Day 53 in the NICU

Life as confirmed "feeders & growers" seems a little less stressful. :) The monitors aren't beeping constantly anymore, we've got some room to spread out, the boys are working on taking bottles and life is good. Here are some recent updates about each of the babies:

Ryan

Ryan's rocking his open air crib and constantly wears a snugly wrap so he will stay warm. Big news of the week: Ryan had his hearing test the other day and he PASSED! Yay! The other 2 boys won't have their hearing tests until they're in cribs. Ryan did have to get back on low flow oxygen (remember 2 steps forward & 1 step back). Overall he's doing really well and is taking 2 bottle feedings per day. He currently gets 46 cc's each feeding and weighs 4 lb, 15.7 oz. He actually hit 5 lbs two nights ago but lost a few ounces and is making his way back to 5 lb.

Pics of Ryan today

Stokes

Stokes is getting 1 bottle per day and is doing fairly well. I gave him his bottle during the evening feed yesterday and he wasn't able to finish the whole thing before he got worn out so the nurse had to put the rest through his feeding tube. He is still in his isolette but I hope that he will be in an open air crib soon! Maybe within a week or so. He is getting 46 cc's each feeding and currently weighs 4 lb, 15.4 oz. 

Pics of Stokes from today

William

Like Ryan, William is also on low flow oxygen. He gets reflux after he eats which causes him to de-sat (drop his oxygen saturation) a bit so we need him to work on that! He is also still in an isolette, but he is doing a great job maintaining his body temperature and his isolette is programmed for just over 28 degrees. William is also working on 1 bottle feeding per day. It really tired him out and he has a harder time than his brothers with taking his whole bottle. He is getting 42 cc's and currently weighs 4 lb, 9.0 oz.

Pics of William from today

Delivery

...continued from the "Bed Rest" post.

Let me set the scene.  It was August 25, 2013 around 6:30 PM.  My water broke unexpectedly around 5 PM and I was only at 27 weeks of gestation with my triplets.  I was currently in a labor and delivery room, hooked up to an IV, contractions monitor and heart rate monitors for the babies.  I was continuing to have regular contractions, despite being on magnesium sulfate, which was administered in an attempt to subside preterm labor contractions.  It had worked in the past but did not seem to be working this time.  My contractions over the last 5 weeks were not painful but these contractions definitely felt different.  As more time passed, the contractions were getting more and more painful.  The L&D nurses would ask me about my pain level and ask me to quantify it by saying if it was a 1 - 10.  Ummm, I have probably never been at a 10, so how would I possibly know what the maximum number on the pain scale would feel like?  I was so lost as to how to answer this question.  All I knew that was it hurt.  They told me to let them know when I felt like I needed pain meds and it eventually got to that point.  When I told them I was ready for the pain medicine, they said they would get the on-call OB to come and check me.  A few minutes later, Dr. Twedt, the on-call OB, came in to the room and proceeded to check to see if I was dialated.  She announced that she could not even feel my cerclage and I was 4 cm.  She said, "we're going to have babies."  My response: "Like, tonight?!?!?" She nodded and said that we would be going over to the operating room soon.  The nurses unhooked me from the monitors, gave me a surgical cap for my hair and got me ready to move.  They gave Thomas scrubs and showed him where to go.  He was not allowed to come into the OR until after my spinal anesthesia was administered. Before we left the room, I found out that Dr. Beck, my primary OB, was going to come in and help with the delivery since triplet deliveries can be difficult and complicated.  I was SO relieved that she would be there since I had planned from the beginning that she would deliver my babies. Plus, she has a way of calming me down and reassuring me about everything. Then they wheeled my bed down the hall and into the OR.

The next part of this story is a little hazy because I was in a state of shock.  I just did not want to accept that our boys were going to be born at that time, at only 27 weeks.  I was terrified of what would happen to them and whether they would be OK.  I did not have a good feel for how small they would be, although I knew they would be tiny.  I didn't know if they would be able to breathe and how underdeveloped their little bodies would be.  I just kept thinking about them and it was scaring me to death.

