grayson is also continuing to grow and is approx 3lbs 8oz.

Nathan has been doing really well over the last few days. The doctors haven't made any changes with his care other than increasing his feeds. He had his feeds reduced a few days ago as his tummy got a little irritated. Now that his tummy is better they are working to increase his feeds. They do not want to increase them too quickly as that could cause his tummy to get irritated again. They were planning on removing his PICC line a few days ago but due to his feedings being reduced they had to keep the line in and restart the fluids he was receiving to ensure he would receive the required nutrients. Once his feeds get a higher they will remove the PICC. Nathan is almost 3lbs...he is currently 2lbs 15oz.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any new glamour shots today (of the babies of course). But we have some good ones from yesterday that will hopefully hold everyone over. We should have some more pics when we visit tomorrow. We'll have to get there early to beat the next round of snow.

Nathan checking out his surroundings.


Big brother Grayson taking a bottle from Dad.


The little princess stylin' in her outfit.




Dad putting the third crib together and doing his best to get the baby room ready. It'll be a tight fit, but will work nonetheless.




And some of dad's hard work outside.





Til next time...

All in the same room....

Last night when we were at the hospital they told us that Grayson was going to be moved from room 4 to room 1 with Nathan. We were excited to know that at least 2 of them would be in the same room as they have all been in different rooms since they were born. This morning when I called to let their nurses know when I would be at the hospital, I found out that Emery had also been moved into room 1 to be with her brothers. They are all FINALLY in one room!!! Not only are they in the same room they are side by side. This makes life a lot easier for Ryan and I when we visit them as we only have to go to one room instead of traveling between three. The night nurses made them a sign to welcome them into their new spots...it is so cute that I had to share it with all of you.



Today the trio is 3 weeks old. They have come a long way in the last 3 weeks and we look forward to the weeks to come as they will be that much closer to coming home.

Below are some pics from today.........

Emery is in her very first outfit from home!!! She was all bundled up so I couldn't get a picture of her total outfit.



Grayson was still under the bili lights today. His bili numbers did come down but they are going to keep him under the lights until the numbers get really low.



Nathan was pretty comfortable when I first arrived.

More bottles!!

Ok, since it has been a few days and I am sure everyone has checked for an update more than once since Monday, we thought we better get to it. I can't believe it is already Thursday, my days seem to slide together without me really paying attention. This week I have been going to the hospital twice a day every other day and once a day on the other days so that I can get some things done. My mom has been coming over to help me return things and do some running around on the days that I don't go to the hospital until the evening with Ryan. I love having her around.

The trio is doing really well....

Emery is receiving 8cc of formula/breast milk an hour and will be getting her PICC removed tomorrow morning at 2am. It is being removed since her feeds are enough to give her the calorie intake she needsn which means she no longer requires the additional calories/fluids that she has been receiving through the PICC line. This also means she will be able to start wearing clothes we bring her from home!!! We knew it would be likely that she (& the boys) would be having their PICC lines removed in the coming days so my mom & I definelty went shopping for a few preemie outfits for all of them earlier in the week. Ryan and I took the outfits to the hospital tonight so Emery would be ready for tomorrow. I will be sure to post some pictures of her in her first outfit as soon as I can. She is continuing to gain weight and is approx 3lbs 11oz.







Grayson has been bottle feeding every 3 hours since Monday. He has done really well with it but on occasion he is very tired and prefers to just get his food the easy way, through his feeding tube. Tonight was one of those nights. Ryan was trying to give him his 6pm feeding and unfortunately he wanted to sleep instead. Babies his size extert a lot of energy bottle feeding so it is very normal for them to get tired after a few minutes of feeding or from simply being tired from bottle feedings earlier in the day. With everyday that passes he gets bigger and stronger and before we know it he will be feeding with no problem. On another note, Grayson's bili numbers have gone back up again so he is back under the lights. The doctors will be running some tests to see if there is some underlying issue that may be causing his bili numbers to keep rebounding. We are thankful they want to run tests to make sure but are hoping the cause is just due to underdevelopment. He is continuing to gain weight and is approx 3lbs 7oz. He is closing in on Emery!





These pics are from tonight's attempt of dad trying to feed Grayson. As you will see he was more interested in laying against dad's chest and snoozing than eating.







Nathan started bottle feeding on Wednesday!!! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures as the first bottle was given to him at midnight. I was there for his second bottle at noon but didn't have a camera with me. He is still receiving continous feeds but they have started to give him a bottle every 12 hours. This allows him to start to learn how to bottle feed while still receiving all his calories through his feeding tube. Nathan's PICC line will likely be removed in another day or two as well. He is also continuing to gain weight and is approx 2lbs 14oz.







Until next time.......

Big day for Grayson.....

Today Grayson had his first bottle!!!! It is amazing how much changes with them in one day. Grayson had his feedings turned off for a day and half due to his tummy being upset. Today they decided to change his feedings to 5cc every 3 hours instead of doing continuous feeds. They were not sure whether he would know what to do with the bottle but he did. It was so good to see him drinking the bottle, it is just another step forward for us. Once he had finished he was wide a wake looking around trying to figure what just took place.