Triplets reunited

We had an exciting milestone happen today.  For the first time since they were born, all three of the triplets got to be reunited.  The nurse was so fantastic and just took the initiative to bring all of the monitors together and lay all of the babies on my lap.  Needless to say Phillip and I were something more than ecstatic!!!!  It was SO exciting, and Miles Jaxon and Lilly loved it too!!!!  I also put a picture of the first time that we got to sit together as a family, aside from the babies being able to be right next to one another....

 First family photo June 14th

Miles, Jaxon, and Lilly

They are here!  Everyone has waited so long to meet them.  They are truly angels.  Miles, Jaxon, and Lilly were born on June 4, 2013.  Miles at 8:24pm, Jaxon at 8:25pm, and Lilly at 8:26pm.  Miles weighed 2lb8oz and was 13.5in, Jaxon weighed 3lb and was 15in, Lilly weighed 2lb11oz and was 15in.  After they were delivered they were brought into the resuscitation room.  Each team that helped the babies was made up of a doctor, a respiratory therapist, a nurse, and a scribe.  They were assessed, intubated, then brought into the NICU.  I got to peek at the babies as they wheeled me out, and thankfully one of the nurses brought Miles over to let me hold him for a second before they took him away.  That was so very precious for me! Little angels we have looked forward to this day and we love you so very very much!!!!!

 

Miles in recovery room

 Jaxon in recovery room

Lilly in recovery room

Miles in isolette

 Jaxon in isolette

 Lilly in isolette

 

 

 

June 4, 2013 Delivery day

The day had finally come!!!  We all knew it would come, but there was no telling when it would be...  It started out as a very normal day, had visitors, went through our normal routine.  That afternoon, I was playing cards with my aunt, sent Phillip down to get us dinner, then after that, I noticed that I had started bleeding (my contractions had been picking up as well, but I didn't think it was any different than before).  The next thing I know I was being monitored, the doctor was called and it was time to deliver!!!  Phillip came back upstairs, and was shocked!  They took us into Labor and Delivery and prepped me with all of the delicious and necessary things to get ready for my C-section.  From the time that we first found out it was time, to the time I went into surgery was only about an hour.  Luckily our family all got up to the hospital very quickly.  Everyone was very nervous, but Phillip and I were confident that our 3 angels would make it here, and were glad to have a team of professionals that were excellent!  So they wheeled me back to the surgical room, as we passed, there was a team of 12 ready to assist the babies, and about 6 for me.  It was a busy room!  They gave me the epidural (that was the one thing that made me a little nervous- I don't like needles- but it was a breeze), got me onto the table and pretty much we were off from there!  The babies were all born about a minute apart from one another, talk about fast!!!  Then Phillip went off with them while they stitched me back up.  After that they wheeled me back into recovery and a couple hours later I was able to see my babies!  What a whirlwind!!! 

Bed rest

So Phillip and I had checked into the ER on May 14th, as I was having very regular contractions.  They monitored me, did a protein test to rule out if I would be going into labor for the next two weeks, which came back negative, so they sent us home.  Phillip left the next morning to go out of town.  I then also followed up with my doctor who further said that I would be good to go for a long time.  Well the very next day, as I went back to work, I just didn't feel right.  At the end of the day as I was saying goodbye to my students, one of my waters broke.... Oh no!!  We had plans to throw my mom a very special birthday party that day, for her 50th birthday, but instead I was calling her to take me to Labor and Delivery.  We checked in, and sure enough, one of my membranes had ruptured.  So it was bed rest for me!  We came in at 27 weeks and definitely did not want to deliver at that point if at all possible.  They gave me medicine to stop the contractions then got me on a steady flow of antibiotics and a round of steroids for the babies lungs.  We continued this adventure for 3 weeks and delivered at 30 weeks 4 days, 2 beautiful boys and a girl!  Phillip started a blog to keep people updated: http://crystalhospital.blogspot.com/

Here are some additional pics from our adventure on bed rest!

Triplet ultrasounds

It was so exciting to go into each appointment and see the babies grow so much!!  We also saw a perinatologist alongside my regular care doctor.  This gave me so much comfort, they would measure the growth of the babies each time to be sure that they were growing alright!  I love these kids so much!!

7 wk triplets

 10 wk triplets

 15 wk Jaxon

 15 wk Lilly

 15 wk Miles

 20 wk Jaxon

 20 wk Lilly

 20 wk Miles

 24 wk Jaxon

 24 wk Lilly

 24 wk Miles

Pregnancy and Belly shots....

So Phillip and I found out that we were pregnant basically when we were only a couple weeks along.  Later finding that we were having triplets, we understood why the test came back positive so quickly.  We then went into the doctor when we were about 6 weeks along (we had thought that we were further along by then) and that was when our doctor told us about the triplets.  We were sitting there (well I was lying- having the ultrasound done) and Phillip noticed on the screen that there were 2 sacks that he could see, the doctor said "well there are more than 1", we had both had a feeling that there might be more than one, so we assumed, okay twins, then our doctor said "my dear, you are having triplets".... WHAT?!  At that point I just kind of laughed and Phillip was going through about 10 emotions in about 60 seconds, at one point I thought he was going to pass out he was as white as a sheet!  That was the beginning of our crazy adventure!

The pregnancy itself was bearable, especially for triplets.  I was nauseated and throwing up from about conception to about week 20.  After that I was just nauseated, but luckily not throwing up!  Through those first months of the pregnancy I was pretty much out of commission!  I went to work, and that was about all I could do.  I am very grateful that I was able to still go in and teach my students, I definitely needed that for my emotions and sanity, and I am glad I could stay for their sake as well.  Thankfully my husband, family, and neighbors are truly amazing and stepped right in helping in so many ways.  We had people helping with meals, laundry, cleaning, and everything else under the sun.  Other funky things that I experienced during pregnancy include: extra saliva (no bueno for when reading a story to small children, talk about shower- sorry!!), heart wackiness (flutters and fast heart rate), fatigue, lots of fun with my bowels (that should be another chapter in itself), pretty awesome stretch marks, pressure/pain many places including back, insomnia, formulating sentences and thoughts became difficult, and other weird things that I can't remember at the moment!  Overall though, my experience was tolerable for sure! 

We were terrible at taking belly pictures, but here are the ones that we do have...  At one point it seemed that I had exploded over night, and bam there was a belly!  I absolutely loved it though, it made it seem so real to have them inside and see them grow through my own belly getting bigger!!

10 weeks

 11 weeks

 16 weeks

 17 weeks

 20 weeks

 22 weeks

 25 weeks

 27 weeks (went to ER for contractions)

 28 weeks

 29 weeks

 30 weeks (2 days before delivery)

 

 

 

 

 

A day we've been waiting for...

Phillip has been on a long journey in his education.  Changing his major multiple times, the day that he graduates is finally here!!  We are all SO proud of my sweetheart and all of his dedication and hard work!  He is such a smart and gifted man and we are so excited for him in this accomplishment!  Love you Phillip!