The OR is a busy place right before a delivery.  The doctors and nurses were moving around and talking to each other and checking everything.  I was so nervous that my heart was racing, my blood pressure was extremely elevated and I was shaking like a leaf.  My delivery nurse Pam was really sweet and was trying to help me relax and calm down.  After I got my anesthesia, they let Thomas come into the room.  I really, really needed him there.  He was in scrubs and looked so handsome.  I could really only see his eyes and they were just beautiful.  I'm pretty sure I told him that in the midst of the surgery. :)  Thomas sat right next to me, right near my face where I could see him.  It was such a surreal time.  He kept telling me he loved me and how proud he was of me. I don't think I spoke very much at all, except for a few words. Our connection during that time was so solid and it was such an emotional time for both of us.  I could not see anything that the doctors were doing during my C-section due to the sheet that they put up over my stomach.  The surgery itself went well. Luckily my anesthesia worked but I could feel pressure and movement during the surgery.  I could feel each baby being taken out.  It was a really strange feeling, like a weight being removed from my core, which I guess is what it actually was.  Although I was extremely worried about my babies' health and wellbeing, I felt a sense of relief when they were delivered.  I realized that I felt so much pressure to carry these babies for as long as possible and now my job of being pregnant with triplets was done.  It's very hard on your body to carry more than one baby and to know that I wasn't solely responsible for keeping them alive and well anymore in the midst of bed rest and ongoing scares/issues was surprisingly comforting.  I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders in those moments.  I knew that although I wasn't pregnant anymore, my challenges and fears would shift into a different direction than the previous months. 

The whole process, from the time my water broke until my baby boys were delivered, lasted all of about 3 hours.  At 8:04 PM, Stokes Taylor and Ryan Thomas were born.  At 8:05 PM, William Robert was born.  Stokes was immediately taken to a different room where his bed was waiting. Ryan and William and their NICU teams were in the OR with Thomas and me.  Each baby did his best to cry and they let out a few little screams/cries.  They were really only in the room for a few minutes before they were whisked away to the NICU. The nurses brought them over for me to see for a second before taking them out of the room, but it was too quick for me to get a good look at each sweet, tiny face.  Those NICU teams work really quickly to get the babies taken care of and then to the NICU for further medical care. My doctors sewed me up and finished the C-section and then I got wheeled to a recovery room. There in the recovery room my entire upper body was shaking uncontrollably.  Apparently that is normal post C-section, but it made me feel awful and weird.  It wasn't long until I got a report on the babies.  Dr. Beck and Thomas went to the NICU to see the boys and then came back to tell me everything.  They told me that the boys looked good and were doing well.  I cannot even explain how relieved I felt.  They told me that they all had a head full of dark hair, which surprised me.  Dr. Beck said she thought Baby A and B looked very similar.  By the way, I should mention that we hadn't decided which baby would get which name.  We had picked out names but wanted to see the babies first before deciding who was who, so they were still A, B and C at the time! It felt good to hear specific details about the boys.  I did not get a chance to go to the NICU the night they were born.  After I was done in the recovery room, they wheeled me back to my old room in the high risk section of the floor, back to my comfort zone and the room where I had lived for the last 5 weeks.  At that point, I began recovering from the surgery and was able to go to the NICU to get a good look at the boys the next day.  Thus began our journey of being the Peery Family of 5.

 I don't even remember this picture being taken, but it must have been the night the babies were born since Thomas is wearing his scrubs. 

Bed Rest

...continued from the "My Triplet Pregnancy" post.

I checked into the hospital, per my MFM's suggestion, and they put me in a labor and delivery room.  I didn't know what was going on at the time, but looking back, that is very scary!  I was 22 weeks and 2 days gestation.  The nurses immediately hooked me up to a contractions monitor, an IV, catheter, and magnesium sulfate (mag) to curb my contractions*.  They were asking me a bunch of questions and explaining stuff that was going on and my head was spinning.  Everything was happening very fast and I was overwhelmed and scared.  I can't say enough about how glad I was that Thomas was there with me!  He got on the phone/text and started letting our family, friends and co-workers know what was going on.
*Side note - the nurses kept warning me that mag will make you feel very yucky, sluggish and hot and kept apologizing that I would have to deal with it.  I am proud to say that I was relatively unaffected! :)

I was a little concerned with some stuff I left at work, so I gave Thomas specific instructions to call my boss with info about what I was working on.  Luckily, she and my team were "on it" and there was one less thing to be worried about! :)  In addition, my dad just happened to be staying at our house at the time I was admitted and as soon as he found out that I was in the hospital, he let Thomas know that we did not need to worry about our two dogs, General and Esso.  My dad was willing to make sure they got fed and let out every day so we wouldn't be concerned.  It would be less work for Thomas and fewer times he would have to go back and forth between home and the hospital. That was a major blessing for us.

