So much has happened over the last 9 days since the triplets were born that I don’t even know where to begin. I guess we’ll start with their birthday!
On April 12th, around noon, my water broke. I had been on bedrest for almost 4 weeks at that point, including 2 weeks of hospital bedrest. I called the nurse and they confirmed that it was amniotic fluid and rushed me down to labor and delivery. I called Bryan in the elevator on the way and he started making his way up to the hospital. About an hour and a half later the doctor came in and found I was 4cm dialated and a baby was already making her way down the birth canal. I was told they would be delivered within the next hour. That’s when panic set in. I was prepped for surgery and Bryan came into the OR. 15 minutes after they began the surgery our three little girls made their entrance into the world. The first to make her debut was Evie May, weighing at 1 pound, 6 ounces/11.5 inches long, at 3:28pm. The next was Teagan Vine, weighing 2 pounds/13.5 inches long, at 3:29pm. And finally Adeline Claire, weighing 1 pound, 8 ounces/12.5 inches long, also at 3:29pm. I only briefly saw Teagan and Adeline as they rushed them to the NICU and I heard Teagan cry as they delivered her. We have some photos of the c-section but I’ll spare you the gory details:)
Since their birth everything has been a whirlwind. I’ll break it down by each baby:
Teagan- We have been very fortunate that she has not needed a ventilator at all. She’s bounced back and forth between what’s called CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) and the nasal canula. She’s currently on the nasal canula and we hope she’ll be able to hold her own with that now. She did have a small PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus, which is a blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and the aorta. Before birth, this vessel allows the baby’s blood to bypass the lungs because oxygen is supplied by the mother through the placenta. The ductus arteriosus should close soon after birth. If it does not, it is called a patent (open) ductus arteriosus, or PDA). They think this will close on its own and they are not going to give her any medication for it at this point. She also has had one head scan and so far no brain bleeds which is really, really great! Currently she’s getting about 11ml of milk at each feeding every 3 hours. She has a feeding tube right now but they said in a month or so she should be ready to be bottle fed.
Adeline- She has been on the ventilator since birth. Although when we spoke to the doctor last night she mentioned possibly extubating her soon and trying her on the cpap. Adeline also had a PDA and she received a course of medication over 3 days to close it. At this time it looks like it has closed (it can always open again but we are counting our blessings at this point). Her head scan did show a slight brain bleed, a level one/possibly level 2, but they said these sometimes resolve on their own. She will have a follow up head scan tomorrow to recheck it and make sure it is not progressing. She’s finally receiving feeds and she’s at about 4mls every 3 hours.
Evie- She’s our little fighter. She also has given us our biggest scare so far. She was doing really well up until Saturday; she had come off the ventilator and was on the nasal canula and handling continuous feeds really well. Saturday night we got a call from the NICU that she had aspirated a bit of her milk which caused her lungs to collapse. They had to intubate her and put her back on the ventilator. As of last night she’s back to her usual self and back on the nasal canula. They also started her back on continuous feeds and right now she gets about .5ml every hour. Other than that she’s doing good, she didn’t have a PDA when they checked and no brain bleed on her head scan either.
So everyone is hanging in there, including me and Bryan. It’s an exhausting rollercoaster. We’ll be seeing them again tonight so stay tuned for more updates.
Also, here’s a link to a quick reference guide for terms commonly used in the NICU, just in case anything in this blog gets confusing. http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/21278_11036.asp
I’ll leave everyone with some much anticipated pictures…you can click on each image to view it larger.
Thank you everyone for the continued prayers!
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Evie holding daddy’s finger
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Evie’s princess crown
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Evie getting sleepy
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Evie looking around
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Evie with her bow on
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Evie hanging out
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Adeline’s princess crown
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Adeline hanging out
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Adeline with Bryan’s wedding ring on her hand..she looks JUST like him
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Adeline with her bow and sunglasses getting a suntan under the bili lights
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Teagan’s princess crown we made her
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Teagan back on nasal canula and enjoying tummy time
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Teagan wearing the cpap and sucking on the word’s tiniest pacifier
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Teagan
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Bryan changing Teagan’s diaper for the first time!
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Teagan in her little hat
The Jolley Triplets 