At some point that day the anesthesiologist came in to introduce himself and ask me a few questions about allergies and such.  They also wouldn't let me eat anything.  I had breakfast around 6:30 AM and hadn't had anything since.  After eating every 2 hours or so for the last 4.5 months, going hours and hours and hours without food was challenging! They finally let me eat around 7 PM and at that point, I was pretty hangry (hungry + angry haha).  I didn't think anything of the anesthesiologist and lack of food since there were so many different people coming in and out of my room and I really had no idea what was going on, but later on I thought about that and realized these were measures put in place just in case I went into labor that day.  I shudder at the thought. 

That night it was very hard to sleep.  I had the IV machine beeping every so often, a blood pressure cuff beeping and taking my blood pressure once an hour, nurses coming in to check on me, plus add to that my nerves and worried nature and I could not sleep.  It felt like that first night lasted forever.

By the next day, it seemed the mag was working and my contractions must have calmed down to some degree. The doctor made some comment about being glad that "we didn't deliver babies yesterday" and I was blown away.  Even with all the precautions that were being taken, I just didn't think we were that close to having the boys.  It took a while for this to actually sink in with me. The doctor also told me that at 22 weeks and 2 days, the babies would have had 0% viability and that the NICU doesn't take babies less than 23 weeks gestation.  I had NO IDEA.  I totally realized that the babies would be small since they were so young, but really thought that they would be fine and just needed some time in the NICU to grow.  I was clueless about how underdeveloped they would have been at that point.  Reality check!!!!  Like I said in the previous post, I was convinced that I would carry the boys at least 32 weeks and had not done any research at all about preterm delivery at 22 weeks.  My new short term goal was to get to 23 weeks that Sunday to at least give the boys a fighting chance of survival.  My long term goal was to get to 32 weeks (or more!!), which I was told is when the boys would be in fairly good shape developmentally and although they would still have to go to the NICU, the level of concern for their health and survival would be much less. 

That same day they moved me to the women's specialty/high risk suite of the floor and out of labor and delivery, which is considered an "upgrade".  Even though the rooms are much smaller at high risk, we were at least out of the woods for an urgent/immediate delivery so we were glad! I did end up moving rooms within the high risk area one time to get a more "long term" room that had a mini fridge, but basically I realized that I should get settled in.  Within a few days I got my IV removed, I was off the mag and catheter and was allowed to get out of my bed to use the restroom.  I was able to get up to use the restroom and shower and that was it! My doctors would tell me on their rounds that I would most likely be in the hospital until I delivered.  At just 22.5 weeks I would think about trying to make it to 32 weeks and spending 10 weeks in a hospital bed and just couldn't fathom it.  It helped that the doctors and nurses would tell me to take it 1 day at a time and encourage me that each day made a huge difference and each morning that I wake up and still be pregnant was a good day. Each day the babies remained in utero was 2 less days they would have to spend in the NICU.  Hearing that message enough helps to let it infiltrate your mind and eventually I was able to think more on a day by day basis, vs. thinking about spending weeks and weeks there. 

As awful as it would seem to be stuck in a hospital bed, I was extremely blessed with amazing family and friends and my time day by day would go by fairly fast!  I had people coming by and staying with me just to keep me company, tons of people dropped by for quick visits and brought books, magazines, movies, new maternity clothes (in bigger sizes than what I had LOL), gift cards for Barnes & Noble and iTunes to keep me occupied and various other special gifts, people brought food for Thomas and me on a regular basis, people came by and prayed with us and for us, and several people brought and sent flowers to cheer me up.  Even the on-call doctors would come by and hang out and just chat with me about college football or whatever when they weren't delivering babies.  I especially loved when my primary OB, Dr. Beck, would come by! :) To say that Thomas and I felt loved is an understatement.  It was truly humbling to know how many people cared and how much they would go out of their way and how generous they were to help us get through this tough time.  THANK YOU to all of you that are reading this and participated in our hospital saga.  You have no idea how much it meant to both of us and how appreciative we are and glad and blessed to have you all in our lives!!! I have a special shout out to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law that came and stayed several days and took great care of me (including spending the night at the hospital in the small couch/bed contraption).

I can't say enough about my husband, Thomas, during this time.  He would spend pretty much every waking moment with me at the hospital if he wasn't at work or at home taking care of our dogs.  He spent countless nights staying at the hospital with me, even though his feet hung off the couch/bed thingy a good foot! He would pack an overnight bag and his laptop and even worked from my hospital room as much as he could.  Thank you to his co-workers that picked up any slack when he needed to be at the hospital instead of the office.  He and I are both so grateful to you!!!! Thomas was absolutely my rock and he even managed to divert a lot of calls and texts from caring people in our lives from my phone to his to make me less stressed.  He really took care of me and when he wasn't there at the hospital, I would literally count down the minutes until the time he came back.  I love that man and this experience did nothing if not bring us even closer together.

In addition to our wonderful family and friends, my hospital stay was also brightened by the incredible staff of the women's specialty section of the hospital.  As my stay progressed, I got to know quite a few of the nurses and got some "primary" nurses that took care of me on a regular basis.  I was a bit paranoid in regards to just about everything (haha...this is in my nature!!), and these ladies listened to all my concerns and fears and talked me back to sanity.  They helped me brush my teeth, would pick out clothes for me from my bag, refill countless pitchers of water, administer all my meds with care and explain what everything was for, they would come in when the doctors would "round" and stick around to translate anything that I wasn't clear on or had questions about, etc.  They did it all!  Not only that, but they would come in to chat with me and keep me laughing.  I felt so comfortable with my nurses and I really looked forward to seeing them each day.  These ladies became my friends!  I really liked and appreciated all the nurses that I had during my stay, but I felt very close to Lauren and Brooks and want them to know what great nurses they are and how much I love them!

So anyway, the days went by one by one and each Sunday was a mini celebration that I had made it another week.  I kept myself busy with reading novels, daily devotionals, enjoying visitors, chatting with my nurses and doctors and of course watching TV/DVDs.  I got to week 23 (Viability!!!! VERY important!!!), week 24 (mini milestone with higher survival rates), week 25 and 26 (even better survival rates and development milestones) and my goal at the time was to get to 28 weeks.  It had been explained to me that by 28 weeks, preemies have an 80-90% survival rate and can really thrive in the NICU.  Past that, getting to 30 weeks and then to 32 weeks would be even better! I had my mind set on 28 weeks and would tackle the higher milestones after getting to 28...think small, attainable goals, people! At 23 weeks, I got my first round of steroid shots (ouch) to help with the babies' lung development and was told we could repeat the steroids on a second round after 4 weeks, which would be at 27 weeks gestation. 

A few notes about my 5 week bed rest time frame: I had weekly ultrasounds on Mondays and we looked forward to them to see pictures of the babies and check in on them to see how they were doing.  Several of the ultrasounds unfortunately showed cervical shortening.  Around 24 weeks I had a surgical cerclage revision, which was very risky but proved to be the best choice for us and granted us several extra weeks of pregnancy we may not have had otherwise.  We had a couple of growth ultrasounds on the babies and I am very proud to report that they consistently measured very well and even ahead of their gestational age!  This goes to show that the strict diet of eating much and often really worked!  I also had physical therapy and got daily blood thinner shots to prevent blood clots from forming in my seldom used legs.  We monitored the babies's heart rates once per day and it usually took two nurses to hold all the monitors in place on my belly. We got really good at this and were usually able to find each heartbeat within a matter of seconds and could track them all at the same time and get the readings done after about 5-10 minutes (I was told this sometimes took much longer with other people). I had to have my contractions monitored for 1 hour 2 times a day and my meds were adjusted based on my contractions.  I never stopped contracting from the day I was admitted, but that was due to my overextended and confused uterus and were not a major concern unless they got more intense and/or painful.  I could tell I was having them but they weren't painful.  It just felt like my stomach was tightening.  I was getting BIG and my body was starting to feel like it couldn't take much more.  It was really uncomfortable to stand up and walk to the bathroom and I had constant paranoia that anything and everything I did could further shorten my cervix and begin labor.  I was literally scared to stand up. 

25 weeks - wearing contractions monitor

25 weeks

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 I hit 27 weeks gestation.  I had some company that weekend and some visitors early that afternoon and was doing my usual thing. My contractions were calmer than a typical day and there was no reason to think that this day would be different from any other day on bed rest. My nurse Brooks came by and gave me the first shot of my 2nd round of steroids and I got her to hand me some snacks my aunt made so I could have a delicious (and protein filled!!) snack.  Around 5 pm, I was enjoying my snack and watching an episode of Downton Abbey, season 2 :), when my water broke.  I was always wondering what it would be like and kept asking my nurses if my water broke at some point and I didn't realize it.  They kept telling me that I would just KNOW when it broke and I definitely did!  I immediately started freaking out and my heart was racing.  I was at 27 weeks, not 28 weeks, which was my current goal. That was not OK!  I do not like to fail and not meet my goals. I knew from my knowledgeable nurses that just because your water breaks that does not mean you are going into labor.  Apparently after your water breaks, you can stay on bed rest for several more weeks, and although the risk of infection is greater, you can continue to carry the babies and allow them to keep growing and developing before you actually have to deliver.  That thought came into my mind and I was hoping this would be the case for me.  I called my nurse and she didn't answer her phone.  YIKES. I called my husband and he didn't answer the phone. Double YIKES.  I was really starting to lose it and texted Thomas and told him that my water broke and I was freaking out.  At the same time, my nurse was calling me back and simultaneously walking into my room.  To put it in perspective, this happened in the course of 1 minute or less but I am crazy and was already a wreck.  My nurse Brooks helped me to calm down and a few seconds later I got a text back from Thomas that he was on his way....thank goodness! He made it to the hospital in about 15 minutes and it is kind of a miracle that he didn't get a speeding ticket on the way.  Brooks got a few other nurses to come and they got me changed into a hospital gown, hooked up to an IV and more mag, got the babies on heart monitors and me on a contractions monitor, prayed with me and tried to calm me down in general.  They wheeled me back to labor and delivery, which I was hoping was just until I got stabilized enough to return to high risk.  They stayed with me as long as they could but eventually had to go back to high risk and I had the L&D nurses taking care of me.

We didn't take many pictures during my time on bed rest, but here are a few...

With flowers from a sweet friend/coworker

The day Esso came to visit

Thomas and Esso on Thomas's bed

To be continued in the "Delivery" post.

My Triplet Pregnancy

Long post alert!  Beware. :)

I got a positive pregnancy test on March 21, 2013. You may be wondering how I remember that exact date. Well it's a big deal that your life is going to be turned upside down in a matter of months by becoming a parent, but the truth is that it was 2 days before my friend, Jacqui's, wedding in Charleston, SC. I was a bridesmaid and was wondering how to mask the fact that I wasn't going to be drinking at this super fun, BIG, awesome occasion. During this stage in life, if you don't already have kids and aren't drinking, conclusions are made! Since this was our first pregnancy, I was a little nervous and wanted to follow the 12 week announcement protocol. Luckily a lot of my friends have kids and have passed great advice around over the years about how to hide early pregnancy and tricks of the trade. Needless to say, the wedding was FABULOUS, I made it through without much, if any, suspicion, and was very proud of myself for partying it up on the dance floor ALL night and staying until the very end. We did bail on the after party at the bar though. It was time to go to bed!  I wish I had a dance floor pic to post but alas, I did not bring my camera.  Managed to get this one from FB though...

Jacqui's wedding day :)

Another interesting event of those first few weeks after the positive test was our big vacation to Dominican Republic with #teamDR, aka Heather and Walker Young. We made travel plans months and months before and did not think at all that we might be preggers! Of course the resort was all-inclusive and Thomas made a point to tell me that it had ten bars.  Really, babe?!?!?!  I really want to know how many bars it has where I can go and order a bottled water!  It took Thomas a second to realize what he had just said.  We were both getting used to the news haha! Before we left for the trip I called my OB to get clearance to travel, looked up foods pregnant people shouldn't eat, etc. The eating thing should be easy, but if you're in a foreign country that is Spanish speaking and don't know how to translate "pasteurized", it becomes a little harder! :) I was a little paranoid, this being the first pregnancy and all, so I drank a lot of bottled water and ate a lot of salads. This is awesome at an all-inclusive Carribbean resort (insert sarcasm). Anyway, in an effort to once again maintain the 12 week announcement protocol, we made up a lame story about why I wasn't drinking there and although I am sure they had their thoughts and theories, the Youngs were very gracious and let it go for the week. We had a wonderful time and hope we can take a big family vacation with them and their future children in upcoming years (or even possibly another adult vacay....babysitters, anyone?!?) haha!

We got back from the Dominican on April 7 and my ultrasound appointment was April 8. We went to the appointment and were so nervous to see if our pregnancy was the real deal. I didn't "feel" pregnant and didn't have any pregnancy symptoms and was concerned that I would miscarry.  I am paranoid. We ended up getting more news than we bargained for.  We were TOTALLY shocked to hear that we were having triplets! Despite what I am sure are assumed first thoughts from most people, these babies are not the product of IVF or any sort of medical "procedure"! You can imagine how caught off guard we were at our appointment. I could not even speak. Thomas dove into some nervous, "I don't know what to say" type of laugh and immediately grabbed my hand and told me it would be ok. My first thoughts turned to, "how are we possibly going to be able to do this" and, "we have no family in town and are on our own"....help! Thomas kept saying that God doesn't give you more than you can handle and spent a lot of time and energy trying to reassure me. The doctor explained to us that we would have appointments with my regular OB (for you Greenville people, I saw Dr. Beck at Piedmont and she is incredible...and beautiful!!!) as well as a Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM)/high risk doctor, which is standard for high order multiples pregnancies.

We spent several weeks trying to adjust to the news and start thinking and planning for the future. This involved a lot of crying (for me), emotional ups and downs, financial analysis, blog reading,  googling, and quite a few sleepless nights for me since I am a worrier by nature!

During the first trimester, we had no issues at all with the pregnancy and I was cruising right along. I mean, there was no morning sickness, I was not feeling tired, none of the normal first trimester complaints! What a blessing! I took this to mean that God did indeed have these triplets in His plan for us and was giving me some reprieve.  The babies were growing well and I was gaining weight appropriately. It all was pretty much a miracle, based on what I hear are typical first trimesters with multiples. I could spend an entire blog post on gaining weight, nutrition for triplet pregnancies, etc but suffice it to say that it takes a lot of vitamin supplements, extra calories, eating every 2 hours, daily Ensure drinks, and protein, protein, protein! The more weight the Mom gains the bigger and healthier the babies will be. Goodbye, vanity! 

I was told that a typical triplet pregnancy goes to 32 weeks (a full term pregnancy is 40 weeks).  My OB told me that the longest that they would let me go was 34 weeks, since carrying triplets is very strenuous on the mom's body.  I took this news to mean that I would have the babies somewhere between 32 weeks (the average!!!) - 34 weeks (longest I would be allowed to carry the babies), which in my case was early to mid-October.  When people would ask when they were "due", I would answer that I would probably deliver in October, which is earlier than their end of November full-term due date.  I had no doubts about this because I considered myself to be healthier than the "average" person and my pregnancy was going so well that it seemed like my body was ready to take on this big challenge and of course I would make it to at least the average gestation for triples.  My MFM told me about a lot of issues that I could face during this pregnancy due to the increased risks of having triplets - preeclampsia, nutritional deficiencies, incompetent cervix, gestational diabetes, and so on.  He also mentioned that I was at a disadvantage having never been pregnant before since my uterus had never been previously stretched out and it was going to be stretched further than what it was designed for.  In addition, my semi-petite stature would not do as well as someone that is taller and bigger in general.  Despite these warnings, which made me break down each time I heard them, I just didn't think I would be afflicted with any of these issues.  There were also some serious concerns about the babies.  I knew that pre-term babies are not fully developed, but felt fairly comfortable that my babies would continue growing in utero and although they would most likely have to go to the NICU, they would be doing well and would be released shortly after.  I just knew that we would have the healthiest 32 - 34 week preemies ever.  Of course we would, because my pregnancy had been so super easy and healthy! :) 

All was well until I hit around 22 weeks gestation.  I had been out of town 3 times in the last 2 weeks and was feeling just fine.  I was trying not to "do too much" and rest a lot but the problem with that is that you feel absolutely fine until you don't, and then it's too late.  All of a sudden I started feeling uncomfortable, but thought that pregnancy was starting to catch up to me.  All pregnant women feel uncomfortable at some point and obviously with triplets I would begin to feel uncomfortable sooner than a singleton pregnancy.  Totally normal, right?!?!?  Since the time I announced my pregnancy at work, I had tried not to be too needy and just "keep on keeping on".  That being said, the morning I went to work on the Monday I was 22 weeks and 1 day (7/22/13) and told my boss and our facility manager that I thought I might need a reserved parking spot near the door where I entered.  It was getting too hard to park way out in the back of the parking lot and walk (sounds lazy, huh!!) and when I was going to all my appointments during the middle of the day, the close parking spots were all taken.  That same morning, I called my OB and left a message for the nurse letting her know that I was just feeling "uncomfortable" and wanted to make sure all was OK.  She called me back and said that everything was probably fine, but just to be on the safe side to come in the office that afternoon and they would work me in.  I went to the appointment that afternoon and my ultrasound showed everything was just fine!  Then I had to get checked by the Doctor, who proceeded to tell me that she thought I was slightly dialated.  Wait, what was that???  Dialated???  Not so fast, my friend.  That couldn't be right!  I was only 22 weeks 1 day and I had a cerclage (stitch to help prevent early dialation).  She asked when my next appointment with the MFM was scheduled, which was set for the following Monday.  She calmly mentioned that she thought I should be seen sooner than a week, perhaps the next day.  At this point, it was 5:00 PM and the MFM office would be closed and it was too late to call them.  She said the secretary would call MFM the following morning and let me know my appointment time. I got a call at 9:00 AM the next morning. I had just gotten to work shortly before and had gotten into my email, reports, etc. and wasn't really expecting to hear anything for a few hours.  I was surprised but answered my phone and the secretary asked me how quickly I could get to the MFM office.  This should have thrown me for a loop, but in my typical obtuseness, I just answered that I could get there in about 30 minutes.  She followed up by saying that my appointment would be set for 9:30 and I should head over there.  Ummmm, OK.  Will do.  I sent my team at worked a quick email saying that I had an appointment come up and that I would be back ASAP.  Then I IM'ed my husband to see if he wanted to go to the appointment with me (we work at the same company in the same office...very convenient! :).  I didn't hear back from him quickly enough so I logged out of my computer and went out to my car.  Before I pulled out of the parking lot, he came running out and flagged me down.  THANK GOODNESS!  He had gotten my IM and was a little concerned and thought that he should try to come to this appointment with me.  I cannot explain how relieved I was in the long run that this happened and he was able to come.  Anyway, we drive to the MFM office and wait for at least 30 minutes, which made me feel like nothing was too worrisome or they wouldn't make me wait.  Was this my mind trying to tell me that everything was OK?!?!?  Probably so.  I had another ultrasound and everything again looked fine. Deep sigh of relief.  All this work up for nothing.  The tech told me the Doctor wanted to hook me up to the contraction machine just to check and we walked over to a different room. A nurse got me hooked up and told me to just relax.  Ok, no problem.  Thomas and I were just sitting there and he kept telling me not to look at the contraction monitor and making small talk.  The nurse returned shortly and told me that I was contracting every 2 minutes.  She explained that was way too much for what they want to see at 22 weeks and 2 days gestation.  I could not believe it.  How in the world was I contracting every 2 minutes?!?!?!  I couldn't feel the contractions at all.  I just had an overall uncomfortable feeling, no cramping, no sharp back pain, no urge to scream out.  Apparently, these were not strong contractions, but were contractions none the less.  My MFM doctor came in and told me that this stage was not great and that I needed to go to the hospital for admission ASAP.  To say that Thomas and I were floored is an understatement.  We Could. Not. Believe we were going to the hospital.  Like I said, I was cruising along with no issues!  How was this possible?!?!  We were both so scared, nervous, and worried.  We were unsure about what this news meant, what the next steps were, how "in danger" this pregnancy was and our heads were spinning.  I'm pretty sure I started crying and my heart was racing.  I was so glad that Thomas was there with me.  If I had been by myself I think I would have really lost it!  We checked out at MFM and headed to the hospital...

...this story is to be continued on the "Bed Rest" post.

Here are my pregnancy pics week by week up to week 21.

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

Week 19

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Somehow I missed Week 22...oops!

Movin' on up

Our babies are 7 weeks old today. Time really flies!

The great news of the day and the reason for the title of this post is that all three boys have been upgraded to NICU 2! That means that they're one step closer to coming home! We still have several weeks at least, but this is wonderful news!

NICU 2 has separate rooms for the babies, instead of just pods. It's more relaxed over here because the babies here aren't as intensive as the babies in NICU 1. The babies here are more stable and the nurses don't have to intervene quite as much.

Here is what Stokes & Ryan's room looks like. Ryan on the left & Stokes on the right.

William is sharing a room with another baby. I snapped a picture of his room for you as well. Unfortunately the lights were out so you can't see it very well. :(

Pictures are blurry because my phone was inside a plastic baggie (NICU rules...shhh...we sometimes cheat with this rule).

If you were observant or looked really closely at the picture of Stokes & Ryan's room, you may have noticed another change. Ryan is in an open air crib! That's 2 big changes for Ryan today (changing cribs and the move to NICU 2)!

Doesn't he look sweet???

Thomas fed Ryan and I fed Stokes with bottles for their 3:00 feeding this afternoon. They both did really well and took their whole bottles. William will get a bottle during his 9:00 pm feeding. The hardest part for me is definitely burping the babies! I can't tell if they burped or not due to all the grunts and coos and noises they make! 

On another note, Thomas and I officially became members of Advent United Methodist Church today. We have attended church there for a while and started the process to become members earlier this summer. Unfortunately, we weren't able to become members at that time because I was unexpectedly admitted to the hospital on bed rest. So anyway, we joined Advent, the boys moved to NICU 2, we got to see several family members over the weekend and it's been a great couple of days!

Bottle feedings

On Wednesday of this week I gave Stokes a bottle for the first time and he drank 10 cc's. Yesterday Thomas gave Ryan a bottle and the nurse gave Stokes a bottle and they each had 20 cc's. Today they each took a full feeding (40 cc's) and the nurse gave William a bottle for the first time. He took 6 cc's for his first attempt and got the remainder through his feeding tube. 

Here's the deal with feeding. It's something the boys have to learn to do but it's difficult for them. It takes a lot of coordination to suck, swallow and breathe. In addition it's a lot of work for these little guys so it tends to wear them out. For a bottle feeding, we have to be aware of the time. The goal is to finish in 20 minutes but we can use up to 30 minutes, and that includes burping. We absolutely cannot go over half an hour because at that point they are expending too much energy. While bottle feeding we try to read the baby's cues to make sure they are ok. We try to see that they're swallowing and breathing and not getting too stressed out. We periodically check the monitors to make sure their heart rate isn't dropping or elevating too much and that their oxygen saturation is at a good level. If anything seems out of whack we take the bottle out of their mouth and give them a little break. 

Initially we just introduced the boys to a bottle but now we are trying to do full feeds. To start out they can take 1 bottle feeding per day. Once they have taken a full feeding for 2 days in a row, we can move them up to 2 bottle feedings a day. Once they take both of those full feedings for 2 days in a row, they go to every other feeding and then every feeding (they "eat" every 3 hours so they have 8 feedings per day). The difficult thing is that you can get stuck at one of these levels and not be able to move forward. In addition, as soon as you get the baby to take a full feeding the doctors or nurses may decide to add, say, 5 more cc's to their feeding amount. The more milk they get, the harder it is to get them to comfortably take the whole feeding within 30 min. It is very common to take a step forward just to take a step back during this process . So far so good for the Peery boys, but Thomas and I understand that we will probably have some setbacks or get stuck somewhere along the line.

Pictures of Thomas holding William today

Weekly alligator pictures (taken this evening):

Stokes

Ryan

William

Let's hear it for the boys

Remember that song from the '80s? I love it. Anyway.....

All three boys are over FOUR POUNDS! William finally made it over the hump with a whopping weight gain last night! 

Current weights:

Stokes - 4 lb, 5.8 oz

Ryan - 4 lb, 7.6 oz

William - 4 lb, 2.4 oz

Guess what...William is on low flow oxygen! He got upgraded from high flow to low flow earlier today. We are so proud of the progress he has made!

Ryan is still on low flow as well but I don't think he will be on it much longer. He is doing great and will probably return to room air soon.

Stokes is keeping himself on room air and doing great. His nurse, Kathleen, and I introduced him to a bottle tonight. Bottle feeding is another task that the boys will have to master before coming home. From what I understand it's quite an arduous task for NICU babies. You wouldn't think it would be very hard for them to drink from a bottle but combining sucking, swallowing and breathing is very difficult for a preemie. The goal is for them to take the bottle without dropping their heart rate AND continuing to breathe. So you may be wondering how Stokes did tonight. The answer is that he did awesome! He took 10 cc's from the bottle and took breaks to gulp and breathe. We were just trying it out tonight and gave him 10 cc's out of the 40 he takes with each feeding. Since this was a trial and we didn't want to wear him out, he got the remaining 30 cc's through his feeding tube. This was my first experience with bottle feeding and I didn't know what to expect, but Kathleen assured me that he did really well! Go Stokes! I am going to try a bottle with Ryan tomorrow. 

Pics of our first bottle feeding:

I will do another post later that talks about the long process and the progressions of feeding and why this part is so challenging for the babies and the families. 

I haven't asked for specific prayers lately, but want to ask that you thank God for all the progress the boys have made thus far and ask him to continue pouring His blessings on the Peery triplets. We still have a long road ahead of us and need God's help to stay on the right track. Thanks, y'all!